Child struggling to decide UVA vs UMich

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Common dilemma for high achieving NOVA residents. Most I know pick UVA unless their family has ties to Michigan. My Virginia kid is probably going to end up picking Michigan over UVA, largely because they grew up cheering for the Maize and Blue and dreaming of going to games in the Big House. One parent attended Michigan. I am on a stealth mission to get DC pick UVA. Cost of attendance OOS at Michigan this year is estimated $90,000 and in-state UVA is $41,000. Approximately $196,000 savings. I will report back on the final decision!

Tell them they can use the savings to go to grad school at Michigan.

Almost all good Ph.D. programs provide full funding.

Nope. You are forgetting law, medical, dental and business school, which is where many children on this site are heading towards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW I really wanted my kid to pick a school (UNC or UM) over UVA, largely for the spread your wings and prestige issues others have discussed. He didn’t, is at UVA, and is happier than I could have imagined.

Great grades, challenging classes, great professors, healthy social life with a nice balance of continuing relationships with HS classmates and many new friends. Joined competitive clubs and activities. And, even better, I get to see him from time to time because he’s not a flight away.

UNC is not more prestigious than UVA. Come on.

Most readers here cannot get their kids into UNC OOS because, unlike UVA and Michigan, it takes few OOS applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will add that another factor is where your kid wants to live after college if they have any idea. UVA is great if want to stay in VA or DC area. So many alums, so many connections. I went to UVA for grad school and it's far more valuable to me in this area (DMV) than my underegrad alma mater even though undergrad was more prestigious. I either have personal connections or have an instant bond with fellow alums if meeting for the first time. Plus everyone already knows and respects the degree. I imagine it's the same for UMich in Chicago or Detroit but I don't live there so I can't say.

This is such a weird, tired argument. There are TONS of UM alum in DC. DH is an alum and kids went to JKLM school and so many parents sport UM gear. DC graduated 2 years ago, works in DC, and knows tons of UM friends here (some from DC originally, but not all).

UM has a huge alumni network in DC. They just did a private tour of the Air & Space museum last weekend.

It’s not a “weird, tired” argument. Makes perfect sense. And it’s exactly what my UVA kid is going to do - go to a T3 law school and return to DC using those UVA contacts. My top DC Biglaw firm always hired from
UVA because it had many alums as partners and because many partners taught as adjuncts at UVA Law. I cannot remember anyone from Michigan or even Michigan Law being hired there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Common dilemma for high achieving NOVA residents. Most I know pick UVA unless their family has ties to Michigan. My Virginia kid is probably going to end up picking Michigan over UVA, largely because they grew up cheering for the Maize and Blue and dreaming of going to games in the Big House. One parent attended Michigan. I am on a stealth mission to get DC pick UVA. Cost of attendance OOS at Michigan this year is estimated $90,000 and in-state UVA is $41,000. Approximately $196,000 savings. I will report back on the final decision!

Tell them they can use the savings to go to grad school at Michigan.

Almost all good Ph.D. programs provide full funding.

PP. My assumption was along the lines of M. engineering, med school, MBA, law, public policy which typically require tuition payment. PP is looking for reasons to get their kid to pick UVA for undergrad because it is a bargain for in-state. Michigan grad school could be a legitimate target.

I had grad school plans already in my senior year of high school. One parent has a PhD, the other a Masters. Lots of grad degrees in my family. I would have been influenced by this kind of cost-based discussion. I favored keeping undergrad tuition low due to being the oldest at a time when the economy was poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will add that another factor is where your kid wants to live after college if they have any idea. UVA is great if want to stay in VA or DC area. So many alums, so many connections. I went to UVA for grad school and it's far more valuable to me in this area (DMV) than my underegrad alma mater even though undergrad was more prestigious. I either have personal connections or have an instant bond with fellow alums if meeting for the first time. Plus everyone already knows and respects the degree. I imagine it's the same for UMich in Chicago or Detroit but I don't live there so I can't say.

This is such a weird, tired argument. There are TONS of UM alum in DC. DH is an alum and kids went to JKLM school and so many parents sport UM gear. DC graduated 2 years ago, works in DC, and knows tons of UM friends here (some from DC originally, but not all).

UM has a huge alumni network in DC. They just did a private tour of the Air & Space museum last weekend.

I don't recall ever seeing U Mich gear in DMV, or meeting a U Mich grad. I see UVA gear All The Time and meet UVA grads all the time, or read about them in the news, see eg our new VA Gov.

You can't truly think that U Mich rivals UVA for alum network in VA/DC.

Really?!? You never see Michigan gear in the DMV? It’s everywhere. We live in NWDC and know many more Michigan grads than UVA grads. Of my kid’s class at a well known private HS, I can think of 9 families where at least one, if not both, of the parents went to Michigan. I know of one parent that went to UVA. I’m sure UVA is much more well represented in NoVA than in DC, as grads are either from there or choose to live there after college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will add that another factor is where your kid wants to live after college if they have any idea. UVA is great if want to stay in VA or DC area. So many alums, so many connections. I went to UVA for grad school and it's far more valuable to me in this area (DMV) than my underegrad alma mater even though undergrad was more prestigious. I either have personal connections or have an instant bond with fellow alums if meeting for the first time. Plus everyone already knows and respects the degree. I imagine it's the same for UMich in Chicago or Detroit but I don't live there so I can't say.

This is such a weird, tired argument. There are TONS of UM alum in DC. DH is an alum and kids went to JKLM school and so many parents sport UM gear. DC graduated 2 years ago, works in DC, and knows tons of UM friends here (some from DC originally, but not all).

UM has a huge alumni network in DC. They just did a private tour of the Air & Space museum last weekend.

I don't recall ever seeing U Mich gear in DMV, or meeting a U Mich grad. I see UVA gear All The Time and meet UVA grads all the time, or read about them in the news, see eg our new VA Gov.

You can't truly think that U Mich rivals UVA for alum network in VA/DC.

Really?!? You never see Michigan gear in the DMV? It’s everywhere. We live in NWDC and know many more Michigan grads than UVA grads. Of my kid’s class at a well known private HS, I can think of 9 families where at least one, if not both, of the parents went to Michigan. I know of one parent that went to UVA. I’m sure UVA is much more well represented in NoVA than in DC, as grads are either from there or choose to live there after college.

I think there are definitely social circles in play here.

Classic Maryland/Virginia and Democrat/Republican divides.

When I was a fed in a Cabinet agency long ago, there were 4 Michigan grads in my immediate workgroup. Law, Public Policy, Chemistry or Chemical Engineering, and Econ. ABD. And my manager who went to UMD undergrad and LSE grad school was born in Ann Arbor, so I think his dad had studied there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will add that another factor is where your kid wants to live after college if they have any idea. UVA is great if want to stay in VA or DC area. So many alums, so many connections. I went to UVA for grad school and it's far more valuable to me in this area (DMV) than my underegrad alma mater even though undergrad was more prestigious. I either have personal connections or have an instant bond with fellow alums if meeting for the first time. Plus everyone already knows and respects the degree. I imagine it's the same for UMich in Chicago or Detroit but I don't live there so I can't say.

This is such a weird, tired argument. There are TONS of UM alum in DC. DH is an alum and kids went to JKLM school and so many parents sport UM gear. DC graduated 2 years ago, works in DC, and knows tons of UM friends here (some from DC originally, but not all).

UM has a huge alumni network in DC. They just did a private tour of the Air & Space museum last weekend.

I don't recall ever seeing U Mich gear in DMV, or meeting a U Mich grad. I see UVA gear All The Time and meet UVA grads all the time, or read about them in the news, see eg our new VA Gov.

You can't truly think that U Mich rivals UVA for alum network in VA/DC.

Really?!? You never see Michigan gear in the DMV? It’s everywhere. We live in NWDC and know many more Michigan grads than UVA grads. Of my kid’s class at a well known private HS, I can think of 9 families where at least one, if not both, of the parents went to Michigan. I know of one parent that went to UVA. I’m sure UVA is much more well represented in NoVA than in DC, as grads are either from there or choose to live there after college.

Same. I’ve lived here for 25 years and know dozens of UM grads. The only UVA grad I know moved out of DC a decade ago. I’m sure there are more in NOVA, obvs. Though I also know 4 UM grads in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

You can’t make any conclusions about alumni network across the DMV based on your limited set of observations. Either of these schools should have taught you that.

[Anonymous]

LOL - No Michigan grads in DC. They are everywhere, even in Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL - No Michigan grads in DC. They are everywhere, even in Virginia.

Exactly - IYKYK

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL - No Michigan grads in DC. They are everywhere, even in Virginia.

Exactly - IYKYK

It’s not even IYKYK. They’re very obvious!

I’m a UVA alum, and I think I might know more Michigan alumni in the DMV than UVA alumni lol. I live in DC and spend more time in MD than VA, so that might partially account for it. But it’s truly braindead to claim that Michigan alumni are rare/not visible in this area.

[Anonymous]

Judging by car stickers, there are plenty of both in the DMV. Regardless of how many alumni people say they know, we’re talking about pretty big public schools. They are well represented here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Judging by car stickers, there are plenty of both in the DMV. Regardless of how many alumni people say they know, we’re talking about pretty big public schools. They are well represented here.

Right. And the point was it was dumb for the earliest pp to say that you shouldn't go to UM if you want a job in DC -- prompting this side discussion.

If you want to go to UVA you don't need that lame @ss, false argument to justify your decision. There are plenty of justifiable reasons including...because you want to.

[Anonymous]

You don’t need to go off of who you know or car stickers. There is data on this. % of undergrads ending up in the DMV:

Ross: 3.8%
McIntire: 31.85%

Ford: not listed in the destinations above 10% (though grad is higher)
Batten: 75%

And so on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don’t need to go off of who you know or car stickers. There is data on this. % of undergrads ending up in the DMV:

Ross: 3.8%
McIntire: 31.85%

Ford: not listed in the destinations above 10% (though grad is higher)
Batten: 75%

And so on.

Where are you getting your data? Not that I disbelieve you. I’m just curious.