Hey everyone,
I plan to apply to one of the above 2 colleges in the early round, and I was wondering which of these would be the better option. I want to major in computer science and also enter both colleges business schools. (McIntire vs Ross). For both fields which college would be a better option? US College News rates Mich better in both departments, but I have read otherwise
Also, does anyone have any information on how and when undergraduate students apply to McIntire?
There is a great deal of info online about the UVa comm school admissions process on the comm school website. You apply during your second year, and it is competitive.
I’d apply to both universities and hope you that you have the luxury of choosing between them. Particularly if you are OOS, you may find you are accepted to one, but not the other. U Michigan is much larger than UVa and has worse climate.
Still, I want to know that if I am admitted to both, which one should I take?
If you have the luxury of a choice, visit both universities at an accepted student event to help make that decision. Accepted student events are much more informative than a standard admissions tour. Because of the very high OOS tuition at both, it will also be beneficial to compare aid offers. . Most middle income US OOS who are not an under-represented minority will probably receive a better aid offer from UVa.
It would be worthwhile to check to see if U. Michigan offers merit or need based aid to international students. UVa offers very little merit aid to incoming students and does not offer need based aid to internationals.,
In the admissions process, UVa DOES NOT care whether you visit or not. Therefore, if you do not live close, it may be better to delay a visit until an accepted student event.
For most fields, the two universities are considered to be equals academically for undergrad education. U. Michigan has much larger (and in some cases more well-known) grad arts and sciences and research programs
Also, think about where you want to end up working. U. Michigan will have a stronger alum network in the upper midwest (such as Chicago), while UVa has a stronger alum network along the east coast. Alumni connections will not get you a permanent job, but they may get you an internship and a job interview.
I think it would be difficult to major in computer science and business here. You would basically have to finish your computer science major in 2 years which is unrealistic. My brother went to UMich and I went to UVA. UMich is MUCH larger! I thought UVA was big until I visited UMich, haha. I am not sure how the majors work at UMich so I think you should get in touch with someone. There is much more to college than “better” in terms of ranking. “Better” will depend on your impressions of how well you will fit in once you visit.
Thank you for your inputs! Visiting is out of question because I live all the way in India 
So its hard to get a feel of which one I`d like better…
I haven’t spent much time in Ann Arbor, but my impression is that the two towns are roughly similar. Ann Arbor is about 30 minutes from Detroit and Cville is about 2 hours from DC and an hour and 10 minutes from Richmond.
Shaunak, I have had the privilege of knowing both the universities and have emotional connect with them. My observation:
Climate : UVa is a much better place. You may find the winter in Ann Arbor, at times, unbearable!
Capmpus Placement: Michigan provides you with a much wider choice in terms of ‘employers recruiting from the campus’. For Computer Science, a degree from Michigan may open more doors for you.
Cost ; Both are very expensive and unless exceptionally qualified, the chance for any kind of financial assistance/ merit aid/scholarship, is remote.
Getting in to McIntire is easier than getting in to Ross! Again, Ross, in my opinion, is in a different league as it places more undergrds to Wall Street, the dream place for many international students!
Ultimately, you have to make your own choice:)
I can’t recall the specific freshman dorm we toured at Michigan (a few years ago), but that was no 5 star hotel! The housing there was actually a strike against UMich on our list! Granted, it is a huge school and there may be much nicer dorms we did not get to see. (IIRC, a good portion of freshman live in dorms that are quite a distance from the main campus).
Anyway, OP - IMO you would be fine academically and career wise at either school. Both universities and business programs are comparable. If you are choosing between the two, you honestly can’t go wrong with either one. But you need to get into both universities first. Then you can get opinions here as to which one may be the better choice for you. I’m confused why you can’t just apply to both. I think both schools offer EA admissions (not ED).
In addition, as you probably know, both Ross and McIntire have a separate competitive application process that students go through at a later date, and the applicant pools are very strong at both. One thing to keep in mind is that UMich does offer some highly qualified freshman applicants who intend to major in business “preferred admission” to Ross (not a guarantee), so just make sure you check the appropriate boxes or whatever on your application so that you’ll be considered for that. You can look at their website for specifics. UVA does not offer anything similar. All McIntire hopefuls will go through the same application process in their second year.
Yes, the quality of on-campus housing varies greatly at most universities. Someone could visit the brand new residence halls at UVa and then get disappointed when they are assigned to an older residence hall. However, many people grow to love the old dorms at UVa.
Also, keep in mind that at many other universities, those luxury student apartments that they show you may cost several thousand dollars more a year than ordinary student housing. Some other colleges are using their profits from that luxury student housing to make up for all of the tuition discounts they are offering.
The new dorms at UVA are nice dorms but no luxury hotel, they are still college dorms. I’m sure we’re not paying thousands more for them.
Last time I checked, all first year students at UVa pay the same amount for first year housing. My point was that many other colleges, there are often huge price differences between different types of on-campus housing.
Finaid - 0 for international at both
Climate - uva, but surviving the winter at ann arbor requires no great effort of willpower. There’s buildings everywhere, you won’t freeze to death. Also the fall is incredible, umich is truly a beautiful campus (as is uva i hear)
Your intended major - ross is tough to get in if not a pre-admit, you’ll need near perfect grades freshman year plus serious ECs; however, computer sci is a solid major and if you don’t get into ross, you can still take 20 credits there while in LSA or double major in econ or something. There’s also a business minor. I will warn you though that ross students have a really bad reputation for being scheming bastards (“rossholes”). There’s a ton of group projects and part of your grade is how others rate your contribution, and they will rate you down if you’re setting the curve. On the plus side despite the cutthroat environment, the amount of actual work you do is miniscule, and practically guaranteed a high paying job. The very top jobs though usually go to the pre-admits
Housing - it’s a roll of dice at umich. If you get into LSA honors you’re guaranteed south quad which is really great. Most of the dorms have been remodeled recently. Markley is 1970s so the rooms are pretty ghetto with little privacy, but as a freshman you want to socialize anyway, so in a way it can be the best. Worst case, you get assigned to north campus which is like a separate campus cut off (10-15 min bus ride) from the central. Pretty much only engineers like it. Second year on you’ll want to rent a house/apartment, which isn’t too bad if you do your research
College town vibe - really can’t beat ann arbor, especially on game day but even just walking to class. There’s hundreds of student groups as well so despite the larger student body, it’s rather small…i run into people i know all the time
Networking/post grad - umich has a lot of research opportunities even for undergrad, but don’t let that fool you. You’ll be competing for 30 others for 1-2 spots in a prof’s project so you better go to office hours and kiss ass, or at least be the top in class. You’ll more likely do work-study, study abroad, student groups, independent research. Either way, 1/2 of undergrads come from CA IL and NY/NJ and a fair number from india, so you’ve got awesome networking across the country/world.
Both schools excel at grad admission, but i can tell you ross mba just isn’t going to take a freshly minted undergrad (you’ll need to take the 5th year elsewhere for a CPA for example), and most all of LSA programs rarely take their own (it’s not "professional) so again, don’t expect to go to UM for a grad degree