A quaint, small town and access to many good restaurants and stores, Ann Arbor is a standard college town. Housing for the university is praised among South students. Over the past four years, over 100 students in each senior class have applied to the University of Michigan (Michigan), according to Naviance.
There are two supplemental essays students have to write when applying to Michigan: An essay focusing on the community you are in, and the “Why Michigan?” essay. So, Why Michigan? According to Naviance, why did 103 out of about 300 seniors apply to Michigan when there are thousands of other schools?
“I think it’s mostly because I want to be close to home,” Michigan applicant, Nikolas Tecos ‘25 said. “It’s a very academic school, Big 10 school, good social life and good sports teams.”
Michigan is Tecos’ number one school, which he hopes to attend in the fall. Tecos initially heard about U of M’s glory from his alumni parents.
Contrastly, Grosse Pointe South Alumni and Sophomore at Michigan, Logan Hepner’s decision to go to the school was haste. Hepner had previously committed to the United States Naval Academy for college. But since he has been in Ann Arbor, he has loved every second of it. Some of his favorite places to visit are the sandwich shop “Bodega Bro’s” and the pool where he practices.
“Michigan has definitely surpassed my expectations a lot, because it was kind of a last-minute decision,” Hepner said. “The longer I spend here, the more I realize it was the perfect fit for me.”
When making the decision to switch to Michigan, there was a lot to factor in according to Hepner. However, he did not find it hard to fall in love with the beautiful town and spirited environment.
“I spent a good amount of time in the city of Ann Arbor and I really, really liked it,” Hepner said. “The undergrad degree is very prestigious, and also the athletic team is very competitive in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association).”
Another Michigan alumni is English Teacher Katherine Parent. Her dad and brother went to Michigan before her, so she knew all about Ann Arbor and the university before doing any of her own research. She loved the college town and said that there are many great restaurants and ways to have adventures when there is a break from studying. However, her first year or two, Parent said that she was in a lecture hall with about 300 people, unable to keep a close connection with professors.
“I had a great time, but I will also be the person to tell anyone that it is not the right school for everyone,” Parent said. “It’s a massive school, and especially your first couple of years, when you’re in large lecture halls, you’re just a number.”
For this reason, Parent recognizes that Michigan is not the right place for everyone, even though it is an excellent school. But she wants students to know that the undergrad you chose does not deeply affect your life, but the connections you make are most important.
“Today it’s gotten harder to get into Michigan, I think what that has created, from a teacher’s standpoint, a need for excellence,” Parent said. “Students who are so grade driven and spend so much of their time taking all these AP classes just so they can put it on their transcript.”
For Tecos, he believes that U of M is where he should be. He said the in-state tuition is definitely a factor, as well as the school’s academic excellence. But in order to have a fighting chance of getting in, your application has to stand out according to Tecos. He said that hard work truly does pay off and it is important to not only work hard in school, but out of school.
“Keeping your grades up is really important, taking rigorous classes, studying and doing well on the SAT or ACT, participating in extracurriculars, sports, giving back to the community, kind of all that stuff,” Tecos said.
If Tecos somehow does not get accepted into Michigan, he said he has backup schools he has applied to. He has an open mind, which Parent is promoting to her students.
“Where you go to school is not a reflection on who you are as a person, or your value, or your worth,” Parent said. “It doesn’t affect your life as much as you might think.”
