In my opinion, just from walking around campus I can see the diversity at the University of Michigan is very prominent. People at this university range from all over the world and the school makes sure to have several different events and groups that include people of various ethnicities and origins. Forget the statistics for a second and just open you eyes to the diversity that is clear on any given day at the University of Michigan. I disagree with @brantly at the act that umich is stunningly non-diverse. Sure, most of the people at this university are from the state of Michigan, as it is with any other public university, but that doesn’t take away from its diverse student population.
Harbaugh 0-4 against OSU. Weak! :((
When I think of U of Michigan, I put it up there with Berkeley, UCLA, UCA, U of Washington and Texas Austin. Top 5 public colleges in USA but with better athletics and one of best business schools. But cold. Its private counter part are colleges like Duke and Stanford, well rounded and strong across the board.
Major drawback are the winters. Brutal.
yes its weak in as much that it is completely elitist. Not friendly. Send your child if they are completely in touch psychologically. Think twice if not, Their mental health dept in Mich Med is insanely busy.
Elitist and unfriendly? This is so contrary to my experience and many recent grads I know. What do you guys think?
My CA kid is a freshman in AA and texted to me today, and I quote, “I go to the best school in the world.” And has previously said the weather is overrated.
Elitist is a relative term, but if Michigan is elitist, what term would one use to describe universities like Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Northwestern, Penn, USC, Vanderbilt…to say nothing of Harvard, Princeton and Yale?
I presume the poster meant the student body and the social environment are “completely elitist”. That’s quite contrary to my own experience and those of the many recent grads I know.
@Alexandre The discussion of which universities are “peers” of Harvard, Yale. Princeton etc., seems incredibly sophomoric. It reminds me of those high school students who maintain there are “tiers” within the Ivy League. Anyone who has gone to one knows that is hogwash. I went to Harvard but the undergraduate teaching was decidedly mixed. If you talk to faculty at Harvard, Columbia, Princeton etc., they will be the first to tell you how pointless it is to argue over who is “the best”.
@GoBlue81 I didn’t go to UM but have visited many times. I always found it very welcoming and friendly and the students and faculty not at all pretentious. And AA is fantastic.
@WhereNow14. My wife went there like over 30 years ago and I was on campus pretty much every weekend for 4 years.
My son is there now. I just don’t see what your talking about. Maybe you had a bad experience. Are there people on campus as you described? Of course and just about any other campus in the United States. My son is part of a intercollegiate board (for mixed reality) and on the board are students from Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, USC, Yale, DePaul and others… They all met last summer at AWE in Silicon Valley at a major augmented reality conference. I asked my son if anyone felt elitist or out of place etc. He said they are all just normal kids and they all got along great but he did notice that the Stanford, Berkeley kids were a bit taller ;).
So not elitist but taller nice kids.
We can debate where Michigan fits in with the Ivies, Stanford, & MIT for undergraduate students. But for graduate school, Michigan is one of the top universities in the world. It has over 100 graduate programs rated in the top-ten in the U.S. For the record, I did not go to Michigan undergraduate, but my dad went to Michigan for medical school, I got my MBA at Michigan, and my son is a PhD student at Michigan in aerospace engineering. For his little niche (aerospace applications for plasma physics, such as electric propulsion, hypersonic flight, reentry, materials processing), there is not another university in the world that matches Michigan.
@WhereNow14 - We just returned from a Campus Day visit to Michigan. My daughter commented when we were on the way home that the students and staff we interacted with were all extremely friendly and welcoming. Definitely not the elitist and unfriendly atmosphere you described.
To be fair, everyone working with the touring teams is on their best behavior (this goes for any school).
And Harbaugh is obscenely overpaid.
OOS need based and merit baised aid leaves a lot to be desired. D18 accepted into 9 schools and as far as any and all aid UofM has the worse package by far. In particular for OOS applicants. Instate UofM is a great option. Not so if you need financial aid either need based or merit based and are OOS.
Only maybe 1% to 3% OOS gets merit aid and very little need based aid is offered to OOS supposedly.
Michigan has to be one of the friendliest top universities. I know scores of people that went (or their kids). All very positive experiences. My daughter is there now, and when I wear the apparel she bought me, people scream “Go blue” even when I’m out of the country. Great collegiality and school spirit.
As for the tittle of this post “Is Michigan Weak in any away”. No it isn’t. It is one of the rare “Total package” schools. World Class academics, worldwide brand, resources, amazing college town, incredible social activities…!
My daughter bleeds blue and had the greatest experience. She’s off to the Ivy League for law school after graduation in a few weeks. I’m sure performing at Michigan played a big role. Go Blue!
“Instate UofM is a great option.”
Here’s an idea; next time move to Michigan a few years before your child applies to the university. Problem solved!
@rjkofnovi. You have no idea how many people look into getting a small cottage in Michigan just for this purpose… Lol. But if it’s not a “main” residency then that doesn’t fly plus your kids have to go to a Michigan high school so it’s on the transcripts. Can’t even use my mother’s house address… Lol… I grew up in Michigan and love the school but don’t love the OOS price. Lol.
^^^^I know sstuff!