<p>It is important that your parents remember two things?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>There are many rankings out there, none of which is reliable or accurate. The USNWR is one of the oldest and the most commercially successful, but it is no better than the other, equally flawed rankings out there.</p></li>
<li><p>There are literally hundreds of universities in the peer group you are considering. The difference between #10 and #30 is marginal in any of those rankings.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Below are some pros and cons for all three schools:</p>
<p>University of Michigan-Ann Arbor:
Pros:
-Excellent academics across the board (#3 in Psychology, #4 in Business, #7 in Engineering)
-Very highly respected in academe (one of the highest peer assessment scores)
-Excellent corporate reputation
-Prestigious nationally and globally
-Ridiculously strong school spirit and pride
-Very lively and active campus life
-Large, spreadout, loyal, influential and active alumni network
-Great athletics programs, particularly in Football and Hockey
-Laid back and friendly students
-Very diverse, with 1,700 undergraduate international students from over 120 countries, over 3,000 undergrads from the East Coast and another 1,000 undergrads from California
-Top 10 Medical school and hospital which provide excellent research/internship opportunities for undergrads and give preference to Michigan undergrads when applying to Medical school
-Ann Arbor is AWESOME!</p>
<p>Cons:
-Michigan is large. Some students prefer mid-sized schools
-Grading is not as inflated as it is at many other schools, which can hurt premed students</p>
<p>Myths:
-Classes are HUGE. Michigan does not offer many seminar courses which tends to deflate the % of classes with fewer than 20. The University is seriously considering jumping on this bandwagon, but I hope it does not. Those classes add nothing to the quality of education. Most classes one will take in college will not be larger at Michigan than at any elite private university.
-TAs teach undergrads. Only 3% of classes are taught my TAs at Michigan. Most of those classes are entry level Mathematics and Foreign Language classes. Again, this is no different at Michigan than at most major research university, including Harvard or Stanford. </p>
<p>University of Notre Dame:
Pros:
-Highly respected in academe
-Excellent corporate reputation
-Prestigious nationally but not globally
-Ridiculously strong school spirit and pride
-Very lively and active campus life
-Large, spreadout, loyal, influential and active alumni network
-Great athletics programs, particularly in Football</p>
<p>Cons:
-South Bend is not that nice a town
-Notre Dame is predominantly Catholic, which does not sit will with many. Even Catholics like myself would rather not attend a university where 80% of the students and 50% of the faculty are Catholic.</p>
<p>Myths:
-You do not have to be Catholic to fit in. Notre Dame has a friendly and welcoming student body
-Students at Notre Dame are not conservative. In fact, most lean left of center</p>
<p>Washington University-St Louis:
Pros:
-Excellent in the life sciences (#9 in Biology and #5 in Medicine)
-Highly respected in academe
-Very diverse, with over 60% of the students coming from the Coasts
-Top 10 Medical school and hospital which provide excellent research/internship opportunities for undergrads and give preference to WUSTL undergrads when applying to Medical school
-Small and intimate student body
-Arguably the best university for premeds…certainly the best in the group you are considering. Grade inflation is alive and well and placement rates into Medical school are solid</p>
<p>Cons:
-St Louis is not a pleasant city
-Weak athletics tradition
-Relatively low-key alumni network</p>
<p>Myths:
-WUSTL is not merely premed. It has well regarded Business and Humanities programs.</p>
<p>Bottom line, those are three excellent universities. I think it would be a good idea if your parents and you hit the road and visited Ann Arbor, South Bend and St Louis. I am farily confident that after visiting the three schools, your parents will be equally comfortable with all of them and will not need convincing.</p>