<p>Northwestern’s journalism program is world renowned. Michigan doesn’t have a journalism program but has educated a number of world renowned journalists - Mike Wallace and Eugene Robinson come to mind.</p>
<p>There are many excellent departments at Michigan that NU lacks. It’s best to compare similar areas.</p>
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<p>Being right on Lake Michigan is a huge amenity in the summer and early fall. It can be a negative in the winter when the wind–“the Hawk” as it’s sometimes called–comes knifing across the lake. And in the spring there’s a damp chill that close to the lake long after more inland areas have started to warm up. Agreed, however, that being so close to Chicago is a huge plus for Evanston. On the other hand, Chicago tends to draw NU students away from Evanston, making Evanston itself a less appealing college town.</p>
<p>bclintock, not sure what the right etiquette here is for this sort of thing, but what if Wash U, Rice, or Vandy are substituted for Northwestern in the comparison with Michigan? And what schools come to mind as being similar to Michigan/Ann Arbor in terms of vibe/feel? NYU? UNC-CH? UCLA?</p>
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<p>Hmmm . . . . I’m not sure I’m the expert here. I’ve never really spent any time at Wash U or Rice, so I can’t really comment on their campus cultures. Vandy strikes me as more similar to Northwestern than to Michigan, but if anything even more Greek-dominated (though I don’t have the figures).</p>
<p>Most like Michigan and Ann Arbor? I’d have to vote for Wisconsin-Madison, though Michigan has somewhat better students and in my opinion more consistent faculty strength across all disciplines–though Wisconsin has some terrific faculties, too. Michigan also draws more students from the Northeast; Wisconsin has a large OOS presence but about half its OOS students are from neighboring Minnesota, which has tuition reciprocity. But both are great college towns with lots of students living off-campus and the university blending seamlessly into the community, and both have big-time sports cultures. I’d say Wisconsin is a bit more of a party school and Michigan shades more towards taking academics seriously, but in broad outlines they’re pretty similar.</p>
<p>UC Berkeley is also in some ways similar to Michigan. There’s a distinct college-town feel there, and although it’s part of a large metropolitan region, like Ann Arbor it’s a place of its own, not a suburb. And both schools have heavyweight academics whileserving a broad public mission. </p>
<p>UCLA? Maybe, though it’s so distinctively West LA that it’s hard to compare to anything else. UNC-Chapel Hill? Yes, I can see the comparison, great academics, great college town, big-time sports scene but at UNC it’s basketball, not football, and there’s a bit of a Southern twist.</p>
<p>WUSTL and Rice do not have much in common with NU or Michigan. As a member of a major athletic conference and having a large greek scene, Vanderbilt is similar to both Michigan and Vanderbilt, but has more in common with NU.</p>
<p>Academically, Michigan’s closest peer is Cornell. Other peers include Cal, Northwestern, Penn, Texas-Austin, UCLA, UIUC, UNC, UVa and Wisconsin-Madison.</p>
<p>College towns most like Ann Arbor would include Amherst (MA), Austin (TX), Berkeley (CA), Bloomington (IN), Boulder (CO), Burlington (VT), Chapel Hill (NC), Charlottesville (VA), Gainesville (FL), Ithaca (NY), Madison (WI). I think Ann Arbor is unique in that its size (neither too large like Austin, nor too small like Chapel Hill or Ithaca), and intellectual vitality make it very special.</p>
<p>Let me pose the question slightly differently. How overwhelming is UMich? Can a relatively bright, fairly assertive kid get acclimated fairly easily? Is the atmosphere intimidating, or Midwest-comfortable? Compared to NYU? Compared to good schools in the 5500-8000 students range?</p>
<p>I think it’s more important to understand what that college means in the short-term post college in whatever industry you are employed and what region of the county you chose to live…not to college students in the moment trying to parse miniscule differences from different ranking services.</p>
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<p>I wouldn’t describe it as “overwhelming” or “intimidating” at all. I think most people get acclimated very quickly. First, you’ll meet a bunch of people during orientation; chances are, you’ll never see them again. But once school is starting, you will quickly meet your roommate (most freshmen live in doubles in the residence halls) and other people on your floor. You’ll quickly get to know people in your classes, especially in seminars and the discussion sections of larger lecture classes. People will be friendly and curious, and for the most part pretty unpretentious and down-to-earth; they’ll want to get to know you, and remember, they’re essentially in the same boat you are, trying to figure out who’s who and what’s what, so that becomes a group enterprise. When you arrive, there will be some returning students available to help you move in and point you in the right direction. Your Resident Advisor (RA)–an upperclass student who lives in your part of the residence hall whose job it is to answer questions and help acclimate incoming students to the residence hall, the university, and Ann Arbor–will greet you and point you in the right direction for anything you need. This process is pretty much the same at every college and university, whether it’s a 1200-student LAC or a large research university, and there’s a reason it’s the same–it works!</p>
<p>You’ll quickly figure out your way around the Central Campus, which is really quite compact and user-friendly, centering on the Diag, the main crossroads of campus life, and apart from your residence hall, Central Campus is probably where you’ll spend most of your time. (If you’re like most freshmen, however, football Saturdays will draw you to South Campus and the Big House; but you won’t have much occasion to visit the Medical Campus to the northeast of Central Campus, or North Campus across the river, unless you’re assigned to a North Campus residence hall, so in some ways the school will feel smaller than it really is because Central Campus is so compact). You’ll quickly get a sense of what’s where on State Street and South University, the main campus-oriented business streets, both of which are immediately adjacent to Central Campus, and within a week or two you’ll probably venture the few-block walk to downtown Ann Arbor just to see what’s there. Pretty much everything you’ll ever want or need will be within easy walking distance, and set up to make it easy for you to find. Ann Arbor is a pleasant, conveniently compact city, and as student-friendly as it could possibly be.</p>
<p>None of this will you find intimidating or overwhelming. You’ll quickly find your niche, and the university and the town will soon fit you like a tailor-made glove.</p>
<p>The one thing that might seem overwhelming at first is just the sheer number and variety of student organizations and activities vying to attract your attention with posters, banners, tables, and what have you during your first few weeks on campus. Don’t let it be intimidating; just remind yourself that this is not a problem, it’s just an embarrassment of riches. Scope out half a dozen or so that might be of possible interest, and talk to them; they’ll be delighted to have the opportunity to tell you who they are and what they do and how you might fit in. Then narrow it down to the 1 or 2 or 3 that most interest you, and have at it. You’ll quickly find yourself engaged with a bunch of smart, energetic, like-minded people who will be thrilled to have found you, and chances are some of them may become lifelong friends.</p>
<p>Let’s put it this way: it works for about 6,500 freshmen every year, year after year, so there’s no reason in the world it can’t work for you.</p>
<p>I can’t speak from experience on this, but I actually think it would be much harder to acclimate to a place like NYU which doesn’t have the cohesive campus and college-town feel of Michigan and Ann Arbor, and where the many attractions of New York City would tend to pull people away from campus. I personally would also find it more difficult to acclimate to a campus that sprawled on and on, as some do. But Central Campus and the parts of Ann Arbor you’ll use most are eminently walkable. Bring a good pair of walking shoes, because you’ll walk a lot; but to me, that’s one of the great pleasures of the Michigan experience and Ann Arbor life.</p>
<p>Thank you very much. Very helpful.</p>
<p>My relatives were very excited to hear about this thread. </p>
<p>One cousin attends the University of Florida. He thinks his school is comparable to Michigan. So, he applies the symmetric property of equality to conclude that Florida is as prestigious as Northwestern. </p>
<p>Another cousin attends the University of Alabama. He thinks Alabama is as prestigious as Florida. So, he applies the transitive property of equality to conclude that Alabama is as academically prestigious as Northwestern. </p>
<p>Then theres my uncle. He thinks Northwestern is as good a school as Stanford. Since that makes the University of Alabama as prestigious as Stanford, everyone in my family is happy.</p>
<p>Hehe! Great post blueisbest.</p>
<p>LOL, @blueisbest! That’s awesome!</p>
<p>“One cousin attends the University of Florida. He thinks his school is comparable to Michigan.”</p>
<p>You lost me right here. LOL</p>
<p>Florida is a pretty under appreciated state flagship, it really is an excellent school!</p>
<p>finalchild, no not really. Even coming from a really small town, it’s not much of an adjustment. There is culture shock but not in a bad way. I’d find NYU more difficult as far as getting lost and distracted all the time if you venture to the city.</p>
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<p>Right. And here’s how Florida stacks up against Michigan, discipline for discipline:</p>
<p>Biology: Michigan #20, Florida #26
Business (MBA): Michigan #13, Florida #44
Business (Undergrad): Michigan #3, Florida #36
Chemistry: Michigan #16, Florida #36
Computer Science: Michigan #13, Florida #39
Earth Science: Michigan #9, Florida #54
Economics: Michigan#12, Florida #48
Engineering (Grad): Michigan #8, Florida #35
Engineering (Undergrad): Michigan #7, Florida #34
English: Michigan #13, Florida #52
History: Michigan #7, Florida #48
Math: Michigan #8, Florida #59
Philosophy (Philosophical Gourmet): Michigan #4, Florida not ranked >50)
Physics: Michigan #11, Florida #36
Political Science: Michigan #4, Florida #49
Psychology: Michigan #3, Florida #45
Sociology: Michigan #3, Florida #41
Law: Michigan #10, Florida #48
Medicine: Michigan #10, Florida #48</p>
<p>Mean ranking:
Michigan 9.1
Florida 43.1</p>
<p>So let’s see. Out of these 19 core programs, Michigan has 5 in the top 5, 11 in the top 10, and 19 out of 19 in the top 20.</p>
<p>Florida has 15 out of 19 in the top 50, but not a single program (out of 19) ranked in the top 25, much less in the top 20, or the top 10, or the top 5.</p>
<p>Pretty similar schools, don’t you think? (A: Not)</p>
<p>^^^I think it’s pretty obvious that academically Florida is not a peer of Michigan and that NU and Duke are.</p>
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I just said that Florida was an under-appreciated school; I never stated that it was Michigan’s peer or anywhere close in graduate academic quality. Florida offers a lot of merit aid and has a good Honors College.</p>
<p>There was no need for you to be snide and drop the sledgehammer here on the poor Gators.</p>
<p>That being said, besides the undergraduate business and engineering rankings, I would never suggest a student choose a school at the undergraduate level based on USNWR Peer Assessment surveys. The reason high school seniors should choose U of M over Florida is because their peer group will be quite a bit stronger and they will have access to more academic opportunities since UMich has far greater financial resources.</p>
<p>NC State has a better graduate Statistics program than Yale and UCSB has a better graduate Physics program than Penn but I would never advise an undergraduate to choose these two publics over the two privates.</p>
<p>I seldom agree with Goldenboy, but this time I do. I didn’t read his post to state that Mich and Fla are peers, just that it is underappreciated. I actually wanted D to apply to Florida as her safety school because it is underappreciated and has quite a bit of merit based financial aid. But it has an early deadline for admission and she was not sold on it. The point became moot once she was admitted EA to Mich. because she no longer needed a safety school.</p>