University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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Here to Learn Academics Take Top Priority 6 I spend 80 percent of my time study- ing. Everyone has to make a choice: You can either study and do well or party and suffer the consequences, said Heidi Grif- fin, freshman in LS A. Such diligence usually pays off. Ap- proximately 95 percent of the freshmen enrolled at the University are eligible to continue for their sophomore year. There are many factors contributing to U-M ' s low attrition rate. One is the crite- ria for admission. According to Lance Erickson, Associate Director of Admis- sions, the admissions process concentrates on predicting academic success. All we consider is the grade point aver- age, class rank, and test scores, but we do take the curriculum into account, Erick- son said. Extracurricular activities play no role in admission selection. Sure, we want the well-rounded individual, but we ' re not go- ing to deny the budding Einstein who ' s just a bookworm. Erickson continued, We achieve diversity simply through the diver- sity of students we attract. The end result is a very competitive stu- dent body. Many are enrolled in pre-pro- fessional programs, and over 80 percent of Michigan undergraduates pursue graduate studies. Sophomore Rob Susel admits the cur- riculum is demanding but not impossible. You can make a lot out of it if you put time into it. Many students spend 15 to 20 hours a week reading, studying, and researching. Libraries are full during weekends. Col- lege is not the party high school students dream about. There ' s a lot of academic pressure to succeed. I don ' t think it ' s necessarily forced on by parents, but there are some who feel a lot of parental pressure to suc- ceed, societal pressure to succeed, ex- plained a student in LS A. Another reason for the low attrition rate is students ' pressure on themselves. MSA President Scott Page said, Students feel as though they have to excel because most of them excelled in high school. These stu- dents have excelled their entire lives; they don ' t want to come here and not do well. Angell Hall photo by Jeff Schrier. Inset photos by Kristine Golubovskis and Ed Winfield. Academics The University not only expects aca- demic success, it requires it. Michigan has taken the position historically that we ' ll provide it (a good education), but you have to come and get it. This institu- tion is not going to spoonfeed anybody. It expects you to be a self-starter, ready to come out of the blocks when you walk through the doors. It assumes that you are ready for the academics, said Henry Johnson, Vice-President of Student Ser- vices. Most of the students here are very good students. They ' re very bright. They know how to study, and if they don ' t they learn quickly, or they ' ll have a very short stay, Johnson stated. Michigan doesn ' t have weeks of study days to prepare for finals like other institu- tions; it doesn ' t allow students easy with- drawal from classes after the third week. It simply demands the very best from its stu- dents. Michigan is a highly prestigous, com- plex, competitive, quality institution, ac- cording to one University administrator. It ' s all of those things. It ' s difficult to get a degree from this place. Angell Hall, named after former University presi- dent James Angell, provides a learning atmosphere for students.

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Students Affected By Reputation, Michigan is the only school I applied to. It ' s the only one I wanted to attend. It ' s really a very good school, said Maria Booker, junior from Bloomfield Hills. In 1984, 14,680 people applied to attend the University of Michigan, but only 4,360 enrolled in the fall. Every year, more and more students apply to the country ' s most reputable public institution. U-M ' s national recognition has attract- ed more people than ever before. With its esteemed faculty, vast research facilities, and highly-ranked departments, Michi- gan ' s popularity continues to build. Competition for admissions is stiff. Ac- cording to Lance Erickson, Associate Di- rector of Admissions, the enlarged appli- cant pool has resulted in higher qualifica- tion standards. The median SAT score for incoming freshmen last year was 540 ver- bal, 600 math. We raised the guidelines for admissions because the number of ap- plicants has increased steadily, particular- ly out-of-state, Erickson said. Why the sudden change in a public uni- versity located in the midwest? It has the I I third best engineering college in the coun- try, Sophomore William Gilliam stated. Others attend because it ' s close to home or because family members were educated here. But the quality of the institution re- mains its most attractive feature. Along with the increasing number of applications, the cost of attending the Uni- versity of Michigan is rising steadily. The Office of Financial Aid reported tuition for Michigan residents costs $2,428 a year. Non-residents pay approximately $7,240, making Michigan one of the most expen- 8 Students Changing Photos by Kristine Golubovskis