Get the inside scoop about life at U-M and applying to Michigan from Office of Undergraduate Admissions staff and guest student and faculty writers.
After a long and challenging school year at the University of Michigan, students are ecstatic to relax and enjoy their summers.
While it may be enticing to head back home to work at your usual summer job or use the months off to travel somewhere new, Ann Arbor really is the best place to spend your summer for about a hundred different reasons.
Here, I’ll tell you the top five reasons every Michigan student should spend at least one summer in Ann Arbor:
Whether you’re relocating from your hometown to the next city over, across states, or across international borders, moving to a new place can be exciting, hectic, terrifying, and exhilarating.
If you’re spending your first year in the residence halls, moving into the dorms is a rite of passage.
Tradition is important to my parents, which includes the ceremonial “Drive the Freshman to College,” even when you live SIX states away from where you’re going.
A few times since I've started college I’ve gotten the following question: “So what was your orientation experience like?” And every time I look forward to seeing people’s reaction when I tell them that I actually didn’t go.
My transition into the University of Michigan was a little different than most. And by now you might be wondering, “How in the world did she skip orientation?”
“More than anything I want to be home now. I’m really hoping I grow to love this city or that the month goes by quickly!”
The chance to spend all of July in Florence to study art sounds like a dream, right?
Unless you’re me.
That first sentence you read was what I wrote in my journal the first day I was in Florence. The furthest I had ever flown alone was from my home state of New Jersey to Michigan, I had never been to Europe before, and I don’t speak any Italian - so you could say I was a little nervous.
On the day I came to campus for the first time as a college freshman, I was up at 3 a.m.
I had driven myself to the Helena Regional Airport in the dark and spent the entire day making my way across the country, through two time zones and several layovers.
When I finally got off the shuttle bus in Ann Arbor after 10 hours of traveling, it was pouring.
I dropped off my bags at East Quad, walked to the Diag in the rain, and stood with my feet just inches away from our beloved “M.”
And I started bawling.
Freshman orientation sessions begin next month, which means that thousands of incoming #Victors2021 will soon call East Quad home – if only for a few nights.
As one of Michigan’s heritage halls, East Quad has a fascinating history and excellent location on Central Campus.
Here are five things to know about EQ before you show up with your toothbrush.
With 30 hours of scheduled programming and events spread over just two-and-a-half days, freshman orientation is a busy blend of information, socializing, and figuring out what it means to be a Wolverine.
From walking through the fountain at Ingalls Mall to sidestepping the brass block M, there are many traditions that proud Wolverines hold sacred.
And then there are the other ones… the old traditions and legends that once captured students’ attention but have since fallen out of fashion. In most cases, the reasons for their demise are pretty self-explanatory.
Welcome to 20 Questions for an Admissions Counselor, an occasional series that spotlights some of the talented and passionate people who travel near and far to recruit new Wolverines for the University of Michigan.
In the eight years since Shanell Hagood arrived on campus as a wide-eyed freshman in the fall of 2009, three trends have clearly emerged.
Founded in 1817, the University of Michigan has a long and colorful history. And throughout those 200 years students have established many traditions that have remained with the university today.
I remember learning some of these on my tour as a prospective student – like the block M legend – and picking up a few more as a student – like walking through the fountain.
Whether you’re an incoming freshman, a graduating senior, or one of our many alumni, here are the top five traditions every Wolverine knows and loves.
