The University of Michigan isn’t any university — it’s one of the best schools in the nation. Mich is a massive state research university with over 34,000 undergraduate students. You may get lost in a crowd at a game in the Big House, but the Mich programs don’t fade into the background. They are home to more than a dozen programs ranked in the top 10 in the country, and top students nationally put Mich on their lists alongside Ivy League universities and private schools like Stanford and the University of Chicago. Mich is regularly ranked in the top 5 public universities in the country.

During the 2023-2024 application cycle, Mich received 98,310 first-year applications. Yes, nearly 100,000. Ultimately, 15,373 were admitted – or 15.6%. This was down from 18% for the fall of 2023, and down from 26% for the fall of 2020. This is a massive 10% drop in only five years. However, the acceptance rate is also a little misleading given the vast difference between in-state and out-of-state applicants. Mich does not break down their in-state acceptance rate as compared to their out-of-state acceptance rate, but as a state school they prioritize admitting students from Michigan. Michigan students make up the majority of the student body at the university, and it’s been reported that being from Michigan doubles your chances of admission.

Moving to Michigan to double your chances of admission is not a practical strategy, but there are things you can do that are achievable and impactful. One is applying Early Action. Michigan offers a non-binding Early Action application option, which they encourage students to pursue if they “know that the University of Michigan is one of your top choice schools.”

What is Early Action at Michigan?

Students who apply Early Action to Mich submit by November 1 and receive their decision by late January. But Early Action applicants are not given leeway as far as Mich expectations. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions, they say, “promises no special privileges to Early Action candidates, such as giving your application materials a higher priority or a more lenient review.” “Choosing to apply through Early Action,” they say, “does not make it easier or harder to gain admission to U-M.”

However, we know from experience that strong applicants for whom Mich is their first choice need to apply early to have the strongest possible chance of admission. They key here, is being a strong applicant. In this post, we’ll break down what you need to do to strengthen your application and have your best chances of admission, whether you have a year, a month, or a week before pressing submit.

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But what is a strong application? Well, the foundation for a strong application is one thing: your why. When you are applying Early Action, your why is what drives your application to the finish line. So, long before you start your application, you need to clarify what it is about Mich that makes it your perfect fit. You’ll be using this why to shape and strengthen your application until the moment you press submit.

What can you do to increase your chances of admission Early Action to Mich?

If you want to get into Mich Early Action and aren’t up for moving to Michigan to gain residency (we’re saying this in jest, for the record) there are a few things you absolutely must do to strengthen your application. And, if you an in-state applicant, all of these things still apply just as strongly. First, it’s about the transcript.

Grades

You cannot get into Michigan without great grades. Even if you do super impressive things and have strong standardized test scores, you need the grades. There are also some required course distributions that you must keep in mind when preparing to apply. So, be sure to verify that you will, at minimum, meet these requirements before graduating — if not exceed them.

The University of Michigan requires the following for consideration for first-year admission.

4 units of English
3 units of Mathematics
3 units of Science with at least 1 lab
2 units of Foreign Language
1 unit of Social Studies
3 units of History

Simply fulfilling these requirements isn’t enough. Most accepted students, 93%, have a GPA of 3.75 or higher. Remember, too, that you should never bet on squeaking in from the bottom. Accepted students with a GPA below 3.75 tend to have extenuating circumstances, most notably being an athletic recruit. That doesn’t mean that your GPA can be far below the norm, though. They still expect excellence.

Scores

In 2024, Mich formally adopted a test-optional policy when it comes to submitting standardized test scores. This was a bold move, but it doesn’t exempt you from studying for the ACT or SAT. While it is absolutely possible to get into Mich Early Action without submitting test scores, we do not suggest betting on it. Instead, we work with our students to strength their scores to the point that they will improve their chances of admission and be a key piece of their application package. For Mich, a strong SAT or ACT score means:

SAT: 1500
ACT: 33

…or higher

If a student cannot hit these high thresholds, which are based on recently accepted student profiles, we recommend omitting standardized test scores from your application and focusing instead on strengthening your grades and adding additional leadership roles. Ideally, though, you should have all of these things. You should have the scores, the grades, and the leadership experiences.

Activities

Mich wants to see leadership. What you are spending your time on should connect to your academic interests, personal passions, and core values, but what you need to show most is that you can lead. Sometimes this means leading from the front with a title and all. Sometimes, though, you don’t need to be at the very front of the pack and instead show leadership through your actions, as shared in a supplement. It’s easier though, of course, to prove leadership when you can put “Head” or “Captain” in front of the club or team name.

Remember, your activities should make sense for what you are interested in. And simply doing what is offered at school isn’t enough. To get into Mich Early Action, you need to be pursuing opportunities beyond campus. This may include long-term volunteering with a local nonprofit or initiative, an internship, an independent project, or even a job.

Yes, Mich likes to see students who work. They don’t expect you to be doing anything fancy — you are in high school — but it can get you bonus points if you can draw a line between what you are doing and what you are most interested in. For example, if you are interested in computer science, you could get a job helping a small business improve their online presence. Or, if you are interested in building a business yourself, you could get a job working behind the counter of a retail business to get a crash course in retail sales.

Whatever you do for work, we highly recommend working with others. Having a side hustle or starting a small business yourself is great, but it won’t do as much for your application as it could if you are going it alone. Showing that you can work well with others is a key part of a strong Mich application. Of course, the place you are going to spotlight these experiences is the essays.

Essays

While the Mich essays for the 2025-2026 application cycle will not come out until late summer, we know what they typically require.

In addition to the main Common App essay, Mich requires a small number of supplemental essays plus an optional essay. We work with our students to begin the main Common App essay in early summer such that they have a full draft before the supplemental questions are released later in the season. This is strategic. First, it helps control stress come fall such that our students can put their focus on maintaining sky high grades, not essay writing. The other reason is a matter of purpose. The purpose of the supplements is to make a case for your future at Mich, but the purpose of the main college essay is different. It serves to make the case for you in a broader sense. It should tell the application readers who you are through a focused narrative that highlights two or three key pieces of your personality or background. These should not be explicitly academic, but can speak to what makes you so successful as a student.

For example, we helped a successful Mich applicant in the 2024-2025 cycle highlight self-awareness and curiosity in their main essay. Then, in the supplements, we developed these traits further through tying them to the student’s specific passions and interests. For Mich, we also know to always keep community central. Mich is a big school, and it’s easy for hopeful applicants to think that they can focus their essays solely on themselves. After all, they will only be one person on a massive campus. However, this is actually the wrong mindset. Mich knows it is big, and they know that keeping such a big network together requires a strong community. They are on the hunt for impressive applicants who appreciate how important community is, and who are ready to contribute as soon as they arrive on campus.

Ultimately, it is crucial that a Mich applicant not solely to focus on themself, but rather shows care for others and passion for the unique community Mich offers.

Keep the Big Picture in Mind

Remember that the statistics that are available include both in-state and out-of-state applicants — but the expectations are different for the two cohorts. Mich doesn’t say what is different, but the acceptance rate for in-state students is much higher, suggesting that the thresholds for admission when it comes to scores and grades are commensurately lower. This skews the averages downwards, which means that what is published is not representative of what is expected of out-of-state applicants. To get into Mich, out-of-state applicants need to have a much stronger GPA than a 3.75, and very impressive scores.

This is shown in the average high school GPA, as compared to the range. The average submitted GPA of accepted and enrolled students is 3.9. To have an average of 3.9, a large percentage of students have to be submitting GPAs at or above 3.9.

The Early Action route is not available for students’ seeking admission to the College of Pharmacy, the Marsal School of Education, the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

If you are not admitted in the Early Action round, your application may be “postponed” to the Regular Decision round. This means that they want more time to make a decision, or, more accurately, they want to measure you up against the Regular Decision applicant pool. It is possible to get in after an application is postponed, but it helps to have help. For example, approaching the Expression of Continued Interest form from a strong position is critically important.

Work with Us

Applying to Michigan Early Action doesn’t give you a massive automatic boost to your chances of getting in. Whereas some schools publicize an early rate of admission at double, or more, the regular decision acceptance rate, Mich doesn’t make that part of their process. That said, applying early has benefits. It shows passion and commitment, it gets your application in the mix early, and it gets you an answer early, too. We work with our students to make the strongest case for admission to Mich possible. From choosing summer activities to finalizing course schedules, to developing writing, having a strategy is crucial if you want to get into such a highly selective and competitive school.

Let’s get you into Mich. Learn how.