<p>Stewta, I do not state opinion as freely as you do. I provide facts. I challenge you to find a single academic rating or reputational rating that does not have Michigan among the top 15 universities in the US. USNWR PA, Times Reputational Score, QS etc…take your pick. </p>
<p>As for selectivity and prestige being related, I agree that they are, but one does not cause the other. A university is not prestigious because it is selective. For example, until 7 or 8 years ago, Chicago and Johns Hopkins had acceptance rates that hovered between 40% and 50%. Like Michigan however, Chicago was also considered one of the top 10 universities in the US. Just because they have become incredibly more selective in the last 7-8 years does not make Chicago or Johns Hopkins more prestigious all of a sudden. Michigan is now on its way to having a 20%-25% or even lower acceptance rate (give it another 3-4 years). In two years, Michigan went from a 51% acceptance rate to a ~38% acceptance rate, so clearly, the school is on the move. That will not make Michigan more prestigious all of a sudden. </p>
<p>Anyway, you are not going to convince myself or any 40 year old+ adult with true knowledge on universities (that includes most respected scholars, graduate school admissions decision makers, influencial corporate recruiters, chiefs of industry etc…) that Michigan is not an excellent university or that it is inferior to Georgetown, Vanderbilt and WUSTL. Similarly, I am not going to convince any 16-25 year old impressionable high schooler/college student/recent college graduate that Michigan and other universities like it are truly excellent, despite not having low acceptance rates. Arguing this matter is fruitless. Fortunately for me, in every tangible way, from quality of faculty, departmental rankings, reputational scores, size of endowment, graduate school placements etc…Michigan is indeed a top 15 university.</p>
<p>Back to the OP, Miami is a very good university. It has been for many years. I would compare it to George Washington, BU, Northeastern, etc… But it is not worth attending when you have a school that is clearly better for half the price. Of course, if Miami offered you a scholarship that narrowed the gap in cost of attendance, then Miami may be worth considering.</p>
<p>Fair point rjkofnovi!</p>
<p>bigworld stated his true feelings for the University of Michigan on the Miami forum. On the Michigan forum, he stated that he does not have “diehard passion” for Michigan, but over there, he states that he “hates” the University. there is a bif difference between not having a diehard passion and hating.</p>
<p>In light of this information, I would recommend Miami. I just hope there are no financial implications attached to that decision.</p>
<p>As always, I would urge bigworld to inform Michigan ASAP so that another worthy student who dreams of attending may be accepted.</p>
<p>bigworld, did you apply to any other OOS schools besides the U of Miami?</p>
<p>Bigworld, as you know, all I have are incredible things to say about UM, as I have made clear on the Miami post. </p>
<p>However, I am most likely choosing northeastern over UM. Even though i absolutely live the city of Miami, I have lived in Florida my entire life and I yearn for an new experience. </p>
<p>Its okay to want to leave home and it
is a good reason for picking UM over Michigan. On top of that, you clearly illustrated you dislike for michigan and I can relate to not wanting to be around the same classmates you’ve been around your entire life.</p>
<p>If you go to a university you dislike in a state you don’t particularly like, you will be unhappy.</p>
<p>Well said wolv67. I am also tired of so many here on CC insinuating that Michigan is really only elite at the graduate level, simply because it has a higher admit rate than other much smaller institutions that don’t offer anywhere near the diversity in disciplines of this school.</p>
<p>“Its okay to want to leave home and it is a good reason for picking UM over Michigan. On top of that, you clearly illustrated you dislike for michigan and I can relate to not wanting to be around the same classmates you’ve been around your entire life.”</p>
<p>With 41,000 students on campus, I doubt very much that the OP would be seeing many of his high school classmates. This is especially true for someone coming from a small private school.</p>
<p>I appreciate all of your responses. And to those who acuse me of not willing to work hard or simply only caring about boozing it up at parties I find that to be incredibly arrogant and dismissive. As a high school student I have gone above and beyond what is expected of me every year. From studying all night to taking AP classes not offered at my school to being passionately involved in numerous clubs and organizations. That drive and passion will continue into college and beyond. I, for example, will be taking nuemous science and math classes this summer in order to have a leg up on any of the competition. </p>
<p>As to the discrepancy in my language on the two forums I apoligize. I wrote my original post on the Miami forum after a day of being told “go to Michigan and not Miami, it’s a party school.” Furthermore, I figured I would have far better luck in garnering an adequate well thought out response from those who love Michigan or are currently attending it if I didnt use such strong and harsh words. I was trying to avoid personal attacks on my age, or seriousness but I see that those who do not wish to keep it civil have thwarted those plans. </p>
<p>@Mango15 thank you for all of your responses, they have been some of the most informative and useful yet.</p>
<p>Michigan has a HUGE weakness with regard to the Communications field. There is not even a Journalism major. Contrast that to Miami which is ranked very highly in all fields of Journalism, especially Broadcast. Michigan is not the school for everyone. Not to mention the weather- January in Michigan with snow piled high or beautifully warm Florida with Palm Trees. Having recently toured both schools, they could not be more different. Go where it “feels” right for you. You will get a good education anywhere you go if you make it a priority. Miami has done a great job of improving it image, and is a school on the rise. If that is where you want to go, don’t be discouraged by arbitrary rankings and the strangers’ opinions on the CC Michigan site.</p>
<p>Actuall Greeny, Michigan offers a communication major, and it is definitely good and on the rise. That is not to say that Michigan is on par with the likes of Columbia, Missouri, Northwestern or Syracuse, but it is certainly good. </p>
<p>[Communication</a> Studies](<a href=“http://www.lsa.umich.edu/comm]Communication”>Communication and Media | U-M LSA)</p>
<p>Michigan has even built a state-of-the-art residential program for Communication majors in North Quad, apparently the envy of all dorms at the University. </p>
<p>[North</a> Quadrangle | University Housing](<a href=“Michigan Housing”>North Quadrangle – Michigan Housing)</p>
<p>Furthermore, Michigan has two student run newspapers, including the Michigan review, which is an award-winning paper. </p>
<p>Finally, Michigan has a long history of alums that went on to accomplish a great deal in the media/journalism industries. For example: </p>
<ul>
<li>Pulitzer Prize for journalism
Daniel Biddle
Robin Givhan
Sheri Fink
Ann Marie Lipinski
Paul Scott Mowrer
Eugene Robinson
Roger Wilkins</li>
</ul>
<p>Broadcast anchors
Sanjay Gupta
Dana Jacobson
Mike Wallace
Tracy Wolfson
Bob Woodruff
Janet Wu</p>
<p>Editors-In-Chief/CEO/Founders
John Fahey, President and CEO of National Geographic
James Russel Gaines, Former Managing Editor of Time Magazine
Arnold Gingrich, Founder and Publisher of Esquire Magazine
John Madigan, Chairman and CEO of Tribune Company
John Papanek, Senior VP and Editor-in-Chief of ESPN.com
Rob Siegle, Editor-in-Chief, The Onion
David Westin, President of ABC News</p>
<p>At any rate, the OP is not interested in Communications, he is interested in medicine. He asked if attending Miami over Michigan would hurt his chances of getting into a prestigious Medical school. The answer to that question is hard to answer with any degree of accuracy. Michigan definitely places far more of its students into top Medical schools. For example, there are currenlty 12 Michigan alums enrolled at the JHU MD program, compared to 1 Miami alum. Since 1995, 48 Michigan alums attended WUSTL medical school, compared to 4 Miami alums. In both cases, Michigan alums outnumber Miami alums 12 to 1. Even if you factor in Michigan’s size (2.5 times larger than Miami, Michigan still has a 5 to 1 edge. And that does not even include Michigan medical school, which is in of itself one of the prestigious elite Medical schools that the OP wishes to get into. There are close to 200 Michigan alums enrolled at Michigan Medical school (~50 annually). That is huge. Miami has only 3 enrolled at Michigan medical school. So, adjusting for size, if you include Michigan Medical school in the equation, Michigan alums outnumber Miami alums by a factor of 15 to 1 at those three top 10 Medical schools. </p>
<p>Of course, that alone is not sufficient to prove that Michigan is better at placing its alums into elite medical programs since we do not know whether Michigan has a proportionaly larger premed population than Miami. However, as it is, Michigan has one of the smaller premed ratios among top universities. A schools like Duke, Harvard, JHU and WUSTL, premeds account for over 15% of the student pody. At Michigan, only 8% of Michigan undergrads apply to Medical school.</p>
<p>Comm studies at Michigan is very different than standard journalism or broadcast journalism programs. They used to have it as a major and then rolled it into Comm Studies. The curriculum is a totally different, non hands on approach. Many of the people you mentioned were there when there was a journalism major. Look at any of the lists for the best journalism or comm schools and Michigan is never on one of them. Ironically Michigan State is. My son loved the overall school, but is now weighing the specifics of what each program will do for him. All the schools he is looking at have award winning TV stations and newspapers. As for the original poster, I think you should follow your gut if money is not an issue. I think if you do well at either school, it will get you where you want to go. A good state school that costs less will leave some extra money for your med school though.</p>