<p>Hillary, I agree with your first point, should the OP's family not have the financial means to afford college. For those who can afford college, cost of attendance is secondary.</p>
<p>Your second point, the weather, is valid for some, but not most people. Most people don't mind cold winters. </p>
<p>Finally, Ann Arbor is not suburban. Detroit is a good 40 miles from Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor is a city of 120,000 people and its own surounding areas have a population of 300,000. I lived there for 6 years (four years for college and two years as an employee in the area) and I never felt that Ann arbor was "suffocating". Ann Arbor is not for everyone mind you, but it is a great city in its own right...and that's coming from someone who has travelled and seen more than most.</p>
<p>Michigan, if the difference in cost isn't great. If you're international you'll feel right at home in Ann Arbor. That weather thing is a big deal, but it's not like Michigan's always cold, it has 4 seasons. </p>
<p>I will back up what one of the previous posters said, I work with a lot of guys from Georgia Tech and not many of them loved their college experiences. You'll have to put in the works at both of these schools, but Michigan is a much better school overall, and personally I find a school full of engineers can get annoying after awhile.</p>
<p>The people I know at Georgia Tech right now are happy with their decisions. It's hard (tough school), but it's not nearly as depressing as some of you are making it out to be.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the entire lack of humanities is rather depressing (which is why I didn't apply). I remember one of my friends mentioning how, if you want to make a new humanities class, you have to attach some type of mathematical application to it. That made me smile. But, in all seriousness, GT is in no way inferior to UMich when it comes to engineering.</p>
<p>Another concern that you should take into account is safety. Ann Arbor is a very safe city and entirally walkable. GT is located near downtown Atlanta in a not so safe neighborhood. I'm sure you'd be safe on campus, but I wouldn't venture off it very far on foot, especially in the evening and from what I've heard to the west of campus.</p>
<p>Wow. Those are a lot of inputs!
Thanks you guys!</p>
<p>I visited GT last summer, and I thought the campus was amazing. My aunt lived in Atlanta so she had the same concern wrt the safety. I spoke to a guy from here who just completed his undergrad at GT and he loved it. But I also spoke to my friend's brother who is going into his Senior Year at UM and he's loving it too! </p>
<p>I'm cool with the cold, because I visit the US damn often cause of the family I have there. So that's not too much of a concern. What I was a little bit concerned about was my major. Even though I am decided on MechE right now, I don't want to lose the option of switching my major in case I feel I'm not cut out for Engineering. In that case UM would be a safer option. When I went through the rankings, I found UM above GT for most of the courses, probably except Industrial Eng. </p>
<p>Community does matter a lot to me! But I'm 'massive' extrovert. So, I'm hoping that would help me form my circle of friends wherever I go. </p>
<p>With all this in mind, I'm thinking UM.
But there's one other issue that's just propped up. I just got an acceptance from UCLA and although their engineering isn't way up there, it is a brilliant school in itself. I'm still waiting for some other decisions, but I wanted to be decided on which school in case I get rejections from the others.
So, whenever you guys have time - at your convenience - UCLA/UM?</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all your help!
I owe you guys, bigtime!
:D</p>
<p>Don't worry about major rankings. GT and Michigan are equals in Mechanical Engineering, even if Michigan is ranked slightly higher. However, if you think you may change majors, Michigan is indeed a safer choice. Quite honestly, if finances are not a concern, I really don't see why anybody would chose GT over Michigan. Michigan equals GT in all of its strengths, GT does not equal Michigan in anything other than Engineering and technical fields. </p>
<p>As for Michigan vs UCLA, that is a much tougher choice. UCLA is similar to Michigan in terms of breadth, depth and quality of academic offerings and it has an excellent reputation, both in the US and abroad. Michigan is slightly more prestigious outside of the West Coast, but that really isn't noteworthy. I really recommend you visit both Michigan and UCLA and decide based on which campus feels better to you.</p>
<p>If you liked all the things that make UM a more rounded college experience than GT, but preferred an urban / suburban setting and nicer weather, then I guess that would be UCLA.</p>
<p>That is all true Alexandre, except that Michigan is considerably better than UCLA in engineering. Michigan wins this matchup as well. UCLA is in a nice setting and the weather is very good for sure, but it is not in a college town. Personally, I just love the feeling of attending school in a town where the school itself is the main focus.</p>
<p>I really can't visit UCLA and Michigan. Which sucks, I know.
The fact is, an air ticket to the US from here costs about $1800, which is really expensive and also I don't have any time! I'm flying to Shanghai soon and I have my senior year exams going on right now - I graduate on Tuesday! :P
I'm taking the 3 APs in May! Which means I'm going to be slogging through April and since I need to pay a deposit and enroll by May 1st, I have NO time.</p>
<p>Couple of things to consider while you are making one of the biggest decisions of you life:</p>
<p>1) If your primary concern is living in a major city and being part of the "scene", UCLA would probably be a better place (geographically speaking). Ann Arbor is a small city more concerned with intellectual pursuits and would not suit a person keen in living in a high-energy environment found in large cities like NYC, Chicago and LA. Don't get me wrong, Ann Arbor is a great college town (one of the very best in fact) with a lot of things to do both on and off campus, but it does not have the variety that you would find in LA. </p>
<p>2) If Engineering matters to you, Michigan is a marginally, but significantly, better choice than UCLA (#2 vs #20 in Mechanical Engineering and #7 vs #21 in Engineering overall. Those are not big differences in rankings mind you.</p>
<p>So, what matters more to you? Point 1 or point 2?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Most people? Last time I checked thousands of kids graduate every year with an engineering degree from Tech (roughly 1.5k out of the total incoming class of 3k)
[/quote]
Yes, that's my point - engineering is GT's only option that's competitive with Michigan so if you're at GT and you decide you don't like engineering, you're probably going to end up sticking with it and being miserable while if you're at Michigan and you decide you don't like engineering you've got a whole host of options to chose from.</p>
<p>As for the quality of life aspect, take a look at that college review site (can't link to it but it's the first google result for "college reviews"), UM people are generally far happier with their choice than GT people.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yes, that's my point - engineering is GT's only option that's competitive with Michigan so if you're at GT and you decide you don't like engineering, you're probably going to end up sticking with it and being miserable while if you're at Michigan and you decide you don't like engineering you've got a whole host of options to chose from.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well your point was actually that most people change their majors from which isn't true. My guess is around 1/4 to 1/3 do, but that's pretty typical of engineering anywhere. MIT Sloan is a pretty good example of this.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As for the quality of life aspect, take a look at that college review site (can't link to it but it's the first google result for "college reviews"), UM people are generally far happier with their choice than GT people.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Like I said, small sample size. I come from below the 30th parallel so there's obviously a big difference in weather/terrain from where I grew up. I was simply pointing out UM isn't all sunshine and rainbows and puppies for everyone either.</p>
<p>Your UCLA and UM decision should be easier. If you care about weather, select UCLA (no surprise). If you can't take cold, select ucla. If you care about long term prestige, um engineering IS more prestigious than UCLA engineering. No questions there. It is true even, and especially in California as well. That is, Ann Arbor will be more known for engineering compared to ucla. Your other options of being able to go different majors are still the same. Also check out the world university ranking of um vs ucla. UM shows up way higher. If, on the other hand, you get Berkeley engineering, it is a different discussion. I would choose Berkeley over UM as it is more/equally prestigious as well as it fixes the weather issues.</p>
<p>No one stated that Michigan was the perfect school for everyone gthopeful. GT is great at what it does best, engineering. Michigan is great in a wide variety of disciplines, including engineering. 25-34% of undergraduates change their majors while they are undergrads. While not the majority of students, that is a very significant number and should not be taken lightly.</p>