Northeastern vs. Umich?
Dear CCers, I am a freshman enrolled at Northeastern University unsure of whether to transfer to the University of MIchigan. My current major is Economics, and I hope to pursue an actuarial path if I prove to be talented enough for the exams. My backup plan would be either going to graduate school or pursuing another career in business. I am content with Northeastern (both academically and socially), but the University of Michigan surely offers many advantages over Northeastern, with stronger academics and well-recognized actuarial as well as economics program. Cost should not differ significantly between the schools, as I was classified by Umich as an OOS student despite having lived in Michigan for years. Should I transfer or not? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
@Miiro315 Why would you want to leave a school you are doing great at academically and socially? University of Michigan is not Harvard. I don’t see any prestige gain at all with a transfer. Plus NEU has coop.
@suzyQ7 Thanks for the response. I guess I’ve never thought of Northeastern nearly as prestigious as Umich, especially since it was a third-tier commuter school 20 years ago. University of Michigan was my first-choice school. Needless to say, I was devastated upon finding out that I had been wait-listed. In late June, I received the gauranteed transfer which felt akin to a blessing- a ticket to my dream school I had to take. However, like many other gauranteed transfer students, I’ve grown to appreciate my current school and am reluctant to leave my new friends, the city of Boston, and NEU’s excellent co-op program behind. On the other hand, my parents have put tremendous pressure on me to transfer, as they fail to understand why I would attend “a career college who climbed up the prestige ladder only recently” instead of “a public ivy”. Again, thank you for comenting and I hope you understand the conflicts I have.
You have made a good transition to college, something that many struggle with. If something is not broken, don’t fix it!
If your parents are so concerned about prestige tell them you can go to an elite grad school.
How do YOU feel about Michigan? Not the prestige or whatever, but the school itself? Will it be closer to something/one? Or provide better job prospects? Or the campus/town? Football?
Personally, I like Mich better, but you need a good reason to uproot yourself. If it is what you want, you should do it, no matter what ppl here say.
If it is what they want and you are happy, then you folks need to talk.
I don’t know if you made your decision by now but I say ask yourself this question. Are you happy? You seriously need to take a holistic approach and no opinions from us nor your parents will lead you to that answer. For your major, UMich has a well-established program along with many research opportunities. NEU has a superior CO-OP program which surely will give you the real world experience and job right after graduation if you play your cards right. In my eyes, they’re not equal. They’re different. Personally, I feel that you need to take a step back and listen to your voice. Once you make a decision, it will be hard to reverse it if you don’t like UMich. But, I’m a firm believer that you can’t play around with regret. You’re still young and have time to fix mistakes. Yet at the same time, you need to make an informed decision and not one based on emotions nor opinion. All because I said you have time, doesn’t mean it will be easy to fix a mistake. Again, do not make a careless decision because someone or something else influenced you. In respect to UMich, do not go chasing rainbows looking for Romeo because he didn’t go to prom with you. Make a decision based on your needs and fact, not public opinion. Good luck! Hope you made a decision by now.