Does University of Michigan live up to the hype?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If you're loaded and really want the "M" sweatshirt/bumper sticker, then sure Michigan is worth $16K/year more than Wisconsin or IU, $20K/year more than UMN, $23K/year more than Iowa, $25K/year more than Georgia, or $27K/year more than Florida. (Since Michigan gives less "merit" aid than any of those other flagships, I guess there should be an "at least" before each of the preceding dollar figures.) Pretty expensive hoodie, though...

Yeah have heard the same from multiple OOS applicants - Michigan is very stingy with the discounts. Many are charged full price. A good friend's son with stellar HS record received a much better deal from a similarly ranked/regarded private school (20s in US News). That surprised me. I had been hearing for years of students getting the types of discounts you mention above for other public flagships that rank not far behind Michigan. I wonder how long Michigan can continue to charge that much of a premium. It doesn't make sense to me unless there is some specific benefit that Michigan is providing you which won't be the case for large majority of applicants. Several of these schools also have a more fun reputation than Michigan.

Benefits:

-top rated in just about every department and Major offering
-second to none alumni network
- among the strongest "school spirit" institutions in the world

Is it worth 16k/year more? Ask the 100,000 kids who apply every year who seem to think so.

Honestly, compared to Wisconsin (the $16K/year delta you reference), Michigan ties or loses (but it's close) on "school spirit" and ties or wins (but it's close) on alumni network--so call those two a wash--and ekes out a barely-perceptible edge in department rankings (#9 in aggregate compared to #13.1; Berkeley checks in at #2.1, FWIW -- https://publicuniversityhonors.com/rankings-academic-departments-private-elites-vs-publics/ ). Are those four ranking rungs worth it? I guess that's the $64,000 question.

We just toured Wisconsin and we came away thinking Michigan (and UVA) were more impressive.

What was impressive about your Michigan tour? For us it was just the law school and the tour guide’s enthusiasm.

Ive seen the Wisconsin campus. While the setting on the lake is nice, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the campus layout or building composition. If I’m going OOS to a public school and paying a premium over an instate public, I’m going to Michigan over Wisconsin in most cases.

The only thing nice about the Wisconsin campus is the lake. The buildings are really unattractive.

See, I thought Michigan was just concrete everywhere. And the blocks around it were run down student housing and a few restaurants. Did we have a bad tour guide? Nothing was attractive except the law school.

So it doesn't work for you but does for the 100,000 applicants.

So defensive. It was ok for pp to say what they liked and didn’t like. Can you answer whether or not we must have had a bad tour guide? Did we not see parts of campus we should have seen if all we saw was concrete?

If all you saw was concrete, then you obviously didn’t see much of the campus. You obviously never went to the Arb or to North Campus. You obviously didn’t walk the entire Diag or went to the Hill dorms. Michigan’s central campus isn’t the greenest for sure, but the impressive buildings and energy are not easily duplicated.

You Michigan boosters really live in your own world. Outside of the Law School Quad (which is not for undergrads), Michigan’s campus looks like any other big well-funded university. Ann Arbor looks grimy and Rust Belt-ish with depressing energy. Very brown, grey and dreary. Pothole filled streets and dirty snow and slush on the ground for most of the academic year. Arctic weather with rare appearances of the sun from October through April.

[Anonymous]

Undergrads and, and do use the Law School library.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If you're loaded and really want the "M" sweatshirt/bumper sticker, then sure Michigan is worth $16K/year more than Wisconsin or IU, $20K/year more than UMN, $23K/year more than Iowa, $25K/year more than Georgia, or $27K/year more than Florida. (Since Michigan gives less "merit" aid than any of those other flagships, I guess there should be an "at least" before each of the preceding dollar figures.) Pretty expensive hoodie, though...

Yeah have heard the same from multiple OOS applicants - Michigan is very stingy with the discounts. Many are charged full price. A good friend's son with stellar HS record received a much better deal from a similarly ranked/regarded private school (20s in US News). That surprised me. I had been hearing for years of students getting the types of discounts you mention above for other public flagships that rank not far behind Michigan. I wonder how long Michigan can continue to charge that much of a premium. It doesn't make sense to me unless there is some specific benefit that Michigan is providing you which won't be the case for large majority of applicants. Several of these schools also have a more fun reputation than Michigan.

Benefits:

-top rated in just about every department and Major offering
-second to none alumni network
- among the strongest "school spirit" institutions in the world

Is it worth 16k/year more? Ask the 100,000 kids who apply every year who seem to think so.

Honestly, compared to Wisconsin (the $16K/year delta you reference), Michigan ties or loses (but it's close) on "school spirit" and ties or wins (but it's close) on alumni network--so call those two a wash--and ekes out a barely-perceptible edge in department rankings (#9 in aggregate compared to #13.1; Berkeley checks in at #2.1, FWIW -- https://publicuniversityhonors.com/rankings-academic-departments-private-elites-vs-publics/ ). Are those four ranking rungs worth it? I guess that's the $64,000 question.

We just toured Wisconsin and we came away thinking Michigan (and UVA) were more impressive.

What was impressive about your Michigan tour? For us it was just the law school and the tour guide’s enthusiasm.

Ive seen the Wisconsin campus. While the setting on the lake is nice, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the campus layout or building composition. If I’m going OOS to a public school and paying a premium over an instate public, I’m going to Michigan over Wisconsin in most cases.

The only thing nice about the Wisconsin campus is the lake. The buildings are really unattractive.

See, I thought Michigan was just concrete everywhere. And the blocks around it were run down student housing and a few restaurants. Did we have a bad tour guide? Nothing was attractive except the law school.

So it doesn't work for you but does for the 100,000 applicants.

So defensive. It was ok for pp to say what they liked and didn’t like. Can you answer whether or not we must have had a bad tour guide? Did we not see parts of campus we should have seen if all we saw was concrete?

If all you saw was concrete, then you obviously didn’t see much of the campus. You obviously never went to the Arb or to North Campus. You obviously didn’t walk the entire Diag or went to the Hill dorms. Michigan’s central campus isn’t the greenest for sure, but the impressive buildings and energy are not easily duplicated.

You Michigan boosters really live in your own world. Outside of the Law School Quad (which is not for undergrads), Michigan’s campus looks like any other big well-funded university. Ann Arbor looks grimy and Rust Belt-ish with depressing energy. Very brown, grey and dreary. Pothole filled streets and dirty snow and slush on the ground for most of the academic year. Arctic weather with rare appearances of the sun from October through April.

Agree and it’s not just Michigan. I frequently hear “xyz is such a great college town” but when I visit, I just don’t see it. Or feel it. Like hometowns, people who live there think it’s more special than people who don’t. There must be a name for the rose-colored glasses and contagious infatuation people have once they decide it’s special. It’s like the honeymoon stage of a relationship but it doesn’t fade.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If you're loaded and really want the "M" sweatshirt/bumper sticker, then sure Michigan is worth $16K/year more than Wisconsin or IU, $20K/year more than UMN, $23K/year more than Iowa, $25K/year more than Georgia, or $27K/year more than Florida. (Since Michigan gives less "merit" aid than any of those other flagships, I guess there should be an "at least" before each of the preceding dollar figures.) Pretty expensive hoodie, though...

Yeah have heard the same from multiple OOS applicants - Michigan is very stingy with the discounts. Many are charged full price. A good friend's son with stellar HS record received a much better deal from a similarly ranked/regarded private school (20s in US News). That surprised me. I had been hearing for years of students getting the types of discounts you mention above for other public flagships that rank not far behind Michigan. I wonder how long Michigan can continue to charge that much of a premium. It doesn't make sense to me unless there is some specific benefit that Michigan is providing you which won't be the case for large majority of applicants. Several of these schools also have a more fun reputation than Michigan.

Benefits:

-top rated in just about every department and Major offering
-second to none alumni network
- among the strongest "school spirit" institutions in the world

Is it worth 16k/year more? Ask the 100,000 kids who apply every year who seem to think so.

Honestly, compared to Wisconsin (the $16K/year delta you reference), Michigan ties or loses (but it's close) on "school spirit" and ties or wins (but it's close) on alumni network--so call those two a wash--and ekes out a barely-perceptible edge in department rankings (#9 in aggregate compared to #13.1; Berkeley checks in at #2.1, FWIW -- https://publicuniversityhonors.com/rankings-academic-departments-private-elites-vs-publics/ ). Are those four ranking rungs worth it? I guess that's the $64,000 question.

We just toured Wisconsin and we came away thinking Michigan (and UVA) were more impressive.

What was impressive about your Michigan tour? For us it was just the law school and the tour guide’s enthusiasm.

Ive seen the Wisconsin campus. While the setting on the lake is nice, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the campus layout or building composition. If I’m going OOS to a public school and paying a premium over an instate public, I’m going to Michigan over Wisconsin in most cases.

The only thing nice about the Wisconsin campus is the lake. The buildings are really unattractive.

See, I thought Michigan was just concrete everywhere. And the blocks around it were run down student housing and a few restaurants. Did we have a bad tour guide? Nothing was attractive except the law school.

So it doesn't work for you but does for the 100,000 applicants.

So defensive. It was ok for pp to say what they liked and didn’t like. Can you answer whether or not we must have had a bad tour guide? Did we not see parts of campus we should have seen if all we saw was concrete?

If all you saw was concrete, then you obviously didn’t see much of the campus. You obviously never went to the Arb or to North Campus. You obviously didn’t walk the entire Diag or went to the Hill dorms. Michigan’s central campus isn’t the greenest for sure, but the impressive buildings and energy are not easily duplicated.

You Michigan boosters really live in your own world. Outside of the Law School Quad (which is not for undergrads), Michigan’s campus looks like any other big well-funded university. Ann Arbor looks grimy and Rust Belt-ish with depressing energy. Very brown, grey and dreary. Pothole filled streets and dirty snow and slush on the ground for most of the academic year. Arctic weather with rare appearances of the sun from October through April.

Agree and it’s not just Michigan. I frequently hear “xyz is such a great college town” but when I visit, I just don’t see it. Or feel it. Like hometowns, people who live there think it’s more special than people who don’t. There must be a name for the rose-colored glasses and contagious infatuation people have once they decide it’s special. It’s like the honeymoon stage of a relationship but it doesn’t fade.

I think it's called "pride."

It's not unique to Michigan. Many people seem to think Stanford is idyllic, but when I visited I thought it was monochromatic and vaguely Taco Bell-ish. There are also people very high on Notre Dame, but all I remember from visiting that school was Touchdown Jesus - nothing else really made an impression.

[Anonymous]

“ Ann Arbor looks grimy and Rust Belt-ish with depressing energy.”

I suppose it does to posters such as yourself. Have you tried seeing a psychiatrist? There are some wonderful medicines that will help you get the, “brown and grey” out of your system.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If you're loaded and really want the "M" sweatshirt/bumper sticker, then sure Michigan is worth $16K/year more than Wisconsin or IU, $20K/year more than UMN, $23K/year more than Iowa, $25K/year more than Georgia, or $27K/year more than Florida. (Since Michigan gives less "merit" aid than any of those other flagships, I guess there should be an "at least" before each of the preceding dollar figures.) Pretty expensive hoodie, though...

Yeah have heard the same from multiple OOS applicants - Michigan is very stingy with the discounts. Many are charged full price. A good friend's son with stellar HS record received a much better deal from a similarly ranked/regarded private school (20s in US News). That surprised me. I had been hearing for years of students getting the types of discounts you mention above for other public flagships that rank not far behind Michigan. I wonder how long Michigan can continue to charge that much of a premium. It doesn't make sense to me unless there is some specific benefit that Michigan is providing you which won't be the case for large majority of applicants. Several of these schools also have a more fun reputation than Michigan.

Benefits:

-top rated in just about every department and Major offering
-second to none alumni network


- among the strongest "school spirit" institutions in the world

Is it worth 16k/year more? Ask the 100,000 kids who apply every year who seem to think so.

Honestly, compared to Wisconsin (the $16K/year delta you reference), Michigan ties or loses (but it's close) on "school spirit" and ties or wins (but it's close) on alumni network--so call those two a wash--and ekes out a barely-perceptible edge in department rankings (#9 in aggregate compared to #13.1; Berkeley checks in at #2.1, FWIW -- https://publicuniversityhonors.com/rankings-academic-departments-private-elites-vs-publics/ ). Are those four ranking rungs worth it? I guess that's the $64,000 question.

We just toured Wisconsin and we came away thinking Michigan (and UVA) were more impressive.

What was impressive about your Michigan tour? For us it was just the law school and the tour guide’s enthusiasm.

Ive seen the Wisconsin campus. While the setting on the lake is nice, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the campus layout or building composition. If I’m going OOS to a public school and paying a premium over an instate public, I’m going to Michigan over Wisconsin in most cases.

The only thing nice about the Wisconsin campus is the lake. The buildings are really unattractive.

See, I thought Michigan was just concrete everywhere. And the blocks around it were run down student housing and a few restaurants. Did we have a bad tour guide? Nothing was attractive except the law school.

So it doesn't work for you but does for the 100,000 applicants.

So defensive. It was ok for pp to say what they liked and didn’t like. Can you answer whether or not we must have had a bad tour guide? Did we not see parts of campus we should have seen if all we saw was concrete?

If all you saw was concrete, then you obviously didn’t see much of the campus. You obviously never went to the Arb or to North Campus. You obviously didn’t walk the entire Diag or went to the Hill dorms. Michigan’s central campus isn’t the greenest for sure, but the impressive buildings and energy are not easily duplicated.

You Michigan boosters really live in your own world. Outside of the Law School Quad (which is not for undergrads), Michigan’s campus looks like any other big well-funded university. Ann Arbor looks grimy and Rust Belt-ish with depressing energy. Very brown, grey and dreary. Pothole filled streets and dirty snow and slush on the ground for most of the academic year. Arctic weather with rare appearances of the sun from October through April.

Agree and it’s not just Michigan. I frequently hear “xyz is such a great college town” but when I visit, I just don’t see it. Or feel it. Like hometowns, people who live there think it’s more special than people who don’t. There must be a name for the rose-colored glasses and contagious infatuation people have once they decide it’s special. It’s like the honeymoon stage of a relationship but it doesn’t fade.

Agree! People have low standards

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If you're loaded and really want the "M" sweatshirt/bumper sticker, then sure Michigan is worth $16K/year more than Wisconsin or IU, $20K/year more than UMN, $23K/year more than Iowa, $25K/year more than Georgia, or $27K/year more than Florida. (Since Michigan gives less "merit" aid than any of those other flagships, I guess there should be an "at least" before each of the preceding dollar figures.) Pretty expensive hoodie, though...

Yeah have heard the same from multiple OOS applicants - Michigan is very stingy with the discounts. Many are charged full price. A good friend's son with stellar HS record received a much better deal from a similarly ranked/regarded private school (20s in US News). That surprised me. I had been hearing for years of students getting the types of discounts you mention above for other public flagships that rank not far behind Michigan. I wonder how long Michigan can continue to charge that much of a premium. It doesn't make sense to me unless there is some specific benefit that Michigan is providing you which won't be the case for large majority of applicants. Several of these schools also have a more fun reputation than Michigan.

Benefits:

-top rated in just about every department and Major offering
-second to none alumni network


- among the strongest "school spirit" institutions in the world

Is it worth 16k/year more? Ask the 100,000 kids who apply every year who seem to think so.

Honestly, compared to Wisconsin (the $16K/year delta you reference), Michigan ties or loses (but it's close) on "school spirit" and ties or wins (but it's close) on alumni network--so call those two a wash--and ekes out a barely-perceptible edge in department rankings (#9 in aggregate compared to #13.1; Berkeley checks in at #2.1, FWIW -- https://publicuniversityhonors.com/rankings-academic-departments-private-elites-vs-publics/ ). Are those four ranking rungs worth it? I guess that's the $64,000 question.

We just toured Wisconsin and we came away thinking Michigan (and UVA) were more impressive.

What was impressive about your Michigan tour? For us it was just the law school and the tour guide’s enthusiasm.

Ive seen the Wisconsin campus. While the setting on the lake is nice, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the campus layout or building composition. If I’m going OOS to a public school and paying a premium over an instate public, I’m going to Michigan over Wisconsin in most cases.

The only thing nice about the Wisconsin campus is the lake. The buildings are really unattractive.

See, I thought Michigan was just concrete everywhere. And the blocks around it were run down student housing and a few restaurants. Did we have a bad tour guide? Nothing was attractive except the law school.

So it doesn't work for you but does for the 100,000 applicants.

So defensive. It was ok for pp to say what they liked and didn’t like. Can you answer whether or not we must have had a bad tour guide? Did we not see parts of campus we should have seen if all we saw was concrete?

If all you saw was concrete, then you obviously didn’t see much of the campus. You obviously never went to the Arb or to North Campus. You obviously didn’t walk the entire Diag or went to the Hill dorms. Michigan’s central campus isn’t the greenest for sure, but the impressive buildings and energy are not easily duplicated.

You Michigan boosters really live in your own world. Outside of the Law School Quad (which is not for undergrads), Michigan’s campus looks like any other big well-funded university. Ann Arbor looks grimy and Rust Belt-ish with depressing energy. Very brown, grey and dreary. Pothole filled streets and dirty snow and slush on the ground for most of the academic year. Arctic weather with rare appearances of the sun from October through April.

Agree and it’s not just Michigan. I frequently hear “xyz is such a great college town” but when I visit, I just don’t see it. Or feel it. Like hometowns, people who live there think it’s more special than people who don’t. There must be a name for the rose-colored glasses and contagious infatuation people have once they decide it’s special. It’s like the honeymoon stage of a relationship but it doesn’t fade.

Agree! People have low standards[/quote


You’re not an 18-22 undergraduate just entering the adult world. Great college towns cater to their student body. They have not been jaded by the real world yet and those wonderful memories last with them the remainder of their lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“ Ann Arbor looks grimy and Rust Belt-ish with depressing energy.”

I suppose it does to posters such as yourself. Have you tried seeing a psychiatrist? There are some wonderful medicines that will help you get the, “brown and grey” out of your system.

The only cure is to move out of gloomy Michigan. Great state if you are a slob who watches TV all day.

[Anonymous]

Not sure why all the UM hate. It’s a great school. Look at the number of applicants, selectivity, and transfer rate. All suggest that students go there and love it. I don’t think the facilities are amazing. It’s really the people that make it great. So much school spirit. You may not feel that on an admissions tour. I suggest applicants talk to current students to get a sense of what it’s like being a student there.

[Anonymous]

Ann Arbor looks grimy and Rust Belt-ish with depressing energy.

You're an idiot, and a dangerous one. Far from being "Rust Belt-ish," over the past decade Ann Arbor's population grew at a faster rate than Charlotteville's or Santa Barbara's, or Princeton's or Providence or Boston's. And faster than the national average. Ann Arbor is one of Michigan's most properous communities, along with Grand Rapids and Oakland County, and it's not "rusty" since it was never really an industrial center to begin with. And incomes in Michigan are higher than in Florida and most of the Confederate states and most of northern New England and most of the Southwest and much of the Rockies.

You're stupid and provincial and arrogant. Smart DCUM readers looking for an excellent college shouldn't be swayed by your misinformation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Ann Arbor looks grimy and Rust Belt-ish with depressing energy.

You're an idiot, and a dangerous one. Far from being "Rust Belt-ish," over the past decade Ann Arbor's population grew at a faster rate than Charlotteville's or Santa Barbara's, or Princeton's or Providence or Boston's. And faster than the national average. Ann Arbor is one of Michigan's most properous communities, along with Grand Rapids and Oakland County, and it's not "rusty" since it was never really an industrial center to begin with. And incomes in Michigan are higher than in Florida and most of the Confederate states and most of northern New England and most of the Southwest and much of the Rockies.

You're stupid and provincial and arrogant. Smart DCUM readers looking for an excellent college shouldn't be swayed by your misinformation.

+1 Well stated!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If you're loaded and really want the "M" sweatshirt/bumper sticker, then sure Michigan is worth $16K/year more than Wisconsin or IU, $20K/year more than UMN, $23K/year more than Iowa, $25K/year more than Georgia, or $27K/year more than Florida. (Since Michigan gives less "merit" aid than any of those other flagships, I guess there should be an "at least" before each of the preceding dollar figures.) Pretty expensive hoodie, though...

Yeah have heard the same from multiple OOS applicants - Michigan is very stingy with the discounts. Many are charged full price. A good friend's son with stellar HS record received a much better deal from a similarly ranked/regarded private school (20s in US News). That surprised me. I had been hearing for years of students getting the types of discounts you mention above for other public flagships that rank not far behind Michigan. I wonder how long Michigan can continue to charge that much of a premium. It doesn't make sense to me unless there is some specific benefit that Michigan is providing you which won't be the case for large majority of applicants. Several of these schools also have a more fun reputation than Michigan.

Benefits:

-top rated in just about every department and Major offering
-second to none alumni network
- among the strongest "school spirit" institutions in the world

Is it worth 16k/year more? Ask the 100,000 kids who apply every year who seem to think so.

Honestly, compared to Wisconsin (the $16K/year delta you reference), Michigan ties or loses (but it's close) on "school spirit" and ties or wins (but it's close) on alumni network--so call those two a wash--and ekes out a barely-perceptible edge in department rankings (#9 in aggregate compared to #13.1; Berkeley checks in at #2.1, FWIW -- https://publicuniversityhonors.com/rankings-academic-departments-private-elites-vs-publics/ ). Are those four ranking rungs worth it? I guess that's the $64,000 question.

We just toured Wisconsin and we came away thinking Michigan (and UVA) were more impressive.

What was impressive about your Michigan tour? For us it was just the law school and the tour guide’s enthusiasm.

Ive seen the Wisconsin campus. While the setting on the lake is nice, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the campus layout or building composition. If I’m going OOS to a public school and paying a premium over an instate public, I’m going to Michigan over Wisconsin in most cases.

The only thing nice about the Wisconsin campus is the lake. The buildings are really unattractive.

See, I thought Michigan was just concrete everywhere. And the blocks around it were run down student housing and a few restaurants. Did we have a bad tour guide? Nothing was attractive except the law school.

So it doesn't work for you but does for the 100,000 applicants.

So defensive. It was ok for pp to say what they liked and didn’t like. Can you answer whether or not we must have had a bad tour guide? Did we not see parts of campus we should have seen if all we saw was concrete?

If all you saw was concrete, then you obviously didn’t see much of the campus. You obviously never went to the Arb or to North Campus. You obviously didn’t walk the entire Diag or went to the Hill dorms. Michigan’s central campus isn’t the greenest for sure, but the impressive buildings and energy are not easily duplicated.

You Michigan boosters really live in your own world. Outside of the Law School Quad (which is not for undergrads), Michigan’s campus looks like any other big well-funded university. Ann Arbor looks grimy and Rust Belt-ish with depressing energy. Very brown, grey and dreary. Pothole filled streets and dirty snow and slush on the ground for most of the academic year. Arctic weather with rare appearances of the sun from October through April.

Agree and it’s not just Michigan. I frequently hear “xyz is such a great college town” but when I visit, I just don’t see it. Or feel it. Like hometowns, people who live there think it’s more special than people who don’t. There must be a name for the rose-colored glasses and contagious infatuation people have once they decide it’s special. It’s like the honeymoon stage of a relationship but it doesn’t fade.

The word you’re looking for is provincial. And a fitting expression would be nobody calls their baby ugly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:If you're loaded and really want the "M" sweatshirt/bumper sticker, then sure Michigan is worth $16K/year more than Wisconsin or IU, $20K/year more than UMN, $23K/year more than Iowa, $25K/year more than Georgia, or $27K/year more than Florida. (Since Michigan gives less "merit" aid than any of those other flagships, I guess there should be an "at least" before each of the preceding dollar figures.) Pretty expensive hoodie, though...

Yeah have heard the same from multiple OOS applicants - Michigan is very stingy with the discounts. Many are charged full price. A good friend's son with stellar HS record received a much better deal from a similarly ranked/regarded private school (20s in US News). That surprised me. I had been hearing for years of students getting the types of discounts you mention above for other public flagships that rank not far behind Michigan. I wonder how long Michigan can continue to charge that much of a premium. It doesn't make sense to me unless there is some specific benefit that Michigan is providing you which won't be the case for large majority of applicants. Several of these schools also have a more fun reputation than Michigan.

Benefits:

-top rated in just about every department and Major offering
-second to none alumni network
- among the strongest "school spirit" institutions in the world

Is it worth 16k/year more? Ask the 100,000 kids who apply every year who seem to think so.

Honestly, compared to Wisconsin (the $16K/year delta you reference), Michigan ties or loses (but it's close) on "school spirit" and ties or wins (but it's close) on alumni network--so call those two a wash--and ekes out a barely-perceptible edge in department rankings (#9 in aggregate compared to #13.1; Berkeley checks in at #2.1, FWIW -- https://publicuniversityhonors.com/rankings-academic-departments-private-elites-vs-publics/ ). Are those four ranking rungs worth it? I guess that's the $64,000 question.

Google says that UM grads average post-grad salary $10K+ than UW, so I can see that being an important data point for students.

Adjust for coat of living where they settle. Half of Michigan undergraduates are OOS.

40% of Wisconsin undergraduates are from out of state and there are about 6,000 more of them altogether then at Michigan, so the difference isn’t that great.

Also, just two years ago it was 50%. The 40% is also a record this year — the lowest in 20 years, per the website.

[Anonymous]

The University of Michigan/Ann Arbor has been assessed to be the best public university in the country outside California by US News, Forbes, the WSJ (actually, the WSJ ranked Michigan the best public university in the country, period), the Times of London, and the QS Best Global Universities rankings.

But DCUM's sophisticates chalk it up to "hype."

This site is unbelievable. And honestly an embarrassment to the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Ann Arbor looks grimy and Rust Belt-ish with depressing energy.

You're an idiot, and a dangerous one. Far from being "Rust Belt-ish," over the past decade Ann Arbor's population grew at a faster rate than Charlotteville's or Santa Barbara's, or Princeton's or Providence or Boston's. And faster than the national average. Ann Arbor is one of Michigan's most properous communities, along with Grand Rapids and Oakland County, and it's not "rusty" since it was never really an industrial center to begin with. And incomes in Michigan are higher than in Florida and most of the Confederate states and most of northern New England and most of the Southwest and much of the Rockies.

You're stupid and provincial and arrogant. Smart DCUM readers looking for an excellent college shouldn't be swayed by your misinformation.

Ann Arbor isn’t Rust Belt-ish? So its entire water table isn’t slowly but surely being poisoned by a toxic plume?

https://www.wxyz.com/news/4-mile-contamination-plume-continues-to-move-toward-ann-arbors-primary-water-source

Its river isn’t poisoned with chemical spills?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/15/michigan-huron-river-chemical-spill