<p>Thank you for all of the insightful posts. To those I offended with my initial post, it was unintentional. I posted this thread so I could extinguish some of my concerns with Michigan. </p>
<p>Everything that has been said, especially by kmcmom and iloveumich have been extremely helpful. </p>
<p>@kmcmom - I have been to campus three times, and spent the night once. I’ve sat in on classes at UMich, Tulane and Santa Clara. I’m going to look into the Resdential College at Michigan. Is there a separate application?</p>
<p>To reiterate, my intention was not to trash talk Michigan. I agree that I’ve been spoon-fed false information about the school for years, and I’m just trying to come to terms with the fact that I may end up there. </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>“I’m just trying to come to terms with the fact that I may end up there.”</p>
<p>HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!</p>
<p>Do you know how many people would KILL for your spot?!?!? You need to learn to appreciate things more.</p>
<p>@chronome - I was ending the animosity and disrespect running through this thread. That was meant as a genuine comment. I’m learning to adjust to the idea of staying in my home state, and going to a school I’ve never liked.</p>
<p>Jealously is one of the 7 deadly sins. Just throwing that out there.
Anyways cougar23, I’m in about the same situation as you (sort of, except mine is more bleak) with UNC-Chapel Hill. I was accepted in-state to Carolina but I am not drawn to it and my parents are pushing it because it’s my cheapest option. I’m not listening to them. I’m going to go exactly where I want to go unless it’s absolutely necessary. This isn’t “spoiled” or due to a lack of judgment or thought about a school. I have been through UNC so many times since my brother goes there. I just don’t like it and I don’t want to spend four years at a school I don’t like.
Don’t make yourself like a school. I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work. I’d decline UMichigan’s acceptance if I were you and follow your heart.
Good luck and congrats on your high school success! :)</p>
<p>I am completely baffled to why there is such a negative response. It is extraordinarily clear that the OP wasn’t trying to offend, yet it seems that some of you are oblivious to this inherently obvious fact. There is no need to act like such a jerk.</p>
<p>Anyways, lets get back to subject. You shouldn’t attend University of Michigan (or any school for that matter) for a “prestigious” degree. You should instead consider what you are looking at for a school, and what school can best accommodate those needs. If Michigan isn’t clicking with you, you should go to Tulane or Santa Clara. If you really have a bad vibe for Michigan, you would almost certainly be miserable if you chose to attend.</p>
<p>@sparrow - It’s great to know that I’m not alone. There is just something about staying in your home state and going to a university you’ve known about your whole life that doesn’t seem appealing. Congratulations on your acceptance to UNC-CH, though. That is an impressive achievement. Use your own advice and take your talents elsewhere! I’m sure you will have considerable success at the school you choose to attend. Thanks!</p>
<p>@Kron - Thank you for stepping in. I truly wasn’t trying to be inflammatory with my initial post! With the benefit of hindsight, the post was poorly written and did have some unnecessary comments riddled within. But I truly am trying to warm up to Michigan. Thanks for your time, and I appreciate your validation. I’m starting to see that prestige isn’t everything.</p>
<p>Looks like you have achieved your objective by initiating this thread. My feeling is that you are starting warm up to U-M after all the twists and turns of this discussion. It seems like your biggest problem was to stay in the home state. You would really like to get out of the state of Michigan but not the University of Michigan.</p>
<p>If you have to make a thread like this, riddled with aggravated condemnations of nonchalantly critical commentators and polluted with a defensive tone, do not attend this University. This isn’t particular to you or Michigan per say; rather, college should be joyful and exciting. Nothing says dismal and emotionally apathetic like a thread asking random strangers on a web forum to “make” you love something. Love is impossible without free will and a choice, guided by reason and emotions. You are the only one who can choose and you already are well-informed and very intelligent, so don’t bother with us.</p>
<p>A cool city like New Orleans? What are you smoking?</p>
<p>What’s wrong with New Orleans?</p>
<p>Cougar, there’s no separate application to rc but you normally declare that interest when you apply. So if you think it’s highly likely your folks won’t support your desire to attend tulane or Santa Clara, I’m afraid you’d want to make one more trip in the next few weeks to meet with the program coordinator and sit in on the rc classes to see if that’s a better fit. There are intensive language requirements, so that will factor into whether you like the program. My son attended a very small magnet school that was more Socratic and interdisciplinary in it’s nature and several students from his school found the RC to be a good fit. If you take a look at the course catalog for lsa, any that start with RCHUM are rc couses.</p>
<p>My son’s first “academic” love was university of Chicago, which is similar in size (actually smaller) than the schools you like. But in his case, one he sat in at the school of music at umich, where classes are very small and the programs outstanding, umich became his first choice. We never imagined he’d love a large school, but Michigan really does have pockets that make it feel smaller, and myriad benefits due to it’s size at the same time. You don’t have to be premed and a football fan to love Michigan 
But you do need to find your niche. I do believe the RC would make it a more intimate experience for you if your interests align. Please look into it and talk to the program admins to make a more fully informed decision. Then follow your heart as much as finances will allow, but please avoid undergrad debt if you can. That will give you more freedom to pusue grad studies in some cool city should you elect to do so ;)</p>
<p>I thought this was a joke at first because of the cougar on North Campus email we got from DPS. And your perception of alumni not following their hearts is definitely false. It’s really difficult to become successful at something without being passionate and that sounds just like some BS that Michigan haters say. Sure there are some that hate their jobs and do it for the money but I have also met plenty that are truly passionate about what they do. I don’t think Michigan is any different from any other school in this regard.</p>
<p>But from what I hear from you, I think you just want to get out of Michigan and go elsewhere. It might not be a bad idea for you to actually go elsewhere initially because you might find out that you actually don’t like the new place and actually want to transfer to Michigan. I didn’t really appreciate Michigan nearly as much as I do now until I went to another school.</p>
<p>Prestige is everything. <em>Staring at resume pile that is going to trash</em></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I thought “knowledge” was everything… no wait, knowledge is power, and power corrupts… but money is the root of all evil… what were we talking about again?</p>
<p>Anyway - best quote I’ve seen (not by me) on CC since joining in December; “nobody cares where your undergrad degree comes from. The only college that has EVER mattered, is the one I graduated from, last.”</p>
<p>Go get your undergrad where you want, can afford, are excited about, and will have fun - excel there and then look for “prestige” in whatever field you end up in (AND IT WILL CHANGE, LIKE 4 MORE TIMES) from your GRAD school.</p>
<p>That’s Harvard of the Midwest. And only called that by themselves.</p>
<p>
The correct quote is “Michigan of the East” by John F. Kennedy.</p>
<p>“That’s Harvard of the Midwest. And only called that by themselves.”</p>
<p>Never heard any student/alumnus claim this. GoBlue81 is correct.</p>
<p>The phrase is “Harvard of the West”. It came about in 1920s or 1930s when Michigan became a favored choice for bright Jewish students from New York when the Ivy League schools had quotas restricting the number of Jews to be admitted. Back then Michigan was thought of as West as it still is by many who live along the shores of the Hudson River. In his Peace Corps speech on the steps of the Michigan Union in 1960, John F. Kennedy referred to himself as “a graduate of the Michigan of the East, Harvard University” as a parody of the phrase to excite the crowd who waited hours to see him. The reverse phrase has been popular ever since.</p>