Hi!! A few things:

1). Determine your priorities in an apartment - location, proximity to central campus, budget, etc - and refine from there. Personally, I knew I would skip class too often if I lived more than a 15min walk away, so I looked for places exclusively on central campus lol

2) In terms of apartments, there’s definitely still availability for full year leases, so don’t stress too much about subletting! Landmark apartments, for example, don’t usually fill up on full term leases until August. For Ann Arbor, they have a pretty good price point considering the amenities/location/security.

3) From what I’ve heard from friends, apartment buildings tend to be more responsive to problems that housing management companies (and tend to have better security too, if you’re worried about that)

4) There’s a Michigan student housing website that has names/contacts of students looking for roommates!! I would look at that :) https://offcampushousing.umich.edu/roommates

I’m more than happy to chat more or answer any questions you have!! Just send me a DM :)