I am a senior and have narrowed my college choice to umich and xu. They are completely different schools and i have no idea what i want. i will list my concerns with each school and if you have any opinion on the matter i would appreciate it. thank you in advance!
xavier
-i am worried that it being so small will give it a high school vibe
-while its close to the city its not right in the city (i havent decided if this is a pro or con yet)
umich
-i am worried that since it is so big i will be overwhelmed
Michigan is pretty great and academically strong in many areas. Do you have any cost concerns with either one?
You have offers from both?
Those two are not peer schools. If you want a smaller school, which is perfectly reasonable as many do not like attending larger universities, you should be looking at peer institutions, such as Amherst, Bowdoin, Carleton, CMC, Davidson, Middlebury, Pomona or Williams to name a few. Unless the cost of attendance favors Xavier by a large margin, I would recommend Michigan.
I have been accepted to both, and while I have not received my financial aid packets from either school, I anticipate umich being a bit cheaper since I’m in-state.
@sj2727
I really like both of their atmospheres and academics, I’m just not sure if I would succeed better in a larger or smaller school. I’m worried that I will be too overwhelmed at umich or too underwhelmed at xu
@intparent
Spend a day at each school ASAP. This is the best way to get a feel for the environment. As you allude to above, they are polar opposites. You need to be more informed before making a final decision.
Good luck!
I know absolutely nothing about Xavier, so I will not comment. You have to visit both.
IMO, UMich and Ann Arbor aren’t overwhelming, but I grew up in a big city. Central Campus is a large rectangle. Most of your freshman classes will be held on Central Campus. There are a couple popular off-campus areas where students hang out: State Street and South University, literally adjacent to Central Campus. The stadium, arenas and recreation center are just a 1/2-1 mile south of southern tip of Central Campus.
If you do get housing on North Campus, then you will need to take a 10-15 minute bus ride to Central Campus. If you’re housing is located on the Hill, then you essentially just walk across a short bridge to get to Central Campus.
Lastly, when I’ve walked around the Umich campus on my visits there, I didn’t feel like campus was crowded, at least not over-crowded that’s for sure. Again, that’s to me. With around 40,000 students, I just didn’t get that “Saturday night in Waikiki beach” (people stepping all over you) feeling. :))
jujudeck, what is your intended major?