<p>My D LOVES Michigan and was set on going (LSA), but then was accepted to UCLA. Both amazing schools, but shes always wanted to go out of state to experience different environment and people out of the So. Cal. bubble. UCLA is just an hour or so north of us and wasnt even on her radar, she just checked the box when applying to Cal on the UC general application. Didnt get into Cal. Agonizing over whether the cost of Michigan is worth the experience vs. the familiar 89% Californians at UCLA. We do have about 2-3 years worth of Mich. Tuition available without loans, but would probably need to finance the rest. Help! Advice?</p>
<p>Sounds like finances are going to be a factor. In such a case, UCLA trumps Michigan.</p>
<p>It sounds as though your daughter hasn’t looked closely at UCLA yet. First, you need to research UCLA and visit. If she likes it, even if she may not love it as much as Michigan, then I’d say probably go to UCLA. However, if you really look into UCLA and she just doesn’t “fit” there, then send her to Michigan. If you already have 2-3 years worth of MI tuition, she would probably be able to handle a year or two of loans, this is worth it if she would have a much better experience at MI and or a miserable experience at UCLA. I will say one more thing though, if she’s planning on attending graduate school, send her to UCLA for sure. It’s not worth paying that much more for undergrad unless you know it’s likely you won’t be attending grad school.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that she would be miserable at UCLA and happy at Michigan or vice versa. I can say that coming from SoCal, the weather here would be a real drag.</p>
<p>@Stewa4 - agree she needs to look closely at UCLA for fit.<br>
Academically both schools excel in sciences and possibly pre-med. It’s more about location, believe it or not in favor of Michigan over LA. That new and different environment/people that she wants as part of her college experience.</p>
<p>Did she apply to any private schools? There might be “high school cliques” at both Michigan and UCLA so I don’t see the issue here unless her high school sends like 100+ to UCLA. Only at a private school will everybody be a new face and be willing to meet people without reservations.</p>
<p>“There might be “high school cliques” at both Michigan and UCLA so I don’t see the issue here unless her high school sends like 100+ to UCLA.”</p>
<p>High school cliques are unusual anywhere. Nobody truly knows more than 20-30 students from their own high school at any one university. There may more students from one’s high school at the university, but they are either completely unknown or only distant aquaintances. 30 out 26,000 undergrads represents 1 in 800 students. The odds of running into those students are not good and avoiding them altogether is very easy.</p>
<p>“Only at a private school will everybody be a new face and be willing to meet people without reservations.”</p>
<p>I know you are a big proponent of private universities, but this statement is not at all true. Schools like Andover, Exeter, Lawrenceville, Deerfield, Choate, St Paul, Trinity and Collegiate often matriculate more than 5 students into several private universities annually. In the case of Harvard, Andover generally matriculates 15-20 students annually. Given the fact that Harvard is four times smaller than Michigan or UCLA, the likelyhood of those students bumping into each other or taking a class together is probably quite high.</p>
<p>At any rate, cliquish behavior usually dissipates with age and is rarely a problem with college-aged kids.</p>
<p>“Nobody truly knows more than 20-30 students from their own high school at any one university.” This is simply not true. There are a handlful of schools (most of which are in Oakland County) that send large numbers of student to U-M and MSU. Some of the students hang out primarily with their friends from high school; other venture out and find a new crowd and some do a combination of both. I would assume that there is a similar dynamic at UCLA. Cliquish behavior is choice. If you want to meet new people, it is not very difficult to do at a school like U-M. </p>
<p>With respect tot he OP, if cost is an issue, I would lean to UCLA unless there is a strong preference for U-M based on fit.</p>
<p>I agree with Alexandre, the odds of running into students from your own school are pretty slim. Our high school sent 20 from my d’s class and she rarely sees them unless it’s planned.
She catches rides home with my friend’s D and only sees her then. She has yet to run into her on campus.<br>
I was on UCLA’s campus with my D during her spring break. I could see her getting intrigued by the campus as we drove through. Beautiful campus, great weather and a great school.
I guess the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, but my D is perfectly happy at UM and the cost is very manageable for us.
I am very much anti debt and would definately pick UCLA over Michigan to avoid debt. There are always study abroad alternatives if she needs to get out of the “SoCal” bubble.</p>
<p>I agree with most of the comments. These are both incredible universities, and very similar in many respects. The both provide an unmatched range of opportunities at the highest levels of quality. I’ve had associations with both of these universities over the years, and it’s impressive how both have coped with precipitously dropping levels of taxpayer support. They’ve done this in large part through outstanding success in competing for outside research funds, and then creatively making the research and teaching missions mesh. The prerequisite for this is being able to attract and retain world-class faculty. Despite the taxpayers turning their back on supporting these universities (and then complaining about tuition and access), U of M and UCLA have stayed or advanced in the top ranks of world universities (e.g., see [|ARWU</a> 2010](<a href=“http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010.jsp]|ARWU”>http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010.jsp) or [Top</a> 400 - The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2011-2012](<a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/top-400.html]Top”>World University Rankings 2011-12 | Times Higher Education (THE))).</p>
<p>All that said, these are huge, knowledge-generating (read: research oriented) universities with many undergraduate classes that are very large. Undergraduates need to take the initiative to discover and participate in the remarkable opportunities that are all around. There are a wealth of student services and staff designed to serve all kinds of needs of undergraduates, but sheer numbers can be a factor in such mega-universities, so a student needs to be informed and active to get the best out of these environments.</p>
<p>As for choosing between them, the CA weather obviously excels, whereas Ann Arbor probably works better as a college town than does Westwood. For social life, maybe a bit more fraternity / sorority presence at U of M, but many choices in both places.</p>