Political Internship opps @ Michigan?

Hey everyone. Thanks for deciding to help me out today. Much appreciated. Alright, let me lay down the background.

So I am interested in attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and it is one of the top universities in the country. I honestly did not know that much about this university, but since it kept popping up in every top colleges guide that I looked up, I decided to look more into it and it seems like a pretty interesting place to go. The acceptance rate is, at least in my opinion, more than reasonable for such a great school. I do have a few concerns though.

As a political science student, I hear that they have a great program. However, in the way of internships, Ann Arbor is a fairly small town from what I found on google (about 100,000 people) and it doesn’t really seem to be the center of politics. I know that the city is about an hour away from Detroit which is… something. I don’t want to judge but given what I have heard about Detroit (which is quite a bit of bad stuff) I am not sure if that is the best place to be. Maybe someone who has been can better inform me about it. I’d hate to judge the city simply based on media sensationalism.

Another thing. I am from southern California and I know that it gets quite cold in Michigan. Anyone who has been there can tell me about that? Anything else that I should know?

Thank you so much guys. I really appreciate your comments and advice. Thanks for making CC such a great resource

It would be better if you told us more about yourself like what year are you going into. Grades, stat scores, what else you have done at school. Some of the “chance me” threads here will give you the idea.

It’s not terribly cold, but winter is chilly and gloomy and there’s snow sometimes. It might be a shock for you or a welcome change, it’s hard to tell in advance.
Detroit is actually on the rise from what I’ve heard, so it might be quite interesting from a political point of view, but I don’t really know anything about this, you might try to contact the program directly with this question. Chicago is not too far away.

You don’t need to intern near campus. Companies from all over the country come to recruit at job fairs and you can shoot for a position where ever you want.

I got this info from the UMich website:

https://careercenter.umich.edu/content/find-job-or-internship
https://lsa.umich.edu/opportunityhub/students/internships1.html

The acceptance rate is 19% for OOS.

Chicago is about 3 hours away, Detroit is about 35-40 minutes from Ann Arbor, but UMich offers internship opportunities all over the country.

As for the weather, Ann Arbor is cold during the winter. It can be 40 degrees one day, then 10 degress the next. And it can be grey for days. The Winter semester (what other universities call Spring semester) ends late April, so you can be back in sunny SoCal before the end of April. :))

On the bright side, the town is relatively small and cute. Very walkable. And the campus is compact IMO, not sprawling, unless you’re placed in the dorms on North campus.

Michigan is a great school, with excellent pedigree. Companies from all over come to AA to recruit, especially engineering and business students.

From CA, there is a bit of mystery for you among east coast/midwest schools. AA can be bit brutal in the long winters, more so for you than others. At the same time, AA is among the most livable cities in the US.

Out of state is lot more competitive, be prepared to be surprised how high the standard may be.

I visited the north campus for engineering, and posted my initial reaction, you could check it out if you cannot manage a visit.

Good luck.

Thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate all of your comments in helping me make my decision. I really appreciate it.

As far as political science goes, it really does help to go to a University that is close to where you want your internship. George Washington is an ideal location for political science majors for obvious reasons. Not saying you cant get an internship its just going to be more difficult.

Perhaps OP could consider UW-Madison, where the state capitol is down the street.