<p>I'm wondering what students think of their experience so far. How do you guys like it at Michigan?</p>
<p>I absolutely love it. For me personally, the atmosphere here is perfect. I’ve been a Michigan fan my entire life, so the sports culture is very important to me. I am also involved in Greek life, but I am engineer as well. I feel like the Michigan experience I’ve had so far really embodies the “work hard, play hard” mentality. I’m really going to miss being in Ann Arbor when I go home for the summer.</p>
<p>One more thing: the opportunities here are endless. There are so many things a person can get involved in it’s almost overwhelming. I highly recommend Michigan for anyone still deciding where to attend.</p>
<p>I was at a meeting for Rhodes, Marshall, and Mitchell Scholarships the other day and one of the individuals there said something that I find to be very true, and really sums up the Michigan Difference. When you come here, you will be studying under some of the brightest and best – truly experts in their fields. It is a tremendous shame to simply show up to class, do the homework, and leave. Utilizing these individuals, making connections with them, sharing ideas, planning out research. The list goes on. Sure, office hours can be used for getting extra help, but they can do so much more for you and your future. Truly, the opportunities here are endless. </p>
<p>My mentor here said something last year that I think also encapsulates the Michigan Difference quite well. He said when he was at Princeton, if a guy went to a Professor of Poli. Sci and said he was interested in combining Poli. Sci. with (insert something completely random), chances are the Prof. would say no. Here, on the other hand, when an individual asks a Prof. to help combine two seemingly unrelated fields, the Professor will actually help you write up the proposal! This willingness to bend the rules and look at problems with completely different perspectives is what makes Michigan such an amazing place. </p>
<p>So yes, Michigan is amazing. Anyone who is ready to take advantage of the resources (not simply wait for them, but go and take them) will be thankful they chose Michigan and will really understand what those commercials mean. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>The goods:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>College football experience (well obviously going downhill. Not so fun going to games when your team is not even competitive)… but NFL>CFB any day of the week tbh</p></li>
<li><p>Hockey experience…that’s really something special…</p></li>
<li><p>Easy classes/grading/curves in any classes not engineering/math/hard sciences. There’s a 400-level polsci class that gives out 96% As and 4% A-s… and the only reason the 4% got A-s was because they didn’t write ANY of their weekly paper…go figure</p></li>
<li><p>Really easy to stand out because of student caliber and overall laid-back mentality, which helps a lot when it comes time for recruiting. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>The Bads:
- Student Caliber - A significant portion of the in-state population and a smaller portion of the overall population are simply not up to par. There is no other way to put it. This does not apply to the graduate schools at Michigan. I find most Michigan grad students extremely bright. The university needs to cut down on its incoming freshman class size. There is a significant difference between the average student at Michigan versus say an average student at Penn. </p>
<ol>
<li>Laid-Back Mentality - People are not competitive at all. I am a firm believer of competition and frankly, Michigan students, even the b-school kids, are way too laid back. Cut-throat competition environment makes everyone better because you would be motivated to better yourself all the time. </li>
</ol>
<p>Where I am from (northeast private school with a large population of new yorkers), everyone is uber competitive and it is part of the culture. Here at Michigan people consider hyper-competitiveness a bad thing because they are not up for a little competition. So if you are a reasonably competitive person, Michigan is probably not your cup of tea.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>“Diversity” shoved down your throat. Listen to Mary Sue Coleman speak is a pain in the azz. Seems like our beloved university president only knows 1 word. What happened to meritocracy?</p></li>
<li><p>So-so recruiting. But outside of HYPSM and Wharton, everyone complains about the recruiting at their schools anyway</p></li>
<li><p>Student-body overall not too career oriented. Go to a school like Dartmouth or Cornell and compare and you’ll see the difference.</p></li>
<li><p>Sophisticated-ness and Well-travelled-ness (haha i just made that word): 95% of the students at Michigan can’t identify the fish knife.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>“Sophisticated-ness and Well-travelled-ness (haha i just made that word): 95% of the students at Michigan can’t identify the fish knife.”</p>
<p>Oh and before someone try to call me an elitist. I’ll tell you why it matters. </p>
<p>I was at a pre-superday dinner. It was a couple kids from Yale, a couple kids from Columbia, and 4 kids from Michigan. It was a pretty upscale restaurant and most people ordered the fish special. </p>
<p>Now, when entree came, this one kid from Michigan asked the server for a normal knife because he only had a “bread knife”. Before anyone could say anything, the other Michigan kid said, “me too”… The server explained that it’s actually a fish knife. Burst of laughter follows and the MD at the table said, “You guys at Michigan don’t get to eat at nice restaurants much do you”…
Everyone started eating, this ■■■■■■ held the fish knife like a steak knife… Another round of laughter. I was so embarassed to be associated with these ■■■■■■■ that night.</p>
<p>^
Just because the other students didn’t say anything doesn’t mean they weren’t thinking the same thing…</p>
<p>“Burst of laughter follows and the MD at the table says…”</p>
<p>So mistaking a bread knife for a fish knife is unsophisticated, but rudely laughing at this person and making a point of them in front of the whole group isn’t? That’s what’s truly ■■■■■■■■. God you have a bad sense of the word sophisticated.</p>
<p>Bearcats, we’ll infuse you with the collegial spirit yet. There’s still time to sand you down. So tell me the meaning of the root of collegial, will ya, and I’ll make a distinction for you about the difference between “competitive” and “collaborative” as a desirable trait in an employee ;)</p>
<p>I dated a girl who has been accepted into Yale…I had to explain to her what happened at Watergate. If I had to choose between confusion at a pretentious restaurant and ignorance with regard to simple US history, I think we know who to side with…then again, bearcats is a sucker for superficialities</p>
<p>“So mistaking a bread knife for a fish knife is unsophisticated, but rudely laughing at this person and making a point of them in front of the whole group isn’t? That’s what’s truly ■■■■■■■■. God you have a bad sense of the word sophisticated.”</p>
<p>The difference is, a candidate is there to impress. An MD who eventually gives his input on who to offer doesn’t have to give a damn. If I were the MD, the first thing that would cross my mind is, “what if he were on my team and I take him to meet with clients over dinner and he pulled some stupid stunt like that…”</p>
<p>"I dated a girl who has been accepted into Yale…I had to explain to her what happened at Watergate. "
Nice example. Because I would wager there are more Michigan students “ignorant with regard to simple US history” than Yale students. Btw, I’ve met a fine student with an ACT of 21 at Michigan who cant do simple arithmetic. so what’s your point?</p>
<p>“and I’ll make a distinction for you about the difference between “competitive” and “collaborative” as a desirable trait in an employee”</p>
<p>I am pretty sure a lot of people consider competitiveness as a desirable trait in an employee, especially in high finance. An SVP who interviewed me for S&T once told me, their firm (top BB) actively look for engineering/math military grad who is also a sports star because </p>
<p>1) Being able to hack engineering/math shows they are genuinely smart
2) military experience show leadership
3) Sports Star show Competitiveness</p>
<p>He went on to add that sadly it’s rare to find all three traits in one person. Then he said, "Well since you were never in the military nor are you a sport star, please give me two examples of why you are a leader, and why you are an uber competitive person.</p>
<p>going to avoid getting dragged into another one of bearcats’ venting sessions, but having been to a reasonable number of finance superday dinners, i can tell you the “nice restaurant awkwardness” factor is definitely present in students from all schools, including ivies. Very few college students regularly eat at three-michelin star restaurants like you do, bearcats, even at harvard.</p>
<p>and is it just me or does the md’s comment sound more like friendly prodding vs. insulting? anyone with any social grace could handle that comment & situation without it being awkward.</p>
<p>how’s recruiting going for you anyway, bearcats? winning over all your superday interviewers with your charming and likable personality?</p>
<p>not everyone come from affluent backgrounds and know what a fish knife is for.</p>
<p>So a major problem with the students at Michigan is that they can’t identify the fish knife because in the event that you’re eating at a restaurant with students from other schools, you’ll risk being embarrassed?</p>
<p>Well, Cornell starts with a ‘C’ and that’s a stupid letter.</p>
<p>“So a major problem with the students at Michigan is that they can’t identify the fish knife because in the even that you’re eating at a restaurant with students from other schools, you’ll risk being embarrassed?”</p>
<p>It speaks to how motivated people are about their career. Almost everyone knows that firms observe you for every part of the superday, and this includes the dinner. So if you are serious about getting a job, you could easily get a book about dining etiquette from the library or google “interview dining etiquette”, instead of acting like a fool and getting dinged. </p>
<p>“how’s recruiting going for you anyway, bearcats? winning over all your superday interviewers with your charming and likable personality?”
Going pretty well. Thank you for asking. Still deciding where to go.</p>
<p>"Well, Cornell starts with a ‘C’ and that’s a stupid letter. "
<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BovQyphS8kA[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BovQyphS8kA</a></p>
<p>How many companies observe you while eating? Is that a common occurrence or is that really for the very top jobs (the ones I imagine you’re going for)?</p>
<p>That would only happen at very “blue blooded” organizations (McKinsey, Goldman etc…). I always enjoyed those events because I loved humbling the recruiters! hehe!</p>
<p>With your dining etiquette?</p>
<p>bearcats, a couple of your “bads” are “goods” in my book. I like the fact that students at Michigan are intellectual and laid back rather than career-oriented and cutthroat. That is why I chose to go there for college. I wanted to go to college with well-gounded, down-to-earth students who cared more about their education than their career. </p>
<p>I am also not so sure I agree about the lack of sophistication comment. I went to Cornell and Michigan and I have known many students at other elite schools and the general concensus is, that you will always have a mix between well-travelled/worldly students and simple/not-so-well travelled students. I can imagine that at Yale, the mix would probably be 60%/40% whereas at Michigan, it would be more like 40%/60%, but that’s not “bad”.</p>
<p>As for student caliber, I only partly agree. Obviously, given its size, commitment to athletics, obligation to state students and diverse academic offerings, Michigan’s undergraduate student body is going to be weaker than an Ivy League’s. This said, if you remove the bottom third of the student body at Michigan, you would have an Ivy League-type student body. Regardless, I never understood the need for a very strong student body. Students of equal calibre will move in similar circles. Highly driven and capable students will typically take more challenging classes, so one will never have much trouble finding gifted students to hang out/study with.</p>
<p>I am terribly sorry your years in Ann Arbor have been so devastating, bearcats. Between terribly uncomfortable dinners and a world class education, I can’t for the life of me understand how you manage to wake up every morning. But perhaps graduating will do you some good. Maybe getting as far from Michigan as possible will help you realize what the university has done for you. Until then, please get a hobby; people are actually starting to take you seriously here. Now that is dangerous.</p>
<p>It is not just dining etiquette QwertyKey, although that is a big part of it. It is also what you order, your knowledge of cuisine and of restaurants etc… To many, those types of restaurants may seem pretentious, but I only care about the quality of the food.</p>