Campus, Dining, Housing, Transportation, & Recreation

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I'm wondering if anyone could help me with a few basic questions before my visit this coming summer. </p>

<p>How is the campus compared to some of the most beautiful schools (ie. Pepperdine, Princeton, Cornell)? I haven't been able to find it in any rankings.</p>

<p>How is the food? Is there a large selection? Do people mainly eat on campus or off campus?</p>

<p>How are the dorm rooms? Spacey? New/Old? How many students usually share a room? Good air conditioning?</p>

<p>How do most people get around? Walking? Car? Bus? Is the UM campus considered large compared to those of other schools?</p>

<p>What do most people do for fun outside of class (besides watching Michigan football ^.^V)? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>1) I don't think UM's campus is as beautiful as either Princeton, Cornell, and I'm assuming Pepperdine as well. There are really nice parts (Law Quad, Arb, Union), but then there's also the not so attractive Chem Building and Denison Hall. It just seems like an odd and disharmonious mix of architectural styles.</p>

<p>2) The dorm food is mediocre. I've seen worse, and better. There's a large selection, but it is very pricy. Also, the food varies a lot from dorm to dorm. Most people get a meal plan with 13 meals a week and end up using like 5 of them, so yes, you do eat off campus a lot.</p>

<p>3) The dorm rooms are atrocious! They are tiny and fairly old. Depending on how much your willing to pay, you can have your own room or share with up to 2 other people. There's no A/C, but the heating is good.</p>

<p>4) Most people walk to class, but some who are farther away ride the bus. Very few people drive. I'd say the campus is larger than most other schools, but not quite as large as MSU.</p>

<p>5) Watching Michigan football is not fun: it is utterly depressing. There are parties (house parties, fraternity parties and so on). You can also go to bubble tea if you're asian. Umm, there are clubs, but I hear they kind of suck a lot. You can go to Pistons and Tigers games. I don't know what else you can really do.</p>

3

<p>"You can also go to bubble tea if you're asian."</p>

<p>hahahaha</p>

4

<p>Anyone have a more positive experience they'd like to share? T_T</p>

5

<p>We had a short, but very enjoyable visit this past Nov. The campus is large, but didn't really feel like it because of how it's set up. There are big U Michigan buses that seem to be everywhere to transport students. For a state school the campus is nice, but not on the same level as the private schools you mentioned. We ate at the student union and had fun checking out the large number of publications/student newspapers. The food there was fine.</p>

<p>We didn't have time to do the tour, but went with their computer people to test their new virtual reality computer program which was amazing. We learned that there are different types of dorms available and it's really luck of the draw as to what you get.</p>

<p>The town of Ann Arbor is really nice and is very college focused. It looked to us like there was a good variety of things going on besides football.</p>

6

<p>I'd say campus is pretty small for a huge school like Michigan. If you've been to MSU, we dwarf them. All of the academic buildings are really clustered together (not counting North Campus), with the dorms on the outer ring. If you go to MSU, it would take forever to walk across campus...here you could probably do it in less than 20 minutes.</p>

7

<p>As far as dorms: some are pretty bad, but some are pretty good. They've all got pros and cons, but if its not your style there are plenty of off campus options (apartments, houses, Greek life, etc). </p>

<p>The campus is definitely walkable - the only time I take a bus is to go from Central to North campus. If you're not an Engineer/Artist/Architect, and don't have a dorm up there, you'd be fine walking everywhere. </p>

<p>There are a ton of cool shops and restaurants around; Ann Arbor has a cool college town feel to it. Cornell may be prettier, but I'd put Ann Arbor over Ithaca any day. As far as activities, its really what you make it. If you want to get out, theres always lectures, concerts, plays, sports, whatever. There is literally a handful of events you can find every day (I believe we have the Dali Lama coming to campus in the Spring, that'll be cool).</p>

8

<p>The campus is mediocre. I've seen better ones, such as Penn State and Princeton. There is a lot of construction going on everywhere, which makes the campus look dirty. Some parts are nice, such as the Law Quad, Biomedical research building, North University Avenue, but some parts are atrocious, such as South State (near the Union, Museum of Art, South Quad), Dennison, Church Street, East Quad, etc. The downtown area of Main Street is quite nice though. Overall, I'd say it's average - there's some good and some bad.</p>

<p>The food is terrible, but you can expect that at most colleges. A lot of people do eat off campus, especially on the weekends. The food is poorly cooked, often cold. They've made some of the worst pancakes I've eaten. They don't know how to prepare rice either, which tastes like plastic. Dining hall food is quite expensive too. The food at the Union is pretty good though - you can choose from Wendy's, Subway or this Chinese food stall. </p>

<p>The dorms are ok - depends where you live. West Quad, Cambridge and Markley rooms are horrible, from what I've heard. Other places like Alice Lloyd, Couzens, Oxford and Bursley have decent rooms. I've personally found the dorms here to be better than any other college I've visited, such as PSU, NYU, Rutgers and Maryland. Usually its you and your roomate that share the room, but you may be put in a quad or triple. </p>

<p>The campus isn't that big to be honest. People that need to get to North or come to Central usually take the bus. Most other people just walk to class. Most of your classes are within a 10 minute walk, unless you have to go to North campus. </p>

<p>Outside of class, most people like to party on the weekends or just hang out with friends, eat out, etc... whatever floats your boat.</p>

9

<p>Michigan's campus may not be on any of the "most beautiful" campus lists, but it really is an awesome campus. There's a rather wide variety when it comes to architecture, but overall everything just looks really "collegiate". Most of the buildings are quite pretty, especially the law quad, union, Hill auditorium, and my personal favorite, Angell Hall. However, my favorite part of the Michigan campus is the "feel" of it. I love being on the Diag and seeing all kinds of different groups of people with different causes. There really a "heart" to our campus unlike some schools I've been to that are petty, but aren't laid out as well as ours is.</p>

<p>Dorm food is what it is. You'll probably only live in the dorms for one year anyways, so if you don't like the food it's not a big deal. Some crowd favorites are Chicken Broccoli Bake and Taco Night. Also, if you live on Central Campus you have to try an omelette from West Quad at least once. They're so good... That being said, there are a ton of places to eat off campus, and many of them really affordable. Living off campus this year, I find myself eating out for at least one meal pretty much everyday. </p>

<p>Dorm rooms are not as bad as some people are describing above. Rooms in South Quad are generally pretty spacious (12x19 I think...) as are rooms in Bursley, Lloyd, and West Quad. My friend got put in East Quad last year and had a triple sized room for two people so they had a TON of space. Markley and Couzens are definitely more cramped, but they are awesome for the "freshman at college" experience.</p>

<p>Most people just get around by walking, unless a classes on North Campus necessitates the use of the Michigan buses. I happen to live in an apartment off campus that is near Oxford Housing (another dorm that is actually located in a residential neighborhood) and there is a free bus called the Link that I can take, but I often just find myself walking anyways. Like others have said, the campus is relatively small for a school this large in population.</p>

<p>Outside of classes, there is a LOT to do here. Think about it: we are a school with over 40,000 students so undoubtedly you will find a group to be a part of. Off the top of my head, I know a lot of people involved in greek life (which is a great part of Michigan), the newspaper, athletics, political activist groups, and personally, I am involved with a charity that raises money for pediatric rehabilitation programs. On the weekends, Michigan has a pretty nice party and bar scene. If you don't like to party there are plenty of cultural events, movies, places to eat, etc... near or on campus.</p>

<p>I hope that helped. I don't know if you can tell, but I am absolutely in love with being a Michigan Wolverine :-) Go Blue!</p>

10

<p>glad you could tell something more positive...i was getting a little skeptical. thanks. is everyone there pretty happy?</p>

11

<p>you asked during finals after a terrible football season. what'd you expect?</p>

12

<p>The dorms are getting better - and so is the food. Next fall, MoJo will open up again - after remodeling. And so will the new Hill Dining Center. The year after that, Stockwell will be renovated - and then the new North Quad dorm will open. That's three "new" dorms in three years.</p>

13

<p>Why are all the posters here so obsessed about the mediocrity of the buildings? Who exactly spends their college life staring at the 'beauty' of a campus building??</p>

<p>Fact is that Michigan has an awesome campus, a cool college town, and above all GREAT PEOPLE. YEAH! No one matches the Wolverines in terms of our intelligence, passion for our school, and ability to innovate and come up with new stuff.</p>

<p>Not alot to do on campus??? You've gotta be kidding me. Either that, or you're someone who likes to spend all his time inside his dorm studying. There are tons of clubs to join, parties to attend every night, great speakers to listen to, a vibrant musical scene, and a selection of some delicious food. Campus food isn't great ( except Bursley which is awesome) but it's not as if it's inedible. Plus you've got a cool new dining facility opening up next year which would pacify all the complaints. </p>

<p>Finally, always remember that a college experience is made by yourself. You can sit and study all day long and think Mich is a mediocre place, or you could join clubs, make friends, go out and consider it the best damn college town in the country!!</p>

<p>GO BLUE!</p>