Michigan is still stating at info sessions the old canard that “60 percent of freshman are assigned to North Campus.” But the numbers do not add up. I’ve looked at the Universities own numbers on housing and LLC. As a result I have discovered that there is room only for less than thirty percent of freshman on North. Even if you considrer “Freshman not in a LLC ( including honors as an LLC)” ( which is the number others quote) there is room for only about 40 percent of those freshman on North. I think that they quote this now false statistic ( it may have been true once ) so people don’t get as upset about being assigned to North but they should just be honest and forthright.
So what you’re saying is that the University of Michigan is purposely fudging a number so that students won’t get upset about being on North, regardless of the fact that they push their campus day leaders/tour guides to take a neutral stance on the subject and the fact that they don’t view one side of campus as being better over the other?
Well they are fudging the numbers for some reason. I was at the info session on Friday ( as part of my volunteer work in our college counseling office) and the 60 percent number was still being quoted even though it’s mathematically impossible.
Well people in MLCs make up a substantial amount of people who get placed on central. 60 percent does seem like a bit of an exaggeration, but to think that they are using it to purposefully be dishonest is quite ridiculous. If the entering class is about 6000, and Bursley + Baits II + Northwood 3 all combined hold about 2200, that in itself is over 35%. Then you take out the people in MLCs (and there are 9 available to freshmen, and I know there should be at least 500 just in the Honors Program alone), you can make the argument that the final number would hover around that 50-60% area. Not to mention you dont consider students who choose to do housing off-campus or decide to commute from home.
^ Around 95% of freshmen live in dorm that took around 6000 of the less than 10000 beds. RC, LLC, and LSA honors have over 2000 freshmen combined. It would not be too much an exaggeration to say 60% of non residential program freshmen assigned to North Campus. It was 70% a couple years ago.
@halibate. According to Umichs own website there are less than 1800 freshman on North. Note that Northwood is listed as now ONLY for transfer and graduate students. At the Umich info session they said 98 percent ( not 95 percent) of freshman in university housing. When asked he gave me RC LLC and Honors as 1550 total individuals who are freshman ( he said some students are in more than one of these thus you have to be careful not to double count when looking at students). Thus it is indeed quite the exaggeration to say 60 percent on North of those not in these.
Here’s one reason why you may have been double counting. From the U of M website: “Can I do both RC and Honors? Absolutely. Many RC students have been invited to join the Honors college at U of M, and we encourage you to take advantage of that opportunity; however RC students may not elect the option of Honors housing. The RC will work with you to find a schedule that accommodates both programs.”
From how I understand it, they come up with that number by removing all of the central/hill area beds that are reserved for students in the learning communities and athletes. Since most students do not fall into either category, it’s a better representation of the split for most incoming freshman. I seriously doubt they recalculate that figure every year for their presentations. It’s possible that percentage they quote was true when they were going through all of the renovations on central campus with a building closed each year and they haven’t updated it in a while.
I seriously doubt they’re intentionally trying to mislead people, especially when they know that north campus dorms are less desirable.
i believe that the number was once correct before they closed Northwood to freshman and before they reopened all central campus housing. But I also know that the “60 percent on north campus statistic” ( often cited by UMICH officials WITHOUT even mentioning that it doesn’t include LLC, Honirs etc…including the guy who ran my latest info session) is meant to appease people as in : Don’t freak out about being assigned to North Campus because that is where the majority of freshman are so that makes it a good place to be.when I first heard the stat when my own kid was looking that how I felt. That it would of course be good to be where the majority of other freshman were. In fact that is EXACTLY the message the director of housing gave at the parent orientation I attended last year.
It’s not that I think that the university is acting maliciously. It’s that I think they are what we lawyers call " closing their eyes to the truth. Telling people that most freshman get assigned to North is designed to allay the fears of kids who don’t want North. It was a nice thing to be able to tell people. And UMich doesn’t want to think about the fact that it’s no longer true.
I think someone is just relying on old numbers. We attended the accepted students day and in our packet is a sheet tilted “Welcome to University Housing.” On the back is a pie chart that shows the breakdown for housing assignments: 39% Hill, 25% Central, and 36% North. Our presenter used this sheet when giving the presentation. Perhaps all the speakers have just not been updated due to the recent changes in housing as a result of renovations, etc. At any rate, I don’t see any conspiracy here; it seems to me, if they were going to mislead students (which I do not think they are trying to do), it would be more effective to inaccurately report a REDUCED percentage of students who live on North to make the University more appealing as a whole.
At any rate, most students don’t fear North campus the way you seem to think. And it is your child who will be living in the dorms, not you. Thousands of students have a positive experience living on North Campus.
Here is what is STILL can be found on Umich Website when you google " North Campus" : “Approximately 70% of the general incoming class lives in Baits Houses, Bursley Hall, or Northwood III, all located on North Campus. With so many freshman in-residence, North Campus offers lots of opportunities to meet new friends. For an overview of North Campus services and programs, visit the University’s “Go North” website.”
Yes a failure to update ( Northwood isn’t even used for freshman now) . Also using the “North has SO many freshman” as selling point for North.
I guess I don’t understand all the hostility about the fact that UM has a North Campus and makes students live there. It is what it is. And it has been a large part of housing for 40 years. If a student can’t bear the thought of living on North Campus, he or she should look at other schools.
What do you expect Michigan to do? Say, “yeah, North sucks.” Which one, isn’t true in everyone’s eyes; and two, would be counterproductive to say the least. I don’t see that playing up the positives is in some way misleading, or at least not enough to care about. But that’s me (also a lawyer, btw).
I’m not sure it is a bad thing for everyone. There seems to be more open space to place ball games or frisbee or just sit outside. And the gym seems close to all the dorms? So for my S, I’m not positve he’ll care. And they have a library up there, right?
It’s not hostility. It’s just a desire to see UMich work to make sure the information it provides on its own website is accurate and up to date. By the way the Title of this thread is a play on UMichs video called " The truth about North Campus" The fact is that many students on North ( not all but many ) would choose another option if they could. The numbers who are upset with their assignment is large in comparison to those assigned to Cental or the Hill who would like a different assignment.
The tour I was on included a family with kids already enrolled and their junior who was looking looking. When other parents asked one for any advice it was " do anything you can to avoid North. It’s our kids one regret that he didn’t." As a volunteer in my kids college counseling office who debriefs kids who are back home at the end of the year it’s a common refrain. ( we send about 25 kids a year to UMich).
Well, for someone who hasn’t lived there, no will ever have to, you seem to have strong feelings on the subject. As with many things in life that have the potential to be negative or positive, I like to focus on the positive. If any student asked me for my opinion about North Campus, while I would not sugarcoat it, I would not tell the student to do anything you can to avoid North, especially because despite their best efforts they may in fact end up there. No one is entitled to get what want every time. It’s a good lesson to young people to realize that they may have to deal with things in life that are not always exactly to their liking. and that they should make the best out of it. As thousands of students have done on North Campus.
I just checked my old notes, those 60% or 70% numbers are from at least a couple years ago. The re-opening of all dorms in the south and the removal of around 500 undergraduate beds from NW should have dropped the percentage to around 50%. Anyway, I don’t think they want to misled anyone. They are just too lazy to update the information that they don’t consider critical. Even the admission data was outdated for months.
I’m a freshman at Michigan currently and I would suggest to do anything you can to avoid north. You’re paying thousands of dollars to this university and if you have the chance to apply/sign up for a learning community that will guarantee you housing on central, you should. You’ll be fine on north as majority of people are, but central campus housing (except Markley on the hill) is exponentially better
^^^^^Markley is truly disgusting but there is a surprisingly large group of kids who would make it their first choice if given a choice. It is VERY social and for a certain type of kid ( including many of those planning to go Greek) it is considered a great place to be.
For Others ( including many who would feel more at home in the Residential College) it is considered an unpleasant place to be.
North, on the other hand is almost always considered a bad assignment by almost (but not absolutely) everybody. And yes of course you’ll be fine in the end if assigned to North. Some people end up liking it more than they thought they would though almost all of them would tell you they wish they and the great friends they met in North could have been together in a Central or Hill dorm.
I thought Markley was closed next year for renovation?
No, Markley will NOT be closed next year. There are no current plans for any more renovation and North is the next probable location for renovations anyway.
https://www.michigandaily.com/news/university-invests-ongoing-housing-renovations