University of Michigan Essays, Prompt by Prompt

University of Michigan Questions

At the University of Michigan, we are focused on developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future. In your essay, share with us how you are prepared to contribute to these goals. This could include the people, places, experiences, or aspirations that have shaped your journey and future plans. (Required for all applicants; 100 word minimum; 300 word maximum.)

Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate college or school (including preferred admission and dual degree programs) to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests? (Required for all applicants; 100 word minimum; 550 word maximum.)

Before we dive into these questions, let’s look at UMich’s writing advice for these essays:

"The University of Michigan questions give you the opportunity to demonstrate your interest in U-M and explain why you feel we are the best fit for you. You may consider:"

• Highlighting faculty, courses, and research opportunities that attracted you to the university, or a specific school/college
• Discussing programs you may have participated in that are affiliated with the university, or a specific school/college
• Speaking about your interest in an upper-level program if you are applying for preferred admission consideration

So, what do we take away from this advice? Well at first glance at the prompts, which are about how you’re prepared to contribute to Michigan’s goals (developing ‘leaders and citizens’), and how the UMich program you’re applying to supports your interests, you could write one essay of big ideas about leadership and citizenship, and the other about UMich.

And what they’re saying here is… don’t do that. Yes, of course, DO tell them how you’ll contribute and how UMich serves your needs! But ultimately, you should ground each essay in THINGS YOU HAVE DONE: the programs you’ve taken part in, the classes and research that hooked you. They want to learn about YOU, at the end of the day!

Now let’s look at each prompt individually:

At the University of Michigan, we are focused on developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future. In your essay, share with us how you are prepared to contribute to these goals. This could include the people, places, experiences, or aspirations that have shaped your journey and future plans. (Required for all applicants; 100 word minimum; 300 word maximum.)

Cool, so for starters, make a list of the moments where you’ve already acted like a leader or a citizen in Michigan’s sense: you stepped up, organized something, pushed back on the way things were done, made a place better. Next to each one, jot down the people, places and experiences behind it (the prompt names all three).

Next, note what each one shaped in you, and where it points (the prompt’s ‘future plans’). Again, this is your canvas and you’re the painter. Make connections. Maybe you perform with a dance troupe as part of your cultural heritage. Or your experience on a mission trip with a religious group inspired you to start a nonprofit. It’s all good if X led you to take Z action, and Z is now pulling you somewhere new.

Keep in mind, UMich is a big place, and there are infinite ways to get involved in the community there. Don’t make the essay about U of M, but do connect your backstory to a specific way or ways you want to contribute there.

Your best story will hopefully do all of the following: a) show how you’ll ‘challenge the present and enrich the future’ in your own way; b) highlight a way you took meaningful action or held a significant role within a community; and c) connect to a way you want to get involved in the Michigan community. Don’t shy away from highlighting your strengths and accomplishments: this is your moment to stand in the spotlight!

Onto the next prompt...

Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate college or school (including preferred admission and dual degree programs) to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests? (Required for all applicants; 100 word minimum; 550 word maximum.)

So, this is both a ‘Why Michigan, academically?’ and ‘why this particular program at Michigan?’ essay. 

Take a look at this overview of the school selection process while applying to Michigan as an undergraduate, from the school’s website:

"At Michigan, you don’t apply to the university overall or a specific major – you apply to one of our seven freshman admitting undergraduate schools and colleges: Architecture & Urban Planning; Art & Design; Engineering; Kinesiology; Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA); Music, Theater & Dance; and Nursing. The Ross School of Business is additionally considered a freshman enrolling unit, as they do make admission offers to incoming freshmen who have both applied and been admitted to either LSA; Engineering; Kinesiology (Sport Management); School of Music, Theater & Dance; or Stamps School of Art and Design."

So again, at first glance, the prompt seems to be asking one thing… tell us about why you want to go to Michigan (specifically THIS program at Michigan) and how it supports your interests. But reading between the lines (as well as UMich’s explicit advice), we’d strongly urge you to anchor this essay in specific things you’ve already done.

So, let’s start with the school you’re applying to, and work back from there. Reflect on how you came to know you wanted to study field A? Make a list of your experiences that have contributed to this knowledge. Let’s look back at Michigan’s advice on what you might include: “programs you may have participated in that are affiliated with the university, or a specific school/college,” plus the “faculty, courses, and research opportunities” that drew you in. Add your own clubs, teams, jobs and projects to the list too.

You can even think about it as an equation. If you’re applying to the Kinesiology program, and you haven’t had specific Kinesiology experience, that’s A-OK! It can sometimes even make for a better story. Your equation might be:

[That season you were the starting QB on the football team then got injured and benched for the season but learned soooooo much about yourself and your body and what it means to be part of a team] + [your experience volunteering at a nursing home and feeling the fulfillment of helping others directly] = KINESIOLOGY ALL THE WAY!

That piece will be about 70% of your essay… the final key piece is, why the [Kinesiology] department AT MICHIGAN is better than departments at other schools. Its deep connection to their top sports teams? The faculty’s research? The community? Dig in, get to know the program, and connect specifics of UMich’s program to specifics of your experience. You don’t need to overdo the connection, but you do want the reader to feel like there’s an easy-to-follow thread about how you got from point A (not knowing what you wanted to do, or thinking you wanted to do something else, or whatever your starting point was) to point B (knowing what you wanted to do AND WHERE: namely, Michigan).

If you’re applying to two programs simultaneously (continuing with our example, let’s say you’re applying to Kinesiology AND the Ross Business School), make sure you explain WHY you need the business education to do what you want to do in your career. Don’t assume that more is better, when it comes to majors: make a clear case for why EACH program is a necessary piece of your whole course of study.

One more thing: the word count range is 100-550 words, which is a BIG spread. While there are surely exceptions to this generalization, 100 words is probably too short to include your interest, your experience, and why Michigan.

That said, the 550 word limit isn’t an invitation to get verbose. Keep it pithy. Edit with the rigor you’d bring to a 250-300 word essay. If your essay is longer than 300 words, make sure there’s enough content to merit the longer essay. If you’ve visited the department, spoken with current students or alums, etc., and can share meaningful takeaways from those experiences, definitely include them!