<p>I am freshmen at UCSD now and I got the offer from UM last week. Should I transfer to U michigan? My major is economics double statistics. My friend told me that UM is freaking cold....</p>
<p>begin by telling us why you wanted to leave UCSD and why you wanted UMich. also tell us how much more UMich will cost you than UCSD.</p>
<p>I am international student so the cost is not very different for me. (both super high) I want UMich because higher rank but I am worried about the weather. Actually, I love UCSD but maybe I will change statistics to actuarial science in the future and UCSD can not provide this degree. </p>
<p>Since cost of attendance is the same either way, Michigan seems like a better option for you. However, if you are happily settled in SoCal, why shake the boat? Although not relevant to you, I grew up in an extremely hot country (over 100 degrees more than half the year), and my transition to Michigan was painless. </p>
<p>Look, international students are notorious for choosing undergraduate schools by their prestige. So, too, are a lot of American high schoolers and their parents. However, prestige at the undergraduate level is about worthless in the US, unless you’re entering Wall Street, in which case you’d better go to one of a few ivys. This is because undergraduate education in most majors is fairly uniform across the several THOUSAND colleges and universities in the US. They might differ in student-professor ratio, quality of your peers, research opps, or dining options, but the education is basically the same in terms of what you learn. How well you learn it is still upto you. It’s not where you go but what you do that matters in American schools and to American employers and postgraduate institutions. You come up with a high GPA and high test scores and the grad schools and employers will pay much less attention to where you earned your degree. </p>
<p>So let’s look at your case: given what I’ve said, given that you love UCSD, and given that you’re worried about the weather at UMich, what you propose as a logical conclusion is that you should transfer to UMich for the prestige and because you might change majors. I don’t know what to say about your reasoning ability after drawing such a conclusion from those premises. And when you consider that you could always go to a more prestigious school for graduate education (assuming you do well at UCSD), your reasoning looks even more spurious. </p>
<p>jkeil911, while I agree with many of your points, I think that changing majors is a very valid reason for wanting to transfer, as is the desire to get a degree from a university that is more recognized in his home country. As you said, in the US, the concept of prestige is not that important, but internationally, getting a degree from a university that employers recognize can make a difference, albeit a small one. </p>
<p>Also, since you mentioned Wall Street, it is not far fetched to assume that a student interested in Financial Mathematics or Actuarial Sciences could potentially wish to work in Wall Street. If that is the case, Michigan would be a better option. Although most Wall Street firms focus more on Ross students than LSA students, Michigan in general would be considered more of a “target” than UCSD.</p>
<p>Since CoA is the same, I see nothing wrong with transferring, as long as he is aware that it will require an adjustment period. Since he seems happy in La Jolla, that could present an unnecessary risk. </p>
<p>Alexandre and jkeil911, thank you so much! Btw I am a girl</p>