Future Wolverine hopefuls broke the record for the highest amount of undergraduate admissions applications in history for the 2013-2014 school year.

This year over 46,000 applications — up from 42,000 last year — were submitted along with 3,000 transfer applications. This is the seventh consecutive year the number of applications has increased.

Ted Spencer, associate vice provost and executive director of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, said the increase in recent years has much to do with use of the Common Application and a growing out-of-state demographic. Spencer said this makes the University unusual in comparison to other institutions.

He said both the number and quality of applications from out-of-state and international students has increased in recent years.

“Even though our commitment to identify and recruit and admit and encourage enrollment of in-state students has never been stronger, the current demographics indicate that the number of Michigan high-school grads is decreasing,” Spencer said.

Although he doesn’t know the official numbers of all schools across the country, Spencer believes Michigan has the highest amount of applicants of Big Ten schools, and one of the highest among public universities.

The University’s work in recent years to market and promote the school across the country and around the world has been a major factor in drawing out-of-state applicants.

Spencer said major athletic achievements like the Michigan Men's Basketball Final Four run also help contribute to the University’s popularity.

While having more applicants to choose from is helpful to admissions officers, it means a higher amount of competition for the applicants.

As of May, 15,432 applicants were offered admission with 6,452 of them making an enrollment deposit, a University press release said.

Spencer said the University generally has around a 32 percent acceptance rate, putting the school in the category of “selective” to “highly selective.”

He added that the University’s admissions staff works to select a highly competitive, holistic class.

Evidence of a strong applicant includes going beyond having a solid grade point average and “laundry list” of extracurricular activities. The admissions staff looks for students to challenge themselves, take honors or advanced placement classes and show long-term commitment to a few clubs or teams rather than minimal impact in many groups, Spencer said.

“Most of the students who apply to the University of Michigan can do the work here, they’re qualified,” he said. “But at the same time, we’re trying to make certain that we can offer a wonderful experience to all of our students and so having a smaller class size is by design.”

Spencer added that the smaller class size contributes to the University’s graduation rate of 90 percent compared to the national average, which lies within a 50 percent to 60 percent range.

He said he anticipates that applicant numbers will only continue to grow as the University becomes stronger and more globally connected.

Miles Weinstein, a rising freshman from Chicago, Ill., said he applied because of the caliber of Michigan’s Engineering School and his family’s long history of attending the University.

“I realized that a bigger school would be able to provide more opportunities,” Weinstein said. “I’d probably be able to study more of what I want.”

Even with the higher competition, Weinstein said he didn’t feel any added pressure when applying.

“I guess I knew that the statistics said, in general, admissions were getting harder every year,” Weinstein said.