University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman calls accepted students congratulating them.
Photo courtesy of U-M
“Call our house please,” one Facebooker wrote; “I hope she calls my granddaughter soon,” another entreated; “Ooh, still waiting,” posted yet another.
Roughly 42,000 people submitted undergraduate applications to U-M this year, an all-time record. In spite of the record-breaking applications, U-M is trying to shrink the size of the freshman class and plans to enroll fewer than 6,000 students.
Most students will find out whether or not they made the cut by early April.
Coleman called about 20 prospective students herself, “encouraging them to attend Michigan,” according to U-M spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald. Coleman calls a select number of accepted applicants each year, he said.
The U-M Medical School employed a similar tactic last December when top school officials hand-delivered select acceptance letters.
“This year we actually went on the road. We went to the cities of some students who are going to be admitted and hand-delivered them their letters of admittance, which the students thought was the greatest thing ever,” said medical school admissions director Robert Ruiz. ‘It’s about having a little bit of fun with an otherwise stressful process.”
Applicants in Dallas, Boston, Washington, D.C., Ann Arbor and East Lansing received in-person acceptances.
Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.
