<p>Depends on what type of medical school one wants to attend. The same rules of doing extremely well whereever you are, apply to getting into a top ranked medical program. Michigan’s medical school is pretty highly ranked and if they have a preference for Michigan’s grads, it is worth going there. Yale has a preference for Yale students for Law but I have not heard of such a preference in the medical school.</p>
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<p>Has the OP posted something inferring this, or is this conjecture?</p>
<p>So much confusion about the underlying reason for this thread, including by myself, I just assumed there was some family concern :(.</p>
<p>Purely conjecture entomom! OP did not mention anything other than personal. </p>
<p>Could be any of the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>family finances (sounded like parents are at 200K which kind of eliminated that unless they don’t want to pay for it);</p></li>
<li><p>health issues;</p></li>
<li><p>commitment to location for at least one year since OP is considering transfer after an year.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The 3rd one leads to relationship questions or conjecture.</p>
<p>Well, since we don’t know what the OP’s reason’s for turning Yale down are, we can’t really give him/her any concrete advice. I also realize that the OP’s reason for starting this thread was not to ask for advice with regard to whether (s)he should go to Yale.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I would seriously reconsider whether turning Yale down is a good idea in the long run. At present, I can’t think of any reason why one would turn Yale down for UMich…</p>
<p>The OP has stated that money isn’t the main issue. Besides, (s)he is unlikely to get significantly more aid from UMich.
(S)he has also stated that his/her plan to study pre-med make UMich a better school. I tend to disagree because:
[ul] [<em>] It is unlikely that one will get significantly higher grades at UMich than at Yale
[</em>] A Yale degree will be more favorably viewed by any med school - even UMich’s - than a UMich degree.
[li] The quality of Yale’s undergraduate pre-med programs is at least on-paar with, if not superior to, the corresponding programs at UMich. [/ul][/li]Furthermore, it’s worth considering that it is highly unlikely that the OP will actually end up going to med school anyway, because the vast majority of undergraduates intending to do pre-med change their minds within a year. Thus, it would be silly to turn down the superior education offered by Yale simply because one plans to go to med-school.</p>
<p>The OP has also stated that (s)he wants to stay in Michigan for personal reasons. If, as some have speculated, this means that (s)he has BF/GF issues, then (s)he should certianly go to Yale. It’s worth considering that something like 10% of high-school relationships ever turn into anything significant - and if the OP’s relationship is really one of those 10%, then it will be strong enough to handle the separation.</p>
<p>I would really be interested in hearing the OP’s personal reasons for choosing UMich, if (s)he is willing to share them. The opportunity to turn down Yale doesn’t come every day; and it’s not a decision one should make quickly.</p>
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If we are allowed to let our imagination run away, here is another pure conjecture:</p>
<p>It appears both parents of OP are faculty of some university. If that university happens to be UMich, there may be some incentive to go there. Familiarity with where the education resources are and how to access them could be very helpful (esp. for ECs in the research area.)</p>
<p>At least at kid’s high school, if a student’s parent happens to be, say, a faculty member in the math department of a nearby university, more likely than not, (s)he may have above-average achievement in that area (and also have a much better chance of having higher standardized test scores due to the growing-up environment, and blessed genes?) The same could be said if the parent is a biologist, chemist, etc. Of course, the student needs to be willing to live physically close to their parents during the 4 years – many at that age may freak out if they are asked to do so :)</p>
<p>^lol at that last sentence :D</p>
<p>OP is right. If you apply SCEA to Yale, you may still apply “priority” (Nov 1st deadline) or EA to your instate (flagship) school. They clarified this when we visited. Also we called Yale Admissions again to clarify when my D was applying SCEA to Yale and also considering U-Mich. They said no way for U-Mich and Yale EA (must chose only one) as we’re not from Michigan.
D got admitted to both Yale - SCEA and our state flagship school - EA. This clear example - guided by specific answers (by Yale) to specific questions from us should settle this, I think.</p>
<p>Literally thousands of EA applicants to Yale would do just about anything to have been accepted. It kills me when I see people like you who don’t end up going after having applied EA. I understand that you have your reasons for considering UMich over Yale but consider yourself extremely lucky if choosing between these two schools is one of your biggest problems.</p>
<p>"It kills me when I see people like you " C’mon dashboard. ABOUT A THIRD of admitted students to Yale turn down the offer. It’s not your life. Why single this person out?</p>
<p>^lol at the second to last sentence.
This is true. If OP decides to go for UMich, it’s also somewhat beneficial for those <em>not naming naMEs</em> who were deferred EA and would like another shot at their dream school. It’s only one spot, but that spot could be opened up for someone who would truly do anything to get it.
With that said, I think we should stop assuming what the OP’s personal reasons are - it’s clear he doesn’t want to discuss them, and our meaningless conjecturing is probably making it worse for him/her.</p>
<p>I think there are plenty of personal reasons that would justify choosing MIchigan over Yale, and others that really don’t.
For example, if there is a family member who is ill and you want to stay nearby, that’s a good reason.
If your BF/GF is going to Michigan, or is going to be in high school for another year, that’s almost certainly not a good reason. If this is the reason, learn how to Skype and see how things go.
If your parents are afraid to have you go so far away, that’s probably not a good reason.
If you or your parents are afraid that New Haven isn’t safe, that’s not a good reason–it’s safe for any reasonable person.
If you are afraid that the work at Yale will be too hard, that’s not a good reason–they wouldn’t take you if you couldn’t do the work.
If you just love Michigan better than Yale, that’s a good reason.</p>
<p>Hunt - OP has not provided his reason so we are guessing at it.</p>
<p>However, you may want to address his opinion about Yale being good for some areas but not the areas he is considering.</p>
<p>"I plan to go to med school, or possibly be an engineer, so that’s why I’m not too bothered by turning Yale down, as wonderful as I know it and the people who go there are. If I wanted to go into finance or something like that, I would definitely reconsider Yale. "</p>
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<p>But you don’t really need to get into a “top-ranked” medical school in order to have a quite successful, productive (and lucrative) career as a physician. The physician with the fancy undergrad and med school degrees does exactly the same thing as the physician with the un-fancy undergrad and med school degrees - and if they are partners together, they make the same. Being a dermatologist is being a dermatologist. Being an ear-nose-and-throat guy is being an ear-nose-and-throat guy. Going to a “fancy” medical school is really only relevant for those interested in academic medicine. The world of medicine is FAR more “flat” than the worlds of law and business.</p>
<p>“The world of medicine is FAR more “flat” than the worlds of law and business”. </p>
<p>So true. I can attest to that - especially for medicine.
But if you have the opportunity to attend the best of colleges / med schools, I say go for it - as that may open doors for you to make an even bigger impact in your world. It’s not necessarily about the money - as we all know.</p>
<p>Well, my wife went to Yale and then to Duke Medical School. I can’t say much about engineering.</p>
<p>if the OP thinks a lack of prestige at Michigan (comparative to Yale) might hold them back or something, he/she can always go into the Michigan honors program (for LSA); it’s a pretty elite group with entering stats comparable to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. There both great schools, I don’t think going to Michigan instead of Yale will ruin your life haha</p>
<p>KDog - “their web site contradicts itself.” - not disagreeing but I see humor in a less than clearly written Ivy league admissions website :)</p>