Coming from Australia: worried about "small town" impression

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
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<p>Hi all, I'm an Australian Master of International Politics student at the University of Melbourne in Australia.</p>

<p>I'm looking to go on exchange in August next year, and of the institutions I can pick from, the University of Michigan appears to be the best for my area of study. That much I've certainly established.</p>

<p>However, I've never been overseas before, so I am obviously needing to look at this exchange as a cultural experience, not just an academic one. I live in the city of Melbourne here, and though it's nothing compared to the larger cities of the US, it's still significantly larger than Ann Arbor. Moreover, Melbourne is incredibly diverse and has a thriving community of arts and "cafe culture" which certainly makes it a lot more cosmopolitan and worldly than the general impression that (I think) people have of Australia.</p>

<p>Ann Arbor has a wonderful reputation as a "college town" and that's appealing to a certain degree (forgive the cliche, but I'm looking forward to drinking beer out of red cups @ keg parties like in the movies ;)), but I am also a very "big-city" kind of person; I love Melbourne dearly for the reasons above.</p>

<p>My worries, therefore, are that Ann Arbor is going to become dull after a month or two, and considering I am applying for a year-long exchange, that would obviously be disastrous.</p>

<p>This will be difficult for people to answer since I imagine most of you are from the US anyway, so have experienced large US cities for your whole lives, and can of course always go back home whenever AA gets a bit dull (slightly harder for me!) but if anyone could give some impression of this university in light of my concerns, that would be great.</p>

<p>Also, my love of the NBA should not be understated. I've been dreaming of coming to America since I watched my first NBA game on television as a four year old kid, so the fact that Ann Arbor is a good hour from Detroit (that's right, right? - and can I reach it by train, or would I need to drive?), it actually is a relatively big deal. That said, UM's college sports program is pretty good, I think, so perhaps that might assuage me :)</p>

<p>I've narrowed my preferences down from a rather large list, and I'm now looking at:</p>

<p>U Michigan
Boston College
University of Toronto</p>

<p>Am I stupid to be staring the gift horse of Michigan's excellent reputation in the mouth, or should I really give some serious considerations to one of those other two institutions?</p>

<p>God, I hate difficult decisions :/</p>

<p>Thanks in advance, and I hope someone can help. (BTW, I posted a couple of less specific questions here - <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/4983432-post610.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/4983432-post610.html&lt;/a> - but I've narrowed it down a little since then, so I'm thinking here's the place to ask.)</p>

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<p>Also, I have a great love of beer. Hope Mich students do too ;)</p>

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<p>We've got your back covered with beer - and it's free at all of the parties we have.</p>

<p>Ann Arbor is a pretty cool town, there's a lot to do. I'm not really into the whole museum/cafe/art thing, but if you are, everyone says that Ann Arbor is great for it.</p>

<p>As for the whole escape to a big city thing, you are in a decent position. Chicago is 6 hours away by train, fare for that isn't too bad. And Chicago is awesome. It's also a big drinking town. You won't really have much reason to go to Detroit unless for a sporting event/concert. The Pistons' arena is a little over an hour away by car (about 20 miles north of the city), and really I think you would have to drive out there. But I do know that the Amtrak line running through Ann Arbor goes to Pontiac (kinda near the arena), so if you really had to do it, you could probably work it out...a lot easier and cheaper to go by car though.</p>

<p>You've got some good schools to choose from, and Ann Arbor is great...judging from your post, I think that Boston or Toronto might be more of your style though. Boston is just an awesome town, Toronto is a thriving city. Both are going to offer a lot more than Ann Arbor/Detroit. Both of these cities will probably be more expensive as well...when you have to do your budgeting, remember that a lot of things to do in these places cost money, which you might not have as a student. I know people who hate NYU because they are living in NYC but have to sit in their room watching tv all day because they don't have money to do anything.</p>

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<p>Michigan is one of the best schools in the world (no I didn't go there and I have never been to Ann Arbor). Like Berkeley (with which I am much more familiar), Michigan has a huge breadth of excellent departments and you almost can't go wrong no matter which dept. you choose.</p>

<p>Having said that, what I can do is tell you that Toronto would far and above be a more interesting city than the vast majority of college towns. Toronto, in my mind, is way cool. It doesn't have the Pistons to be sure, but it does have NBA action. It may be, though, that to experience what makes Toronto so cool you should have some money in your pocket.</p>

<p>I'd say Michigan looking at the overall school picture, but if the quality of your life in an urban environment is that important to you, go to Toronto.</p>

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<p>Excellent advice guys or gals.</p>

<p>The money thing shouldn't be a factor. I'm from a bit of a poor family so I'm used to scrimping and saving, but have been working full time to save for this exchange trip, and plan to have, by the time I leave, a good few thousand dollars more than what they recommend for an exchange to a big city.</p>

<p>Though, as I said, the academic reputation of Michigan is seriously attractive, it sounds like neither of you think that BC or Toronto is going to <em>so much</em> more horrible that I'd be disappointed in being there.</p>

<p>Still quite the decision to make, but this info has been helpful, cheers :)</p>

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<p>Don't get me wrong, BC or Toronto would be awesome, no way would they be horrible. Boston kicks ass. I've only spent a few days in Toronto, but there is a lot to do there. I'm thinking about getting an internship there this summer while the exchange rate is nice, but I think there is going to be a lot more money out in Alberta.</p>

<p>Having a few extra thousand dollars will be nice...especially with how favorable the exchange rate must be for you.</p>

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<p>Boston and Toronto are wonderful cities -- with a lot more going on than Ann Arbor. Of the three cities and based on what you describe, Toronto is probably the best fit -- very cosmopolitan and diverse. Plus, the drinking age in Canada is only 19 so the bar scene is more accessible (you don't mention your age). One thing to point out with all three cities is that the weather is much colder than what you're used to. So the outdoor cafe scene pretty much shuts down from mid-September to April.</p>

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<p>^^^ </p>

<p>Boston is cool, but BC's not in my favorite part of Boston personally -- a sort of off-the-beaten path suburb-within-the-city. Though it is true that the light rail/subway system in Boston is good. I think as a grad student, BC would be kind of a drag, since it's focus is largely college.</p>

<p>For me, it would be: Toronto #1, Michigan #2, BC #3.</p>

<p>I've been to Toronto (the city, not the uni) and BC and Boston (both college and city). Michigan would be my first choice academically. But given your goals and situation mentioned on the other thread, I would prioritize the cultural stuff and go to Toronto. Michigan, Toronto -- I don't think you can go wrong either way....</p>

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<p>Toronto is a real nice city. Reminded me of a much cleaner/safer New York City..</p>

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<p>I thought Toronto was pretty dirty..maybe just a tad better than NYC. I'm all about Chicago.</p>

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<p>I would suggest BC as your best bet four a couple reasons. I think you would find Ann Arbor a wee to small for your taste, and it might seem a little dull in the winter especially. Coming from Melbourne, I don't know how much you would appreciate the weather in either Ann Arbor or Toronto. When I visited U of T in early May? late April, it was snowing an freezing, while Ann Arbor was springlike the same week. Boston gets its share of cold weather to mind you, but nothing that Toronto sees. Boston is also my favorite city personally. I live 30 miles from NYC, but Boston is my favorite. There is also something to do, and it's a real college city, being that it is home to Harvard, MIT, BU, Tufts, Northeastern, and BC to name a few. Just my $00.02</p>

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<p>You are in the graduate program, right? Academically Michigan might have more to offer.</p>

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<p>I would definitely recommend Michigan over BC for graduate studies. BC is an awesome university with great undergraduate programs, but for graduate students, Michigan has the edge. Furthermore, although Toronto as a city has more to offer than Ann Arbor, as an intelletual and academic environment, I think Michigan holds its own nicely vs Toronto.</p>

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<p>I came from a big city on the east coast and over the time, have become somewhat tired of Ann Arbor. I definitely prefer the big city atmosphere, and it would be nice to, once in a while, meet someone who wasn't affiliated with the University, but Ann Arbor definitely has it's charms. I'm too busy with work anyway to really enjoy what the surrounding area offers (at any school for that matter).</p>

<p>Like they said above, Chicago and Detroit are close.</p>

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<p>As I said, great help everyone.</p>

<p>In the end, I went with the following preferences (now it's just wait-and-see):</p>

<p>1 Toronto
2 Boston College
3 University of Washington</p>

<p>My reasons are that, given the fact that all of these places are of a high academic quality, <em>and</em> I'm going to be there for a year, <em>and</em> I've never been overseas, I need to prioritise the city/cultural experience as number one.</p>

<p>Michigan was unequivocally the best academically in international studies/politics etc, but the others all have outstanding reputations too.</p>

<p>In a sense, the academic experience is what you make of it too - how much you engage in discussion, use the resources, talk to your lecturers etc. If the quality is good, and you put the effort in, you will have a good experience and learn a lot.</p>

<p>The weather was originally a concern. Though -20 cels in Toronto will be tough, I figure it's going to be a LOT colder (I've been in -4 weather maybe once or twice in my life... 0's about the worst aside from that) than anything I've ever experienced anywhere I go, so to make that a big part of my choice is probably silly. And hey, there is always going to be heating indoors, Toronto has underground areas, there are jackets to wear, etc. It won't be so bad.</p>

<p>Like I said, the small town impression of Michigan just became too worrying. If I were only coming on a six month exchange, I imagine I would have at least had Mich in my top three, but looking at the overall picture I think my other choices were smarter for my experience.</p>

<p>I definitely appreciate all the help though, and if I end up at BC perhaps I'll be back here next year complaining about the preponderance of Catholic fascists everywhere and moaning about not picking here ;)</p>

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<p>Also - something I didn't mention. Right now I work 40+ hours a week on top of studying, and since I won't be doing that when I'm on exchange, I'm gonna have free time galore; something which obviously makes the extracurricular stuff even more important :)</p>