University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, Michigan · Founded 1817

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Testing policy

Test-optional

Michigan is test-optional and says so plainly: its admissions office states that an applicant 'will not be disadvantaged if they do not submit an ACT/SAT score for consideration', and confirmed the policy continues for the 2027 application cycle. Do not read optional as unimportant, though. In its own Common Data Set Michigan marks the SAT and ACT as RECOMMENDED rather than not-required, and rates standardized test scores as IMPORTANT among its admission factors - a heavier weight than most test-optional schools give them. 55% of the enrolled first-year class submitted an SAT score and 18% an ACT score. Michigan superscores, taking your best sub-scores across test dates, and accepts self-reported scores; if you are admitted after self-reporting you must send official scores before you enroll. To have scores read in the Early Decision or Early Action round you must self-report them by 1 November; Regular Decision applicants have until 1 February. Transfer applicants may send scores but do not need to, and only tests taken while you were in high school are accepted. Michigan says it reviews the policy on an ongoing basis. Source: admissions.umich.edu - Application Changes and Requirements & Deadlines; University of Michigan Common Data Set 2025-2026, C7, C8A and C9 (verified September 2026).

About

A big public research university in a college town, built around its own state: Michigan residents make up 52 percent of the undergraduate body. It spans nineteen schools and colleges, fifteen of them teaching undergraduates, but academically the weight sits in computing, the sciences and the social sciences, which together account for more than half of all bachelor's degrees awarded.

History

Founded in 1817 in Detroit as the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania, and renamed the University of Michigan in 1821. The institution moved to Ann Arbor in 1837 and taught its first classes there in 1841, with two professors and six students; the first commencement in 1845 recognized eleven graduates. Women were first admitted in 1870. It now has nineteen schools and colleges.

What stands out

Students come from all 83 Michigan counties, 57 states and territories and 104 countries
Nineteen schools and colleges, fifteen of which enroll undergraduates
97 percent of first-year students come back for a second year
Transfers can start in any of the four terms - fall, winter, spring or summer
Test-optional, but its own Common Data Set rates test scores Important

Popular majors

Computer ScienceEconomicsBusiness AdministrationPsychologyBiologyMechanical EngineeringPolitical ScienceCommunication and Media StudiesInformation ScienceNeuroscience

Campus life

Nearly every first-year student lives in university housing - 96 percent of them - but only 26 percent of undergraduates overall do, so most students move into Ann Arbor after their first year. Greek life is present without dominating: 11 percent of undergraduate men join a fraternity and 16 percent of undergraduate women join a sorority. There are more than 1,600 student organizations and 27 NCAA Division I teams.