University of Michigan Admission
University of Michigan Undergraduate Program
University of Michigan Application

The Facts

The University of Michigan is an extremely large state school located in the great college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan.  The university is home to a whopping 23,253 undergraduate students and approximately 14,514 graduate students.  The university is made up of several smaller undergraduate colleges that have a definite preprofessional emphasis.  The colleges include schools of art and design, engineering, kinesiology, literature, science and the arts, music, and nursing.  The music school is quite prestigious and requires an audition to be admitted.  The university offers students over 200 majors; the most popular choices include psychology, business administration, political science, economics, and English.

Admission to the University of Michigan is extremely competitive, especially for a large state school.  Last year, over 26,000 students applied for admission and 13,814 were accepted; of those, 5,553 matriculated. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1200 to an impressive 1410 and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 26 to 32.  Those admitted students also had an average high school GPA of 3.73.

U Michigan, like any other state school, has very large introductory lecture classes, but as the years go by and the classes become more and more advanced, the size becomes smaller and smaller.  In fact, many classes are primarily discussion based, and students have a chance to voice their opinions.  Students say that their teachers are generally pretty inaccessible, and most big popular classes are taught by T.A.’s and graduate assistants.  Another gripe students have is that popular classes are difficult to get into, and there is a lot of scheduling conflict when you are trying to sign up for the following semester's classes.

The Social Scene

University of Michigan is located in the fabulous college town of Ann Arbor, which offers students plenty of great entertainment options including great and inexpensive cafes, shops and restaurants, as well as several movie and live theaters.  The U Michigan campus is known for being gorgeous, with gothic-style stone buildings and tree-filled green spaces.  The Greek scene does exist at U Michigan, and many students belong to fraternities and sororities; however, students say that the houses don’t dominate the on-campus social scene too much. 

Perhaps the aspect U Michigan is most famous for is its Wolverine spirit.  The Wolverine football team has been extremely successful since its inception, and students love nothing more than to turn out at their games, and of course, the games are a fantastic reason for some rowdy tailgating parties. 

The dating scene at U of M is awesome; we hear the girls and guys are particularly good looking and range from all-American to newly-declared "hippie."

What’s Good

“Even though the school is huge, there is a real sense of community here, and the smaller schools make you feel like you are going to a smaller college.”

“There is always something to do here when you aren’t studying at the library.”

“You get an Ivy-league education at literally a fraction of the cost.”

What’s Bad

“The school tends to feel really impersonal.  Unless you make an effort, no one will know you.”

“The dorms are pretty overcrowded, and you don’t have a whole lot of personal space.”

“We’re pretty far from any major city, and even though Ann Arbor is great, there is a finite number of things to do.”

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