<p>Hey,</p>
<p>So I have gotten into all three of these schools. U Mich has not given me a scholarship, U Rochester gave me a $13,000 a year and Purdue gave me a $5,000 a year. I have not applied for the honors program at Michigan although I am not sure I would get into it. I like the idea of living on campus all four years because I don't want to have to worry about having an apartment and dealing with rent and such until grad school. The biggest focus is academics. I do also want to party and stuff though as well. Can anyone give me an idea of their thoughts. Also, can anyone tell me if UMich is not very top tier if you are not in the honors program?</p>
<p>A lot depends on what you plan to study. You should share that.</p>
<p>Acoustic, Rochester is one of the most expensive universities in the nation. It costs $9k more than Michigan at the underclassman level and $6 more per year than Michigan at the upperclassman level. The $13k scholarship makes it slightly cheaper than Michigan, but not worth worrying about. </p>
<p>Purdue with $5k per year is significantly cheaper than both of the other options.</p>
<p>Basically, on average, Michigan will cost you $54k/year, Rochester will cost $48k/year and Purdue will cost $36k/year.</p>
<p>What undergraduate and graduate fields of study are you considering?</p>
<p>If u want to party, Rochester is not the school for u.</p>
<p>Between Michigan and Purdue for sciences, I would say go to Purdue. It’s cheaper and they have just as good a reputation for the sciences as Michigan.</p>
<p>If ur not interested in the sciences however, Michigan is def the best place for you.</p>
<p>Actually ntahanivy, it really depends in the Science. For example, in Chemistry, Computer Science and Engineering, you are correct. But in Biology and Physics, Michigan has a significant edge over Purdue. Not that it matters. Michigan will cost $70k more than Purdue over 4 years, and that alone could tip the scale in favor of Purdue, regardless of the major.</p>
<p>acousticman, you’ve got a good problem. Which place do you like the best and which works in terms of money? You’ll probably do the best where you feel most comfortable and fit the best.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies.</p>
<p>I am interested in Biology and chemistry with a history minor. Basically I want to do pre-med. I record music hence my name, do they care if u play instruments at any of these colleges. Money really is not too much of an issue but it is nice to know the differences. Visiting Rochester and Michigan in two weeks. Also, how is Michigan if you are not in the honors college. Further, how is housing at Michigan in upper class men years. I heard you have to live off campus for the most part. Is that annoying or does it work quite well. How far do people live from the campus. If you live off campus and how easy is it to travel?</p>
<p>Sorry for all the questions. </p>
<p>Thank you in advance.
Acoustic84</p>
<p>“Money really is not too much of an issue”</p>
<p>Are you sure? Have you had “the talk” with the parents? Medical school costs over $200k. If your folks feel confident about your going to Michigan, go for it. I think Michigan is significantly better and offers a better and more balanced undergraduate experience. But otherwise, I would go for Purdue.</p>
<p>Also, honors or not, Michigan is awesome regardless.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure you’d get some different responses if you posted on the Rochester site.</p>
<p>UR is very strong in science, engineering and pre-med. It’s true it’s not a party school and it doesn’t have Michigan athletics obviously, but kids do party there and have fun. Where can you do both (focus and party)? A school that is smaller with perhaps fewer distractions? Or not?</p>
<p>Someone will pull out some rankings now of specific programs, but the truth is you can do quite well and accomplish your goals at any of these. The real question is where you will fit the best and work most optimally to accomplish your goals.</p>
<p>Acoustic, UMich has a very vibrant music scene given it’s school of music and performing arts programs and a robust slate of performance events. Whether your interests are contemporary or traditional, you’d be in a good place. (Obviously, I suspect so would Rochester, having Eastman as its SOM, but in that case the campus and SOM are more separated.) If you enjoy recording music, you might be able to audit or take intro courses over in the SOM’s music engineering (PAT) department, etc. You can get certification to use the recording studio and media center, which has outstanding gear.</p>
<p>With respect to living, it is entirely possible to stay on campus all 4 years if you want to…but many don’t want to, because you can get a better bang for the buck sometimes off campus. My son spent 3 of his years on campus, then moved into an apartment for his final year.</p>
<p>You’ll have a better sense once you visit. My son has absolutely loved his experience there.</p>
<p>As far as premed goes, I dont think one of these three is dramatically better than the other two.</p>
<p>Just looking at the schools overal objectively, Michigan is better than Rochester, which is better than Purdue. I wouldn’t, however, say Michigan is leaps and bounds ahead and wildly better than Rochester. </p>
<p>Of course you have to take USNWR with a grain of salt, but according to it Umichigan is #29, and Rochester is #33. Personally I think they both are a bit underrated on USNWR, but hey I digress. </p>
<p>Anyways if finances are a concern I would probably go with the cheapest option. All three schools are known for strong premeds. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>You have some great options. I would not make housing a big deal, however Ann Arbor is an expensive place to live and dorms are harder to come by for upperclassmen. Have you been to South Bend? Not exactly a garden spot but a good school.</p>
<p>Ann Arbor is by far the best place to live of the three.</p>
<p>UMich is great even without honors cause, aside from a few classes with honors sections, you end up taking them together. I mean what is it, 90% are not in honors, and it’s an outstanding school so. Being in honors basically just reflects that you had great high school test scores. Similarly, most classes in LSA will have a mix of pre-med, Ross, humanities majors etc. It’s just what you make of it. The major real diff is honors gets South Quad housing (good location) and does a thesis.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. </p>
<p>I am interested in pre-med. I would be OOS at Michigan so the cost of Rochester is about the same if not a little less after the scholarship.
What I am wondering is… at Michigan are the class sizes so big that you can’t get individual help and how much do they care about each student. I know at Rochester they invest a lot into each student and really help you but there is no college life really.</p>
<p>In general classes aren’t huge at Michigan (though there are exceptions), but you wont get the same individualized attention you would get at Rochester. Rochester has about 5.5K undergrads vs Michigan’s nearly 30K, so of course classes in general will be larger at Michigan</p>
<p>According to USNWR, about 70% of classes at Rochester have fewer than 20 students. At Michigan 48% of classes have fewer than 20 students.</p>
<p>If you are looking for very small classes and optimum individualized attention, Rochester is the clear choice. But only you can decide how important that is to you.</p>
<p>Still want some more responses if possible.</p>
<p>Also is it hard to get into classes along the pre-med path at Michigan?</p>