University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Top Questions

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Sports are pretty big at my school. Students love to go see the school teams play, and many participate in intramural sports just for fun! Students also generally join a variety of different dance clubs that the university has or join a club that supports a particular cause. Regardless, there is always plenty to do!

1. Circle K is a student organization that takes on multiple volunteering projects throughout the year. Dance Marathon is an annual event that many students participate in to raise money for different causes; the Michigan football team is a huge part of the Michigan identity 2. I'm involved in Michigan Marketing and Advertising. It welcomes students from all disciplines. We are then divided into teams of five or six and assigned a local business or school organization for which we develop a marketing strategy. We have two evaluation periods in a semester to track progress. 3. Many students leave their dorm rooms open. 4. Michigan football games are the highlight of each school year. Throngs of maize and gold flock to the Big House (stadium) to cheer on the team. Umich has many lecture series sponsored by different departments. Some include: The Penny Stamps Lectures hosted by the School of Art and Design, Saturday Morning Physics, hosted by the Science Department, etc. 5. SLIM PICKINS HERE, MY FRIENDS, which may speak less about the university than about college students as a group. Not a whole lot of maturity going on around here. I'm female, so I suppose my perspective is skewed in a certain way. There are many opportunities and people to hook up/have casual relationships with, but I have not witnessed too many serious relationship material. The female population is generally more attractive than the male here. 6. I met my closest friends in high school. Close friendships takes time, energy, and reciprocity. These are often stretched thin over schoolwork, casual hang out buddies, and other extracurricular activities.

There are so many groups on campus that everyone can find something to get involved in. I would say the most popular activities are Student Government, Intramural Sports, and Frats and Sororities. While Greek life doesn't control the entire Michigan social scene, it definitely plays a huge role freshman year and into sophomore year, so check out the houses and see if any appeal to you. The dorms are awesome- leaving doors open varies but the majority of people I know, including myself, met their best friends through their dorm. The second best way is through a campus organization- either a Greek house or other. One organization I've been very involved in has been Hillel, and I've been lucky to have met a lot of my close friends there. While there is definitely a great party and bar scene, there is much to do on a Saturday Night that doesn't involve drinking. From great critically acclaimed theaters, to Main street restaurants, to just hanging in the dormitories with friends, you will not be bored.

Students are involved in all kinds of groups on campus. Greek life is very popular, but there are also service groups, performance organizations, intramural sports, and more.

Greek Life is a big part of UofM. There is pretty much a group for every single interest from magazines to Pokemon. Intermural sports are also popular at UofM. I'm involved in SHEI magazine and Cadence. SHEI is a student-run global fashion, arts and pop culture magazine. We produce a blog and two print magazines each year. We also plan and execute photo shoots and host an annual magazine launch party called SHEIfest. This is an AWESOME group for people who want to work in the magazine industry. Members of SHEI have interned at magazines including Vogue, GQ, and Marie Claire. Cadence is a modern/lyrical group that meets a few times a week. We have our own show and guest perform at other on-campus shows. Students in dorms usually leave their doors open. It really depends on the dorm though. Bursley and Markley are know as "freshmen dorms". You will most likely always have something to do in one of these dorms. Dating at UofM is more like hooking up, but maybe that's just me. Still looking for Mr. Right... My best friend went to my high school but we were never friends until college. Freshmen year, we met on the "drunk bus" that takes students from central campus back to north campus where Bursley is located. We exchanged numbers and planned to wake up at 7am to tailgate for the football game and now we are inseparable. If I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I'm either studying or more likely, coming home from Skeeps (a bar that's poppin on Tuesday nights). Hash bash happens every year although I am yet to go. People party a lot here. Some students I know go out literally every day of the week. People are always looking for excuses to party (Ex. "It's nice out, let's drink!" or "I just got an A in econ, let's go celebrate!"). I went to a house party last weekend, but now that I'm 21 I like going to the bar to dance! There are a lot of things to do on a Saturday night that don't involve drinking. The University hosts something a few times a month called Umix late night where students can go watch movies, do crafts, roller skate, meditate, get free food, etc. Ann Arbor is a great city and there are a lot of nice restaurants around that students can go to. Another thing to do on a Saturday night besides drinking is having a movie night or getting bubble tea.

There are tons of student groups and activities here! so many, in fact, that almost consistently when i meet someone knew they're involved in a group i've never even heard of. the largest student group on campus (which i'm really involved in) is Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan. hundreds of students come together to raise money for pediatric rehabilitation, and the year culminates with the big marathon, when hundreds of students stand together (literally, stand) for 30 hours. i had a great experience last year, and now i'm part of the group planning the whole thing. i'm also a member of rEDesign, a smaller education reform organization, and the history club. (not to mention a few collegiate honors societies...the main ones being the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the National Society of Leadership and Success, but i'm less involved in those.) in the rest of my time, i work at the dining hall and volunteer at a local elementary school. obviously i meet a lot of great people through all that stuff, but my best friends here are all from my freshman dorm. but either way, there's loads of ways to get involved and meet people.

Michigan has more than 1000 student organizations, you can do whatever you want and if it doesnt exist you can start it. Most people make friends through dorms and extracurriculars, not so much close friends in classes. The Greek Life is pretty relaxed, if you make a couple friends you can go wherever you want. The most popular organization on campus is Dance Marathon, the largest non-profit organization in the state that raises money for pediatric rehabilitation for disabled students.

The most popular groups on Campus are Dance Marathon, Circle K (community service), KGrams (penpals), and Greek life. A cappella groups, dance groups, and the glee clubs are also very popular, as well as intramural and club sports. The football team is obviously the team that garners the most attention, however hockey and men's basketball also have their fair share of fans. Michigan is not necessarily a "greek school" however if you are one of the only people in your hall not to rush, you may feel left out initially. However you will still have just as much of a social life if you do not rush. By junior or senior year though, many members of greek life deactivate. When you are in Greek life it does not dominate your life and there is plenty of time for other things and other people. It is harder to get into frat parties though, so guys especially, keep that in mind. I met my closest friends in my hall and in my sorority. My closes guy friends live on the floor below me, and others I met through fraternity-sorority mixers and one of my best friends I met in my Chem lab. Friends are generally made in your hall freshman year, as well as in classes. Believe it or not, the biggest clubs are probably the most conducive to making friends. Smaller clubs tend to have fewer freshman (I'm in one and I feel completely comfortable) and bigger clubs have programs in place to welcome new members and facilitate friendships. If you do not join the Greek system, I highly recommend joining at least one of the larger and more prominent groups on campus. You may also make good friends during drunk conversations at parties. I'm rarely awake at 2 AM on a Tuesday but if I am I'm generally hanging out in the study lounge with my friends or messing around on facebook. Many people do stay up this late doing homework however. While you can easily fit in at Michigan if you don't drink, the majority of the social scene does revolve around it. Michigan offers "UMix" sober events but generally fun loving people who choose not to drink are not going to enjoy that. If you still like to party and dance, just go to the parties and don't drink. I have seen people say to someone who offers them a drink, "I don't drink," and not once has anyone batted an eyelash. Off campus fun generally involves drinking though it doesn't have to. The most popular bars and clubs include Studio 4, Necto, Fifth Quarter, Rick's, Score Keepers (known as Skeeps), and good time Charley's.

There is something for everyone. At the beginning of the year all sorts of clubs set up tables to give you more informations. There is tons to do in the city itself too. Tons of guest speakers from all departments, good movie theaters, one that shows midnight movies sometimes, the other shows a lot of independent movies and foreign films. Theres lots of restaurants, bars, stores basically something for everyone. If you like going to parties there is definitely a plethora of them to choose from. It's a very Greek School, so if you're into that theres lots to choose from (I think something like 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students join the greek system) but even if thats not your scene theres lots of other parties too.