UMich vs. UVA Engineering

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Virginia
1

Hey guys, I am really in between these two schools and don’t know how I’m going to decide. Both schools have a lot of things I want but my major concerns for each school are:

Michigan - too big (both student body size and campus size), and too cold (I’m coming from the southwest, and I really wanted seasons, but Michigan is definitely more intense than I was looking for)

Virginia - that their engineering program might not be as strong as Michigan’s

I realize that there is some bias on these pages so I have posted the same prompt in both schools’ threads.

I could really use some help and appreciate anything you guys can tell me.

2

U. Michigan is twice the size of UVa. It also has a much larger research component, which help’s U. Michigan’s reputation in engineering.

A distinction might be made between the quality and reputation of graduate programs and research vs. the quality of undergraduate teaching.

3

Don’t know on Engineering, but right now my kid says he is “in a frozen tundra” if that helps. Tho he tends to exaggerate.

Va is pretty, warmer. But you can’t really decide on the basis of climate. You are only there 4 years.

4

I would look carefully at the approach each school takes to engineering.

Obviously both schools are going to focus on and introduce technical material. However, I think you will find if you look at the curriculum carefully that UVA throws more liberal arts courses into the mix. Things may have changed over the years, but UVA is going to offer/require more exposure to humanities, communication and business than most other engineering schools (yes, this is a gross generalization).

For what it’s worth, UVA was the only engineering school my daughter applied to. The curriculum really appealed to her. She was accepted to Michigan’s Honors program and we visited - and yes, it is cold. She ended up choosing UVA engineering. Good luck with your decision - it’s a good choice to have.

5

Just wanted to say that UVa and Michigan are both excellent options, but they are clearly not both so big that there is’t any difference in size. UVa has about 615 engineering UG graduates a year, Michigan has 1750. That’s significantly more than double the size. Same of the overall school. Here in Virginia where pretty much the kids who get in to UVA’s engineering program also get into VA Tech’s program many pick UVA over Tech for engineering. Although there are many reasons, most cite size as a factor, and I think Michigan may be bigger than Va Tech. I also think Michigan has two campuses and the engineering school is on the non-main one? If size really doesn’t matter to you, than no problem, but they aren’t as similar in size as some people are suggesting. If picking purely on engineering reputation Michigan would win that. But it seems like you are trying to look at the smaller things since they are both great options and ranking (like weather) shouldn’t be the one factor to decide. Hope you get to visit both - if you do, I bet it becomes clear to you where you just fit in better. (this size issue may have been from your post on Michigan’s site)