There are just some things one can only learn from experience. Take it from the voice of students who have already completed their University of Michigan freshman year. Whether or not you are a freshman, these helpful tips are useful for any University of Michigan student, so keep reading!
Leave your door open, meet your hall mates, and bring them out to all of the fun festivities you are planning on attending with your orientation friends. Take advantage before everyone gets too busy and splits off into cliques!
If clubs are your thing, be sure to check out Festifall and the accompanying mass meetings to get involved in student organizations across campus during the second week of school.
If meatless Mondays at East Quad are not your thing, check out “Umich Freshman 15” on the App Store. It’s the quickest and easiest way to see what meals are being served where and which dining halls are open when. You can also keep track of meals that you eat to count calories, carbs, and protein!
If there is an organization, club, charity, greek organization, business idea, that you are shocked isn’t on campus or out in the greater world around you, be the one to start it. Our campus is full of resources, like the Center for Entrepreneurship, that can help you build something meaningful.
“Companion,” a mobile application founded at the University of Michigan works with Ann Arbor and University of Michigan police to keep you safe during your night time travels. It’s free so you should definitely check it out!
Buses run every 15 minutes, but stop running after 2 am most nights; some routes are even shutoff completely during the weekends. Be sure to have a warm winter coat as well!
However the dining halls and busses have weird hours on the weekends so be sure to plan accordingly and not let an empty stomach ruin your day. Also if you didn’t buy season tickets, don’t worry too much; you can almost always find someone selling their ticket for dirt cheap at a tailgate or on the street.
Paying back friends during a night out or splitting the bill for some delivery food is often a hassle and hard to keep track of. Almost everyone uses the Venmo app to easily pay and charge your friends.
If it has not become abundantly clear to you the University of Michigan Class of 20__ Facebook Page you are apart of is one of the best resources to ask about teachers, find and sell used textbooks, athletic tickets, parking spaces, subleases and so on.
Eat as much as you can as a freshman because it’s like 12$/meal if you want a meal plan after freshman year. But Ann Arbor is a city that’s well known for its food scene, so don’t sleep on it. From South U, Blue Lep, Charley’s and Frita Batidos to Sava’s, Zingerman’s and the Gandy Dancer, go explore the many food offerings in the area.
..And neither is the Men’s Basketball team, but athletic success is hardly a rarity here at the University of Michigan. Be sure to check out other sporting events and support teams like Men’s Hockey, Baseball, Lacrosse, and Swimming as well as Women’s Softball, Basketball, and Swimming. These events are full of world class athletes; some are even competing in the Olympics this summer.
You will want to begin making arrangements for where you are going to live the following year by October at the latest. Cribspot, an Ann Arbor based University of Michigan start-up that’s been taking campuses and cities by storm, is a great resource for finding lease listings around the city.
Talk to as many people as you can, especially those outside your typical friend group. You’d be surprised by how much you learn from stepping outside your comfort zone and seeing some new perspectives.
Even though you think you might have it all planned out, chances are that you haven’t even begun to discover what’s out there. Industries have changed a lot since your parents’ days so do some research on new career opportunities. You don’t have to set anything in stone for a while so use that time to explore what truly interests you.
You want to install this because it lets you see the Rate My Professor review for the teacher and the course, which will help when you are trying to decide what academic breadth courses to fill your schedule with. Check it out here!
Get a job, take a class or two, and enjoy the city for a few months when the weather is actually warm. You can catch up on prerequisites so that you’ll have a less demanding schedule during the year. Most other schools don’t have a summer as long as we do so sublet a nice apartment for dirt cheap with a few friends and take advantage of the extra time.
Although there’s been some controversy around it lately, it has historically, and continues to, play a very major role in social life on campus. There’s no harm in rushing in the fall or winter with some friends to see what it’s really all about.
…From research to business to art to athletics. It’s a competitive environment so be ready and do whatever it takes to succeed. With our work hard play hard attitude, we are truly the Leaders and Best.
Let's be honest, buying gifts for the important people in our lives is much more of a challenge when we…
Everyone is going on vacation it can get pretty boring if you're not going anywhere for spring break. You have…
So, you're visiting the greatest city in the world for a short weekend and you want to finally live up…
Going to a public university means that you have a lot of freedom to do whatever you want, within certain…
The winter months are some of the worst times for your hair, so knowing how to take care of your…
Have you ever been curious about the notable alumni that have walked the campus long before you have? Well, here…
