Current UM Ann Arbor Student - Ask Me Anything! International Students, Housing, App Advice, etc

Hi all! Current UofM - Ann Arbor student here. I applied last year to the school of LSA and was accepted Regular Decision.

Some topics I can answer specifically to, but if you have any questions not pertaining to them feel free to shoot them my way regardless.

Applying:

  • General Application Questions
  • International Student Application (I applied as domestic, but through an international process, if that makes sense)
  • Essays and Writing (I talked with someone who talked with the admissions team and they said my last essay, “why UofM”, was the strong point of my app)
  • Stats & Scores
  • The best application process timeline
  • Waitlisted, what should I do now? (I wasn’t waitlisted, but have discussed it with those who were)

Accepted:

  • Deciding between UM and other Schools (I was accepted to other good unis, including an Ivy, so I was in your shoes once too)
  • Accepted, now what?
  • Dorms/Housing (I’m currently in Alice Lloyd and the Lloyd Hall Scholars program, if anyone is applying there)
  • Michigan Learning Communities/Theme Communities, are they worth it?
  • Class Registration & Resources
  • UROP, is it worth it?
  • How to get research on campus
  • Orientation

Other:

  • Campus Culture
  • UM classes and Coronavirus

PS: Sorry if this is weirdly formatted, long-time lurker, new to posting/interacting.

Can you tell me more about UROP, and what your thoughts are?

Oh, also – how did you find the classes to be, once they had to switch to online? (since I’m thinking semester one might be that)

So UROP is really great in that it will help you establish connections right off the bat, and if you get in, basically guarantees research your freshman year. However, it has a lot of supplemental work non related to the research you’ll be doing, that often feels useless and a waste of time. I’m talking seminars, meetings, etc, that aren’t always the most useful, and can take up quite a bit fo your schedule.

So I’d say it’s a payoff. It is possible to find first-year research opportunities outside of UROP in most LSA fields, but you have to put in a lot of your own time searching, and prepare to be rejected quite a bit because 1. you’re a freshman, 2. professors can be flaky, 3. some available opportunities will be given to UROP first. So if you want undergrad research guaranteed, and don’t mind several hours of your week being taken out, go for UROP. I personally would highly recommend it for someone looking to establish research connections for the future.

@fangying Thanks for your post. I see you have information on what waitlisted students should do now.
I’m IS on the waitlist. I have reached out to my AC about LOCI and she said not to send one as it wouldn’t be added to my file as they ask for no additional info unless requested. My HS Counselor also reached out on my behalf and was told not to send any additional info. Do you have any tips on what I should do? Thanks.