<p>drax, I have lived in Lebanon, Bahrain, UAE and Saudi. I have also known many Egyptians, Iraqis and Turks. Michigan’s reputation in the Middle East is very strong.</p>
<p>You do realize that the state of Michigan has over 100,000 residents of Arab origin.</p>
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<p>There are a lot of Persians (Iranians) who live in the westside of LA, so there are a lot of Perians at UCLA. I don’t think there are a lot of other Arab nationalities at the the unversity of the ones you mentioned, certainly some Lebanese, although they are assimilated… </p>
<p>Of course, you know that a lot of the Iranians settled here after the fall of the Shah.</p>
<p>Are you Arab yourself, and do you you attend UofM?</p>
<p>Any sociological reason why so many Arabs live in Michigan?</p>
<p>Sorry for all the questions, but I am interested.</p>
<p>I am Lebanese and yes, I attended Michigan from 1992-1996.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, I’m a guy. All of the points being made are sound and just to keep everybody updates, I’m starting to lean towards UCLA. However, from what I’ve heard about each school, it seems clear that University of Michigan, despite its size, is a very close-knit community with a bond that remains long after undergraduate studies. I feel like if I were to go there, I would take pride in being a part of such a prestigious, illustrious alumni network. I guess where I’m going with this is that while I have heard great things about UCLA, this aspect of community and a long-term bond doesn’t seem to be mentioned. Does anybody have anything to say in agreement or contradiction to this?</p>
<p>As I’ve already posted on this forum, I think UCLA would be a great choice. Good luck.</p>
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<p>A few questions before I get to the bond-issue with UCLA, would be: </p>
<p>Where do you see yourself becoming an MD? </p>
<p>… Could future possibilities lead to your settling in CA?</p>
<p>… Or would you see yourself as a life-long New Jersey resident?</p>
<p>I’m not sure where your fellow New Jersey natives will settle after attending a school like UofM. I’m sure it depends on what they do; if they take their degree from UofM and become professionals right after, then there’s a good chance they’ll go home and look for employment. This is because there aren’t a lot of industries besides the automotive in Michigan, to keep your friends there. </p>
<p>Undoubtedly, this is why Michigan grads are spread out all over, moreso than UCLA"s because Michigan wouldn’t have the shear number of professional positions to keep them in state. </p>
<p>This doesn’t apply to UCLA and the state of CA, because CA is so vast and has an economy that surpasses some nations.</p>
<p>There’s a higher probability that wherever one’s grad school is is where he or she may settle at least temporarily. For instance there are even native Californian UCLA grads who attend, say, NYU for law, then settle at least temporarily in NY and become bar-certified there. This is because one knows that NYC firms would go heavily after NYU Law grads.</p>
<p>If you come out to UCLA and then go to, say, UCSF Med School, you might get your residency out here and stay at least temporarily. It undoubtedly depends on if you start building a family, etc, while doing all this school stuff.</p>
<p>Then again, someone like you will go to either UofM or UCLA and then could go back to NJ for grad school. Rutgers Med? We probably know that you’ll be attending grad school right away. So what we say here probably wouldn’t apply to your fellow NJ friends who may go home after graduation, unless all have serious grad school aspirations as you do. </p>
<p>And a lot of non-Californians, even internationals, want to come to UCLA, because they already see themselves as becoming Californians. This could happen to you, so if you do come out here, don’t say I didn’t say it wouldn’t happen if it did.</p>
<p>With this in mind, because of the above, because of the large self-sustaining economy of CA with all its professionals, becaues of all its med schools in your instance, because UCLA draws a student body including all those non-California residents that want to come here and settle here…, …, …, don’t expect to go back to NJ and find a vast network of UCLA grads there to satisfy your need for bonding if indeed you graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles.</p>
<p>If you settle in CA, you’ll get your fix and then some of this alumni bonding. If you settle in NJ, you’ll still have your friends, but they will be grads of Michigan, and you’ll be from UCLA. I wouldn’t personally see a problem with this, but then again, I’m not in your shoes.</p>
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<p>The UCLA alumni have an international network, with local groups all over the world.</p>
<p>[UCLA</a> Alumni Association](<a href=“Blog - รับให้คำปรึกษาการศึกษาต่อต่างประเทศ แนะนำการขอทุนเรียนต่อ นิวยอร์ก UCL Alumni University College London おもちゃ 寄付 千葉 いらないおもちゃ 寄付 ใช้เงินน้อย ได้เงินคืน”>Blog - รับให้คำปรึกษาการศึกษาต่อต่างประเทศ แนะนำการขอทุนเรียนต่อ นิวยอร์ก UCL Alumni University College London おもちゃ 寄付 千葉 いらないおもちゃ 寄付 ใช้เงินน้อย ได้เงินคืน)</p>
<p>They network with each other in multiple ways, there are Regional Networks, Academic Networks, Professional Networks, Cultural Networks and Affinity Networks. And not just their alumni, but their parents too, I get more invitations and newsletters from UCLA than I get from my alma mater Pomona! :)</p>
<p>“don’t expect to go back to NJ and find a vast network of UCLA grads there to satisfy your need for bonding if indeed you graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles.”</p>
<p>Point well taken. Michigan grads really do live everywhere. Wherever you end up, there is a good chance that there will be some alumni. Michigan has over 480,000 living alumni, one of the largest of any American university.</p>
<p>With what I stated prior in mind,</p>
<p>I went fishing/surfing (You have to get one of your frat bros {projection on my part} to teach you how to do the latter if you come to UCLA, once you get used to ducking under waves, get used to paddling until your arms fall off - it’s all a certain kind of conditioning, get used to viewing the ocean at least in part from your stomach, get used to the undulation of the waves, get to learn how to stand up, and on and on, you’ll love doing it. They have lessons also. I digress as usual…) for an alumni club of UCLA’s in New Jwersey. I didn’t find one. I did find one for UofM Club of Northern NJ, with 1,500 members, which is pretty good.</p>
<p>I did find an [Alumni</a> Club of UCLA for NYC](<a href=“Blog - รับให้คำปรึกษาการศึกษาต่อต่างประเทศ แนะนำการขอทุนเรียนต่อ นิวยอร์ก UCL Alumni University College London おもちゃ 寄付 千葉 いらないおもちゃ 寄付 ใช้เงินน้อย ได้เงินคืน”>Blog - รับให้คำปรึกษาการศึกษาต่อต่างประเทศ แนะนำการขอทุนเรียนต่อ นิวยอร์ก UCL Alumni University College London おもちゃ 寄付 千葉 いらないおもちゃ 寄付 ใช้เงินน้อย ได้เงินคืน), and said there were > 8,000 UCLA alumni in NYC. 8K/8Mx100 = 0.1%. Hey, that’s not bad. Btw, it said this club served all those from NJ, NY, and CT. I don’t know how close you are to NYC from NJ, just over the river, wherever, but at least it’s something. How many are members of this group? I didn’t find this info. It may pale in comparison to UofM’s but at least there’s a decent base of Bruins in NYC.</p>
<p>Don’t let me try to convince you; it should solely be your decision, and any of these schools would be an incredible choice. BOL…</p>
<p>There are over 14,000 U-M alumni in New York City and Tri-State area:</p>
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<p>Read more: [New</a> York City bars partner with college alumni associations and show college football games - NYPOST.com](<a href=“NYC beer-leaders”>NYC beer-leaders)</p>
<p>Nhk5192 wrote:
I think you’re probably correct in this… the “Go Blue” sentiment is quite strong, while the “Go Bruins” is slightly less. This may have to do with fewer out of state students at UCLA until recently… It’s easy to take a great school like UCLA for granted, expecially when most alumni paid next to nothing to attend.</p>
<p>Regarding your choice, the academics seem to be equivalent… both ranked #2 in psychology by NRC, and both schools ranked 25ish in USNWR undergrad.</p>
<p>Given equivalent academics, it really boils down to intangibles like weather (not a trivial consideration at all … ask my wife who turned down Stanford for Cornell and still wonders what alien temporarily inhabited her body on decision day), “college town”, and your general feeling when someone says: UCLA! or Michigan!.. which gives you a more excited feeling?</p>