Agree or disagree: University of Michigan OOS is ridiculously overrated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m confident it’s overrated. I’m not sure how the hype started, but it’s gotten a bit crazy. But, good for Michigan!

Football championships.

It's actually sad to me how many people pick their college based on how they will feel on game day Saturdays. I have attended several football powerhouses.

Our society values athletic accomplishment more than academic accomplishment.

That's why the football coaches are often the highest-paid public employees in the state. Some are paid more than the leader of the university, the state governor, and the President of the U.S.

LOL.

- Purdue alum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Michigan's alumni seem very dialed in and eager to help kids out. The school is in a nice area and associated with good grad schools. It has name recognition all over the country and isn't thought of as "just" a sports school in the same way that, say, Alabama is.

Could you get all that somewhere else? Yes probably. But I don't think it's overrated I just think it's well-known. Most of your kid's class is probably applying because it's huge so there's still a decent chance of getting in even though it's very popular.

/not an alum

Agree. And given that your kid likely won’t get in (statistically speaking) let them apply and don’t lose any sleep over it.

[Anonymous]

I'm a Umich alum. Loved my experience there. But not so much that I would send my DC there with OOS tuition. If I could get instate tuition, I think it would be a no brainer.

[Anonymous]

Have a child there who chose it over other top schools OOS and is very happy. It is worth it for them and us for many reasons. They are loving classes and getting an amazing education and internship opportunities and connections, social life could not be more fun, and they are enjoying all that Ann Arbor has beyond the university.

Don't know why Michigan is constantly debated here but guess it's because it has gotten increasingly difficult to get in and is expensive, and is on TV every weekend in the fall? To each their own though.

[Anonymous]

I think everyone who believes it is overrated should not have their kid apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems like a good but giant public school for private school prices. I get that people want different types of options but the popularity boggles my mind. I think almost every kid in my DC"s class is applying. Why?

So have your DC apply ED to Wake Forest. You are the same poster, right?

You're so wrong (I'm OP). DH and I both went to Mich, we were in-state, so it was a no-brainer even for DH who also got into a very prestigious private. It was an ok experience with all the big school pros and cons, as others have said. My DC is insisting on applying because he thinks the legacy will help him (no idea whether that's true), and I'm not keen. Even besides the current outrageous OOS tuition, my experience was nothing amazing.

This scenario would be believable if you had lead with this nugget of info.

[Anonymous]

Michigan's popularity is due to a few things. It's the only top level public university that takes a large percentage of students from out of state. Berkeley, UCLA, Texas, and UNC-Chapel Hill are very limited by law with the number of non-resident students they can admit. Whereas Michigan very happily takes 50 percent of their students from out of state, which makes it the only national state school. And as a result, Michigan has very deep loyalties everywhere in the country, which generates even more interest.

Second, Michigan has really well regarded STEM programs, which is very appealing to smart boys. That's no small thing. There are fewer and fewer boys who are college ready. Michigan vacuums the exceptional Engineering and CS boys from out of state who want the rah rah Big Ten college experience. They will often choose Michigan over CMU, Cornell, or Johns Hopkins.

Because third, Michigan is really good at football. It's a big part of the Michigan experience. It's a tribal thing that is appealing to a lot of people.

All together, Michigan has a really good brand. It's one of the very, very few schools that's both great academically and at sports. I think only Duke and Notre Dame can share that space with Michigan. And that is very winning formula.

[Anonymous]

It is very weird that people love it so much. It is enormous and the weather is atrocious. I would never pay to go OOO for a public university. My kid went to an Ivy from a local elite private. The only kid who went to UM couldn't get in anywhere better.

[Anonymous]

Michigan is great for the kid that wants a huge public school with great football.

The Big 10 schools are massive, catering to all sorts of students.

They are also very accessible with admission rates far above those of selective privates.

For a certain kind of student they are perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is very weird that people love it so much. It is enormous and the weather is atrocious. I would never pay to go OOO for a public university. My kid went to an Ivy from a local elite private. The only kid who went to UM couldn't get in anywhere better.

Sniff sniff. You sound ridiculous. I’m not a Michigan alum but I get the appeal and it is much more appealing to many thsn an ivy. Fwiw I know kids who didn’t get into Michigan but did get into Ivy. Michigan is that popular where I am.

[Anonymous]

I have a lot of kid nostalgia because my grandparents lived in Ann Arbor. One of my fondest memories is my grandma taking me to the Big House. It's always seemed like a really nice college town to me, doing those morning walks by the Huron River. But that wasn't enough for the price tag OOS, even with two alumni parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree. You get the same education at Indiana. Or Minnesota. Or Illinois.

I don't know. In my field, Michigan is not just another Big 10. The professors in the departments there are excellent and doing the top notch work and graduating the top notch PhD's as well. Wisconsin is a close second. Both schools have these same professors teach and advice undergrads. If my kids were interested in that subject and wanted to go to a huge school (and all the plusses and minuses that come with that) with big sports - it's a great choice. They'd get a great education and could either take it into the real world or be poised to run if they later chose to get a PhD, JD, or MBA. Can't speak for other disciplines. That said - I'm not sure either of my kids is that keen on the big school with big sports profile.

This is the right answer.

The combination of top ten (and I am talking about department to department) in just about every discipline in addition to the rah rah big sports and school spirit are very hard to find. There are probably 10 schools, maybe less, that offer the same combination (and yes, Wisconsin is one of them, IMO)

[Anonymous]

Yes. Overrated for oos. Just like ucla & cal. In-state? Awesome. Oos near private school $’s? No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michigan started becoming an "it" school after The Big Chill came out.

And taking part in the Dharma Initiative caused it to take off even more.

/thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No more or less than UVA, Berkeley, UCLA, UNC OOS. These are schools with great academic reputations and vibrant campus life. You can’t get this experience at most private schools, with a few exceptions (e.g., Northwestern, Duke, Vanderbilt)—and even then tuition is 15-20% lower at the publics.

I went to one of the big, prestigious state schools OOS. My older kid is at a SLAC; I now see the benefits of the small, private experience, even if it didn’t appeal to me, personally. My younger kid wants a big school and thinks Michigan/UVA/UCLA are really appealing; having had that experience, I get it and would be happy to send him to one of those.

UNC for basketball, but otherwise, no, these schools are not the same for spirit, but yes for academics.