As others have said, the most critical decision is your choice of school.
Not only am I graduating debt free, I’m graduating with an amount saved + invested that people usually have in debt when they leave school. This is, I have to say, a massive advantage over my peers. I’m already seeing that, months out from graduation, because I’ve been able to choose an expensive apartment, book a nice spring break trip, book travel for after I graduate, float myself for months after graduating because I don’t want to start my job right away, plan a nice wedding (in the distance, but still), and more. Like, seriously, the advantage of coming out of college with no debt and money SAVED is super enormous. (My self-congratulations is over now, I promise).
I did this by choosing a school that, well, honestly, I wasn’t incredibly excited about. It’s a school where my stats were in the tippy top percentages – both on numerical measures (GPA, SAT), where I’d say I was at least top 5%, and also on qualitative stuff like work experience, awards, etc, going into college.
The numerical measures are what are gonna matter most for you, as the qualitative stuff is more of a hail mary thing that may or may not net scholarships for you (depends on schools and how they give out their awards, etc).
Realistically, you need to find a school where your stats are tippy top (if you’re aiming to graduate debt free through scholarships). And, realistically, UMich ain’t it.
I’m also in engineering, so you can trust me when I say that where you go for engineering undergrad super does not matter (so long as it’s ABET accredited). I went to an unranked institution (UNRANKED! Not low-ranked, UNranked) and still ended up at an elite tech company. My peers at that tech company went to the schools I wished I could go to, but wouldn’t have been able to afford. Such is life.
So: pick an affordable school (it’s not gonna be UMich).
EDIT: Alternatively, you can just go to a cheap college that you can afford out of pocket, if there are any.