<p>So the news that I got into U of M spread somehow to my relatives in Korea. I got 2 types of phone calls: ones of sympathy (almost) from ppl who had no idea of where michigan was and congratulatory ones from people who have some kind of access to America.
It turned out that the first type of people thought I was a failure at life or something because I only got into another "mediocre" state school. What the hell?
I'm just throwing it out there.
Not that it matters very much, but U of M has basically no name recognition compared to schools like UCLA in Asia (at least in Korea). WHY????????????????????????????</p>
<p>Michigan's got a great worldwide reputation. And coincidentally the majority of international students come from Asia. I don't know the exact statistics, I'd put it at around 90% from what I recall from International Orientation.</p>
<p>Asians tend to be big on prestige. In other words, Harvard is the best, followed by a handful of universities (quite literally a half dozen or so schools) and the rest of the universities just don't measure up, whether it is Michigan or Rice or Northwestern etc... The only exception to that rule are the UCs, primarily because of the West Coast's proximity to Asia. </p>
<p>That said, among the educated elites in Asia (particularly in Japan and Korea), Michigan is a very recognized university. According to Newsweek Magazine, Michigan is #11 among "Global" universities. According to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a Chinese university, Michigan is #21 in the World (#18 among US universities). </p>
<p>I would not worry too much about the fact that some of your relatives do not recognize Michigan for the great university that it is.</p>
<p>As a Korean, I know how you feel..
They just don't know the specifics...
They just think Ivy League is the best, but don't even know what colleges are in the Ivy League (many people actually think that Stanford is in the Ivy League)..
By the way, in my opinion, UMichigan is way better than UCLA in general..</p>
<p>I don't know about Asia in particular, but in talking to friends in both Europe and NZ in the past few weeks, upon hearing that I was accepted at Michigan, they immediately said "Congrats! Isn't that one of the top univerisities in the states?" Asians, from my dealings with them, focus mainly of HYS, and Berkeley. Even UCLA is not as well known over there (there was a thread on the UCLA site a while back about what was a bigger "wow" university throughout the world: Berkeley or UCLA. The consensus was that Berkeley won by a wide margin). So even UCLA, an elite public school, isn't as well known as the Ivies or Berkeley. I wouldn't worry about it. YOU know how great it is, that's all that matters.</p>
<p>Michigan has a great reputation in Europe. In Germany, Michigan has a great reputation (like top 5 among US universities). That's because Michigan was the first great American university to be modeled after German universities. Up to that point, all great US universities were modeled after British universities. Cornell, which was largely modeled after Michigan and Stanford, which was modeled after Cornell are also very highly regarded in Germany. </p>
<p>Michigan also has a great reputation in Middle East.</p>
<p>Michigan has a great reputation in China and it goes back more than 100 years. I've met alumni who attended in the '30s and many people whose parents/uncles attended Michigan even before that. The only universities with a better reputation are HYP and UC-Berkeley (not UCLA).</p>
<p>Michigan enjoys a great reputation in the business world. Ross maintains an office here for executive training in Asia ... apparently making a ton of money.</p>
<p>i'm not sure about other asian countries but for china, there aren't that many well known students when you talk about high school students. Everyone of them that does want to coem to the US only know of Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT ...give or take a couple more.</p>
<p>I was over there during the summer and i asked if anyone of them knew of say Duke or Rice. They've heard both of them but on their mental list, anything besides stanford hravar etc, would be on the bottom of teh list. I guess tat is because the expectations are so high in china for chinese students by their parents tat they only aim for teh top colleges. and tehy dno't even care about teh rest.</p>
<p>One student even said "da mi ad xue?!" (rice university translated into chinese)
and just laughed.</p>
<p>
[quote]
It turned out that the first type of people thought I was a failure at life or something because I only got into another "mediocre" state school. What the hell?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>i heard how koreans have so much peer pressure for success. did your relatives really think you were a "failure"? my friend taught one of the SAT schools in LA and his class has usually 80% korean and 20% chinese. he told me the korean parents are a lot more uptight and intense than the chinese parents. what you said seems to confirm that.</p>
<p>From what my cousins tell me, UM is well known in India, hell I even remember watching an Indian movie where there was this really rich guy who was telling his kid "I can get you in at any university you want: Harvard, Yale... " and Umich was one of the schools. Lol</p>
<p>People abroad may not know much about American universities, but its to be expected. I was originally going to attend a British university and knew very little about American ones (besides the ivies, UC, Mich, UNC, Virginia, Duke, Stanford, etc.) It all depends on where people are from because when I speak to most Americans about British universities they automatically mention Oxford and Cambridge which are as hard, if not harder to be accepted to than HYP. Sometimes Imperial college but thats about it. My sister graduated from Warwick (a top 5 university in england) which is just as good as top American universities with a 1st (highest honors) which means nothing to most people outside of england. People never talk about elite British universities like Bristol, Bath, Kings, York, St. Andrews, Loughborough, or Nottingham which are as good as the top 20 American universities (some more so than others).</p>
<p>I'm Korean too, so I know what you're talking about. I think the whole Koreans knowing only about HYP stems from the fact that in Korea, status and prosperity is basically determined by what college you go to. If you dont get into one of the SKY schools, the chances of you getting a job has plummetted, etc etc. </p>
<p>Also, in Korea the gap in the quality of education offerred at SKY (and a few other institutions, namely KAIST and Ehwa) and other schools are tremendous. Whereas in the US each school has their own specialty and you wont find that large of an educational gap in the top 30 schools. So they assume that it's the same in the US. </p>
<p>It's pretty lame. But it's not your relatives who are going to be potential employers. Employers overseas will know that UMich is a good school, and amongst the intelli in Korea, they all know that UMich is a top state school.</p>
<p>Haha this is why I don't listen to my Korean relatives..</p>
<p>I won't get into arguments about which is better, UCLA or Michigan-- even if I have some strange opinions on the topic-- but I can say that most people I knew in Japan knew Michigan as a top-flight school.</p>
<p>When I worked at LG, Michigan and UCLA were both looked at quite favorably.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry so much about Michigan's name brand, guys, as it's quite good.</p>
<p>It definitely depends on the crowd. From what I've heard, there are a ton of Michigan alumni in Korea (and you can tell because of the international Korean students that go here). I know a Korean guy who transferred from Wisconsin to Michigan this year just because of Michigan's reputation in Korea, so it can't be too bad. I wouldn't worry. Also, my cousin is an engineering student in Korea, and he told me that a good number of Korean professors have a Michigan engineering degree. It's well respected.</p>
<p>But I do understand the whole hype with HYP over there. Nobody cares about the "2nd tier" ivies, just HYP. I also think SKY are great schools in Korea, but they are still far behind many U.S. schools and even others in Asian (Tokyo, Kyoto, Beijing, Tsinghua come to mind).</p>
<p>hahaha I totally feel you.
I am korean and am living in korea right now.
lol, but who cares about those ppl.? as long as you know that you have succeded big by getting in :)</p>
<p>"According to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a Chinese university, Michigan is #21 in the World (#18 among US universities). "</p>
<p>Well of course UofM is well thought of in China and highly ranked by SJTU - Michigan and SJTU have a joint institute in engineering:
University</a> of Michigan</p>
<p>In 2001, the Chinese Ministry of Education approved an agreement by the U-M College of Engineering and SJTU that made U-M the first non-Chinese academic institution approved to offer graduate engineering degrees to students in China.</p>
<p>
[quote]
there aren't that many well known students when you talk about high school students. Everyone of them that does want to coem to the US only know of Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT ...give or take a couple more.
[/quote]
Sure, if you ask the high school/college students. They read the USNWR ranking too. It's different in the academic or business circles. The Michigan name carries a lot of weight as its reputation goes back a long way in China.</p>