<p>^^^^That is so wrong. Michigan and UCLA are close peers academically.</p>
<p>MichorPlan2,</p>
<p>How would a few random girls that your daughter saw with makeup on early in the morning make her not like the “vibe” at UVA…?</p>
<p>I don’t want to speak for MichorPlan2 but my D had the same general feeling. Its a big enough school that I’m sure all kinds of girls go there but you don’t get to pick a school after a long trial. So like it or not you end up wondering if you “fit” based on what you perceive many people to be like and what you value. I don’t think its an indictment of UVA or any school. We visited as did MichorPlan’s D and got the best feel we could. With that and talking with people you may actually know who go there what more can you really do.</p>
<p>“Michigan is pretty close to Berkeley and far superior to UCLA when it comes to academics.”</p>
<p>While I wish that were true Rintu, I must correct you here. Michigan and UCLA are almost identical academically. Within the realm of academe, they are peers, usually ranked within 5 spots of each other among thousands of universities. </p>
<p>Where I will agree that Michigan has the advantage over UCLA is in the intangibles. Michigan is wealthier, able to maintain and develop facilities and departments with greater ease than UCLA. The undergraduate student population tends to be more global in scope and geographically diverse. Campus life is also richer and more cohesive. Also, among the social elites, Michigan tends to score points because it attracts a lot of wealthy kids from NY, CA, TX etc… Finally, the fact that Michigan’s Business, Engineering and Law programs are generally considered slightly better also enhances the image of the school.</p>
<p>However, when all is said and done, UCLA is a top university, very much on par with the likes of Cal, Michigan, UVA and several elite private universities.</p>
<p>Tbeezer, I will not presume to speak for MichorPlan2, however, there are distinct differences between student populations at various universities. The concept of “fit” is very real. With regards to UVa, it is not the first time I have heard people complain that it is very “preppy”. Michigan is also preppy to an extent, but not to an extreme. Another difference between Michigan and UVa is the political leaning of communities, on and off campus. Ann Arbor is significantly more liberal and tolerant than Charlottesville and the Michigan tends to be more liberal than UVa as well. Some students definitely prefer than UVa/Charlottesville vibe, while others prefer the Michigan/Ann Arbor feel. It’s all about “fit”.</p>
<p>As a southerner now living in new england, I am quite familiar with UVA and UNC-CH (for some reason the latter not being mentioned in this context of elite publics and of course belongs very much in the group). We haven’t visited Michigan/Ann Arbor yet, but I would hope Michigan is at least somewhat less preppy and more liberal. I would say UNC is less preppy and more liberal than UVA but still leaning more towards UVA than Michigan. I can’t help but think of Washington and Lee when I think of UVA – a lot of blue blood/old money, leaning more staid and conservative, and attracting equally smart but somewhat socially different kids than Michigan (generally speaking). If this is way off, I’d like to know.</p>
<p>This is purely anecdotal, but my son who is a freshman at Michigan now, perceives Michigan as follows…lots of kids from the east coast, California, Michigan and international students. (We are from the southwest.) Most of his friends are from NY. So far in his experience, most of his professors are fairly liberal. Son is fairly conservative, as are most of his east coast friends. He loves Ann Arbor - the diversity of the people - and loves a good debate, so being conservative in a generally liberal place has not lessened his love of Michigan. All of his friends are very smart (says he hasn’t met anyone who isn’t bright) and come from fairly well-off families.</p>
<p>Sportsmom, not sure if you were responding to my “blue blood” reference or not, but I would make a distinction between fairly well-off families and families where there are 2-3 generations of debutantes and/or 3rd or 4th generation grads of the same elite school. While there obviously is a prestige overlap, I’m guessing there is not major applications overlap between Michigan, UNC and UVA, but would love to hear if this is not the case.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I didn’t really think that it would be controversial that a student could get a vibe from spending a day on campus. Now, that is very different from my D deciding not to apply to Princeton but to apply to Yale because the Princeton tour guide was an Ahole and the Yale guide was cool (not accepted btw, both were a bit of a reach). But it was D’s college choice and not mine, I certainly wasn’t going to tell my D what info she could use to decide where to apply. In any event, that is very different from spending a day on campus and actually attending classes, which can give a good sense of the campus. Perhaps, she was wrong about UVa, but the vibe she got from UM on her visit is pretty much exactly as she has found the campus to be as a student. (Which tends to make me think that she was probably right about the vibe she got from UVa.) </p></li>
<li><p>I have also noticed that whenever people discuss peer public schools here, UNC is virtually never mentioned. I am not sure why that is, but I do know for D that once she was accepted EA at Mich. she decided not to apply to UNC because she would not attend UNC over UM (for one thing she didn’t like that UNC has much less OOS students than Mich). For whatever reason, maybe most students that are interested in UM are not that interested in UNC. I’m not sure why that would be the case because, at least to me, UNC does not seem that different from UVa, and there is a lot discussion about UVA here.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>^ I think your daughter’s reaction to that makeup thing was totally legit. There’s a reason it’s called a “vibe” and not a “comprehensive scientific investigation”. It’s not like she crossed off Stanford because “the buildings looked like Taco Bell” :)</p>
<p>There are some real gems in <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/790906-colleges-you-child-crossed-off-list-after-visiting.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/790906-colleges-you-child-crossed-off-list-after-visiting.html</a></p>
<p>finalchild, if you do not like the thought of “old money”, I do not think you will like Michigan. 
In this regard, I am not sure there is much of a difference between Michigan and UVa.</p>