The University of Michigan is a major research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan that is regularly ranked in the top five public universities in the United States. The university is a powerhouse academically, athletically, and socially, and they offer more than 280 degree programs across 14 undergraduate colleges and schools. There are over 50,000 students overall, and about 33,000 undergraduates. Of that undergraduate community, about 9%, or nearly 2,900 students, are international. The international student community at the University of Michigan (or Mich, for short), represents more than 120 countries and brings a diversity of thoughts, cultures, perspectives, and traditions to campus.
Gaining admission to the University of Michigan is hard. The acceptance rate, 17.7%, may not be enormously intimidating off the bat — but we need to dig into it deeper. The 17.7% acceptance rate is heavily skewed by a much higher acceptance rate for students from Michigan than from students outside of the state — or outside of the country. The acceptance rate for non-Michigan residents is much, much lower, so getting in is an uphill battle. Lucky for you, we’re here to help.
In this post we break down everything you need to know to successfully seek admission to the University of Michigan.
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What is Michigan looking for in International Students?
The application process for international students is nearly the same as for students from within the United States, but there are some important differences that you’ll need to keep in mind as you work on your application. You also need to know up front that, when it comes to accessing applications, Mich is highly quantitative. Your grades matter — enormously. Who you are outside of the classroom and beyond how you score on tests are supportive aspects that augment your application, but you cannot get into Mich as an international student without outstanding grades. They also want to see a clear academic trajectory, so let’s break down what this looks like in practice.
Courses + Grades
As we’ve said, the most important piece of your application are your academics. This includes your grades, your class rank (if your school does that), and your record at school. They don’t just care about the grade you get, though. They also want to see that you’re taking the hardest classes that you have access to, and get the highest grades in those courses that you can.
The bottom line is that the application readers should not be able to tell from your transcript which courses are your favorites, and which are your least favorites. You will emphasize your ideal academic path in your essays, but your transcript should show academic excellence that is subject agnostic.
Extracurriculars
Mich cares what you do outside of the classroom, too, but they especially like it if at least one of your key activities is related to what you want to do academically. This should be an activity that you spend a significant amount of time on, at least a few hours a week, and that you have been committed to for at least 6 months before applying to Mich. For example, if you want to study engineering at the University of Michigan, the application readers like to see that you are also a leader in a club related to engineering at your school. Or, if you want to study literature, they want to see that you are on the leadership team of your school literary journal. Don’t have an opportunity that fits this bill easily accessible? Start one!
Mich knows that international students often have different levels of access to extracurricular opportunities than students within the United States do. But that isn’t an excuse to not do anything other than go to class. If you don’t have an opportunity you want to tap into that is easily accessible, they will be impressed if you create one for yourself!
Standardized Tests
A big part of the college admissions process in the U.S. is standardized testing. Even when schools don’t require the tests, the conversation about the ACT and SAT tends to create a lot of stress. Mich is one of those schools that doesn’t require the SAT or ACT, but it still casts a big shadow over the admissions process.
As a test optional school, you can choose whether to submit an ACT or SAT score when applying to Mich. While we don’t recommend submitting scores that may undermine your transcript if you’ve really struggled with the SAT or ACT, we encourage international students to invest time (and possibly money through tutoring) into getting the highest standardized test score they can in either the SAT or the ACT. There are three reasons we advise this strategy.
First, having a strong SAT or ACT score underlines how awesome you are and reinforces your strengths as an applicant, which is especially helpful as an international student.
Second, Mich requires an English proficiency test. We’ll explain more about it further down, but right now what really matters is that you can get out of the English proficiency test requirement if your SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score is 650 or above, or if both your ACT Reading and English scores are 27 or above.
Lastly, 78% of accepted and enrolled first-year students in 2022 had submitted a standardized test score. That means that most students who get in submit a test score. For us, that’s reason enough.
As you study for the SAT or ACT, aim for an SAT score at or above 1530, or an ACT score of a 34 or higher. You may even want to try taking each to see which works best for you.
As we said above, and English proficiency test is required of international students as part of your application. There are a variety of tests you can pick from, and Mich shares the scores and results you should shoot for on each so you can see if you measure up before pressing submit.
There are also exemptions to this requirement other than the SAT/ACT exemption we outlined above. You are also exempt from the test requirement if you have studied for at least four years in any of a long list of countries and territories that have educational systems that teach in English. And, once you arrive at Mich, you’ll have access to the English Language Institute, which will support you further in learning in English
Final Thoughts
Before applying to Mich, it’s important to know that while Mich is an outstanding university that is deeply respected, there are limited scholarship opportunities for international students at the university. However, the U.S. Department of State has resources to learn more about funding opportunities for your education if Mich is your first choice.
It’s hard to get into Mich as an international applicant, but students who are accepted are richly rewarded with one of the most immersive, intensive, and fun college experiences the country has to offer.
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