<p>I'm a high school senior chica, in-state, 36 ACT, get my first SAT scores tomorrow, 800 Chem, 750 Math2, 4.0 unweighted/4.16-somethin' weighted, drum major, NHS officer, bunch of awards 'n' sheeit, looking for engineering/sciency program with a good band. </p>
<p>Honestly, I don't really want to end up at U of M, mostly because I've heard the drink'n'drug scene is really huge, and this past year my high school sent 30 kids to U of M. That's a few too many familiar faces for me. I kinda wanted to get out of state, too. I've been looking at Northwestern mostly, a few other places as well.</p>
<p>Here is your mission, should you choose to accept it: convince me that I want to go to U of M. Easy, right?</p>
<p>You could easily get in, so that's not the issue. 30 people out of nearly 30,000 means you'd almost never see them. As far as a drinking scene, you'll find it no matter where you go. If UM's academics and complete "college experience" don't convince you, then imho you should be elsewhere.</p>
<p>I agree with Matthew. If you school sends 30 students to Michigan annually, that means you will probably have about 50 or 60 students who are familiar faces in a campus with over 38,000 students. Chances are, you will not see them unless you want to.</p>
<p>Drinking/drugs at Michigan are actually not a problem. Michigan is not considered a party school. You have them of course, but they are not more common at Michigan than they are at most other universities.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, you should go where you think you would be happy. I would certainly recommend Michigan, but Northwestern is as good and if it fits your personality better, go for it. You are obviously applying to MIT and Stanford right? Also check out Cornell and Cal. But if you are looking for the most complete college experience, you really cannot beat Michigan...especially not with the in-state tuition...and probable full ride you will get!</p>
<p>I'm sorry I have such a bad attitude about this school, it's just that the stories that make their way back to my high school ears aren't very nice. I've heard the comment "it's just like high school" made about the number of people that go there from my school. The valedictorian of my school about two years back started at U of M, hated it so much that he dropped out before the end of the semester, worked at McDonalds or someplace, and went to Oxford the next semester. The valedictorian and salutatorian of a few years before that got busted for growing marijuana or something like that, and one guy got 20 years. Maybe that says more about my high school than U of M, but that's where I'm coming from. I just thought I could get some positive opinions from this forum, since, unless $100,000 falls out of the sky, I could very well be headed to U of M a year from now.</p>
<p>yea thats just the stupid kids in ur school. That proves my opinion actually that u can be as smart as u want but still a dumbass in certain aspects of ur personality. And like we said, theres 38,000 students. you will DEFINITELY find someone who you will make friends with and have a good time. Its your choice to what you do. You can either make it sucky or great however u want. College is how u make it out to be. Don't let a couple kids here and there screw up your opinion of a fantastic university</p>
<p>supermurgatroyd, no school is right for everybody. Some people will hate the university they are at, no matter what school it is. I have personally never met anybody that "hated" their Michigan experience, but I did know a couple who didn't particularly like their experience. At the end of the day, it is a question of fit. I personally did not like Michigan my first year there. But by the end of my second year, I was hooked. Your friends that hated Michigan simply didn't have a realistic outlook on life...and college. </p>
<p>Also, all universities feel like high school to Freshmen, whether it is a state school with many students from the same high schools or a private school with many students of a similar background. Cliques will form everywhere, be it at the small LACs or the large state Us. But at Michigan, those die out pretty fast. </p>
<p>I would not worry too much about the negatives. Overall, you will be hardpressed to find a better university or a better college experience.</p>
<p>Yeah no one will force you to only associate with people from your high school. People getting into drug/alcohol problems happens everywhere-that's just a matter of personal responsibility. The party scene, though still respectable, absolutely disgusting. We do have hash bash (which I unfortunately missed because I was doing a cycling race at purdue-and for the record I do not rock the ganja), but that isn't obviously a university sponsored event, and is viewed by alot of people as trashy and pointless (me included-stupid hippies). Yeah if you get a full ride, go to UM. Go Blue!!!!!</p>
<p>it's not whether we want you here; it's whether you want you here. michigan's a big school, and every year people choose schools that are better suited for them, and I doubt michigan particularly misses them. we are the #6 weed university by some accounts. I smoke weed, a lot of my friends here smoke. I also have friends that don't even touch cough syrup. we also have excellent programs in engineering, pre-health, pre-law, and a VERY good program in business. it is a big university, so you can choose you scene. but if you're not sure about the atmosphere of a school, you should evaluate what's important to YOU, and see for yourself how it stacks up there, not how it stacks up with our values.</p>
<p>most people affiliated with UofM dont' really care if any particular person applies. michigan is a top state school, second only to berkeley, so nobody really needs to sell or defend it. it's also big, so it's hard to generalize. one thing is, if you need and CAN AFFORD attention during college, a place like northwestern may be better. that's pure speculation on my part because i've never been to NW. however, UofM may be a smart choice if you're independent, know what you want and would like to save money as an in-state applicant. people from michigan, california, virginia and north carolina are very fortunate to have great public unis.</p>
<p>Actually...Northwestern is one of those schools that I really can't get excited about vs Michigan. To me, it's not different enough to merit the extra cash. If you're going into a program that Northwestern excels in - theatre/communication or journalism, for example - it might be worth it. But otherwise, Northwestern is just another big midwestern school. Michigan has a LOT to offer for the students who seek it out.</p>
<p>you'll see the `i'm too good for michigan' schtick from people who are most likely to end up there, unfortunately. sometimes they're just getting over rejections from ivy league schools. mind you, there are a FEW people like that in every class. the people you can learn from are the ones who got into other top schools but chose michigan. there are just as many people like that, and usually they'll have the right attitude freshman year and will go on to top grad schools and jobs. they know good value when they see it and will take advantage of the university's vast resources.</p>
<p>That's correct Hillstreet. I met many students at Michigan who turned down other top universities to become Wolverines. I met dozens who turned down the "Big 5" (Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and Yale) to attened Michigan and far more who turned down schools like Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, northwestern and Penn. I myself turned down a bunch of schools to attend Michigan and I have no regrets. This year, 4 of the 16 students from the UAE who joined Michigan this fall chose Michigan over Ivies (one over Penn, 2 over Cornell and one over Columbia) and another 4 chose Michigan over comparable schools (johns Hopkins, Cal, Northwestern and Duke). You will meet many students at Michigan who do so. I mean, if you look at the top quarter of the student body (6,000+ students), they were 4.0 students who graduated in the top 1% of their high school class and had SAT scores in the 1400-1600 range. You can be sure a chunk of those students picked Michigan over Ivies and other equally good universities.</p>
<p>on a tangent, michigan is great for international students because most will feel at home in the large, liberal setting. they'll be exposed to GO BLUE esprit de corps of michigan sports, but will also have access to the many international groups on campus. UofM's top grad schools also attract some of the best and brightest from around the world. as an undergrad, i made a number of friends from the business, med and law schools through campus groups. ann arbor is a true microcosm.</p>
<p>hillstreet, you're so right about the schtick. i live a few minutes walk from my old high school, currently at UM. people write it off, when they don't realize what's there. your stats, superwhattywhat , while impressive, remind me of some things that people here said last year that sound kind of funny now that all they can say is GO BLUE.</p>
<p>That's a great point HillStreet. I am, myself, an international student. Michigan is one of the top 20 universities in the World, internationally speaking. There are currently 4,500 international studens at the University of Michigan (1,500 undergraduate and 3,000+ graduate students). Furthermore, roughly 25% of Michigan's faculty is international and Ann Arbor, although not a large city, is certainly very cosmopilitan.</p>
<p>LOL... Yeah, last year was interesting. I never downgraded Michigan since I knew it was an awesome school, and it was also always one of my two top choices. (Hey, I was damn proud of getting in in the first place!) However, it just wasn't my absolute top choice. I think that I'm actually ashamed (Is that really possible?) of that fact now considering how much I've grown to love Michigan and living here in Ann Arbor since I started really interacting with the school and then later moved here. It just feels right now. I'm soooo glad that I ended up at Michigan instead of somewhere else. It's strange how ideas change so quickly.</p>
<p>UofM ain't harvard, MIT, oxford, sorbonne or any of the typical WOW univerisities. if an applicant's stats are good enough to get into those schools he should talk the talk, walk the walk and go. more power to him. michigan is often a top safety for these applicants. however, what annoys me are people who claim michigan was a safety, but in reality it was a match. very few people, if any, are too good for michigan. those who truly are will get perfect grades in tough classes and then go on to WOW grad schools. they'll end up happy and successful anyway.</p>