Your Student Experience

LSA is a big college, and whether you're already an LSA student or you're hoping to become one, you're bound to have questions.  Look below for more information on the opportunities you have within LSA.  Still in the process of deciding or applying?  You can register as a prospective student to get info from Michigan, apply online to Michigan, or schedule a visit to campus through the UM Admissions office.

Academic Success in LSA

College is different than high school.  No surprise, right?  But with the transition comes new opportunities and new responsibilities.  Here are some recommendations for success in LSA:

  • Visit your advisors: Advising is the best place to start .  Advisors can help you find opportunities you didn't know existed at UM.
  • Use the learning centers: LSA maintains several learning centers staffed by professors, grad students, and upperclass students who can answer questions, help you study, etc
  • Be proactive: Advisors, learning centers, the career center... There are countless resources available for you to choose from.  But you have to seek them out; and you should.  Surveys of LSA students show that the best students use these resources -- whether they're in "trouble" or not.
  • Look for your courses that interest you: When fulfilling LSA requirements, there are thousands of courses to choose from.  Finding courses that are of interest will expose you to new things, and you're more likely to do well.

Why it's OK to change your major

Maybe you know you're going to be pre-med.  Or pre-business.  Or a teacher, an artist, a researcher, a journalist, or an economist.  But ask yourself this: Have you ever been exposed to more than 70 academic departments and programs, over 100 degree options, and 3,000 courses?  Thousands of LSA students find that simply by browsing the course guide, talking to a student, or taking a chance on an unknown course entire new options for their future open up.

LSA alumni have taken Chinese Studies degrees and gone into acting, taken statistics degrees and gone into marketing, and taken individualized modern art degrees and gone into culinary arts.  Your major (or concentration, as we call it) doesn't define your career.  It's not the individual facts you learn that make up your education: It's how you learn and how you apply what you learn that matter.  

In fact, LSA offers a Bachelor of General Studies and an Individualized Concentration Program that allow you to explore your academic interests in different ways.  The reason is because flexibility is critical to a top-quality education.  LSA is committed to providing that flexibility, to making sure that each department is top caliber.  All we ask in return is that you remain flexible and keep your options open.

Consider the following:

  • Fact: More than 70 programs are ranked in the top 25, more than 45 in the top 10, and more than 25 in the top 5 in the country.
    So what? No matter what major you choose, you'll be engaged by some of the brightest, best faculty in the country.  You'll have no choice but to become a better problem-solver, communicator, and analytical thinker.
  • Fact: A recent panel of business, policy, and labor leaders convened by the Association of American Colleges and Universities conducted a poll among employers: More than 60% of potential employees do not have the skills to be successful in today's global, information-based economy.
    So what? Their recommendation?  A liberal arts education.  So we recommend that you take advantage of all that this particular liberal arts college has to offer, both in the classroom and outside it.
  • Fact: Many, many students go through a change in academic direction at least once while in college.  Despite that, LSA's six-year graduation rate is above 90%.
    So what? That's one of the best figures for a school of UM's size.  Students change their major and graduate in four years all the time.  The important thing is to find a major that engages you and lets you really become a more well-rounded, free-thinking, analytical person.  Those are skills you can use for a lifetime in any career, any path.

Engage Your Education

Core to a contemporary education is the notion of engagement.  As a liberal arts college, LSA subscribes to the idea that you should learn individual concepts that can be applied to virtually every problem you'll ever encounter.  But as a leader in modern education, LSA provides a great deal more than classroom instruction for our students.  It is these "non-traditional" approaches to education that form a complete LSA experience.

Whether you're interested in the humanities, the natural sciences, or the social sciences, LSA has countless options that will add a unique dimension to your education -- and they don't look terribly bad on a résumé either.

Michigan Learning Communities: While many MLC's are aimed at incoming students, most of them have an option for current students as well.  These programs combine a small community structure with specialized topics ranging from German language to health sciences to community service.

Research: A benefit of going to school at a liberal arts college within a major research institution is that in addition to a well-rounded educational experience, you're able to engage in the practice of creating new knowledge -- the textbooks, scholarly journals, and newspaper reports of tomorrow. Michigan has the largest research budget in the world, so come prepared to take part.  Some options:

    • Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP): Through UROP, you can join about 1,000 other undergrads in doing research in faculty projects.  Over 600 faculty members participate in projects which range from comparative literature to kidney disease.
    • Informal research opportunities: Faculty aren't kidding when they say they want to meet you or when they encourage you to come to office hours.  Hundreds of students become engaged in research of some kind simply by getting to know a professor with whom they share a common interest.  Sit in the back and never say a word to a professor and you may never get the opportunity -- but engage, and you might be engaged right back.
    • Summer Research Opportunity Program

Off-Campus Experiences

    • Biological Station (BioStation or UMBS): Do research and/or take classes in very small groups with biology professors at one of the premier collegiate field stations in the country.  Located in northern Michigan along the shore of Douglas Lake
    • Camp Davis: Head to Jackson, Wyoming, to take courses in geology at a field camp maintained by LSA's Department of Geological Sciences
    • New England Literature Program (NELP): Travel to the wooded hills of New England and study American literature with professors and fellow students.
    • Project Outreach: One of a number of courses with both an in-class and out-of-class component.  This particular course is in Psychology and puts students into the community in any number of capacities ranging from the justice system to medical facilities.
    • Telluride House

Study Abroad: UM has ranked among the top global universities in the world for a number of reasons.  Opportunities for students to travel abroad is just one of them.

 

Go Global

UM has been ranked among the top global universities in the world and recognized countless times for its focus on international experiences.  Our students come from over 75 countries and travel to nearly as many through study abroad opportunities.  LSA is home to the International Institute, one of the most renowned homes to interdisciplinary study of international issues in the world with professors who have advised three US Presidents and a number of Senators and Congressmen.

Study Abroad:

Academics:

 

Got Questions?

There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of people to turn to for help within LSA.  But the easiest, best resources are often the place to start.  Here are a few places to consider when you've got a question:

Graduation and The Real World

Graduation's getting close.  Most students have questions about all the forms they need to fill out, where they need to go, and what they're going to do after they leave campus.  Here are some place that may be of help.

  • Applying for Graduation
    You'll apply for graduation through the advising office, and you'll undergo a degree audit to ensure you've met your requirements
  • Registrar's Office
    Your diploma will be mailed from the registrar after graduation
  • UM Commencement Site
    The University maintains a website with information about the graduation ceremony, logistics, speakers, et cetera
  • The Career Center
    If you're looking for an internship or a job, this is a good place to start
  • Alumni Association
    The Alumni Association provides on free year of membership to all recent graduates.  All you need to do is apply.  They hold regular tailgate parties at Michigan Stadium and at the sites of all away games as well as provide news and updates on campus and unique travel opportunities for alumni.  They also host inCircle, a Facebook-style tool specifically for UM.  Use the Association to look up local groups of alumni if you're moving to a new city.
  • Online Giving at UM
    Giving?  As in money?  After graduation?  Maybe.  All colleges require private gifts, generally from alumni, to sustain their operations, to develop scholarships to combat increasing tuition, and to provide for programs.  State appropriations have dropped by orders of magnitude over the past 25 years, so these donations have become even more important.  No one can make you give, but it's no coincidence that the best schools in the country have the best giving programs.  Something to consider.