<p>I'm thinking about going to University of Michigan since i'm in state. I'm wondering what the university excels at that most ivy leagues don't?</p>
<p>“College Life”</p>
<p>attractive people</p>
<p>I will take a shot at this, although it has been some years since I attended (as you can tell from my screen name :)). </p>
<ul>
<li>In-state tuition (if you are paying the bill, lower/no loans – if your parents are paying the bill, less chance you will have to support them in their retirement).</li>
<li>Many excellent academic programs. You can be pretty sure that if you change majors (as MANY students do) that you will still be moving into a very good program in anything you want to study.</li>
<li>Ann Arbor. Great college town. Lots of fun to be had, good food, pretty in the fall/spring.</li>
<li>A great national reputation (obviously the Ivies also have that, but Michigan is very well respected across the country). I no longer live in Michigan, and still get comments sometimes about Michigan being a great school when I tell people I went there. And I know it was a school with a LOT of smart people in it (I still think most of the smartest people I know were those I met while an undergrad there).</li>
<li>Michigan football. Not everyone cares, but there is something about going to a football game with over 100,000 fans that is pretty cool.</li>
</ul>
<p>Here is a Wikipedia link about what are referred to as “Public Ivies”:</p>
<p>[Public</a> Ivy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Ivy]Public”>Public Ivy - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>You are incredibly lucky to live in a state with one of those “Public Ivies”, most students are stuck in a state where the state university is a big step down from the Ivy league schools.</p>
<p>A complete university feel. That includes:</p>
<p>A college town (Boston is a city, Ithaca is a village).</p>
<p>Sports: Football at the Big House, Top basketball team next year with Mitch McGary, Hockey at Yost, even soccer gets a strong turnout.</p>
<p>Greek Life if you’re interested in that.</p>
<p>Outstanding research opportunities even as a freshman.</p>
<p>Outstanding extracurricular opportunities. </p>
<p>And in my opinion, one of Michigan’s biggest strengths is its size. The school really takes advantage of having students passionate about absolutely everything and provides countless opportunities to get involved in just about anything you could think of. It’s easy to make a school like Michigan small but it’s impossible to make a small school big like Michigan.</p>
<p>If you’re in state, you’re not gonna get a better bang for your buck anywhere else. And you can probably do the honors program if you’re smart enough for the ivy’s.</p>
<p>30k people</p>
<p>Great thread!</p>
<p>It depends on the Ivy. Michigan has much in common with Cornell and Penn. The main difference here would be athletics and school spirit. Michigan has very little in common with Brown, Dartmouth, Princeton and Yale.</p>
<p>ArKhAik, although Ivies do not have 30,000 students, Columbia has over 28,000 and Cornell, Harvard and Penn have ~21,000. Those schools are by no means “small” or even “medium” sized.</p>
<p>I stand corrected.</p>
<p>No… That is the the entire population of the school including grad students, professional schools, etc. while UMich has an undergrad population of ~28k or so… I think.</p>
<p>^^That is true MechiganBoy, but the fact is that they are not small or medium sized schools.</p>
<p>MechinganBoy, we never specified undergraduate or graduate. We were merely pointing out how many students are on campus. Michigan has 41,000, Columbia has 28,000, Cornell, Harvard and Penn have 21,000 each.</p>
<p>Ann Arbor is the best. I think that by itself it’s a catch for the majority of students. UM is internationally considered to be “of the same caliber” as the top Ivies, and since you’re in-state you’ll be paying $25k/year for an amazing education. There are so many clubs/activities that if you don’t meet people you have got to be a hermit. Finally, UM has some of the country’s greatest/best sports programs.</p>
<p>Need I say more?</p>