My daughter is going to UMich. Still hasn’t heard where her housing is. We were told the longer it takes to hear the more likely you are on North Campus. I am concerned about her living on North. It seems like a big big hassle and that the kids hate it there. Hate for her first year to start with that? What do you hear?
North campus is definitely annoying in some respects. The truth is that it’s the worst for super social Greek life focused kids. Uber has made it somewhat more tolerable ( one of the bigg issues is that busses don’t run late ennough on weekends or early ennough on game days. It’s also a hassle if you are in LSA to get to your classes in the morning. And you can’t just go for a quick walk at night to pick up some needed necessity you are out of like you can from the central campus dorms.
There are a lot of freshman so it has that going for it.
My friend’s kid hated being on North Campus his first year. Felt it was a bit isolated and it was a pain to get to classes on the main campus.
The timing of your housing notification has NOTHING – I repeat – NOTHING to do with your housing placement. I don’t know how this myth began. I don’t work for U-M, but I have now watched two cycles of housing notifications, and it is totally random.
The timing means nothing - I had friends who didn’t hear until August and were placed in some of the newly renovated dorms. North Campus, from what I’ve heard from friends, is actually a really fun place to live. Bursley and Baits are both FULL of freshman, and everyone knows everyone up there. Getting to class can be a hassle if you’re not well-prepared (i.e. if you miss the last bus you could take, you’ll definitely be late) but as a student who lived in the Hill neighborhood, in terms of time, it doesn’t take any longer to get to class. The ride down is usually only 7-8 minutes depending on traffic, and another 4-10 minute walk depending on where you’re going, and that’s about how long it takes to get to class from the Hill anyways. The food isn’t great up there, but if you can survive breakfast (or get to Central early enough to eat there), you’ll find yourself eating lunch and dinner on central a lot anyways.
Most students find the worst of it to be the fact that the busses only run until 2AM (3AM on Fridays and Saturdays) and not early enough on game days. For that, Uber and Lyft get a ton of business in Ann Arbor. Other than that, however, most of the people I know loved it.
'Getting to class can be a hassle if you’re not well-prepared (i.e. if you miss the last bus you could take, you’ll definitely be late) but as a student who lived in the Hill neighborhood, in terms of time, it doesn’t take any longer to get to class. The ride down is usually only 7-8 minutes depending on traffic, and another 4-10 minute walk depending on where you’re going, and that’s about how long it takes to get to class from the Hill anyway"
As anyone who has relied on public transportation knows there is simply a world of difference between commute times walking and riding. One second late makes no difference when you are walking. One second late means a world of difference when you miss a bus. It’s the nature if that difference that makes North Campus housing so much more unpleasant.
I would love to see Michigan more conscious of the negative nature of North by adding some perks for such housing. My idea would be some sort of special academic community for engineers and/ or pre- Ross people giving them things like in dorm office hours for the most challenging classes/special pre Ross counseling and priority registration for Winter and Fall sophmore I think these perks could draw ennough people that North could largely fill with " volunteers" who choose it.
The North Campus area has improved a lot over the the past few years. There are lots of off-campus eateries on Plymouth road, nearby grocery stores, and easy access on both university and AATA city buses. The NCRB has the nicest pool, and the NC dorms are very convenient for engineering, music, and architecture students. The AATA also has a night ride, as well as the aforementioned uber and lyft.
It’s a lot more peaceful and you have easy access to the river and parks.
Traffic is very heavy during rush hours so buses may take twice as long. It is rarely an issue during typical class hours.
Rush hour definitely is an issue during “typical class hours”. Most classes are between 8 AM and 6PM, so both “rush hours” have an impact. I have been victim to this myself as someone who has to travel between North and Central.
Typical class hours are 10-4. This summer has been very bad with road closures around the hospital causing extra delays even mid-day.
It is very unlikely a freshman will get all their classes in the 10-4 sweet spot.
Last winter was also very bad (always seems to be road closures).
If you have a tight schedule, then traffic may be an issue between campus. I used to live in Northwood 5 which is the farthest point of North Campus and took the bus to work in medical school. So I did ride on the blue bus between campus during rush hours everyday for several years. It is not such a big deal. However, if you do have lectures back to back (even with the extra 15min gap) in the two campuses, it may be risky. My D lives in the Hill area and had 1/3 her freshmen classes and 3/4 of sophomore classes in the North Campus that she needed to go back and forth between campus all the time. All engineering students need to do that anyway no matter their dorm is in the main campus or north campus.
Another round came out this week and still no word… Wish they did better at communicating this at one time. Doesn’t feel like the best process to me.
In defense of North Campus
My daughter HATED central campus. She got assigned to Markley and ended up with the roommates from hell. Nice enough girls, but very immature, brought alcohol and pot into the room, vomit in the room, sorority stupidity in the room. Little consideration for the promises they’d made in the roommate agreement about sleeping, study times, etc. By Christmas break, my daughter was fed up. She heard about someone on North Campus losing her roommate through a friend of a friend. She met with the girl and moved in. Her experience was night and day. Her new roommate had habits much more in synch with her, and they had a much more mutually respectful relationship. My daughter is the kind of person who really values the privacy of having her own bedroom…with a door she can close for a while when she needs to. She loves the homey little apartments on North Campus. Loves being able to cook and have a bathtub to relax in once in a while, more windows, more space, more privacy. She also kinda likes living in a more suburban quiet setting with trees and wildlife and fewer parties at all hours. She’s a nerdier, more serious student who has to work hard to do well…and North Campus works for that. The privacy also made it nice for her boyfriend to visit for the weekend. She and her friends have game nights and movie nights and study together. They’re all pretty studious, and like to go to a party or two here and there on their own terms. The bus is a pain…but there’s a flip side to the bus. She said when she lived at Markley, she actually had to walk farther through the cold and snow. The bus stopped right outside her apartment, and took her close to where she needed to go. Factoring snow and frigid temps…a warm bus isn’t always as bad as it sounds. She went back to the Northwood apartments for her Sophomore year and is there again for her Junior year. Some kids prefer a quieter neighborhood and more personal space.