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Well, there’s this great thing called graduate funding. </p>
<p>In any case, “fit” at the graduate level should ONLY be about academic factors. Other factors should come into play only after a student is admitted to several programs of choice and is making a decision.</p>
<p>Ann Arbor is considered one of the nicest and funnest college towns in the US. It is safe, clean, wealthy, cultured and lively. With a large undegraduate student population, the campus and surrounding areas are known for having a spirited feel, and the preponderance of artistic, political, social and athletic activity only add to the incredible atmosphere. And when Michigan does something, it does it well. Michigan’s athletics are generally among the top 10 in the nation. Michigan attracts leading intelectual and artistic figures for speaches, seminars and performances. And it is not merely a great place for college students. Ann Arbor has been rated among the top 10 places to raise chidren, and among the top 10 places for retirement.</p>
<p>As for the women at the University of Michigan, I would assume that a Mathematician would appreciate the statistical probability of meeting “nice” women on a campus that has 13,000 female undergraduate students and 7,000 female graduate students. That’s 20,000 women aged 18-35. Chances are, hundreds if not thousands of those smart and empowered ladies will be availlable and open to dating.</p>
<p>ramocito - let’s be a little more blunt. Arrogance appears to be an apt description in your case. </p>
<p>You may be overlooking that some of the older folks on this board are exceedingly accomplished, both academically and professionally and find your arrogance - from one who avers to have math talent but has yet to apparently accomplish much - striking.</p>
<p>Ann Arbor is not Detroit. Not by a long shot. Most crime in Ann Arbor is property crime, which is true in a lot of college towns like it. I see some tagging around town but I don’t think we have a “gang” problem–there are some areas of town with more criminal activity, but they’re not near campus and I’d suspect most U-M students would not even know where or what I am talking about. </p>
<p>I get really sick of the “the girls aren’t hot at U-M” discussions that arise. There are plenty of women on campus, of all types, most of them smart and ambitious. Men who think the female population is inadequate for their tastes are welcome to enroll elsewhere. I suspect no one would to deeply mourn their absence.</p>
<p>Funny story to illustrate the Ann Arbor > Detroit concept. My mother is a court transcriptionist for the Wayne/Washtenaw area and as such she is exceedingly paranoid about crime, as she gets all the nitty gritty details of thousands of violent crimes in the area per year. When I was growing up I was literally not allowed to go to Detroit, ever. If any of my friends were going or I wanted to go to a hockey game or something I couldn’t go, and my family would never go. When I turned 18 I had friends move to Detroit to attend schools there and I thought I’d be able to go visit since I was 18, but I didn’t own my own car, so the rule changed to “THAT CAR ISN’T ALLOWED TO GO TO DETROIT!” My boyfriend of two years lives in Detroit when he isn’t at school, and even though it’s only 30 minutes away I’ve never been allowed to go to his house. So, even up to age 20, my parents have effectively banned me from Detroit. Like, seriously. I’ve been to a few Wings games since I turned 18 since some of my friends have cars, and that’s probably the only time I’ve seen Detroit in the 20 years I’ve lived in Wayne County.</p>
<p>My mom loves Ann Arbor and isn’t worried about me being here at all. Her biggest concern is me wandering into traffic and getting hit by a car. XD</p>
<p>^^ Your parents are very paranoid. I grew up in Detroit/Grosse Pointe, and I have never personally witnessed a crime in action. There are still some nice neighborhoods in the city. I always practice common sense, but I am not scared to enter the city.</p>
<p>That’s why it’s funny. My mom is insane.</p>
<p>I was just trying to show that even if you fear urban places in the most extreme way, my mom seems to think I’ll fall through the ground straight into hell if I step foot in Detroit, A2 is still okay.</p>
<p>I think we’re being a little unfair to Ramocito. Living in Ann Arbor I can say from first hand experience that the co-eds at Michigan are quite attractive. The reputation of them shambling slack-jawed and sloth-like from class to class is somewhat overstated. As for their intelligence, well let me relate a story. Just the other day I was walking down South U when a firefight broke out between the Wolverz and the Buck-Iyz. Fearing that another of my limbs would become collateral damage in a drive-by shooting, I dove headlong through the shattering plate glass of Stucchi’s Ice Cream Parlor. As I tumbled to the floor I came face-to-lightly-mustachioed-face with a young lady also seeking sanctuary from the flying lead. </p>
<p>Through our conversation, consisting of a series of clicks, grunts and whistles, I was able to ascertain that she was a Psychology/Social Anthropology double major from Ohio. As the National Guard laid down a wave of suppressing fire, I was enchanted by how articulate, sensitive and well groomed she was; it became quite easy to overlook the prehensile tail. It struck me that if I were a socially bereft foreign exchange graduate student lacking the basic interpersonal skills to mate in my own country, that this would be exactly the type of girl for me. </p>
<p>Leaving Stucchi’s and picking our way through the casualties, I was amazed to see so many other co-eds just like her, all skittering their way to class on knuckles and toes. I realized then that only a complete buffoon would worry about the academic reputation of a place like Michigan when there was obviously so much love in the air. So come on over Ramocito, somebody obviously intelligent enough to study for a mathematics PhD certainly shouldn’t be put off by a few tedious rumors and stereotypes.</p>
<p>P.S. This post is in NO WAY sarcastic.</p>
<p>P.P.S. Folks, if you feed the ■■■■■■, they keep coming back. Stop it!</p>