When applying to a top-notch school, having "leading roles in several Hollywood movies" or "Olympic gold medalist" on your application would seem to give you a leg up. Check out these celebrities who made the big time and then decided to hit the books.

Figure skater Michelle Kwan, the most decorated American figure skater in history, has retired from the sport and is pursuing a postgraduate degree at Tufts University. Since last summer, Kwan, 30, has been working toward a two-year master's degree. At right, she typed away recently in a Davis Square coffee house.

“My friends here know me as Michelle the Student," she says.