<p>I'm looking to narrow down the field between these four schools. I'm planning on majoring in Econ and going on to I-banking. Which of these schools are best for that. Also, what are the student body's like in general. Anything else you would want to add about any of these schools wouuld also be welcome.</p>
<p>They're all good schools, and I'm sure that econ at any of them will be just fine at the undergrad level. Here are my quick impressions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Michigan -- Superior research university. One of the world's finest. Ann Arbor is beautiful. Big football culture. Big party culture, but not completely out of control. Close to Detroit, but not in a big city. Talented student body with a fair number from outside the state. Fairly large classes, overall, as you would expect from a very large school. Probably more focused on graduates than undergrads. Football is important.</p></li>
<li><p>UVA -- The smallest school in this bunch, but still pretty large. Very strong Jeffersonian culture which some like and some don't. Not near any major cities (DC is about 2.5 hours away). Charlottesville is a great college town. Talented student body. Probably the school with the most focus on undergrads in this group. Fairly strong southern culture, though not as strong as, say, FSU. Football is important.</p></li>
<li><p>Wisconsin -- The most notorious party school in this bunch. Research focused. Probably more focus on grads than undergrads. Talented student body, but not in Michigan's and Virginia's class. Not near any major cities, but Madison is a great college town. Football focus.</p></li>
<li><p>Washington -- The only urban campus in this group. Seattle is spectacular. Party atmosphere. Talented students, but maybe the least talented, overall, in this group. Maybe (I haven't looked it up) Research focused. Undergrads have told me that it's very impersonal. Seattle has strong international ties with Asia and has a number of Asian banks in the city. Football is big.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks, Tarhunt. That was useful info.</p>
<p>Can you or anybody else give me information or tell me where I can get information on merit-based scholarships at these universities? How many do they award (and how much $ are they worth)? How strong of a candidate do you have to be to win one? etc.</p>
<p>Noles:</p>
<p>I'd go to the websites for these schools. You should find all the info you need, there.</p>
<p>The best way to find out about merit scholarships is to go to the individual college websites so that you can find out if the most up to date information on how much, how many, and if separate application/essays/nominations are necessary. </p>
<p>That said, merit at an OOS public will be difficult and you have to be at the very top of the OOS pool. UWashington offers only very small amounts OOS (7.5K for 2 years to 20 students; 1k to 26 NMF). UWisconsin gives $750-2k to 5 NMF, has a the Vilas scholarship for $400 and some other merit through the individual colleges such as L&S. UVA has only the Jefferson scholar (full tuition + R&B), it is extremely selective and you must be nominated. UM gives about 40-50 Shipman scholarships ranging from a partial to full ride, it too is very selective and includes an interview process. They also give merit through the colleges, for instance, L&S gives 5-20 k scholarships to about 90 students per year.</p>
<p>Some of this information is a couple of years old, and was selected for my purposes, you should check the websites and see if there is anything more that applies to your circumstances. For instance, there may be scholarships that apply to your field of study or your family backgrouund, geographic location, etc. Good luck.</p>
<p>cross posted with tarhunt who gives excellent advice...always go to the website!</p>
<p>Tarhunt is understating Univ Washington's appeals, and I've never heard from students there that it is a "party atmosphere" school. Pretty much exactly the opposite, in fact. As for football, it is not worshipped to nearly the extent that it is in a Big Ten school. As far as I can tell, alumni are far more rabid than current students. </p>
<p>For what it's worth, only Johns Hopkins receives more science and engineering funding from the National Science Foundation than the UW does. Of course, most of this money supports faculty and graduate research, but undergraduates participate in a lot of projects. Over $600 million a year in just NSF science and engineering grants certainly shows that UW is a legitimate research institution. This is more, by the way, than the entire University of Michigan system. The university also benefits from big financial support from the Gates Foundation and Paul Allen. Sometimes it's good to be near Microsoft.</p>
<p>As Tarhunt says, it can be impersonal. I'm guessing that any state university with more than 25,000 students is going to be what you make of it. I wouldn't expect all the faculty to know you by name, and I wouldn't count on having tea at the Dean's house on Sundays.</p>
<p>I don't know about the other colleges on the list, except that average temps are lower in Michigan and Wisconsin, medium at Washington, and higher in Virginia!</p>
<p>
[quote]
merit at an OOS public will be difficult
[/quote]
Agreed since that's generally the case. However, some schools such as Indiana U-Bloomington have special merit award programs strictly for OOS'ers that are offered to a large number of qualified candidates. IU's faculty awards are included with the offer of admission and are stat-based scholarships up to $7000 per year, for a maximum of $28,000 over four years.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info on IU GoBlue!</p>
<p>"IU's faculty awards are included with the offer of admission and are stat-based scholarships up to $7000 per year, for a maximum of $28,000 over four years."</p>
<p>actually i got a faculty award for $30,000 over four years, or $3750 a semester. I graduated high school in '05, maybe it changed this year.</p>
<p>I cut/pasted this from IU's website. Same as Class of '06 so apparently it was adjusted after '05...</p>
<p>Faculty Awards are automatically awarded to non-residents who have exceptional SAT or ACT scores, class ranks, and GPAs. These awards are renewable for a maximum of four years and can be valued up to $28,000 (7,000 per year). No separate application is necessary for consideration. November 1--Priority date for freshmen applying for fall admission who wish to receive maximum consideration for many merit-based scholarships.</p>
<p>hm, they must have dropped it this year; last year i was awarded $3750 a semester for up to eight semesters, and it was the faculty award.</p>
<p>It essentially gave me close to in-state tuition.</p>
<p>Washington is most definitely a party school, albeit one with superior academic departments. If you don't concur about the party reputation, why don't you ask the locals who live near the frat houses and elsewhere in Montlake and University Districts? Better yet, ask the Seattle Police Department.</p>
<p>Michigan also has awards expressly for OOS students. However, it's a competitive field out there for them.</p>
<p>elsijfdl -- Did I see on another thread that you transferred to Northwestern? </p>
<p>OP--Tarhunt and entomom gave you some good info. about U-Mich. I'll add that H. was an Econ. major undergrad and his class sizes came way down after the intro. courses. He loved the department/profs/course selections. Went on to get his MBA at Ross and felt he had a solid foundation with the Econ. degree. From my own experience, U-M felt like a school of extremes. The kids are very bright, disciplined and work really hard, but also play/party hard. Most academic departments are top-rated/excellent, yet advising mediocre to non-existent. Football, beyond huge, while some other varsity sports ignored. Some love the intermixed university/college town layout, others hate it, preferring the traditional campus with defined boundries. Could go on and on. Have you visited yet?</p>
<p>UM is a fantastic school. Great Academics and Sports.</p>
<p>On a side note, How about them tigers? :) - Sparky Anderson, Alan Trammell, Jack Morris, and Kirk Gibson jerked it off the fast ball from Goose Gossage ah those were good ole days</p>
<p>yeah, i transferred to northwestern this year</p>
<p>elsijfdl, what were your reasons for transferring from IU?</p>
<p>i was out-of-state which even at a school like IU is a big minority, i thought it was too big, i personally didn't like the campus, i decided not to major in business, it was a long drive from where i lived and no real way to fly, i didn't like the kind of partying that went on there.</p>
<p>most people disagree with me on the campus and the partying: people say it's a beautiful campus and that it's alot of fun. I think it would have been better had i been in-state or attended my own state's school.</p>
<p>elsijfdl, how were your classes at IU?</p>
<p>Did you ever visit Mich, Wisc, or Ohio State? If so, what did you think of those schools?</p>
<p>Besides IU, what other schools did you consider?</p>
<p>elsijfdl, I see from another of your posts that you had a 2.8 gpa uw in high school and a very high SAT score and IU gave you money.</p>
<p>What did you do differently in college than high school to do so well at IU?</p>
<p>I'm asking you this because my son's stats aren't significantly different than yours. </p>
<p>Here I am waiting to see if my son gets a scholarship to IU (he will probably study business) and I read how you don't like the place. :)</p>
<p>I appreciate your posts.</p>