What a friend would tell you
What Michigan is looking for
Clear direction and demonstrated leadership at scale. Michigan wants students who will take advantage of a massive university, not get lost in it. Come armed with specific programs, research labs, or communities you'd join. Generic enthusiasm about 'a big school with lots of opportunities' is a fast track to the waitlist.
What students wish they'd known
Intro lectures seat 300+, advising is stretched thin, and nobody is coming to find you. Michigan winters run November through March: long, grey, and relentless. The social scene can feel segregated (Greek life, athletes, engineers, and LSA students in parallel worlds). Out-of-state tuition tops $65K. Ann Arbor's cost of living has climbed sharply.
Michigan might be a fit if...
- You want to carve your own path inside a massive, high-powered research university
- You love Big Ten football Saturdays and school spirit
- You're drawn to specific Michigan programs like Ross, Engineering, or the Ford School
Michigan Admissions Strategy
Application Info
Plans: EA, RD
Deadlines: EA November 1 · RD February 1
Deadlines: EA November 1 · RD February 1
Test Policy
Test-optional
You choose whether to send scores. A strong score helps your case; a weak one is better left off.
Demonstrated Interest
Not Tracked
Not tracked. Skip the info-session circuit and put those hours into the application itself.
Interview
Not offered
Yield Rate
47%
47% of admits enroll, which is typical for a selective school. Waitlists here move every year.
Want to boost your odds at Michigan and every reach on your list, so admissions stops feeling like a coin flip?
Join the free one-hour workshop from two Harvard grads who have helped 3,000+ students get in. Parents welcome.
Cost & Financial Aid at Michigan
$65,000
Sticker Price
$18,500
In-State Tuition
$6,000
Avg Merit Aid
Need-blind: Yes (in-state); No (out-of-state). Meets need: Yes (in-state); No (out-of-state). 62% receive financial aid.
What you get for it: Michigan spends about $21,000 per student per year on instruction and student resources, well above the $15K national average.
What Michigan Graduates Get
$68,000
Avg Starting Salary
92%
Employed or in Grad School
80%
Graduate in 4 Years
The 4-year number is the on-time rate; the 6-year rate (91%) is the one schools usually advertise. A wide gap means many students pay for extra semesters.
Michigan Campus & Culture
The Campus
Michigan's campus spreads across three zones in Ann Arbor: Central (the historic core around the Diag), North (engineering, music, art, a 15-minute bus ride away), and Medical. Angell Hall's neoclassical columns and Burton Tower's Art Deco limestone anchor the Diag. Ann Arbor is a textbook college town: bookstores, bars, and restaurants lining State Street, and 110,000 people in the Big House on fall Saturdays.
The Social Scene
Large campus with divided social scene; Ann Arbor is fun college town; football is huge
Michigan Traditions & Trivia
Go Blue Banner
Before every home football game, players sprint through the tunnel and leap to slap the Go Blue Banner overhead, a tradition that has run without interruption since 1962.
Diag Superstition
Students never step on the bronze Block M embedded in the center of the Diag, fearing that doing so before graduation brings academic misfortune; it is one of the most avoided patches of metal on campus.
Academics at Michigan
What Michigan is known for
Business school prestige, engineering strength, research opportunities, football
Most popular majors at Michigan
Standout programs
Business (Ross), engineering, psychology, pre-med, economics
How the curriculum works
School-based (Engineering, Business, Nursing, etc.); strong general education
Recommended high school courses
4 English, 4 Math, 3+ Science, 3 Social Studies, 2 Foreign Language
Notable Michigan Alumni
Gerald Ford
38th President, Michigan Law 1941
Madonna
Attended two years before dropping out to chase music in New York
Larry Page
Co-founded Google, Michigan BS in Computer Engineering 1995
Arthur Miller
Wrote 'Death of a Salesman,' graduated 1938
Sanjay Gupta
CNN chief medical correspondent, Michigan undergrad and med school
Tom Brady
Six Super Bowl rings, Michigan football 1995-1999
If you like Michigan, also consider
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Similar Big Ten flagship energy in another great Midwest college town
University of California Los Angeles
Public research powerhouse, comparable scale, better weather
University of Virginia
Public Ivy with stronger undergraduate focus and Southern culture
Northwestern University
Comparable academics, smaller and more pre-professional, near Chicago
Ohio State University
Bigger Big Ten rival with similar school spirit and lower cost