Haglund graduated from Walled Lake Western High School in 2006 and is pursuing a BFA in Musical Theatre at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio, although she took a year off to fulfill her duties as Miss Michigan and prepare for the Miss America pageant and will postpone her studies until she has completed her reign.

After winning the Miss Oakland County local title Haglund competed in the Miss Michigan pageant for the first time, in June 2007. She won a preliminary swimsuit award and at the conclusion of the final competition was crowned Miss Michigan. For her state talent she performed "Adele's Laughing Song" from the operetta Die Fledermaus.

Haglund went on to represent Michigan in the Miss America 2008 pageant broadcast on Tlcfrom the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on January 26, 2008. She won a preliminary swimsuit award on Wednesday night, becoming her state's first Preliminary Swimsuit award since 1987. For her talent she sang "Over the Rainbow". At the conclusion of the live telecast, Haglund was crowned the 83rd Miss America. She succeeds Lauren Nelson, of Lawton, Oklahoma and is Michigan's fifth Miss America and her state's first for twenty years. At 19, Haglund was the youngest girl in the competition, and the youngest Miss America winner since Kimberly Clarice Aiken took the title in 1993. Haglund's grandmother Iora Hunt represented Detroit, Michigan at Miss America 1944. Her platform is eating disorder awareness, as she suffered from anorexia when she was sixteen.

Kirsten Haglund in the Cherry Blossom paradeDuring her first week as Miss America, Haglund appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly, ABC News Now, Inside Edition and Fox and Friends. As part of her support of the Children's Miracle Network, the official platform of Miss America, Haglund has been named spokesperson of IHOP's third annual National Pancake Day in February 2008. She has since thrown the first pitch at the opening game of the Detroit Tigers and appeared in the Washington DC Cherry Blossom Festival parade.