She has more than enough reason to choose UMich. My D loves Alice Loyd although she lives in MoJo which is right next to it. Can you pm me which professor she wants to do research with? Perhaps I can give some comments about that faculty.
“Some of our friends IRL have been very harsh in their opinions on this decision.”
You’ve got to be kidding!
@PurpleTitan , D has been a top student all through her years in our school system. I think it’s been somewhat of a sport in our neighborhood wondering where she would end up. Because lots of kids from her school go to Michigan, I think they see it as something of a letdown. But no one else from her school got the Shipman! 
D does not like to be stressed about money, and she doesn’t want us to be either.
Michigan’s neuroscience is among the school’s best departments and among the best in the nation.
I posted this elsewhere, but you might find it amusing:
Best wishes to your daughter…with a strong gpa she will be on a track to elite credentials.
That’s cool and all, but I’m still mystified by why anyone not related to her would care. Do they get a boost in self-esteem if they know a Yalie? Do they have money on a bet riding on the outcome? I don’t get it.
Can they provide any reasonable arguments in support of their position?
@PurpleTitan , I would guess “Prestige.” Regarding money, a couple of posters earlier in the thread mentioned Yale’s much-lauded Financial Aid. In the end, their package was decent. Decent, but not great. Somehow, my H and I picked up on a phrase tossed around at the Information Sessions last year about “10% of income.” But it came out to be much more than that. And yes, we did run the NPC, but again you hear that the top schools’ offers are often more generous. Our fatal mistake was not realizing how much home equity would affect the offers. We have lived in our house for 20 years, and our neighborhood has bounced back nicely from the downturn, so of course we have equity. But absolutely no desire to take out loans.
Also, dealing with Yale’s Financial Aid office was horrible. Very understaffed. Quite surprising. But in spite of all this, if D had REEEAAAALLY wanted to go there, we would have made it happen. But she chose Michigan. GO BLUE!
“Can they provide any reasonable arguments in support of their position?”
The grass is greener elsewhere mentality I would think PurpleTitan. Many people from instate have no idea how truly great the University of Michigan is and are still stuck in the past thinking that all strong students automatically get accepted into the flagship.
Regarding Lloyd/Mojo dorms, I have to wonder if the Psychology department did a study that showed that smart/artsy kids prefer modern design to traditional!
@rjkofnovi, OK, I can understand why some people have the “grass is greener” mentality, even if I think it’s silly. But neither grass is theirs. Do they think that the prestige of her school would rub off on them or something?
It might be some kind of midwestern ethos. Who knows?
Many people think they inherit prestige by transitivity…my brother’s gardner’s sister’s cousin goes to…
I am not surprised that a lot of the people who know her felt she should have gone to Yale. Ironically, state flagships, even those of Michigan’s caliber, are very undervalued by their local populations, and unsurprisingly so; it is natural to take what you have for granted. If it is affordable and accessible, how can it be good, right?
Yes, I have echoed that same sentiment re: Alexandre and rjk. If the money favors the in-state, outstanding flagship, many in-staters will still feel it is the default choice; due to the proximity and popularity, they’ll feel their flagship is somehow deficient. In-state students have trouble sometimes objectively assessing the qualities of their own flagships vs. the allure of elite schools further away. I think forums like this can help balance that assessment to a degree, but the stigma will always hang around some high school students. Ultimately, some will be able to pierce that veil. Others won’t.
we had the same issue with our daughter who was choosing between u of m, our instate school and washington university in st louis. because many kids in her class got into u of m and it is just 30 minutes from our home, she felt that it was not all that special. However, the 50,000/year difference in tuition to us ( we have an MET plan so we would now only have to pay room and board) was too much of a difference for us for her to go to wash u. it just did not make sense. so she is going to u of m. We are hoping that once she is there, she will realize how great a school it really is.
It is hard to compare just the 2 schools. You need to look into specific programs even just for the fame. For instance, students want to study engineering, there is really not a second thought to choose UMich over Yale.
My D choose UMich over Northwestern for engineering with no regret even both are great school for that and the latter is more prestigious. When both schools are affordable and have good programs, the school that fits the student most would be the main consideration.
A little late, but awesome choice!
I went to Yale for a week for a summer program. The dorms, while aesthetically pleasing, did NOT have an AC so I suffered throughout the night fighting with the mosquitoes’ offensive.
I think this was a very reasonable decision, but I do take umbrage at the implied slight of the Yale Precision Marching Band. (I’m kidding.)
“I think forums like this can help balance that assessment to a degree, but the stigma will always hang around some high school students.”
anhydrite, if by “forum like this” you mean the Michigan page, I agree. We demystify many misconceptions here. But if you mean CC, then I disagree. The CC community by and large is extremely prejudiced against public universities.
billcsho, Northwestern is more prestigious than Michigan among high school kids, but not among college-educated people, and certainly not in academic or corporate circles.
^ It is considered slightly more prestigious as reflected by the significantly lower admission rate.