<p>ahmed, i disagree with you. and i actually went to one of these schools. i can understand how you can feel that “you know all”, the hallmark of our teenage years. i guess i have to ask why you decided to hijack this thread, and then go on to say things like “There is no point in continuing this specific argument, because I have already made a decision to attend William and Mary this fall. I don’t need any more comparisons between overall rankings and/or majors’ rankings.” ahh… good for you… but we don’t really care about how you made your decision or where you are going.</p>
<p>uhhhh I didn’t hijack this thread… I seriously doubt whether a lot of you on here actually read the posts. I said go with the best fit to the original poster and suggested that NU has been better recognized academically (I explicitly stated I did not want to start an argument and that any difference in academics, IF THERE WAS ONE AT ALL, was insignificant)… it was my mistake to make a subjective statement seem as if it was meant to be objective (Although many of you have done the same without recognition on this very thread), and I apologize if I seemed to have provoked anyone. I, personally don’t see how a group of people that are so bitter about meaningless rankings (Novi going to the UVA forums just to make bitter comments about it) in magazines can use those SAME magazines to distinguish this school from other academically similar schools.</p>
<p>As for my references to “this specific argument”, it was because I felt that the argument was a result of other threads in which Novi and I have disagreed strongly. That was also the purpose of me stating my decision… it was simply to say there is no need to bring UVA into this thread when it clearly has no purpose (Remember, I was the person that said “Don’t hijack this thread because of previous disagreements”) It was also to say that I don’t plan to post on this forum any more (in other words, I don’t want anyone that may have been provoked by my previous posts to respond to me because I will not read them after today). I don’t think I “Know everything,” but let’s just get this straight… I expect Michigan bias on a Michigan forum. It’s going to happen regardless of which forum I’m posting on, so I just accept that and try to look at different perspectives of college choices. I also don’t appreciate the indirect suggestions of immaturity through references to my age. </p>
<p>Good luck to everyone, and I hope to God you learn some humility and manners.</p>
<p>“Good luck to everyone, and I hope to God you learn some humility and manners.”</p>
<p>Same to you.</p>
<p>Read the books and articles on factors to consider when looking at colleges. None of them mentions to consider prestige when looking at schools. Factors to consider: cost, strength in your major, size, weather, appearance, if you feel you ‘fit’ with the students you meet, athletics, dorms, course requirements, location in terms of urban, suburban, rural, ease of traveling home(if important), diversity, study abroad, coop program(if important), faculty/student ration, % of classes taught by profs (if you care), class size, advising, success with graduate admissions, and so on. So to say that prestige is one of the 3 most important factors sounds more like a parent trying to push their kid into a ‘name’ school where they may not be happy or successful. It is unfortunate when students elect to go to a school only because of their ranking or ‘name’. sort of saying you’ll just go to the highest ranked school that will take you.</p>
<p>I have read the books NYerr. Perhaps I did not make myself clear. I assume the candidate is rational. In other wods, Academic excellence (both overall and in the expected major) is a given. Why would a rational person attend an academic institution unless academics were forefront on that person’s mind. Therefore, ACADEMICS ASSIDE, prestige is, in my opinion, one of the three most important criteria. The other two, which are at least as important as prestige, are finances and fit. By fit, I mean all of the points you mentioned above. However, the concept of fit is very nebulous and often exaggerated. The vast majority of students can fit in happily at the majority of universities. I think prestige is important because it matters to some graduate school programs (particularly MBA programs and Law Schools) and to some employers that hire exclusively on very few campuses.</p>
<p>apparently a great number of students narrow it down to those 2 schools. My son, who will be graduating Michigan (entered into LSA Honors) choose it over NU. but I have met others who have chosen NU over Michigan. Some go for the ‘name’, or the perceived prestige. I discount that. And now we had the same decision yet again. </p>
<p>Everyone has their own reasons. If you love both schools, then its really tough to make the decision. You need to try and see where you picture yourself for 4 years. If its at either school, then its really a dilemma.</p>
<p>There are several schools that high school students from the UAE consider along with Michigan. They are:</p>
<p>Cal 40/60 yield in favor of Cal
CMU 75/25 yield in favor of Michigan
Cornell 60/40 yield in favor of Michigan
Duke 50/50 yield
Georgia Tech 75/25 yield in favor of Michigan
Northwestern 50/50 yield
Penn 50/50 yield (0% yield vs Wharton though)
Purdue 100% yield in favor of Michigan
Rice 75/25 yield in favor of Michigan
UIUC 75/25 yield in favor of Michigan
UVa 50/50 yield
Wisconsin 100% yield in favor Michigan</p>
<p>Alexandre…care to qualify those cross-admit statistics? Recent cross-admit information is hard to find as it is so I’d be interested to see some literature on it. I find it hard to believe that Cornell isn’t favored over U of M and Duke is a wash…no offense, but that’s a tough sell. I’ll happily eat crow, though, if you post some kind of link!</p>
<p>those stats seem believable to me for UAE and its not like we have any reason to doubt Alexandre’s word. </p>
<p>in general, i’ve found that the reputation of schools like duke, northwestern, and penn non-wharton don’t travel nearly as well internationally, whereas top publics like michigan and berkeley are viewed very highly, possibly even in higher regard than they are domestically</p>
<p>“Northwestern 50/50 yield”</p>
<p>That’d be me 
In favor of UMich!</p>
<p>umich2010 - not trying to spur any heated debate, but you alluded to another topic that I’ve been thinking about for a while and still can’t understand. Riddle me this…why is it so much more important to have international recognition than domestic prestige? [Caveat…I’m not even conceding that U of M is more prestigious world-wide than some of the other schools you mentioned earlier. I’ve lived in Australia and visited places like Singapore and New Zealand…mentioning my stint at U of M doesn’t exactly raise a bunch of eyebrows.] </p>
<p>Even with the world becoming smaller and smaller–due to technological and travel enhancements–I would still contend that 98% of us will make our fortunes in the United States (unless you’re an international student seeking to go back home after graduation). With that being said, domestic prestige (not any purported international recognition) is what gets you that top job right after graduation. I’m not saying that U of M lacks domestic prestige–it certainly doesn’t–but it is very difficult to compete with elite private schools like Northwestern and Duke. This most likely can be attributed to the sheer size of U of M, which is no one’s fault, but that is a different subject entirely.</p>
<p>To comment on the initial topic…I work in Chicago and can tell you that a Northwestern pedigree carries more weight than a U of M one.</p>
<p>Any constructive criticism of my question would be appreciated :)</p>
<p>to the guy with the kid moniker who frequents this board to trash michigan: alexandre is umich’s recruiting contact for uae, u want a link to his brain?</p>
<p>no trashing of U of M intended…just seeking explanations to some of the interesting theories posited on this forum.</p>
<p>Interesting theories? those statistics seem pretty reasonable to me. Michigan has a pretty solid international reputation. According to the three major world university rankings, Michigan is ranked pretty close to Duke, Cornell and Northwestern.</p>
<p>THE
Duke - 13th
Cornell - 15th
Michigan - 18th
Northwestern - 33rd</p>
<p>SJTU
Duke - 32nd
Cornell - 12th
Michigan - 21st
Northwestern - 30th</p>
<p>Newsweek
Duke - 14th
Cornell - 19th
Michigan - 11th
Northwestern - 35th</p>
<p>Sux2BUCuzUNotMe, I don’t have a link. The cross admit numbers I gave are based on my immeidate contact with Michigan-bound UAE students over the last 4 years. The figures are pretty accurate. I contact all admitted Michigan students and answer their questions about the University. They generally tell me what other schools they are considering and I try to give them as much information about Michigan to help them make their decision.</p>
<p>At any rate, I am farily certain that Michigan’s yield vs the universities listed in my list is not tha much different in the US. I know Chicago well. Obviously, the University of Chicago and NU have stronger reputations than Michigan there. Then again, they have stronger reputations than all universities save HYPSM. But in Chicago, Michigan is on par with the likes of Cornell or Penn.</p>
<p>what did you decide?</p>