Some of Our Favorite Portfolio Artifacts Ross Applicants Have Submitted Recently

One of the things we get the most questions about from prospective students (besides, “What are my chances of getting into Ross?”) is our admissions portfolio and the artifact we ask prospective students to submit.

I understand why. It’s weird that we call it an “artifact”. That’s not a word that gets thrown around a lot in the college application process. But once applicants understand what we want for the artifact, many tell us that this portion is their favorite component of the portfolio.

What Is An Artifact? 

The artifact is an additional aspect of the application unique to Michigan Ross where we ask you to submit anything of importance that shines a light on who you are as a person, what you’re proud of and passionate about, and how you’d fit in with the Ross community. 

When choosing an artifact, try to find the “missing piece” in your application. What don’t we know about you? Consider sharing something that you are proud of and that is unique to your identity or your personal story. You will often hear our team say, “Think of your four years of high school. What are you most proud of? Where did you learn or grow the most? Where did you spend most of your time?” The best artifacts show learning and growth.
Artifact examples can include a high school project or paper, a significant contribution to an extracurricular activity, a community newspaper article highlighting an important achievement, a link to a personal website or blog (you may want to include a few highlights with the URL in a document), a piece on a school or community program or event that you were instrumental in creating or implementing, a certificate of a high school or community award, or something we haven’t listed here. It should be something that shows your passion and a unique aspect of yourself. It does not need to be business related. 
Artifacts can be uploaded in various forms of multimedia, including videos, PDFs, JPEGs, PowerPoint presentations, etc. We suggest keeping your artifact to an appropriate length. You might want to share a lengthy project or paper, and we may not be able to read the entire document. Thus, consider uploading a few pages to highlight what you really want to showcase.

When you break it down, “artifact” really is the best name for what is, essentially, anything at all. 

To help inspire you when thinking about what you might want to submit with your application, I’m sharing a few examples of our favorite artifacts.

PRIYANKA’S PERSONAL BLOG
Artifact:
A screenshot of the comments section of her personal blog
Why we liked it:
We often see high school students who work toward classes to get a grade, but we want students who take that a bit further. Priyanka’s blog did that. She wrote posts related to her learning and went the extra mile to explore how her school work connected to other topics she was interested in.
In her words:
I asked Priyanka to share a little bit about her artifact and why she chose it

 

CARTER’S MUG
Artifact:
A mug with his podcast logo on it
Why we liked it:
Through his podcast, he learned soft lessons about speaking eloquently, listening carefully, and crafting engaging conversations, along with audio editing skills, and social media promotion. We liked that his positive podcasts have taught him to have hope in the stories of humanity, which sometimes are overlooked with all of the world's tragedies.
In his words:
I asked Carter to share a little bit about his artifact and why he chose it

 

JOHANNE’S MOCK TRIAL
Artifact:
Video of a mock trial practice
Why we liked it:
Johanne submitted a video of a practice session, instead of a polished, final performance. It showed us that she puts in the time necessary to get better at the things she’s passionate about.
In her words:
I asked Johanne to share a little bit about her artifact and why she chose it

Remember, the artifact is not something we want you to create for the purposes of your application to Michigan Ross. This should be something that already exists that you’re sharing with us.