<p>I'm curious to hear from some current UMich students. We attended Campus Day yesterday and the tour guides & speakers naturally claimed that taking the "10 minute" bus ride from one campus to the other is easy, convenient, and not a big deal. Is that true? I'm sceptical because our bus rides were closer to 20 minutes long. Do you mind having to travel between the two campuses? (The distance between the campuses is the one thing my daughter didn't like. Her dad & I are more bothered by the OOS cost!)</p>
<p>Convenient but crowded during rush hours. Friends said a bus would get too full once in a rare while and would skip the stop. Joke is that sometimes people can’t avoid spooning on the bus. Hilarious. Do you have a bicycle? Whenever I have to go to north campus I just bike, unless if it’s snowing or raining hard. Moderate rain or snow is fine as long as you’re prepared. Great exercise, which is pretty much good for everything in the human body, brain to physiology. Fast 10-15 minutes but you need stamina for the hills, and good judgement/experience when it comes to street crossing and maneuvering. All in all though, chances are the bus will be the least of your worries when it comes to succeeding or getting high grades here.</p>
<p>The actual ride is like 10 minutes, but for people that live up there its more the inconvenience of having to take all their stuff down to central during the day because they can’t go back in between classes. Also if you go out the last bus around like 2:30 am apparently gets really packed and is colloquially known as the vomit comet. Overall north isn’t horrible, and you can always do a MLC if you want to be sure to live on central.</p>
<p>Thanks cocopuhfs & maizeandblue21. Biking sounds like a great idea. We did see a lot of bikes on campus. MLC also sounds like a good idea. I didn’t realize they are mostly on central. I love the jokes about spooning & the vomit comet!</p>
<p>Can you still get free taxi rides to north campus (at UGLI?) after the buses stop running at night (early morning)?</p>
<p>Yes but most people don’t for some reason.</p>
<p>Or you can just get a bike. As fast or faster than a bus. And more convenient.</p>
<p>No, bikes are not more convenient carrying a backpack full of books and a laptop or on the weekend when you’re coming back from a party.</p>
<p>Claytone, there are several bus rides options between Central Campus and North Campus. I will discuss the Magic Bus (blue M buses) routes below, which is free to use. </p>
<p>From CCTC (Central Campus Transit Center):</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Diag-to-Diag Express: Shortest and most convenient bus trip. Bypasses the Medical Campus. 5-minute trip. (I used this option often when I needed to visit North Campus.)</p></li>
<li><p>Bursley-Baits: Many undergraduates live on North Campus and use this shuttle to access CCTC from their dorms. Very crowded but convenient and expedient. </p></li>
<li><p>Northwood/Northwood Express: Students who live in Northwood Housing (university’s off-campus housing) use this shuttle. It reminds me of the Diag-to-Diag Express but makes stops close to Medical Campus.</p></li>
<li><p>Commuter Northbound/Southbound: Longest bus trip that hits all the major stops (student housing, Medical Campus, Athletic buildings, North Campus). Could take up to 20 minutes.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Most people will tell you that a dorm room on Central Campus beats a dorm room on North Campus and that they would prefer to avoid the bus ride but that the difference between the two and the bus ride is not enough of reason to decide to go U-M vs. somewhere else. Everyone seems to make it work.</p>
<p>What is an “MLC”?</p>
<p>You were probably taking the commuter buses to and from. Diag-Diag and Bursley-Baits buses to/from North are pretty quick. </p>
<p>Finances are a personal issue, but since you mentioned it, I would never recommend anyone come here rather than go to their own state flagship unless you’re the type that wouldn’t even think about the finances. It’s just flat out silly to pay 50K+/year to go here. Not that it’s a bad school, but it’s simply not worth that much money. </p>
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<p>These exist but are a disaster. There will often be 20 people waiting to get on one that has 5 seats and will show up every 45 minutes or so. Unless you are legitimately afraid of walking, you’re better off doing so.</p>
<p>@FAFSA - “MLC” stands for “Michigan Learning Community.” Some of these communities are more active then others, and the non-active ones basically just give you an excuse for a guaranteed room on central.</p>
<p>@Vladenschlutte - In regard to finances, your one-size-fits-all statement is completely incorrect. If a student is majoring in sociology, then going to Michigan over say, Penn State, won’t give much advantage at all, and in that case he or she should save the money. If a student is majoring in business or engineering, then going to Michigan would give a tremendous advantage over say, any other big 10 school besides Northwestern (which is private anyway), especially in regards to career opportunities and starting salary. You would pay off the difference in 4-5 years.</p>
<p>Also in regards to SafeRide, if you’re getting on at the Ugli it sucks, but if you’re calling from some random location (ie. the Union) they usually get there very quickly. The Ugli is usually about 50/50.</p>
<p>Which are the more active MLCs? Which are the non-active ones?</p>
<p>KyleTwentyEleven, if finances are an issue it’s illogical to come to Michigan OOS unless you’re looking into something like finance where name recognition means a whole lot. For engineering students everywhere are facing a very open job market, Michigan won’t help too much. For just about everything else there also isn’t a 100 grand disparity in quality, those are tough to come by. For the VAST majority of students, they should go cheap for undergrad and do well in a possibly easier school, then go somewhere like Michigan or a school of similar caliber for graduate school.</p>
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For engineering, one of the Michigan Differences is the vast industrial connections and alumni network (yes, it has to do with research). It may open up opportunities for non-entry level jobs.</p>
<p>Another “Michigan Difference” is the Engineering Global Leadership Honors program.</p>
<p>But I agree with you; it’s not worth going into debt for a 100 grands.</p>
<p>It’s pretty okay. You can usually get a bus within 15 minutes during the day; you’ll have to wait a lot more at night. The routes are a little confusing, but you figure it out within a semester.</p>
<p>The best is during the summer, when all the undergrads go away. Then it’s just miles and miles of empty seats. No standing at all!</p>