Questions and Chances for UMich?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
21

<p>Thank you so much for the good posts kmc and bill as well as for answering my questions!
I remember that UMich used to have a website with virtual tours of the dorms, but I can’t seem to find them anymore.</p>

<p>Unfortunately I’m just too curious… </p>

<ol>
<li><p>What are the research/internship opportunities at UMich?</p></li>
<li><p>Do you know what type of companies appear at the job fairs? </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Also, as before, any supplementary advice/comments/questions/etc on anything mentioned before is, like everything else, GREATLY APPRECIATED!</p>

22

<p>There are plenty of research opportunity on campus. There is also a summer research program that with a stipend. As for internship, most of the engineering students I know did at least 1 or 2 summer interns throughout the years. All sort of companies come for job fairs including many big names.</p>

23

<p>kmcmom13, I don’t think UMich is rejecting top score students for that reason. Calling it a crap shot by statlanta is oversimplifying the review process. I can see many possible reasons that a higher scorer got rejected while a lower one got accepted. First, there is a difference between CoE and LSA. The same score may be accepted by LSA but not CoE. Second, besides scores and GPA, UMich as well as many other schools has certain course requirement. Many students overlook this requirement and apply to a school that they do not qualify. For instance, some school requires subject tests. Certain program may even specify which subject. Some schools require 3 or 4 years foreign languages (some schools would not count your mother tongue). Some requires 2 lab courses. Some require 3 history. Not fulfilling these requirements would significantly lower (or even eliminate) your chance disregarding your great GPA and test scores. You can find these course requirements easily on collegeboard’s school search.</p>

24

<p>I’m a current student at U of M, double majoring in Mathematics and Economics.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The dorms are pretty fun. I stayed in Bursley Hall last year (freshman year) and I met some of my best friends there. Every dorm ranges a lot on anything from best food (North Quad or MoJo) to closest to classes (South/West Quad). I would recommend looking at this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-michigan-ann-arbor/1469168-guide-dorms-michigan.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-michigan-ann-arbor/1469168-guide-dorms-michigan.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
<li><p>I love the environment here! You will quickly find out that everyone here is extremely unique and interested in a lot of different things. If you’re on the nerdy side (like me) you will love Ann Arbor because it’s full of places to study, coffee shops, and beautiful libraries. If you like to have fun, there are also tons and tons of parties going on every weekend. You can completely pick your own path or mix them up. I would say that most people I know love it here.</p></li>
<li><p>It looks like you’re taking a lot of APs. Which is a really great idea for two reasons: 1) College credit ($$$$$) and because it introduces you to what college classes are like. I took eight of them in high school and I think each one prepared me for University of Michigan classes. However, with that being said, classes are pretty dang hard. Especially if you go into engineering (or math :P). There will be times that you literally sit in the UGLi (undergrad library) for what feels like forever. However, if you manage your time you will do fine. Also, I should say that College is different than high school. A lot different. If you take a full course load here you’ll have 4 classes and you’ll only meet for 16 hours a week or so (total). Which isn’t much compared to high school. But a lot of it is how much time you spend outside of class, studying on your own. And that time can really start to add up.</p></li>
<li><p>Take classes because they seem interesting; not because you think you “should.” Keep an open mind (on classes, people, everything). Meet new people. Don’t judge anyone; there are so many different types of people here and you can’t imagine how freaking brilliant and nice they all are. Study. Don’t wait until the night before an exam to study. Have fun on the weekends. Go to Office Hours (having connections with Professors is a good idea, and it’s hard to do in a lecture of 100+ people). Explore Ann Arbor. GO TO FOOTBALL GAMES. Well, all sports. But especially football.</p></li>
<li><p>ratemyprofessors.com will be your best friend in college. NEVER EVER take a class before googling the professors name followed by “rate professor.” Some profs are excellent. I’ve had some of the best teachers I could ever imagine. Also, a plus of going here is that your teacher often literally WROTE the textbook for their class. They’re brilliant. Some aren’t quite as great. You will also have quite a bit of interaction with GSIs (Grad Student Instructors) who can be really, exceptionally helpful or kind of… not that helpful. When my professor is a “bad lecturer” or something I have found they still welcome questions and you can go to Office Hours and continue to ask. But, I think most people would agree that our professors are pretty damn awesome.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>6.
[Michigan</a> student section vs. Notre dame 2011 - YouTube](<a href=“Michigan student section vs. Notre dame 2011 - YouTube”>Michigan student section vs. Notre dame 2011 - YouTube)<br>
[Michigan's</a> Record Crowd Erupts in 2011 Victory Over Notre Dame - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube) Notre Dame 2011. That’s a record amount of people screaming. I heard ESPN had to literally turn of their microphones because the crowd was too loud. Also, our student section is about 25,000 people I think?
[Michigan</a> coming onto the floor - Reaction at Crisler - YouTube](<a href=“Michigan coming onto the floor - Reaction at Crisler - YouTube”>Michigan coming onto the floor - Reaction at Crisler - YouTube) This was during the basketball national championship. The entire arena (in Ann Arbor) was full of students watching the game on the big screen. </p>

<p>So, yeah.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Pretty liberal (Not necessarily talking about Politics.) We all like to have fun. We feel passionate about things (hundreds and hundreds of clubs.) We also like to study. (That’s kind of the only way to get into U of M.) And by “study” I mean do well on the exams. Huge. The student body is huge. I would encourage you to try and meet as many people as possible.</p></li>
<li><p>Our campus is the best in the world, IMHO. We have beautiful open spaces where people can throw a frisbee or a baseball (The Diag, the Law Quad, The Arb etc.) We have places like the law quad (It looks a lot like Harry Potter.) It feels huge even though you can basically walk from one corner to the other in like 15 minutes. (Excluding North Campus - that’s like 2 miles away. You take a bus.) We have some beautiful buildings. But what really is awesome is how integrated U of M is with Ann Arbor as an urban area. Coffee Shops everywhere. Record shops everywhere. Stores tailored perfectly for college students everywhere. Restaurants everywhere. Museums everywhere. Bars everywhere. And all of these places are an easy walk from anywhere on campus. Most of them are literally two minutes away.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t get so involved in one thing that you forget about everything else. E.g. don’t get too involved in a club. In a job. In a certain class. In a certain group of friends. In the party scene. Don’t forget that college has literally millions of different opportunities for you.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Also, yeah, drugs are bad. Stay away from those.</p>

<ol>
<li>Like the most: The Law Library/Quad. And my classes (studying Mathematics, Economics, and Chinese.) And my friends. And Starbucks. And the abundant routes for running.</li>
</ol>

<p>Dislike the most: some of the offices (financial aid and the like) can be hard to get in contact with. Since there are so many students these offices are often super overwhelmed, which I suppose is slightly reasonable. But, you can always make an appointment and all that.</p>

<p>11 (or 1?) There are tons of research/internships available. We have an excellent Career Center that helps with that stuff. There are a lot of professors and they are always conducting research. Sometimes it’s as simple as emailing a professor and being like, “Hey I see you’re researching labor economics. I’m studying labor economics. Etc. Etc.” or sometimes there’s an application process. But, almost everyone I know who’s looked for an internship/research has been able to find one. </p>

<ol>
<li>All of them. Literally. Like, our career fairs have hundreds and hundreds. Also, we’re a feeder to some of the top companies in the United States (Goldman Sachs, the U.S. government, Ford). Which means those elite companies come HERE looking for students. Once you get further into a major (for me, math and econ) you’ll be invited to luncheons or career expos or mixers where you mingle with some pretty huge companies.</li>
</ol>

<p>You have very similar statistics as I did in high school and I got in (obviously.) You’re ACT is really solid. So is your SAT. Your rank in class is good (I feel like this is probably one of the biggest factors.) You’ve done well on AP exams and are continuing to take them. You’ve done a lot of extracurricular activities. Your Essays are important and so are you Letters of Recommendation. I would certainly accept you if I was the admissions accepting guy.</p>

<p>BUT, if you don’t get in. Don’t worry. Whichever school you end up at, you will love. I know you probably don’t believe it, because I know I didn’t when I was in high school. Life has a funny way of putting you in places you didn’t expect sometimes. But, speaking of high school: The University of Michigan was NOT the school I wanted to go in high school. I didn’t think for a second (until late senior year) that I would be here. I was crushed when I didn’t get into my “dream school” or whatever. But I’m SO GLAD I came here. If you can’t tell yet, I absolutely love this school. If my old “dream school” emailed me tomorrow and said, “hey, you should come here blah blah we have a spot for you, and it’s FREE!” I wouldn’t go. The best decision I’ve ever made was to come here. So, moral of the story, with your grades and stuff you’re going to go to a freaking awesome school and you’re going get a freaking awesome diploma from them.</p>

25

<p>Wow rusjenison that was a great post! Thanks for taking the time to lay out your thoughts on so many subjects. Glad you find it so wonderful at Michigan and that it has worked out so well for you!</p>

26

<p>You are very competitive in scores and GPA. You will have a better chance if you are paying “full fair”, in other words, not a resident of Michigan.</p>

<p>Michigan likes a high GPA, and high scores in math and science (ACT or SAT).</p>

<p>Really focus on why you really really want to go to Univ of Michigan as a top priority; Michigan wants to hear this</p>

<p>As a white male, you have less of a chance. U of M has been sued many times for discrimination or giving women, minorities, internationals more “points” or however they calculate admissions.</p>

<p>I am a women, and when I did my undergrad and grad we were “highly prized”. Sort of an insult however, no doubt my sexuality helped me get into the school. Whatever you look like though, will not help you get good grades of graduate.</p>

<p>I went to U of M as did my husband for BSME. Graduate school, you are on the North Campus very focused.</p>

<p>Undegraduate, I know the school and have family and friends that have graduated. Most of your first few years will be on main campus, it is a large school very spread out. Courses in math, humanities, chem, physics, and any other required courses - you will most likely take with all other students in the school in much larger classes (not just engineers).</p>

<p>Good Luck.</p>

27

<p>Thank you for all the advice so far guys, especially Bill for his continued support, rus for that AMAZING post, and EEdegree for her help as well! </p>

<p>Once again, ALL ADVICE IS APPRECIATED!</p>

28

<p>bumpchar10!</p>

29

<p>bumpalicious once more!</p>