<p>Tyler09 made excellent points about race and culture? Really? If the excellent points were supposed to be in the first quotation, I would advise to ask Tyler the source of his … observations and exploration?</p>
<p>Did he gather the information by polling everyone he met during admit weekend? Did he measure the “african origin” of each black student he met? And, fwiw, how did he exactly go about to identify hispanic students as white or … non-white? Did he check surnames or … facial structures? Are white hispanics less hispanic than the ones that could be easier to identify? Are hispanics supposed to come in a specific skin color?</p>
<p>A word of caution is indeed needed, but that should relate to everything that came after the word “caution” in that misguided “observation” about diversity.</p>
<p>You didn’t seem to read any of the OP’s remarks. He seemed to dislike Stanford (or like it the least) so I wouldn’t recommend it.<br>
Second, why will a public school give you a worse undergraduate education? What evidence supports this. And have you even been to Michigan. Because when I was there, it really didn’t feel like such a huge impersonal place. And what makes you believe that students there are “just a number”? </p>
<p>My advice to the OP: If it is true that you don’t like the feel of Stanford, I wouldn’t recommend going there. You can probably do just as well (academically and in your future career) by going to Michigan or Duke, plus you’d enjoy your experience much more.</p>
<p>because michigan, like most public schools, has much stronger graduate programs than undergraduate ones. therefore, more of their resources are devoted to the graduate programs and students than on the undergraduates. it’s simple logic…more students means more division of resources. michigan draws all of its prestige from the trickle down of its graduate programs.</p>
<p>the OP can do whatever he wants, i’m just saying that stanford is objectively the best choice, hands down.</p>
<p>It’s not that hard to sell out a small basketball arena rather quickly, especially when both teams are very good. Stay away from public schools for graduate education as well MIT? Gee, you’re going to miss some of the best available programs out there. BTW, Michigan has over 25 programs ranked in the top 5 of the U.S. at the undergraduate level, and that’s only in LS&A. Overrated? I don’t think so.</p>
<p>This statement is so wrong on so many levels. If a Michigan degree is so watered down, then people from all around the world wouldn’t come here to receive a high-quality education that rivals even the Ivy League. My incoming master’s cohort has less than 200 people. I don’t have any problems contacting the admissions director (I’m even on a first-name basis with her.) </p>
<p>There are more than 425,000 living alumni of the University of Michigan. Notable alumni include the “father” of the iPod, the founders of Sun Microsystems and Google, the father of information theory, the voice of Darth Vader, and the first American to walk in space.</p>
<p>The link above alone demonstrates that Michigan has produced some very famous leaders in all walks of life.</p>
<p>i wasn’t referring to graduate level degrees. it’s much smaller, more specialized on that level. graduate degrees are not watered-down.</p>
<p>yes, a michigan undergraduate degree is watered-down because of the 10000000 alumni. how does that help separate you when you want to get a job?</p>
<p>OK, so one consensus I see is: don’t go to Stanford. I agree because you don’t really want to go, and you didn’t like the vibe. Fine.</p>
<p>IMO, Duke and Michigan are on the same level academically… ummm… tough decision. Finances aren’t a problem… so, look at subjective things like climate and what not. It sounds like you may have grown up in NC (?), so I would want a change of scenery if I were you.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=Tyler09]
A word of caution, the majority of black students at Stanford are not african americans, but first and second generation immigrants from Africa and the West Indies. They, as you may have experienced, are MUCH different culturally from African Americans. Additionally, many of the hispanic students are white hispanic students. This may not matter to you at all, it was just something I found as I explored the “diversity” of many elite school
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>I’m a first generation African-American. Not sure what it means to be a first generation immigrant - you’re either born here or you’re not…</p>
<p>Anyway, while it may be true that some first/second gen African-Americans are different culturally, it isn’t a guarantee. You can’t make this huge blanket statement. If they were born here and grew up with “more native” black Americans then there would barely be a difference culturally, if any difference at all.</p>
<p>What a ridiculous comment by MIT. Michigan grads get jobs everywhere! It’s not one million alumni, it’s 425,000 living alumni. Those alumni also hire other alumni. See how that works? Furthermore, you also disparaged Michigan on the graduate level in an earlier comment. Michigan has about 15,000 graduate students, hardly much smaller than 26,000 undergaduates.</p>
<p>Michigan has much stronger graduate programs than undergraduate ones? Mr./Miss MITxxx…, please tell me which ones might they be? The university does not have a wall separating its graduate and undergraduate schools, and the same distinguished faculty teach both sets of students. To see the best of the best scholars at work in almost every field imaginable is truly a privilege indeed, not “watered-down” or “dime-a-dozen” at all. And yes, these same scholars are very accessible to undergraduate students as well.</p>
<p>Can’t speak for Duke, but at UNC there is a student ticket lottery that you have to enter. You’ll be notified a few days beforehand if you got a seat, and preference is given to upperclassmen. If you didn’t get one, there is a standbye line that you can wait in on the day of the game.</p>
<p>For the general public, you can always get tickets if you are willing to spend anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars buying them secondhand.</p>
<p>i’m not implying that michigan isn’t a great university…i’m just saying that it doesn’t compare with the likes of duke or especially stanford at least on the undergraduate level. you’d receive a much more personalized education at duke or stanford in comparison to michigan.</p>
<p>^^^Sell over a hundred thousand tickets per game for over 35 years straight and then I’ll be impressed. Even if they had a stadium large enough, trust me, NC couldn’t do it.</p>