Zak Zinter attended Buckingham Browne & Nichols High School in Boston, Massachusetts. He was named the Boston Herald and Boston Globe All-Scholastic athlete in football and track and field. He was rated as a four-star prospect by both Rivals and ESPN. He graduated in January of his senior year and enrolled early at Michigan.
As a freshman in 2020 he appeared in all six games, with four starts at right guard. His sophomore season was stellar as he started 12 games at right guard and was part of an offensive line that was awarded the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation's top offensive line. He was named Second-Team All-Big Ten.
Zinter entered the 2023 season as a Draft 412 Second-Team All-American. Zinter was having an All-American type season and then suffered a gruesome broken leg late in the season.