Best and worst of university of michigan

<p>Can anyone tell me some things you like and dislike about UM? I plan on applying in a few months and just want to get some student perspectives before i tour it in the spring. Thanks!</p>

<p>Best:</p>

<p>-great academics
-cool campus, variety of restaurants
-Decent facility, excellent faculty</p>

<p>Worst:</p>

<p>-Ridiculously high acceptance rate (50%), which means a lot of dumb kids getting into a good college. Which means a depressingly low 4 year graduation rate</p>

<p>All in all, though, Michigan is an elite public university.</p>

<p>^^
Which of the following is true?</p>

<p>Michigan has a ridiculously high acceptance rate?
Michigan admits a lot of dumb kids?
Michigan has a depressingly low graduation rate?
Michigan is an elite public university?</p>

<p>This is just my two cents:</p>

<p>Michigan’s freshman class is typically between 5,000-7,000 students, so they essentially HAVE to admit over 10,000 people to fill up their class. While this may mean a 45-50% acceptance rate, hopefully the Common App will raise the number of applications for next year and possibly lower the acceptance rate.</p>

<p>Though Michigan may admit some “dumb” (whatever that may mean to you) kids each year, you’ll probably find at least a few students that aren’t particularly bright at ANY college. I don’t know much about the graduation rates, though I can imagine that fewer engineers graduate in 4 years than most other students, as is probably the case at any college with engineering.</p>

<p>Even though I am only a sophomore at Michigan, I believe it is an elite public university. When highly-educated adults from my home state (Maryland) hear that I go to Michigan, they become impressed and usually say something along the lines of “great school!”</p>

<p>Best:

  • Great academics; practically every major is highly ranked
  • Cool campus that, IMO, is the perfect size (not too small so that I’ll have seen everything so much by the time I graduate, but not too big so that I could feel lost and overwhelmed).
  • Lots of extracurriculars and clubs, from Greek life to sports to political clubs to religious organizations, offering the opportunity to meet and become friends with diverse (and I use that term grudgingly, because I’ve heard that word one too many times on campus at this point) people.</p>

<p>Worst:

  • If you don’t come in as a freshman with a ton of AP/IB credits, registration for classes can be kind of painful. I’ve typically had to rework my schedule at least 3 times because of classes filling up rather quickly.
  • Dorm food isn’t the greatest, so the majority of upperclassmen live off campus.</p>

<p>I hope this helps and answers your questions aglages!</p>

<p>I actually like the food.</p>

<p>I apologize for being unnecessarily blunt in that last post. I do not believe Michigan admits “dumb” kids. Rather, they admit too many kids who aren’t compatible with the rigorous academics of the university.</p>

<p>Worst
-Low acceptance rate on out of state kids. :(</p>

<p>I am hoping to be admitted!</p>

<p>Worst:</p>

<p>Weather. Of the bipolar variety. I’ve been living in Michigan for 6-7 years now, so I should be used to it, but you never really get used to 79 degree weather in March followed shortly by 40 degree weather. I used to live in Toronto, which was overall colder, but much more consistent. You don’t have to look at the forecast to know what temperatures to expect. Not the case for Ann Arbor.</p>

<p>CharlieHarper,</p>

<p>How do you know who/what Michigan accepts? In one thread you’re asking about what books to order for the Fall and then here you act like you know what it takes to succeed at this school…</p>

<p>Just from my stay at orientation it feels like there may be kids that don’t seem as cut out for it, trying to put that as nice as possible. It seems a lot harder to get in from out of state then in state to say the least.</p>

<p>Who’s dumb? The kids who “don’t seem as cut out for it,” or the kids who think a bunch of dummies go to Michigan and come here anyway? Have a little respect for each other, folks. These are your classmates you’re talking about.</p>

<p>I’m just commenting on the one poster above. It seems easier to get in i you are in state or out of state. If I thought Michigan was full of dummies why would I go there?</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Do you attend UM? If so, you’re nieve. If not, you really shouldn’t be commenting until you experience a semester or two. He’s just speaking the truth. There are a large amount of kids who struggle. Whether it is attributed to “dumbness” or a lack of work ethic (for some it’s the former, for others it’s the latter, for others it’s both), it translates to not being “cut out for it”. What do you think the concept of average GPA is? GPA across the university is essentially a skewed bell curve. There are several students with sub-3.0 GPAs, sub 2.5 GPAs, and dropouts due to grade problems every year. This should be no surprise – it is how it is at most universities.</p>

<p>Having those students who struggle can be a good thing. I mean, they’re like cushions so you can be on the right side of the bell curve :)</p>

<p>"Do you attend UM? If so, you’re nieve. If not, you really shouldn’t be commenting until you experience a semester or two. He’s just speaking the truth. There are a large amount of kids who struggle. Whether it is attributed to “dumbness” or a lack of work ethic (for some it’s the former, for others it’s the latter, for others it’s both), it translates to not being “cut out for it”. What do you think the concept of average GPA is? GPA across the university is essentially a skewed bell curve. There are several students with sub-3.0 GPAs, sub 2.5 GPAs, and dropouts due to grade problems every year. This should be no surprise – it is how it is at most universities. "</p>

<p>I am a senior, and I am not suggesting that everyone here is brilliant. I was only suggesting that the students who can’t stop going on and on about how dumb so many Michigan students are must be pretty dumb themselves to be spending the money to come here anyway if they think so lowly of the university’s admissions practices.</p>

<p>^I agree…</p>

<p>Damn, all i said was it seems easier to get in IS than OOS</p>

<p>I wasn’t necessarily speaking to you specifically. It’s just become a trend lately to **** and moan about all the morons UM admits and I just don’t understand why people would pay so much to come here if they are so displeased with the student body. And it’s certainly not a good attitude to adopt about your classmates before you even start your freshman year. For all you know you’ll turn out to be one of those people you’re talking about.</p>

<p>I don’t pay to come here for the students</p>

<p>If you want to have the attitude that you are superior before you even get here and start meeting your classmates, far be it from me to stop you.</p>