Jake Yono 

6/23/25 

JY Journalism

"We are the best university in the world."

If you have been live at Michigan Stadium aka the "Big House"  in Ann Arbor for a football game in the 3rd most enormous venue in the world, before kickoff you would have seen the banner being set up on the field and the band ready to play "The Victors" but before the Maize and Blue take the field a gong sounds and a special video comes on led by UofM class of 1955 graduate James Earl Jones referencing the University of Michigan and the prestigious football program with terms: Standing for midwestern values of hard work, determination, and an enthusiasm unknown to mankind, students, athletes, and professors achieving at the highest level and it states one fact that the Wolverines have won more games then any team in the country and stating the university as being "the best in the world'. Today, I will be exploring this thought of a university I'm very passionate about and finding evidence to improve or disprove these statements from all parts of the university, not just the football team, academics, or athletic department, because the word University means so much more.

Starting on the admissions side, which is required at any university, a narrative going around is to be the best university has to be the hardest to get into, with noble statistics required, top-ranked programs all across the board, and too many of the same academic backgrounds in one place. This does not make a school the best University, but some argue that. The point I'm trying to make here is that difficulty on the admissions side is not everything. This rules out universities such as Stanford, MIT, Harvard, etc., because they are too rigorous and academic. This is where Michigan comes in, challenging to get into but possible with lower statistics doable with an acceptance rate averaging around all the schools being 20%, Michigan looks for course rigor, high GPAs, good Test scores, if possible, and leaders in their extracurricular communities because they truly uphold and preach these standards through its mission. (University of Michigan President's Office) This makes Michigan a place where you don't need perfect grades or scores, but you must show enthusiasm when applying, and this opens up a whole world of students who will be good enough to make it past the curriculum but the statistics aren't too low where students are coming in without the right academic state of mind, giving it the perfect happy medium.

Next, arguably the most important part of academics is 280 undergrad programs diversified for everyone's interests, in my opinion, one of the only downgrades about this is that you can only apply to 1 of the 14 undergraduate schools for a first-year applicant and although transferring between schools is allowed it differs between institutions so one must be sure when applying they like are passionate about a certain field, Michigan wants the whole world presented on their campus with the 5th ranked diversification of curriculum and students from all 50 states and over 100 foreign countries but the executives don't want Michigan to be veered away from its hometown roots and network as approximately 52% of students come from Michigan and 48% elsewhere making it the perfect mix for blending of ideas which have a Michigan Identity to it. Compared to other schools that claim to be the best university in the world, such as the University of Oxford and Cambridge, with 75% of students from England, and in America, the top side gets worse, with the University of Texas at 75% for kids in Texas only, how ridiculous! On the other side, some schools have no sense of community at all which leads to an unknown identity such as the University of Chicago where only 15% of students are from Illinois, and the University of Notre Dame where 10% of students are from Indiana, these do make up the largest territorial populations for the schools but in these locations there must be more representation to the insitutions roots, my only exception is the east coast schools which are so condemned together in the area but otherwise universities need to have a vast majority (Above 25% at least) to preserve culture because when these universities opened most students lived in a safe traveling distance and Michigan does a perfect job of preserving this and bringing the diversity world into the university.  Mentioned earlier Michigan wants applicants to have some sort of a passion for a general area of study coming in, if not they offer a top 10 liberal arts program known as the School of Literature Science and the Arts (LSA) with over 100 degrees from all types of academic study compared to the other 13 schools which have only 10-15  specific degree options. One can apply for 5-year programs crossing over at certain schools, making you not attached to a certain school, and with tons of minors on campus helps out with this issue. Along with LSA, UofM Kinesiology, Business, Engineering, Education, and production and photography programs are all ranked in the top 10 according to Niche (the University of Michigan Rankings). After a Michigan education, Fortune 500 companies have hired Michigan students but also government agencies such as NASA, the CIA, and FBI, and an alumni network big enough to land an introductory job in any company or industry a graduate wants, U of M's academics are top notch as they are on the larger side but still have around 35,000 students enrolled but with a tight Niche within each school students can get the help they need and feel more at home.

Outside of academics, UofM has the most student organizations of any university, with over 1600 ranging from investing competitions, frats/sororities of any study area, news networks, and simple clubs such as Muay Thai and Spikeball. And since Michigan is in the top 10 of student diversity, almost all Religions, ethnicities, and races have set their mark on campus by having their group or club so everyone can fit in without it being too much of a huge school and not only controlled by the rest of the world or just people from Michigan as it literally has a 50/50 mix with having prestigious academics leaving room for imperfection on applications but the standards are still high which makes it still a serious academic institution and going back to athletics where this all started with 59 team national titles putting them in the top 10 nationwide and since 2020  they've won the most conference championships of current Big 10 school. Wrapping up I would like to note students, athletes, and professors achieving at the highest levels such as the 38th U.S. President Gerald R. Ford who's in the football hall of fame at the university,  Female Icon singer Madonna, Arthur Miller who wrote countless 20th-century classics, athletes such Tom Brady, Michael Phelps, and retired softball coach Carol Hutchins who reigns as the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history with 1,707 wins, a national championship (2005), and 22 Big Ten titles, and professors Carl Akerlof,  Jeff Degraff in the fields of science who made many discoveries is biology and chemistry, and current news reporter and economics professor Justin Wolfers who contributes to MSNBC News, all these professors have influenced the world with their media after Michigan on there subjects. The University of Michigan is the school to get a taste of 1817 Michigander culture at a somewhat bigger school with 14 sub schools inside which experience what the rest of the world has to offer with their subject matters and student groups and the curriculum is good and in my eyes, no one is going to put anything over academics when UofM selects a student, they want the student to change the world with their subject matter at the best University in the world. (Michigan Football Intro Video)