UMD vs. UMich (Bio)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've got it narrowed down to these two schools, but I've having a hard time deciding (i've enrolled as a bio major for both). I made a short list of positives and negatives for each. If you could help me add to the list, give me any pointers, or tell me your advice that'd be greatly appreciated. Any input would help a lot!</p>

<p>UMD college park (College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences):
+ I got into the Scholars program (though I'm not sure how much merit this adds)
+ In state tuition comes to around 23k a year + I got a nonrenewable 1.5k scholarship
- It's really close to home and so many of my classmates go or will be going there that it seems like the same bubble i was in in high school</p>

<p>UMich Ann Harbor (Literature, Science, and the Arts):
+ Highly ranked bio program
+ Overall higher tier school
- I did not get into the Honors college or get offers for any special program
- Out of state tuition is 50k+ a year and I did not get any scholarships
- I don't like the cold very much....</p>

<p>I really want to study abroad as an undergraduate and if i'm not mistaken they both have great study abroad programs. Also, I heard the student ranking is very important in college and looking at my stats right now I think i'd be somewhere close to the top if I enrolled to UMD as opposed to the bottom if I went to UMich.</p>

2

<p>It is hard to justify that $100k+ delta in cost of attendance. Unless your parents are well off and can easily pay the difference, I don’t see how Michigan is a viable option.</p>

<p>This is even more the case should you wish to study medicine.</p>

3

<p>The same “bubble” as high school? Do you go to high school with 27,000 students? </p>

<p>Quite seriously, I can see why kids want a change of scenery and want to attend school with people they don’t know. But, believe me, you are not going to be rubbing shoulders with your high school classmates at UMD unless you want to. Even if you do choose to hang with some of your high school buds, there is little reason why you wouldn’t meet all kinds of new people with a bit of effort. (As in, join a club, go to parties, talk to people in the dining hall, that sort of thing.) I went to my state flagship (five miles from my house), as did many of my high school classmates. I socialized with some of them. But I met many new people, too, including a few new friends of my high school friends. </p>

<p>The cost differential between these two schools is a really compelling factor independent of the added benefit of the scholars program at UMD.</p>