<p>We all hate USNWR rankings until we need to make a point :D</p>
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<p>Well I can tell you what my daughter thought was impressive about Michigan. High average SAT scores for entering freshmen. Beyond that I have no idea.</p>
<p>Sorry Michigan homers, but I attended a Big 10 school myself and I have quite a few colleagues who attended school in Ann Arbor. Most of the lower division instruction at those schools is done by TAs. Professors have office hours? Sure. Can you see them… sometimes. Are there exceptions to every rule? Sure. Classes taught by full professors TEND to be large lectures taught in auditoriums or lecture halls with hundreds of students. </p>
<p>Rather than jump on this minor point, deal with the fact that like most highly ranked schools, the difference in educational delivery and content is not substantively better than at many state schools, especially when comparing the ‘honors’ departments of the various schools in question. We are comparing the cream of the academic crop at these schools, not the average student. When you compare the upper portion of the academics in all of these schools, the differences are miniscule. I would heartily endorse the more academically challenging school if the money was the same, but give the differences in cost of education, it is almost always better to take the more affordable option in the long term.</p>
<p>" Beyond that I have no idea."</p>
<p>Huge endowment, impessive facilities, award winning faculty, exceptional departmental rankings across all disciplines, fantastic school spirit, B1G sports, wonderful college town experience, and large influential alumni association…to name a few.</p>
<p>Sorry Michigan homers, but I attended a Big 10 school myself and I have quite a few colleagues who attended school in Ann Arbor. Most of the lower division instruction at those schools is done by TAs. Professors have office hours? Sure. Can you see them… sometimes. Are there exceptions to every rule? Sure. Classes taught by full professors TEND to be large lectures taught in auditoriums or lecture halls with hundreds of students.</p>
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<p>You should probably speak to more people who actually did go to UM/currently attend/actual university employees. Anyone who is confused by the bizarre claims and bluster on this thread should absolutely check with the respective schools mentioned to confirm the claims. Except for the “best looking” part. Because that was just bizarre and weird and let’s be honest- creepy. </p>
<p>You are incorrect about the percentage of classes taught by GSI, and not tenured faculty. </p>
<p>Depending on school of enrollment, the current percentages of classes taught by tenured faculty range from 80% to the high 90’s. Do GSI run discussion sections for some of the larger mandatory classes? Most world class universities do the same. Access to the professor running the classes? Yes to that as well. </p>
<p>Not that I have any idea what this is doing on this thread at this point. The OP is not choosing UM, from a very valid financial standpoint. But there’s no reason to make things up at this point. </p>
<p>I think some of you are missing the point that the comparison here is between Ohio U (NOT Ohio State) with UAlabama - and more precisely, OU’s Tutorial College vs. UA’s Honors College. That’s all OP asked about, since UMichigan is off the table (re-read Op’s last posts ). </p>
<p>I did- that’s why I said what I said. 
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<p>Mea culpa, I was trying to remember the Temple ranking from memory. Alabama is ranked #36 on the US News ranking of “Top Public Universities”; Temple is ranked #60. But, honestly, if my kid liked Temple better than Bama, it wouldn’t have mattered to me. There’s no “prestige” associated with either, but frankly in my world UCLA and Michigan aren’t “prestigious” either. Like the OP, I was looking for a genuine, AFFORDABLE safety.</p>
<p>And just for the record, my own FATHER went to Temple and my father-in-law was an emeritus faculty member of UCLA. I denigrate neither of them, nor Michigan or Berkeley or Auburn, for that matter. The point I was trying to make was that when looking for a full-tuition scholarship for my kid, Bama, ranked signficantly higher than Temple (and a little better for engineering), seemed like the better choice of two options.</p>
<p>Hey, if my kid could go to Berkeley or UCLA or Michigan or UVA for the same price I’d pay to send him to Penn State, I’d do it in a heartbeat, forget free tuition. But they’re not! Bama, on the other hand, is trying to up their game by throwing money at top-stats students. That gives me pause and is something I plan to investigate thoroughly as it might save me $60,000 over four years. I’m sure the OP will be doing similar calculations with regard to his child.</p>
<p>Frankly, I’m surprised all the folks obsessed with “elite” this and “elite” that wouldn’t applaud Bama’s spending some of those boatloads of cash generated from their football program on academic pursuits. </p>
<p>What world is that?? Neverland?</p>
<p>@chardo: I already noted that in an earlier post toward the bottom of page 3. You can see my reasons there.</p>