Is Michigan worth $25,000 more per year than UVA?

<p>Again, people are under the assumption that Michigan is a better school. University of Virginia has a much higher acceptance rate to Grad schools (other than engineering) and also is rated higher as a University overall (academically). Also, the campus is one of the top 3 “beautiful” campuses in the country, with some very rich tradition. Michigan is not ranked in the top 50 for top campuses. Ann Arbor as a college town, however, is excellent.</p>

<p>If Michigan was 1 dollar more, I would go to UVA. If, and only if UVA was more expensive would I choose Michigan over UVA. They are both excellent schools and considered public Ivies.</p>

<p>“University of Virginia has a much higher acceptance rate to grad schools”</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/pdfs/wsj_college_092503.pdf[/url]”>http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/pdfs/wsj_college_092503.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>According to this ranking, Michigan does better than UVA in sending students to the top graduate schools for medicine, business, and law. You need to provide some sort of evidence to support a claim like that.</p>

<p>I apologize if you believe that I’m trying to mislead anyone, but that certainly isn’t the case. I have no bias towards UVA, I’ve lived in Michigan much longer, and Michigan has always been at the top of my list. However, now that I’m accepted to both and have received advice from professors, admissions officers, and friends, I am leaning towards UVA. I have no bone to pick with UM or any of the posters on this website, but can you honestly tell me that UVA is not on the same level as UM academically (or even better?). The national rankings (and I know they aren’t extremely important) indicate that UVA is a better ranked school academically, and the campus is consistently rated better. (Go to princetonreview.com for more information) </p>

<p>I love both schools, but the poster is asking for advice, and I’m just trying my best to give it based on the information I have been given. (Although I’m looking for the document listing UVA for higher grad acceptance, as an admissions officer from William and Mary originally linked it for me). I’ll post the link soon.</p>

<p>Ahmed, the problem with your statements is that you back them up with no empirical evidence. You will see that here on the UM board, we back things up with facts and the facts show that UVA is NOT better than Michigan. They are pretty much peers.</p>

<p>lol you can pull random rankings, so can I. Fact is ranking doesnt mean crap. I can come up with my own methodologies and come up with my ranking.</p>

<p>USNWR BEST UNIVERSITIES IN THE WORLD RANKING
World’s Best Colleges and Universities: Top 200 - US News and World Report</p>

<p>Michigan: 18th
UVA 96th
(OH HOLY CRAP MICHIGAN is 78 spots ahead of UVA…Michigan must be a lot better according to the way you worship rankings)</p>

<p>SJT ranking
<a href=“http://www.arwu.org/rank2008/ARWU2008_A(EN).htm[/url]”>http://www.arwu.org/rank2008/ARWU2008_A(EN).htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Michigan 21th
UVA 95th</p>

<p>Grad school placement</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/p...ege_092503.pdf[/url]”>http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/p...ege_092503.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Michigan 30th
UVA 33rd</p>

<p>Forbes top college sports town:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/12/col...thisSpeed=3000[/url]”>http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/12/col...thisSpeed=3000&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>MIchigan: 1st
UVA : 9th</p>

<p>So far, I have provided links, statistical analysis, facts, recruiting target school lists to back up my argument. What are you backing up your crap by? Who is to judge which ranking is right and which ranking is wrong? Target school lists and starting salary are much better FACTUAL OBJECTIVE judgements of the prestige of the school</p>

<p>“I have no bone to pick with UM or any of the posters on this website, but can you honestly tell me that UVA is not on the same level as UM academically (or even better?).”</p>

<p>Who’s saying that UVA is not on the same level as UM? Michigan and Virginia are peers, it’s you who consistently argued that Virginia’s better than Michigan, noone is debating UVA’s academic quality here.</p>

<p>The poster is asking is it worth the extra money to go to Michigan rather than University of Virginia? I am offering a simple answer : No. There is nothing much better at UMich that is going to be worth 25,000 to me, and I don’t advise someone to pay more for an equal education at Michigan. Yes, academically they are peers, but both universities have their pros and cons in specific majors, which could be the deciding factors. What I am basing my statements on are not simply links (although I have plenty), but what graduate students of both universities, professors that I have talked to, relatives, and guidance counselors have told me. What I am saying is, EVEN if the tuition was exactly the same, there would be no easy choice (although I would lean towards UVA).</p>

<p>These are both excellent schools, as I have said before several times. Here are some links </p>

<p>[Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-best-values]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-best-values)</p>

<p>[Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-top-public]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-top-public)</p>

<p>[National</a> Universities Rankings - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-search]National”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-search)</p>

<p>[Undergraduate</a> Business Programs - BusinessWeek](<a href=“Bloomberg Businessweek - Bloomberg”>Bloomberg Businessweek - Bloomberg)</p>

<p>

Read the original post again. The poster asked if it is worth the extra money to go to Michigan rather than UVa for physics/math/computer science/engineering. That changes the situation completely.</p>

<p>Would you go to UVa for engineering? Is it better than Virginia Tech?</p>

<p>UVa has only 4 NSE members (one each in biology, chemistry, astronomy and anthropology; none in physics). Would you go to UVa for Physics?</p>

<p>Correction: NSE should be NAS</p>

<p>Yes, I would go to UVA or Virginia Tech for engineering In state over Michigan OOS. The Michigan out of state tuition is very high. Virginia’s engineering program is improving rapidly, and Virginia Tech’s engineering program is already excellent. As for physics, math, computer science, I would certainly go to UVA in state over Michigan. </p>

<p>You’re right, the major changes the situation quite a bit, but there are better options in state for every single major.</p>

<p>

Could you provide a reference how UVa’s engineering program is improving rapidly?</p>

<p>Ahmed. Well I certainly would go to Michigan instate over UVA. Why would I want to want for any program that is “improving rapidly” for a top program that is already there? UVA is overrated. Sorry.</p>

<p>Novi, I think Ahmed meant that he would chose UVa in-state over Michigan OOS, regardless of major…and assuming one’s folks are very wealthy, he is right. Yes, Michigan is significantly stronger in Engineering and the Sciences, but UVa is still among the top 50 nationally in all of those majors and with $100k in the balance, it makes good sense to go for the in-state option. </p>

<p>If one were OOS to both Michigan and UVa, I am pretty sure Ahmed would agree that Michigan would probably make more sense for Engineering, Math and Physics majors.</p>

<p>Also, Man does not live by rankings alone. I haven’t seen UMich, but UVa is so delightful, so historic, so beautiful–doesn’t that count for something? Might be nice to live somewhere where winter doesn’t rip your skin off, too.</p>

<p>Michigan is as delightful and historic as UVa. It is colder, but in all other ways, it is as nice.</p>

<p>“Also, Man does not live by rankings alone.”</p>

<p>Endicott, I agree with you within reason. If programs are ranked within 5 or even 10 spots of each other, fit should take over. But where departments are ranked 20-30 spots apart, quality of department should be considered, particularly in cases such as Michigan and UVa, where overall quality and reputation of the institutions are almost identical and quality of life on and off campus are equally enviable. Ann Arbor is an amazing college town and Charlottesville is also formidable. Campus life at both schools is awesome. And yes, Michigan is as historic as they come. If you go back 150 years and had a debate on the best universities in the nation, Michigan would probably have made the short list of top 5-10 universities. </p>

<p>To put it bluntly, for students that are residents of neither state, Michigan and UVa are equal in the Humanities and Business. For such majors, one should go for fit since both are excellent and equally well rounded. On the other hand, for the Sciences, Engineering and Social Sciences, Michigan is stronger by a sizeable margin and to such majors, since both schools are pretty even in all other ways (quality of life, reputation, cost, college town atmosphere), Michigan makes more sense. </p>

<p>ENGINEERING OVERALL</p>

<h1>7 Michigan</h1>

<h1>28 UVa</h1>

<p>AEROSPACE ENGINEERING</p>

<h1>3 Michigan</h1>

<p>UVa not ranked in the top 20</p>

<p>BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING</p>

<h1>7 Michigan</h1>

<h1>15 UVa</h1>

<p>This is one of the very few fields where UVa actually holds its own vs Michigan</p>

<p>CHEMICAL ENGINEERING</p>

<h1>10 Michigan</h1>

<h1>19 UVa</h1>

<p>CIVIL ENGINEERING</p>

<h1>7 Michigan</h1>

<p>UVa not ranked in the top 20</p>

<p>COMPUTER SCIENCE</p>

<h1>7 Michigan</h1>

<p>UVa not ranked in the top 20</p>

<p>ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING</p>

<h1>6 Michigan</h1>

<h1>19 UVa</h1>

<p>ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING</p>

<h1>8 Michigan</h1>

<p>UVa not ranked in the top 20</p>

<p>INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING</p>

<h1>2 Michigan</h1>

<p>UVa not ranked in the top 20</p>

<p>MATRIALS SCIENCES</p>

<h1>2 Michigan</h1>

<p>UVa not ranked in the top 20</p>

<p>MECHANICAL ENGINEERING</p>

<h1>2 Michigan</h1>

<p>UVa not ranked in the top 20</p>

<p>NUCLEAR ENGINEERING</p>

<h1>1 Michigan</h1>

<p>UVa not ranked in the top 10</p>

<p>SCIENCES:
Biology</p>

<h1>15 Michigan (tied with Columbia)</h1>

<h1>42 Virginia</h1>

<p>Chemistry</p>

<h1>16 Michigan (tied with Princeton)</h1>

<p>UVa not ranked in the top 50</p>

<p>Computer Science</p>

<h1>13 Michigan</h1>

<h1>29 UVa</h1>

<p>Earth Sciences</p>

<h1>5 Michigan (tied with Columbia)</h1>

<p>UVa was not ranked in the top 25</p>

<p>Mathematics</p>

<h1>9 Michigan (tied with Columbia)</h1>

<h1>40 UVa</h1>

<p>Physics</p>

<h1>13 Michigan</h1>

<h1>36 UVa</h1>

<p>SOCIAL SCIENCES:
Economics</p>

<h1>11 Michigan (tied with Columbial and UCLA)</h1>

<h1>27 UVa</h1>

<p>Political Science</p>

<h1>3 Michigan</h1>

<h1>37 UVa</h1>

<p>Psychology</p>

<h1>2 Michigan</h1>

<h1>28 UVa</h1>

<p>Sociology</p>

<h1>3 Michigan</h1>

<h1>38 UVa</h1>

<p>Once again, I still can’t see how UVA can be considered by so many as a better school than Michigan. I guess location does matter. If Michigan were located in any other part of the country where the weather were a bit better, there would be no contest.</p>

<p>^yeah, major turnoff for any northern school (not on the Pacific coast)=weather. But in late spring and early fall, midwestern weather is amazing. I have an idea for all northern schools: start in early to mid August and end in early to mid June. Extend winter break so that students miss most of the worst months in the dead of winter.</p>

<p>but the problem with that is you’ll be on a different schedule from everyone else, and stuff like study abroad, internships, summer trips can overlap with last few weeks of school.</p>

<p>Although I definitely think Michigan’s winter break is way way too short, for most students at Michigan, it’s at most 3 weeks, for some it’s not even two weeks. And then they give everybody over 4 months off for the summer. Summer break is too long, and winter break is too short.</p>

<p>You kidding me? 4 month summer breaks are what I live for. It’s the only thing getting me through the end of this semester.</p>

<p>Without even looking at the rankings UVa own internal study linked below provides plenty of recent proof that is not in the same league as UM when it comes to engineering and sciences. With their endowment sinking fast (-30%) and huge (-25%) budget cuts from the state there is no way UVa will make up such a huge gap in the near future.</p>

<p><a href=“http://media.gatewayva.com/cdp/pdf/WAG_Report.pdf[/url]”>http://media.gatewayva.com/cdp/pdf/WAG_Report.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;