<p>I was accepted into Harvard 2015 and into the Honors LSA Program of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Both are giving me decent financial aid. I grew up and live in Cambridge, MA, which would mean I would literally move down the street to go to Harvard, and I would really like to leave home. But I don't feel like I know enough about UMich to justify choosing it over Harvard.</p>
<p>Any and all advice is needed and welcomed!</p>
<p>Net cost after non-loan financial aid at each school?
Intended major(s)?</p>
<p>Have you had a chance to visit University of Michigan? Personally, unless Michigan was much less expensive for you, or offered a major that Harvard didn’t, I would stick with Harvard. Congratulations by the way!</p>
<p>Can you go visit UMich before you have to decide? That would help quite a bit.</p>
<p>Also, what attracted you to UMich in the first place enough to put it on your list? Are there programs there that aren’t at Harvard? Did the social life there seem more intriguing? Do you just want out of the North East for four years?</p>
<p>You don’t have to go to Harvard just because you were accepted. Every year students choose other colleges and universities over Harvard. Every year students transfer out of Harvard as well.</p>
<p>What are your other choices?</p>
<p>Academically, there shouldn’t be a strong reason to pick Michigan. Socially, it would be the classic big school, football weekend university experience while the athletic rah-rah vibe at Harvard is much lower-key (except for the one Saturday per year that you already know about).</p>
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<p>They don’t very often; the graduation rate there is between 97-98%!</p>
<p>^^^ true gadad, but some do leave. I think it is important for the OP to allow him/herself to choose against Harvard if that is really what he/she desires. All to often students are left with the notion that Harvard is a gold standard against which all educational institutions in the US are to be measured, and that there must be something horribly “wrong” with anyone who doesn’t want to study there.</p>
<p>Unless UMichigan has a special X factor for you, then Harvard is the way to go.
I commend you on being accepted to Harvard. Great job.</p>
<p>There are many students in our area who grow up within a few miles of Stanford and then move into the dorms as freshman. Most report that it feels like a bigger move than you would think, and that they are as independent as they choose to be.</p>
<p>Harvard no question, the amount of doors the name just the name Harvard opens is insane.</p>
<p>Harvard unless Michigan turns around and gives you a practically free ride.</p>
<p>Harvard. Going to college in a familiar city is a completely different experience</p>
<p>Your choice is an easy one…Harvard! Harvard is amazing. There are only three reasons why I would recommend Michigan over Harvard for an undergraduate education: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>You really hate the campus environment at Harvard and realy love the Michigan environment</p></li>
<li><p>Michigan costs a lot less to attend and your parents do not have the means to comfortably afford the difference in the cost of attendance.</p></li>
<li><p>You are a hard-core engineer that intends to study engineering and go into an engineering career.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I do not think any of the three points above apply to you. As such, I say Harvard all the way</p>
<p>Did you not get accepted anywhere else? Michigan is a fine school, but I think it’d be strange that you don’t have any other options closer to the admissions rigor of Harvard.</p>
<p>chaosakita, does it matter whether he got into Cal, Chicago, Cornell, Duke, Northwestern or Penn? Those are all at the level of Michigan and a step down from Harvard. Had the OP secured acceptances from MIT, Princeton, Stanford or Yale, I am sure those would have been brought into the discussion, making the OP’s decision much harder.</p>
<p>I think chaosakita said admissions rigor by the way Alexandre. Michigan is not close to Chi, Duke, Cornell, NW or Penn in admissions based on statistics or probably even actual undergraduate rigor who knows, I doubt anyone has attended all the programs at these schools. However, perception, to many indicate that these schools are closer to Harvard than Mich.</p>
<p>Also a stronger case may be made for these schools relative to Harvard than Mich. Thats what I think though.</p>
<p>I agree sefago (not about rigor since Michigan is very robust on this front), but I was not referring to perception or selectivity, nor did the OP ever mention those two elements in his opening post. I was referring to quality of education, resources, rigor and reputation (in corporate recruiting and graduate admissions circles) and opportunities that come with that quality, resources, rigor and reputation. Schools like Cal, Cornell, Northwestern and Penn are virtually identical to Michigan in all those respects, and all of them are not quite at the level of Harvard where reputation, resources and opportunities are concerned.</p>
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<p>I dont think chaos mentioned which schools he was even talking about. I think it was a bit reflexive to assume he was talking about the examples you gave. I mentioned rigor because there is no definite proof of Mich’s rigor or quality of education (or to be honest any school in particular). Having lots of resources (Most students will not use but yeah having them seems kind of awesome)= Good education in my books</p>
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<p>All these are kind of assertions and conclusions based on how one interprets the data they are given. I dont think anyone has been to all these schools to know about the depth of resources and how they are allocated. Moreover, I am sure if I asked for proof of Michigan or Harvard’s rigor, I would just get a large amount of numbers and a very bad argument to go with it. With respect to recruitment, If I asked about per capita recruitment or graduate school, I expect a similar argument in which someone claims that “People in a certain school are less attracted to these occupations while a guesstimate of a certain number of people in these school are attracted to these careers.” Ergo per capita does not count.</p>
<p>Anyways at the OP, long and short - I doubt actually there might be any difference in what you are taught at either schools. The biggest difference would be the student body. However the perception is that Harvard s better. You are going to find out that in the real world perception beats reality.</p>
<p>Alexandre, truthfully, how much did your pulse rate increase when you saw the title of this thread?</p>
<p>Not at all. As far as I am concerned, based on what the OP has said, this is a no brainer; Havard over Michigan.</p>