The bus system is free and excellent. And central campus and downtown AA is very walkable. My kid had a volunteer assignment 20-30 minutes away from a campus last Fall and the bus route(s) worked perfectly. Why would you need a car unless you wanted to go to other cities? Just walk or take an Uber/Lyft. And the Flyer takes you to and from the airport for $12 each way.
While there’s no guarantee of of housing beyond freshman year, getting into Stockwell or North Quad as a sophomore isn’t really that difficult. Demand tends to be light(er), because most students WANT to live “off campus.” My kid and friend/peer network all got “off campus” or Greek housing, because they didn’t want to live in the dorms anymore and eat dorm food. I nearly begged my kid to sign up for Stockwell or North Quad to no effect. They were both available, very nice remodeled dorms with dining nearby. In fact, Stockwell, looks like Hogwarts to me. Beautiful.
Having said all that, for History, I’d probably pick Brown and Penn over UMich too, assuming school spirit is NOT one of the criteria for choosing schools.