I am considering the university of Michigan and I am wondering what the school is like. How are the classes? What is the community like? Social life on campus? Class size? Are there generally good professors? What are the best and worst things about the school? I would love to know anything students or parents of students have to say about any of the aspects of this school. Thanks so much!
This is the technique I use to check professors: Go to Ratemyproffesors.com and enter in the school you are searching for. Then, enter in the major in the drop down menu and you will be able to see what current/past students ranked their teachers and what they had to say about them.
Everyone I have known has loved UM and loved Ann Arbor. Fantastic facilities and huge course offerings. Plus lots of special programs like the RC, Honors College, Alice Lloyd etc. And Ann Arbor is fantastic and very arty. You cannot go wrong with Michigan.
@AcceptableName is 100% right, a lot of your experience depends on your instructor. There is quite a bit of variation so it is important to choose your classes carefully. Your experience tends to get better and better as you progress and become more specialized… UM has both senior and junior faculty, and is known as a training ground too. Ratings help a lot.
Big lecture classes (usually in your first year or two) are a bit impersonal and your experience depends on your grad student TA. You can make them personal by religiously attending office hours, asking lots of questions after class, going to the review sessions, posting questions etc… You really need to reach out.
The same applies to smaller classes to a lesser extent. The key is getting help early so you thoroughly understand the material and to prepare well in advance for each lecture. I was amazed at how responsive professors were and at their willingness to meet in person, skype on on the phone to help out. You will also find a completely different attitude from the faculty when they know you are trying to learn their subject. They love what they teach and many get rather infectiously enthusiastic about it, often in quite unexpected ways. I got far more from one on one discussions than classes in many cases.
Class size varies. You can have 400 person lectures for intro classes or 15 person seminars. Spring and Summer classes are usually much smaller. It also depends on your department.
As far as social life the number of activities is mind-boggling. 1000+ clubs. Lots of club and IM sports. Canoeing, kayaking, sailing, flying, rowing, cycling etc. etc… and the usual gym stuff. Music of every sort. UM sends many students to broadway and you can see them performing frequently. Student projects like solar cars, drones and submarines. Workshops, metal shops, 3D printers, scanners all for student use. Plenty of Greek life - not the focus of campus social life but there if you want it. Look at the university register for a partial list of activities. UM is pretty sports crazy and football Saturdays are a big party.
When you expand beyond the University to Ann Arbor you will find even more within walking distance of Campus. There are over a hundred student affordable restaurants, 2 Art House theaters, lots of coffee places, bars and clubs. Great hiking and biking trails. Public buses are free for U students so no worries about getting groceries. There is also Zipcar on campus. Ann Arbor is the most educated city in America which makes it a bit quirky. You’ll also find lots of student research jobs and internships at the many tech firms in town.
TooOld4School’s post is balanced and accurate. It should be noted, however, that his first four paragraphs describe virtually all major research universities that have over 15,000 students (including graduate students). The last two paragraphs are more specific to the University of Michigan.
I am a freshman, and I love it! However, I feel like many people oversell on the approachability of faculty though. Out of all the instructors I have had, almost all of them request you to approach GSIs/IAs first with any questions. Furthermore, one of my professors did not even hold his own office hours- another instructor handled the office hours and logistics of the course. Some instructors can also be dismissive of questions or not be too helpful or understanding when students do not understand the material, and I have had a friend be turned away from office hours because the instructor was too busy (he did not send notification saying his office hours were canceled). Approachability is an issue at most, if not all, large universities- and UofM is certainly not an exception. That being said, I have also interacted with instructors who have been very approachable and generous with their time, always being receptive to questions.