What are my next steps?

“College isn’t that far away…what are the next steps and how do we take them?”

If you're like a lot of other parents, the college selection process might feel like it’s dragging along right now. While some students know where they’re headed, some are in decision-making mode, others are waiting on financial aid offers, and some are just deciding to get started.

If your student is ready to make CMU their choice, or is considering it, we want you to know exactly what their next steps are. 

There are a number of reasons why this can get complicated—busy households, other priorities, using a new cmich.edu email account, and different processes for different schools—but we’re here to make it easier. 

5 steps your student can take toward CMU

1. Making your college decision

If your student has already made their decision to attend CMU, you can skip to #2. If not, then here are some next steps you can take.

• If you want to meet in person with someone to get additional questions answered, you’re able to do that several times over the coming months. CMU will be hosting several admitted student events, both on campus and off, from February until May. 
• If you’d rather save time, or a trip to an event doesn’t work, you can always call our office Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. at 989-774-3076 or email us at cmuadmissions@cmich.edu. We’re happy to provide the information you need to help make your college decision. 

2. Submit your enrollment deposit.

Once your student has made their decision to attend CMU, the next step is pay the $200 enrollment fee. This fee unlocks the ability to take each of the steps below as well. 

• The fee can be paid at https://fireup.cmich.edu/account/login. 
• Your student will use the email and password they used when they submitted their application to CMU.
• Fee waivers are available if a student is eligible for a Pell Grant, which requires that CMU has received your FAFSA, or if you can show proof that the FAFSA provided you a Student Aid Index of $0 or less.
  

3. Sign up for orientation.

After a student has submitted their enrollment deposit, students can sign up for new student orientation. Orientation dates are available right now for transfer students, while registration for first-year students opens the week of February 19!

• Orientation can be scheduled at https://fireup.cmich.edu/account/login.
• Your student will use the email and password they used when they submitted their application to CMU.
• During orientation, your student will register for their first year of classes with the help of an academic advisor.

4. Set up your CMU account.

Another key step for students is to create their CMU account, which allows them to do several important things moving forward, like signing up for housing, viewing their financial aid offer once it is available, and creating their CMU email.  Setting up their account securely can be done in a couple short steps.

• Go to  https://fireup.cmich.edu/account/login and look for the “Set up your CMU Account” step. Take note of your CMU Account PIN that is listed there.
• Click on “Set up you CMU Account”. You’ll need the PIN during the last step of this process. 
• After you’ve set up your account, you can now set up CMU’s security  “multi-factor authentication”, which is a security process to ensure only you can log into your account. Go to this web page, and follow the “How do I set up MFA?” steps. 

5. Start your housing application.

After you’ve submitted your enrollment deposit, you will receive an email in your cmich.edu email account with information about housing, and a link to fill out your housing application.

• The housing application requires students to use their CMU Global ID and password to login. 
• In order to login using your Global ID and password from off-campus, a student must have also completed the process for CMU’s multi-factor authentication (DuoMobile).