<p>In rank, the two schools are more or less tied. I'm wondering what advantages Umich would offer over UVa and what is it about the Umich curriculum or college experience that makes it unique? So far, I think Umich is obviously more appealing (since they accepted me + it's ranked a bit higher), I'm just wondering as a prospective science/pre-med major, which school would offer the most research opportunities and also provide a more enjoyable college experience.</p>
<p>Both schols are awesome. Obviously, Michigan is stronger in the sciences, and it offers more research opportunities than UVA. Also, Michigan has a top 10 medical school which accepts 10% of Michigan's pre-med candidates. And the university owns and operates one of the nation's top 10 hispitals, and the chances for internships at the hospital are good. </p>
<p>But UVA is very highly respected, and if you do well at UVA, doors will open. As far as quality of life, it depends on what you like. You need to visit both schools and see for yourself.</p>
<p>If you're truly a sports maniac, then i think Michigan has more to offer. For example, the hockey team is excellent and has a superb fan base, and going to game is a great Wintertime activity.</p>
<p>However, to give UVa its due in another area, its honor code is a big plus.</p>
<p>Well, both schools are fantastic. For sciences, I would choose the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor over the University of Virginia.</p>
<p>A little biased here being that it is on the Michigan board.</p>
<p>However, as an applicant of both, I can say that Virginia is much stronger in the English, Business, and Law fields. Virginia is also much less than half the size of Michigan, with only 13,000 or so Undergrads.</p>
<p>Hoedown says that Michigan has more to offer in terms of sports. Dare he forget that UVa is a member of the ACC? This conference is more than on par with the Big 10. As for citing sports not among basketball and football, UVa has one of the top baseball programs in the country and the men's lacrosse team has won 2 national titles recently.</p>
<p>Oh, and another thing...ITS NOT FREEZING 24/7/365</p>
<p>That said, I'm already into Michigan. If UVa admits me, I'll be in Charlottesville this fall.</p>
<p>"I can say that Virginia is much stronger in the English, Business, and Law fields."</p>
<p>What? please tell me you're joking. Michigan > UVa in law and business... hands down... and I don't have an english ranking in front of me... but I bet they aren't far apart regardless. Overall, Michigan trumps UVa in departmental excellence across the board... with very few exceptions. </p>
<p>As far as sports are concerned, Michigan is a contender for the President's Cup every year... last year Michigan's athletic program was ranked 2nd overall. Where was UVa?</p>
<p>Weather? I totally agree with you there. Michigan weather sucks if you don't like cold weather.</p>
<p>The top 3 atheltic programs in the nation last year are
1)Stanford
2)UMich
3)UCLA</p>
<p>Actually, UMich holds the leading postion until April, almost got the #1.
Since Stanford has more varsity teams, it catchs up in the last minute.</p>
<p>"I can say that Virginia is much stronger in the English, Business, and Law fields."</p>
<p>LOL, first of all, umich's law program is comparable to uva's law program. 2nd, the ross school of business is much better than darden and much more widely respected.
english i have no idea....</p>
<p>Justletmein, I find your spirit commendable, but you are wrong on several fronts. </p>
<p>First, you say that Virginia is "MUCH STRONGER" in English, Buisness and Law. I don't know where you got that information from. Michigan has equally good placement into top graduate programs and slightly better Law and Business programs. In English, UVA is indeed slightly better, but how much better can it be? Michigan is generally ranked in or around the top 10 in English.</p>
<p>Second, you say Virginia is "MUCH LESS" than half the size of Michigan and then, you go on to say that UVA has 13,000 undergrads. That is correct, but since Michigan has 24,000 undergrads, I do not understand how UVA is "MUCH LESS" than half the size of Michigan. Last time I checked, half of 24,000 is 12,000, so UVA is MORE than half the size of Michigan. </p>
<p>Third, sports. UVA is decent in sports. However, it is not Michigan. Michigan has won National Championships in Baseball (twice), Basketball, Hockey (a NCAA record 9 times) and Football (11 times). No other university has won national championships in those 4 sports. In recent years, Michigan has won NCs in the following sports:
Basketball: 1989
Field Hockey: 2001
Football: 1997
Gymnastics, Men: 1999
Ice Hockey: 1996 and 1998
Swimming, Men: 1995
And Michigan is also excellent in Softball, women's gymnastics, women's swimming, track and field, wrestling etc... All in all, Michigan has one of the top 3 or 4 Athletics programs in the nation, whereas UVA does not have a top 20 athletics program. Michigan's stadium alone, which seats over 110,000 and has filled beyond capacity eavery game since 1976, is a clear indicator of how sports crazy Michigan is. And the school spirit surrounding Michigan football and Hockey is only equalled by very few schools, like USC, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Duke. </p>
<p>Chosing UVA over Michigan because of the weather or because of personal preferences and fit makes perfect sense. But you should stick to the facts.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot guys. I think I'll have to say that Umich is definitely a better fit for me. I'm definitely looking forward to visiting the school in April.</p>
<p>justletmein, I didn't forget anything. I used to live in Virginia and think very highly of UVa and its sports programs. However, the fact that Michigan has a third revenue sport that is hugely popular? I think that's a big deal for someone who loves sports.</p>
<p>I guess the question you have to ask yourself is, "What type of collegiate experience do you want?" Being valedictorian and earning high test scores, I chose UVa over other schools (in fact, it was the only school I applied to) because I wanted a unique collegiate experience - a public school w/ private school traditions, LAC intimacy w/ a research university's opportunities, professors who actually care about me and whether or not I'm doing well in his/her class (my Intro to Econ professor invited me and the rest of my class over for Thanksgiving if we couldn't go home for the holidays), great classes that truly change the way I think about the world (2 of my favorites were "Asian American Ethnicity" and "Theories of Gay Liberation"), an institution steeped in history w/ its secret societies and presidential antecedents (Jefferson, Madison & Monroe all helped to establish UVa), a school that makes me stop in awe at its beauty (esp. walking on the Lawn in the Fall) on the way to class. A special place.</p>
<p>It was an immediate love affair when I visited UVa. I'm not alone. Looking at UVa's yield, there is a reason why the majority of people who get into UVa choose to go there.</p>
<p>yea, I think I'll have to visit both schools. UVa definitely sounds ascetically pleasing and I'm surprised a large public school like UVa is capable of a LAC intimacy but I'm still keeping my options open and intend to visit sometime in April if accepted. Thanks Globalist.</p>
<p>Well, some areas are a lot more intimate than others. For example, I know that the Media Studies majors, American Studies folks, and the Politicial & Social Thought students are each a close-knit group (just to name a few.) Even when I was taking Commerce School classes, they were always breaking us down into small groups to do assignments and tasks. The most surprising thing I found about UVa was that the professors were very eager about us coming to their office hours to ask them questions about the class, lectures, readings, etc. I felt that they really tried to engage us. I don't remember a time when I was dismissed by a professor because he/she was too busy doing research, which tends to be a big problem at large research universities. I know at UVa, undergraduate education is paramount. </p>
<p>Anyway, visit both schools and see which one fits your style.</p>
<p>
[quote]
UVa definitely sounds ascetically pleasing
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Aesthetically pleasing, you meant? Because UVa is gorgeous, as is Charlottesville. But you don't strike me as the kind of young person who would choose an ascetic campus. ;)</p>
<p>
[quote]
...when I was dismissed by a professor because he/she was too busy doing research, which tends to be a big problem at large research universities.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Globalist, it's a treat to hear UVa discussed by someone who knows it well and can give it its due. It's a great school and I think the world of it. However, I hesitated when I saw your statement quoted above. I accept that there are valid concerns about how undergraduate education is regarded by research-oriented faculty, and believe that not every faculty makes it a priority. However, I find it hard to believe that there is a "big problem" with faculty actually being dismissive of an undergraduate student taking a class from them. I think you may be overstating things a bit.</p>
<p>I taught as a Visiting Professor for 2 years at UVA and have studied in graduate summer programs at Michigan. The UVA campus is beautiful; the weather is nearly perfect; the students are graceful and well spoken and like to party more than at most good schools. Students there are polished.</p>
<p>Michigan uses grad students for teaching more, which is a negative.</p>
<p>But the biggest difference besides the weather is that Michigan has a stronger faculty than UVA in most fields.</p>
<p>People who use US News have no idea of what faculty think about the faculty at elite schools. The best ranking of the quality of faculty departments is done by the Faculty Research Council for graduate departments.</p>
<p>The tables can be downloaded here:</p>
<p>In an earlier post on the Northwestern list, I compared Michigan's faculty in the humanities and social sciences with Northwestern's and Wash U's.</p>
<p>In the Humanities and Social Sciences, Michigan is better than both Wash U and Northwestern in:</p>
<p>Classics
Comp Literature
English
French
Linguistics
Music
Philosophy
Spanish
Anthropology
History
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology</p>
<p>Areas in which Michigan better than Wash U, but not Northwestern:
Art History
Economics</p>
<p>Northwestern better than both Michigan & Wash U.:
Art History
Economics</p>
<p>Wash U better than Northwestern but not Michigan:
French
Spanish
Anthropology</p>
<p>Wash U better than both:
German </p>
<p>Northwestern better than Wash U:
Art History
Comp Literature
English
Music
Philosophy
Religion
Economics
History
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology</p>
<p>Top 5 Departments in Humanities & Soc. Sciences:
Michigan-- Classics, Anthropology, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology
Northwestern--None
Wash U--None</p>
<p>Top 10 Departments in Humanities & Soc. Sciences:
MichiganClassics, French, Music, Philosophy, Anthropology, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology
NorthwesternArt History, Econ, Sociology
Wash UGerman</p>
<p>Top 20 Departments in Humanities & Soc. Sciences:
Michigan14
Northwestern5
Wash U2 (German, Anthropology)</p>
<p>Note the last set of numbers. In the social sciences and humanities, Michigan has 14 top 20 departments, while Northwestern has 5, and Wash U has 2. From US News you wouldn't get the impression how much better the Berkeley and Michigan faculties are compared to "hot" schools such as Vanderbilt, Emory, Wash U., etc. </p>
<p>Yet you still need to have contact with that better faculty, which is sometimes a problem at Michigan.</p>
<p>Does anybody know where you can find statistics on these schools' undergruates' placement into grad school?</p>
<p>AALUR, there are no comprehensive stastics on graduate school placement. I would say all of those schools have excellent placement into graduate programs.</p>
<p>Wall Street Journal did a study on getting into top 5 law, business, and med. schools. Michigan was 30th, UVA was 33rd. Northwestern was 21st, Wash U. was 47th.</p>
<p>MerryXmas, I love your link.
I am surprised how well a school like Arizona does in the social sciences.</p>