<p>I often ponder that very question and always fail to come up with a weakness. Even the nasty weather has its benefits.</p>
<p>Let us start with the most important variable and the primary reason why most people decide to go to university...ACADEMICS. In the simplest of terms, Michigan is better in more fields than any university in the country. Here's a closer look:</p>
<p>Anthropology: #1
Arabic #2
Political Science: #2
Psychology: #2
American Studies: #3
Atmospheric Sciences: #3
Business: #3
- Accounting #4
- Finance #3
- Insurance #10
- International Business #4
- Management #2
- MIS #8
- Marketing #2
- Production/Operations: #5
- Quatitative Analysis: #5
- Real Estate #10
Sociology: #3
Music: #4
Nursing: #4
Philosophy: #4
Classics: #5
Geology: #5
History: #5
- African American History #1
- Asian History #9
- Cultural History #8
- European History #5
- Modern US History #10
- Women's History #2
Russian Language: #5
Russian and Slavic Studies: #5
Southeast Asian Studies: #5
Scandinavian Languages: #6
Spanish: #6
Asian & Oriental Studies: #7
Engineering: #7
- Aerospace #3
- Biomedical #7
- Chemical #9
- Civil #7
- Computer #6
- Electrical #5
- Environmental #3
- Industrial #2
- Materials #2
- Mechanical #2
- Nuclear #1
French: #7
Italian: #7
Japanese: #7
Latin: #7
Near and Middle Eastern Studies: #7
Art/Art History: #9
Mathematics: #9
East Asian Studies: #10
Economics: #11
English: #11
Hebrew: #12
Computer Science: #13
Physics: #13
German: #14
Biology: #15
Chemistry: #16</p>
<p>Professional graduate programs:
Business: #4-#12
Dentistry: #4
Engineering: #9
Law: #9
Medicine: #10
Pharmacy: #5</p>
<p>As far as pre-law and pre-med are concerned, Michigan sends 100-150 students to the top 14 Law Schools and over 200 students to top 15 medical schools annually (mostly to Michigan, Columbia, Harvard, Penn, Cornell, Chicago and Northwestern). According to a recent survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal, only 6 or 7 universities place a significantly higher ratio of their students into top 15 professional programs. </p>
<p>Not only do graduate school adcoms accept Michigan students at alarming rates, but corporate recruits constantly visit the campus to hire our students. The following companies recruit over 10 Michigan undergrads annually: Bain, Boeing, Boston Consulting Group, Booz Allen, Cisco, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Ford, General Electric, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, IBM, JP Morgan, Lockheed Martin, McKinsey, Microsoft, Mercer, Morgan Stanley, Pfizer and UBS.</p>
<p>Obviously, the campus has amazing resources. The University of Michigan hospital is ranked among the top 10 nationally on an annual basis. Unlike most state universities, Michigan is almost self-reliant financially speaking. Over 90% of its budget comes from independent sources. Only 8% of Michigan's budget comes from state funding. </p>
<p>Research is a huge part of the university and its culture. Michigan spends over $800 million on research. Only 2 universities spend more. And the research is not limited purely to graduate students. There are over 1,000 research projects availlable to undergraduates at any point in time.</p>
<p>The University's endowment now stands at $7.6 Billion (thanks to our recent fund raising campaign). That makes Michigan the 6th wealthiest university in the nation. Michigan wasn't even among the 20 wealthiest in 1990. In the last 20 years, Michigan's endowment has grown 3,000%. No other top 25 university has an endowment that has grown by more than 1,500%. At this rate, Michigan will be one of the five wealthiest universities in the nation by 2010.</p>
<p>The Michigan faculty is one of the most accomplished anywhere. 20+ intellectuals have either studied, research or taught at Michigan prior to winning the Nobel Prize in every academic discipline. Not only are our professors at the cutting edge of research in their respective fields, but they are also entertaining and gifted! </p>
<p>YouTube</a> - Econometrics Song</p>
<p>Where else would an Econ professor come up with such an enticing tune! </p>
<p>In terms of diversity, Michigan does alright too. Of its 41,000 students, close to 22,000 come from States other than Michigan. And close to 5,000 students are international!</p>
<p>Don't get me started with the sports. Michigan has one of the top 5 Football and Hockey programs in the nation. Their 11 national championships in Football and 9 national Championships in Hockey are 4th and 1st respectively in the NCAA. Michigan is the only university to have won national championships in Football (11), Hockey (9), Baseball (2) and Basketball (1). They are also tops in Gymnastics (2 national championships), Swimming (an NCAA record 18 national championships), Wrestling, Rowing, Field Hockey (1 national championship) and Softball. Of course, having one of the liveliest hockey arenas, the largest football stadium (111,000 per game) and one of the proudest and most rousing fight songs doesn't hurt!!! hehe</p>
<p>Ann Arbor as a city is often regarded as one of the most pleasant and fun college towns in America. It is rated among the top 10 places to live in the US by several sources, including Money Magazine and Forbes Magazine. And that's not only for students. It is rated one of the top 10 places to live for women, young children, young professionals and retirees. </p>
<p>In terms of location, Ann Arbor is ideally situated. Although Detroit is a horrible place to live, the subburbs around Detroit are among the nicest in the country. They are filled with good restaurants, nightclubs, museums (the 5th largest art collection in the country) and then, there is the music! From the Temptations to Eminem and from Madona to literally dozens of other performers, Detroit continuously produces some of the best music talent in the country. Of course, Detroit is a major transportation hub. Northwestern Airlines has build a terminal that has made Detroit the 5th largest and busiest airports in the country. You can get straight flights to any city in the US as well as direct flights to Paris, London, Rome, Madrid, Frankfurt and Tokyo!</p>
<p>I know I left a few things out...remind me if you think of any!!! hehe</p>