<p>S is admitted to both. We live in MA near Boston. A bit of aid from BU makes the costs comparably staggering...but I digress. He is also on the wait list at Oberlin. </p>
<p>Which to choose? He will pursue Oberlin, but our immediate concern is Plan B -- the places to which he has been admitted.</p>
<p>Potential major = political science.
EC interest, strongest = music (violist)
Definitely seeks good performance opportunities for non-majors. Likely will minor in music, wants to keep open possibility of double degree. Music has shaped his friendship group for years.</p>
<p>He's social, but not preppy. We frown on Greek life, drinking, drugging. Like his parents, he's politically left-wing. Very good student, great discussion participation, but not elite-level. Rabid Red Sox fan, but UMich football attracts his interest. Mom is UMich alum with so-so experience there. Mom & Dad's perception is that UMich is superior, but we also remember 3 decades of BU's history, so find it difficult to wrap our heads around the idea that it has become more academically weighty than in the past.</p>
<p>I like all the schools you mentioned. My daughter goes to Michigan and really likes the school. She wasn't a football fan when she first got there, but is now.</p>
<p>"DS" means "dear son", "S" means "son", sorry about that.</p>
<p>If I understand you right, you are saying that your son is OK with either in the sense that otherwise he wouldn't have applied to them. And so now he doesn't have a strong preference or antipathy so how to choose?</p>
<p>UMich wasn't right for me partly because of personal/family issues; and partly because I likely would have been happier in a smaller college, which I was not allowed to apply to. I was in the Residential College, which was pretty good back then, though somewhat daunting for a 1st-generation college student. Then I basically transferred out into LSA, but never really became integrated into larger campus life. It was not until I was a 2nd-semester senior that a faculty member suggested I continue my education beyond undergrad, though I consistently have tested (and been graded) very well. The best thing that happened to me through UM is that I went abroad to Edinburgh for a semester, and met the man who became my husband. </p>
<p>Nevertheless we dragged our son to UM last summer, where he responded to the liveliness of the campus, if not the size of classes -- a huge drawback in my book. I think our son will have a completely different experience than mine if he attends UM -- he is more sophisticated, more gregarious, and has experience building and maintaining an extracurricular activities peer group. Does that answer your questions?</p>
<p>Basically, yes, he says he will be happy wherever he goes. But he is also to some extent unable to visualize what college life will be like at <em>any</em> school.</p>
<p>S is UMich grad '03 with double major in poli-sci and history. Undergrad poli sci dept is ranked (if it matters) #3 in country. We learned this only when we attended his graduation reception for poli-sci majors. No grade inflation. That could be good or bad for some postgrad goals, but I personally believe it's better for the value of the overall education. S is excellent, but also not elite student, who worked his tail off and also had time for fun. Went straight to law school after graduation. He loved his time there - big football AND hockey fan. Definitely NOT PREPPY, no greek for him or his many friends - no big deal. It is not pervasive at all.</p>
<p>Don't know about minoring in music (assume he's admitted to LS&A). Which school does your S prefer?</p>
<p>Editing: Just saw your post about class sizes. I was shocked at the small classes (<30) my S had his first year. One, his Calc class, was 30 kids and taught by a full prof, not a TA. Made me more comfortable writing the OOS tuition check. He had a few larger classes his soph year, and then all of his upper division courses in his majors were small and smaller.</p>
<p>Lots of coincidences here.... Daughter is rowing against BU this weekend...hopefully that means a win! I have a brother who graduated from BU; I have a daughter who graduated from Michigan a few years ago; I graduated from Michigan MBA program; a nephew on the Michigan baseball team; a niece who will be matriculating in the fall....Michigan is one of those special places. I know that there is an overemphasis on prestige on these threads, but I can attest to the fact that a degree from Michigan is like having a degree from Harvard when looking for that first job.</p>
<p>If it were my son, I think I would just let him decide. I would try to minimize my own involvement, and confine myself to "housekeeping" chores like reminding him to meet administrative deadlines, arranging to get whatever information he might need but have trouble getting on his own, working on Oberlin, etc. It seems unlikely to me that he will go seriously wrong either way.</p>
<p>IMO there's no comparison between BU (a rather ordinary place) and UM (one of the best universities in the world). As someone above noted also, UM polisci is ranked #3 nationally (that's for doctoral program, not for undergrad), but its social and behavioral sciences generally (econ, sociology, anthropology, etc.) are ranked very highly.</p>
<p>You can make your experience at UM be as fun as you want or as serious academically as you want (and even have a lot of both). Major college sports are actually a valuable part of campus spirit, IMO, and at UM you have great football and hockey, and basketball on the mend, I think, whereas at BU you have hockey only. Of course Boston is Boston, but AA is a quintessential college town with all kinds of places to hang out including many good restaurants.</p>
<p>Thank you, everyone, for good suggestions, including the hands-off one, which we are trying hard to maintain at least on the surface. In a number of ways, I would like to see him in AA -- not because I went there myself, but because it does have so much to recommend it academically, extracurricularly, campus-wise, and difference-wise. </p>
<p>I'm heartened to hear from Maize&Blue about smaller classes than I'd imagined -- most of mine outside the Res Coll were pretty big, even at the highest level, and on the tour the number 60 was bandied about as a typical size. Also, having taught adjunct myself, and having seen older S taught by barely-fluent grad students @ JHU, I'm adamant about "real" professor contact.</p>
<p>But what if he participated in UROP (university research opportunity program)? Then he'd get some of the prof attention that larger classes preclude, yes? Does anyone have experience of this program? How competitive is it, i.e., is this a well-advertised program with just a few spots, or is it more widely available? Some of the social science projects look excellent.</p>
<p>At BU, the roughtly comparable draw is the Core curriculum, which starts with a more classical LA content (thank you, John Silber?!) and, I seem to recall, smaller classes. I don't think S got into University Professors (though have to recheck invitation process -- anyone know it from experience?). Re: Core, does anyone have experience with it? </p>