Michigan Frustration

<p>I don't know if i should turn down U of M because of Residency Classification that twice I got denied because of my visa status as hum. refugee even though I recieved bit of financial aid and little Michigan Grant of $3000 a year out of $32000 academic year skyrocketing tuition for "out-of-state resident". U of M didn't even acknowledge my full time employment in michigan for the past 6 years despite paying taxes to michigan state and some of that money get sent to public school like U of M. I loved U of M and yea I still Love U of M pretty much and very hard to me to turn down U of M this fall to continue my last 2 years in engineering school. I am tranferring from OCC with 3.96GPA consistent throughtout my eductaion there. U of M didn't even offer any scholarship or maybe I wasn't selected for any type for whatsoever reason. Guys, should I be seriously looking for other school like Standford, UIUC, Caltech since tuition is head to-head rising like michigan out-of-state tuition. Totallly desperate now. I don't know If i really wanna sink in the pool of eductaion debt around $70k where I can get the same with more restigous school than UM, i.e caltech or Stanford. Any feedback is appreciated and I may say it for the last time Go Bluee... :(</p>

<p>If you think Caltech and Stanford are a better match for you, then you obviously should apply there and see what kind of aide they give you. If you are a non-US citizen, financial aide is harder to come by and Stanford and Caltech are more expensive than Michigan OOS. Since it sounds like you haven't applied to Stanford or Caltech yet, it sounds like you will be delaying your transfer by at least a semester. Here's a thought -- why don't you ask Michigan if you can defer your acceptance for a semester, continue at OCC during that time, and apply to Caltech and Stanford to see what happens there. No matter what you do, I'd suggest that you get over your bitterness with U-M. They have their rules about what constitutes residency, and they tend to be inflexible -- but you may be passing up a great opportunity just because you're angry. Michigan engineering is one of the best programs in the country. You're lucky to be admitted.</p>

<p>Thanks Snorky. I always admire Michigan for what is stand as one of the best or top 10 engineering school nationally and probably worldwide. I also concentrated on UM since I was studying in OCC and took almost all tranferable courses to UM-engineering. By now, I have 61 tranferable credits. Yet, the cost of it as OOS tuition is the killing part. The financial/loan offer by private lender plus the some financial aid I recieved to carry in the future may become heavy burden. Many ppl discourge me from studying Computer Science with all scary outsourcing tales but I stil believe the CS field is growing. Should I continue and encourge myself to accept alternative loan from private lender such as Citi bank education loan and cover the remaining unmet cost and do my best after graduating from UM? Oh, i also got work-study award but not famililar with it, maybe I should call the Financial Aid Dept. for details?</p>

<p>Markpeter, last time I checked, most universities do not give scholarships or aid to transfer applicants. You should check with other schoools before ruling Michigan out. Furthermore, Michigan has given you an offer...are you so sure that Stanford and Caltech will? If they don't, you are missing out on a great education at Michigan.</p>

<p>i agree with you alexandre that at U M there is great eductaion and great place to be especially Ann Arbor. But do you think getting the the UM degree will be somehow equivelant to Caltech or stanford in engineering regard? Wouldn't make a difference if I keep my favorite choice michigan rather then westcoast prestigous ones? It seems to me that blue indeed running in my blood because I love UM sinceever.</p>

<p>Michigan is not as good as Stanford or Caltech in Engineering. This said, Michigan is certainly not far behind. Overall, I'd say Michigan is regarded as a top 15 university nationally and in Engineering, it is among the top 7 or 8. Personally, if I had all three to chose from, given my preference for a well-rounded university, I would pick Stanford first, Michigan second and Caltech third. But most die-hard Engineers would probably pick Caltech first, Stanford second and Michigan third.</p>