Hello everyone, I am transferring as a second-year student and got admitted to both UMich Ann Arbor and William&Mary, but I’m hesitant about my decision.
I applied as a psychology student, UMich admitted me as an undeclared and gave me about 50 credits, while W&M only gave me 32 (they both need about 120 to get the degree, and I am not planning to spend five years in college. Although I think that the transcript from W&M is not official as they didn’t take into account my IB tests and such). I am currently in a big public university in California and I’m a little worried that UMich is gonna be very similar to my previous college experience, and W&M is a much smaller school so maybe I could get more in-depth experience?? I have never been to Ann Arbor nor Williamsburg, so I know nothing about the environment, but I’ve heard that both college towns have nice people and culture.
I am so confused right now, please help me :((
Michigan grad here. It’s great that Michigan gave you so many credits.
They are two different experiences. Ann Arbor is one of the best college towns out there. It’s in every best college towns list. Big time sports which is a big part of going there. And the school has good departments in nearly every discipline. But expect big classes in the Intro and 200 level classes. I even had a 400 level class that had 400+ people, but it was the most popular professor on campus and one of the highlights of my undergrad experience. You will likely have smaller classes as you get to higher level classes.
William and Mary is 1/3 the size of Michigan. I imagine you will likely have smaller classes, and the school has a great reputation, just not national.
I believe both schools attract a lot of in staters as well as a lot from the East Coast. At Michigan, you will get people from all over. Detroit, Chicago, NY, NJ, DC, Boston, LA, and even people from the Deep South.
I didn’t find the people at Michigan to be overly friendly, like Midwest friendly, but they were nice enough. You just find your crowd. The weather is a bummer. It’s not so much that it is cold as it is gloomy. But you will likely get used to it. Just be prepared coming from California.
It all comes down to what you want. A bigger school with tons of school spirit, and cold weather, or a smaller school with warmer weather and less school spirit.
BTW, which school are you transferring from? I live in CA so I know them well. Can help you compare.
School spirit is def something I am looking for in college! I am currently at UCSB, and although our sports teams are great I don’t think that our school has that “big time sports” vibe or school pride. Also because I’m an international student and many international students in our school kinda segregate themselves from locals, so I’m a little worried that in Michigan it’s gonna be the same since it’s a big public university as well. Thank you so much for your advice! 
Oh wow. I love UCSB–it’s my favorite UC. Probably one of the few schools I would go to without a football team! Not sure what you don’t like, but hey, to each their own. Maybe because you are an international student because it is a VERY California school, with 90% in staters? My daughter wanted the whole school pride and big time sports thing too so she picked a school that has it. (She got into Michigan, but it’s so $$$, so she is going elsewhere).
I think it will be similar in terms of classroom experience. I talked about having TAs. Ann Arbor is definitely more upscale and has more going on than IV, culturally that is. It’s a lot more classy in Ann Arbor, and beautiful in the fall. But beware of winter. We live near the beach and I really love it here, so Goleta/SB fits me well.
You will meet people from all over at Michigan. Like I said, when I look back, there was somebody from everywhere. I didn’t meet a lot of international students, but that was on me, which I missed out on, not them, and it was a long time ago. There are way more international students than before. It’s a huge melting pot so you will for sure find your crowd.
Don’t go to Michigan for the party scene. I was in a fraternity, and had my fun, but people are really serious. S-Th is for studying. Thursday nights were still fun, but things ramp up on Friday and Saturday.
Then there is sports. Sports is everything at Michigan. We have the biggest football stadium in the country (110,000 fans) and it always sells out. Everyone goes to the football games, even girls and international students that have no idea about the game. They become some of the biggest and loyal fans after college. It’s very social, and a blast. I wanted that in a school and I definitely got it. You’ve got basketball and hockey too. It’s all part of the experience.
If you want a complete change with smaller classes, consider W&M, but the school pride will not compare. There are maybe 5-10 other schools where it compares. If you want no shortage of things to do and people to meet, consider Michigan.
First, if you don’t know already, every transfer student enters LSA undeclared and will declare their major after they enroll.
Student-teacher ratios:
W&M 11:1
UMich 15:1
FWIW, my kid took a 100 level Intro to Psych lecture class with about 250 +/- students, but the discussion groups were 50 students or much less. She also took a 200 level Psych class with 50 students or less. Since UMich offers several sections, your classes may have much less. Finally, she just finished a 400 level STEM class with 50 students. Examples are just to give you an idea, your experience may vary. ?
The temperature IMO is like Lake Tahoe. But much less sun. Most of the time it’s 20’s at night and 30’s during day. During the winter, I often send my kid a screen shot of the Apple weather app of both our home in here in the SF Bay Area and Ann Arbor, just to let her know it’s friggin’ cold here too. ?
But late January of her freshman year, there was the Polar Vortex, where it got down to -11, although the basketball game that night was sold out. I believe the game was against Ohio State. So figures. You likely won’t get that kinda dedicated sport fan at W&M.
Thank you!
It is a bit of a bummer that you won’t be able to visit. I’m sure both schools have virtual tours on their websites, but that isn’t a substitute. Even if you could visit now, there would be no one on campus so it wouldn’t be as useful as it should be.
These are two very different schools as you know. This may make it easier to make your choice if you know what you want. Michigan is about 5X larger than W&M on an enrollment basis, and it might even seem a bit bigger as it has a large medical center and those can make the school and city seem larger. W&M is similar in size to schools like Princeton, Dartmouth, and Brown, and also has the majority of students living on campus as those schools do. W&M will probably also seem more oriented to undergraduates and undergraduate education than Michigan. You can probably see some teaching ratings on USNWR and Niche. Still, I think Michigan is better regarded in this area than most very large universities.
Just like Michigan is larger than W&M, Ann Arbor has something like 8X the population of Williamsburg. There will be more of everything in Ann Arbor and many view it as an excellent college town. Williamsburg is more of a town setting, but it is lovely and walkable, although more of a tourist town. Williamsburg is going to a fair bit warmer in winter, with average highs in January and February of about 9 Celsius vs 0 in Ann Arbor. You will also get quite a bit of snow in winter in Ann Arbor and very little in Williamsburg.
Regarding school pride, you need to think about what manifestation of school pride matters to you. Michigan will have big time sports (it is in the Big 10) and will have huge crowds for football and large crowds for other sports. W&M has strong school pride and alumni support, but it is less oriented around sports (similar to like Ivy type schools) and more around other events.
Good luck. You have good options.
While it’s definitely true Michigan is quite a bit bigger than W&M, it never seemed too big to me, and I went to a school with 53 in my senior class. Michigan is closer to being UVA than W&M.
I always ran into people I knew every day. Most of the classes are held, for LS&A, in one of the buildings around the Diag/Central Campus. Therefore, there probably won’t be a day when you don’t see several of your friends, unless they are all on North Campus (Engineering, Arts).
But if you want more attention, W&M may be the better option. I never felt anyone held my hand at Michigan, be that good or bad.
Why are you transferring?
Answering for that question will help you choose.
You said you are worried that Michigan is going to be similar to your big public California university. Are you transferring because you want to get away from your big public university atmosphere and feel? If so, yes, Michigan is still a big university - a different one, but still large. If you want a smaller atmosphere, then William & Mary is probably the better choice.
That said, if you are going into your junior year of college and W&M only gave you 32 credits, then you are very likely going to have to spend three years to finish at W&M. (If you would start at W&M as a sophomore, you’ll be fine if you plan carefully.) So weigh that as well. What’s more important to: finishing in four years, or having the kind of college atmosphere you want?