<p>I don’t know of anyone who would say that. All are terrific schools. Stanford has the best name in the Midwest. You really need to compare each department against each other in your intended major. If I lived on the west coast, I’d go to school on the west coast but that said, anywhere East of the Rockies and Michigan would be my choice save a few of the Ivies depending on major and financial aid. (Also, I hear UCLA is in a pretty bad area of town, similar to U of Chicago).</p>
<p>^ You’re confusing UCLA for USC, which is located in a not-so-pleasant-but-improving area of L.A. </p>
<p>UCLA is located in Westwood, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in L.A.</p>
<p>I have heard, personally, from students who attend, that there are some really disinterested professors, especially in math/science, who only care about their research, and not really about teaching and imparting knowledge. I am sure this is true of many large schools, but when the school is one of “high repute” then it is disappointing to hear this over and over…</p>
<p>Actually chocoholic, that is true of most elite research universities, regardless of their size. Any university that has a number of top rated departments will have a faculty more dedicated to research than instruction.</p>
<p>aek, you should start a new thread for your question. This thread has nothing to do with chances.</p>
<p>This has probably been written here already, but I didn’t want to read through 46 pages of posts; UMich is really noncompetitive (financially) for top tier OOS kids needing aid.</p>
<p>giterdone, Michigan appeals sufficiently to so many very talented OOS students that it does not have to offer too many scholarships. Personally, I would like Michigan to do away with merit scholarship in favor of meeting all need-based financial aid for OOS students. That is where Michigan should improve.</p>
<p>^ You mean - appeals sufficiently to so many very talented “and rich” OOS students…</p>
<p>if you’re oos, being upper-middle or upper class significantly improves your chances of getting in. this is simply because students are far more likely to attend if they can actually afford the 40k a year tuition.</p>
<p>“a fool and his/her money were lucky enough to get together in the first place…”</p>
<p>It’s a question of value.</p>
<p>the university of michigan is need blind.</p>
<p>its easy to be “need blind” if you don’t recognize any need anyway.</p>
<p>Giterdone, Michigan is not alone. If you look at virtualy all other elite universities (Harvard and MIT excepted), all of which cost between $50,000 and $60,000 annually, you will notice that approximately 50% of their undergrads are paying full tuition. Isn’t it a coincidence that somehow, 50% of the students admitted “blindly” come from families that are so wealthy that they can spend a quater of a million bucks on their kid(s)'s education without breaking working up a sweat?</p>
<p>wow, so I guess my son’s high school counselor was wrong about U of M. That is really sad to hear.</p>
<p>I guess that’s one of the reasons matriculation hovers around 40%.</p>
<p>
Are you saying this is good or bad?</p>
<p>I’m just saying, it would be higher if need was better met. They (UMich) need to cast a wider net, to find the affluent OOS/IS students that can pay, and are willing to pay after being accepted.</p>
<p>You can see here - the schools with the highest yield, are the ones with the most generous FA or are more affordable;</p>
<p>[The</a> Most Popular National Universities - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/01/24/the-most-popular-national-universities]The”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/01/24/the-most-popular-national-universities)</p>
<p>giterdone - that may be but if Michigan does as Alexandre suggests, they will then meet the needs of the non-rich OOS through need based funds as opposed to merit; same impact. I just don’t think Michigan has the funding to do that.</p>
<p>UMich neither does much merit or need aid, right now (relative to their overall sticker price). I am grateful for what we got (10k merit and 0 need) but relative to their COA? (50k for OOS), it’s not much, and probably not enough. I also disagree with how they calculate “need” but that’s not an exclusive UMich problem, that’s more widespread.</p>
<p>As I’ve mentioned elsewhere; just be aware of schools that use the CSS profile vs. exclusive FAFSA users… there is quite a difference!</p>