<p>I am a Minnesota native living in Southern California, I cant decide if I should go to the U over more prestigious schools (in my case Berkeley and UCLA). If given a choice would you go to one of these institutions over the U? Ever since I have moved to California I have longed to come back to MN, and I think college would be a great time to do so. However, a part of me feels like I should go to the "best" school I get into (which will be UCLA/Berkeley)...for me all of the colleges are about equal (they all have their pros and cons, cost is about the same) except with regards to the "prestige" factor which obviously Berkeley and UCLA have an advantage over U of M....</p>
<p>My family is rather against me going to the U (although they will let me go where I want to), as they say I should go to the "best" school I get into...My major's department (art history) at the U is highly regarded, although not as highly regarded as Berkeley or UCLA.</p>
<p>Are rankings and prestige really important? I hear over and over how unimportant they really are, but I feel as though many people do regard ranking/prestige very highly...</p>
<p>I just don't want to make a decision I will regret by going to the U...Any Advice?</p>
<p>I would pick the institution where you will yourself working in the future. I see you’re into art history, which is why the U could be the best fit, imho. We have a thriving art scene in Minneapolis. That said, UCB and UCLA are still great choices. Good luck and go Gophers!</p>
<p>One post I read the other day really influenced my college decisions. Basically, it said it’s the student who makes the future, not the school. If you want to go to minnesota over cal, you’ll be just as successful at minnesota as at cal. (And minnesota’s actually cheaper than cal! not by much, but still…) Besides, if you got into cal chances are you probably got into the honors program at minnesota so that’s equally as impressive! And another thing, if you’re worried about prestige, you can always go to a prestigious graduate school. I’m also from california and I am 95% sure I’m going to minnesota! I’m choosing minnesota over WUSTL cuz I love it that much! haha.</p>
<p>I would seriously consider UCLA and UCB. Not only are UCLA and UCB much more prestigious they also have considerably stronger faculty and students. I’m not sure how much this applies to art history but certainly in math and physics the strength of the student body has a very large impact on how much you learn. Because the student body at the U is in all honesty not that great, most of the upper division math and physics do not challenge the top students. The end result is that the top students do not learn as much as they would at a more “elite” school.</p>
<p>The same applies to many humanities classes albeit in somewhat different ways. Many upper division humanities classes are discussion based and the discussions are only as good as the students in the class. The readings at the U are usually less theoretical than at “elite” schools as well. The fact that UCLA and UCB are top 25 in US News and the U is 68th is not important in itself. But the differences between the schools that the rankings are important. Prestige also helps with getting jobs. Employers in Minnesota probably don’t see a huge difference between a UCB or UCLA grad and a U grad but employers in California or elsewhere outside if the Midwest are probably likely to favor the UCB or UCLA grads.</p>
<p>out of curiosity, if you don’t mind me asking, where did you end up going? UofM or somewhere else?</p>
<p>P.S. I do agree with you though and I graduated from UofM after transferring from a prestigious foreign school (I had no choice finacially), so I do have point of comparison.</p>
<p>I’m still in high school but last year and this year I’ve taken all my classes at the U. Because of my dissatisfaction with the academic rigor there I’m going elsewhere for undergrad even though I’m only a year away from a degree at the U. I have been accepted at U Chicago and am waiting on MIT and Harvard.</p>
<p>I chose the U of M over UT Austin and Rice and feel pretty secure in my decision.</p>
<p>The U of M isn’t in the Berkeley/Michigan/UCLA/UT/UNC/UVA league, but considering it’s a reputable school in the Big Ten, the difference is completely trivial. When I had it narrowed down to Rice/UT/UMN, being from Texas I always knew that the atmosphere at UT and Rice is pretty competitive (only the most qualified kids from high school go there) and I didn’t feel like busting my ass two or three times harder to earns a considerably equivalent degree. </p>
<p>To the person who posted before me, I think you embellish your PSEO status too much. Realize you’re taking generals and nothing that’s going to reach maximum difficulty. The workload at the U is pretty tough and to hear a high school student complaining about the lack or “rigor” at the U is comical. Also realize that you’re not living under all the other stressors of college life that your classmates are. I attended a prestigous private high school, and I’m thoroughly challenged with the coursework here yet relieved that the atmosphere is more collaborative than competitive.</p>
<p>He is PSEO like I am, but in no way taking general lib ed courses like myself. If you look at his posts, he has taken mostly upper division courses. No sides taken. </p>
<p>Op: Just pick the University that you feel will be the best fit. </p>
<p>Here are the classes I’ve taken over the past two years at the University of Minnesota.</p>
<p>Fall 2010 [I may have slightly misremembered the titles of some classes]
Math 5615H Honors Real Analysis I
Chem 3501 Intro to Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
Hist 3485 History of Southeast Asia
CSCI 1901 Intro to Programming</p>
<p>Spring 2011
Math 5616H Honors Real Analysis II
Chem 4502 Intro to Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy
Phys 4911 Intro to Biopolymer Physics
Ger 3610 German Literature in Translation: Kafka
ALL 3920 Topics in Asian Culture: Korean Film</p>
<p>Fall 2011
Math 5285H Honors Abstract Algebra I
Phys 4001 Analytical Mechanics
AMST 3252W American Popular Culture and Politics 1900-1940
Hist 3468 Social Change in Modern China
ALL 3437 Early 20th Century Japanese Literature in Translation</p>
<p>Spring 2012
Math 5286H Honors Abstract Algebra II
Math 5378 Differential Geometry
Phys 4002 Electricity & Magnetism
ALL 3436 Postwar Japanese Literature in Translation
ALL 3920 Topics in Asian Culture: Hong Kong Cinema</p>
<p>@RadicalCar are these generals? What do you consider maximum difficulty?</p>
<p>I think I was misinformed about the PSEO program. I thought every class a PSEO student took at the U had to transfer to their high school for graduation credit (while also being college credit), therefore being general credits. Evidentally that’s not the case and it looks like you’ve taken some pretty intense classes.</p>
<p>By maximum difficulty, I guess I meant anythung in your major at the 3xxx level or highier. I didn’t know PSEO kids could take classes above the 1xxx level.</p>
<p>I thought we could only take 1xxx-2xxx courses too, but he’s obviously ready for higher level courses. The majority of PSEO students, with the exception of UMTY, take 1xxx level courses for high school graduation requirements. However, when you’re done with h.s. grad reqs, you can take any class that you want (1xxx level primarily).</p>
<p>do tell how you managed to satisfy graduation requirements at your high school?. This is pretty impressive, even for UMTYMP student (my son is in UMTYMP Calculus I, so I know :)).</p>
<p>High schools or at least my high school will accept 3xxx classes for high school graduation requirements as well as long as the classes are in the subject area even if they don’t meet UMN liberal education requirements. I had to get special permission form my principal for this every semester though. The Asian literature and film classes counted towards my English and Fine Arts requirement. Because of UMTYMP I had taken more than the normal number of classes in 9th and 10th grade so that helped. By 11th grade, I only needed 2 years of English, 1 year of Fine Arts, 1 year of US History, .5 years of computer programming, and 1 year of math to graduate for high school. I spread out those requirements over 4 semesters and also took a bunch of classes I wanted to. It helps that a full load of classes at my high school is equivalent to only 12 credits at UMN so by taking extra credits those classes were unrestricted. </p>
<p>Other posters are correct in pointing out that most PSEO students take mainly 1xxx-2xxx level classes although I definitely know a number that have taken 5-10 3xxx-5xxx classes so I’m not totally exceptional. There are an even larger of mainly UMTYMP graduates who take a couple 3xxx-5xxx math classes as well. For PSEO students to take a 3xxx-5xxx class you just need to get the instructor to fill out a form saying you’re qualified to take the 3xxx-5xxx class.</p>
<p>got it. By 11th grade my son would only need 2 years of English and 2 years of Social Studies/History and one year of Science to graduate (easily fulfill-able at the U). He does not want to do PSEO though because he wants to participate in ECs at his school. He also has many friends at school and is afraid that as a youngest he will not make any friends at the U. How do you manage that aspect?</p>
<p>ECs can be tough to balance with PSEO unfortunately. It’s often possible with creative scheduling to be able to attend after-schools ECs at least a couple days a week and still do PSEO. Last year, I only had classes MWF so I attended after school practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I know other people who also have MWF schedules and even some with TuWTh schedules. Usually you should be able to schedule your classes in a way that you’ll be able to be at your high school at least once or twice a week. This year most of the other kids in some of my ECs are also PSEO so we practice on Friday nights at my house but that’s not possible in many cases. Particularly, if your son is open to night classes it can be very doable. </p>
<p>Most of the people I’m friends with at the U of M are other PSEO students but I’ve made a couple at least sorta friends with college kids as well. I’m not very social so I’m sure more social people will make more friends. Taking small classes or at least classes with small discussion sections also helps meet people. It helps if there are other kids your son will know PSEO too. I think most PSEO kids stay closer to their high school friends than any new college friends but obviously the experiences of PSEO kids vary wildly. At the very least after your son finishes UMTYMP he could probably find some kids in his UMTYMP class taking some sort of math class through PSEO the next year and take the same class with them.</p>
<p>How hard was taking Intro to Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics? Same goes with Intro to Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy? I’m planning on taking these courses next year (given that I’m accepted into the PSEO program) and just want to know what you think? Glad to see that there are other UMTYMP students on CC :D</p>
<p>Assuming that you are reasonably good at math and physics you should have not have much trouble with either. At least when I took them there was no homework assigned and grades were entirely based on midterms and the final so make sure you have decent study habits. I didn’t study much [like 1 hour a week] for either class and got an A in 4501 and an A- in 4502. A lot of the kids in the class struggled with it but I’m virtually certain that was mainly because they had trouble with the math. Chem 4501 uses basic multivariable calculus like partial derivatives very frequently so you better be comfortable with those. If you have completed UMTYMP and have done AP physics C then you shouldn’t have any trouble. If you haven’t done multivariable calculus yet chem 4502 uses more linear algebra and not much if any multivariable calculus so you should be fine in that but chem 4501 might be rough without multivariable calculus.</p>
And another thing, if you’re worried about prestige, you can always go to a prestigious graduate school. I’m also from california and I am 95% sure I’m going to minnesota! I’m choosing minnesota over WUSTL cuz I love it that much! haha.</p>