<p>Hi I'm new to this website, and I was wondering if anyone could offer suggestions regarding my college decision. I was accepted early action to Notre Dame and also to Michigan Honors. Since both schools are so similar, I can't decide. Both have amazing academics, but the research opportunities at Michigan are much better. At the same time, however, Notre Dame is much smaller, and interaction with professors would be much easier from what I know. I have always supported both football teams because ND upholds academic standards and Michigan, although the football players are not subject to academic standards, is one of the top universities academically in the country. I am politically liberal and not catholic, which might be a problem at ND; HOWEVER, I went to high school with many religious right conservatives, and I LOVE arguing with them and making them look ignorant :-), although at Notre Dame since the quality of students is very high, they might give me a run for my money! Please help.</p>
<p>LOL. If I choose to go to Notre Dame (I'm a religious right conservative, but I see myself as a moderate), I'll give you a run for your money.</p>
<p>Have you been accepted to Michigan OOS or IS? (Out or In State?) I've been accepted to both as well (not the Michigan Honors program but just UMich), however, I think the environment at Notre Dame beats out Michigan. Sure, Michigan is a huge state university with great school spirit, but Notre Dame has a history of having great school spirit.</p>
<p>Both are academically superb, and I would imagine that ND can offer better F/Aid if you're out of state. I don't think the liberal thing would be a problem (remember, John Kerry's a liberal Catholic) but being surrounded by a very concentrated population of Catholics might be a little uncomfortable for you (I myself am Protestant, but my mother was Catholic, so I had no problem with that)..</p>
<p>Sorry if I didn't help.</p>
<p>I'm pretty confident that I will be getting in to Michigan.. and I hope ND also... if I got into both I wouldnt even have to think twice about choosing ND over Mich. But it really depends what you're looking for I guess.</p>
<p>Yeah I visited both campuses, and I liked the town of Ann Arbor better than South Bend, but I liked the actual campuses equally. I am out of state, and cost/financial aid isn't really a factor in my decision. I mistyped...I didn't get into honors yet, but I requested consideration, and I think since I have 3.9 UW and 1440 SAT I should be fine.</p>
<p>Choosing a college is a personal decision. After all, it isn't where we are going to spend the next for years of our lives; it is where YOU are going to spend them.</p>
<p>One thing that you might want to know about Michigan is the competitiveness. The students there will often do anything to get a leg up on their fellow classmates. For example, someone I know left a document on a computer at the library, and when she came back, a couple minutes later, someone had deleted it. If you are extremely competitive and ruthless, you might like this kind of atmosphere. Otherwise I would go for ND. Personally, when I visited Michigan I didn't care for the campus of the atmoshere at all. Being from Ohio might have had something to do with that though! :) Go Bucks!</p>
<p>lol I actually thrive off competition and intensity...although I would never delete someone's document or anything like that, but I tend to do better in a more intense atmosphere. Also, how is the party scene at ND? I know there is no greek life, but are the parties good? Also, how are intramurals?</p>
<p>Intramurals? Unbelieveable, to sum them up in a word. Real football (full contact, pads and everything), very competitive baseball and basketball, and pretty much any other sport you can think of. There isn't another school in the world with intramurals like ND.</p>
<p>As for the parties, on the weekend we know how to have a good time. Now, you won't find any parties on Sunday-Wednesday (well, if you look hard enough I'm sure you could), but on the weekend the party scene rivals that of some state schools.</p>
<p>Well I have made my decision, and believe me, my research began long before my first post on this board. It began during this summer. I followed each college in the media in addition to commentary by outside individuals, and I have decided to attend Michigan. I decided that academically Michigan was better for me as far as research opportunities and availability of concentrations. Also, I someone I know who goes there said that interaction with professors is actually easy, it's just that the student has to make the effort. One other factor in my decision was the eventual goals of each university. From reading many articles, including one last year in Newsweek that named President Coleman one of the most influential people in the country, I saw that the administration at Michigan had a clear goal of making the entire University one of the premier universities in the world, moreso than it already is. Also, recent fundraising efforts prove that a state university can compete in endowment size with such universities as ND and the ivies. ND seemed, however, much less stable, as it seems the recent Tyrone Willingham firing and disputes over it were reflections of a greater problem within the University. Finally, some of Notre Dame's rules, stemming from the conservatism of the administration and the schools tradition, seem a little out-dated to me. THAT SAID, I still have upmost respect for Notre Dame and its graduates, and I still think it is an incredible institution, but Michigan is better for me. Thank you to everyone who offered their advice and GO BLUE!!!!!</p>
<p>What is your planned major confuseddude?</p>
<p>I'm going to go pre med and do research also, but as far as major, I have no idea. One reason I chose Michigan over Notre Dame is that Michigan offers a much broader selection of courses, and all the departments of the subjects for which I have interest (math, poly sci, bio, econ, english) are ranked really high.</p>