As a Michigan grad-agree with above that Greek life is pretty big there. NU could appeal more to those who aren’t as interested-they have special interest/residential housing too for almost every interest to create smaller and tight knit communities.

Michigan. In-state UM tuition is one of the best bargains in higher education.

Anonymous wrote:What exactly about NU is there to “hate”? My DC legacy at both of these amazing institutions and chose NU. Wanted a smaller environment overall and the benefit of being near Chicago. I can understand maybe not liking the weather but from a pure school standpoint the two are more alike than dissimilar. Hate is certainly hyperbole, no?

There really isn't anything IMO. NU is a more urban school, with Chicago and all it offers nearby. Evanston is a great town, but Ann Arbor is "A College town" and not much else.
NU is much smaller. You can walk from one end of campus to the other in 10-12 mins (if needed)---busses are not needed to get to "the other campus".
Both are great schools. If you want a large school and the sports focus along with massive greek life, then UM is the better choice. But NU offers a lot of great sports (Football and BB are way better than when I attended and kids actually attend games now--they compete with rest of big10 and hold their own) and does have greek life for those interested

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Anonymous wrote:I would say my kid is going to UMich and the undergrad math education is very tough. Majors have high math requirements and many students try and take math at community colleges to avoid the first two years of math—through linear algebra.

My kid is busy taking Nova CC classes to beef up on math.

If your kid is weak in math I would be careful about UMich.

You think Northwestern will be easier?

I have relatives who did Michigan EECS and NU EECS. Math won’t be any easier at NU.

Anonymous wrote:Which would you pick? Worth noting: student is in-state for Michigan tuition,
Majoring in engineering

This is a pretty easy decision. Michigan is the clear choice.

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Anonymous wrote:So kids get tired of Ann Arbor and all Michigan all the time? That’s my fear with Michigan. No escape when you want to see something other than blue and yellow.

You’ve never been to Ann Arbor right?

I’ve been. That’s why I wonder about this. I went to school on the east coast where we could hop on the train and go see friends at other schools on a weekend etc. I’m just curious. My Dc loves Michigan, it’s just such a different vibe than what I know. Seems like it’d be a blast for a year and then I’d want to be able to go somewhere.

That’s because you’re not a teenager anymore. No need to leave town when they’re is so much going on all the time. I guess wherever you went to school wasn’t so great, since you left on the weekends to visit your friends.

Bit if a leap you took there, but ok. I loved my school (Penn) and also loved hopping on a train to visit friends in NYC, Boston etc. none of this was an attack on Mich so your response was unnecessarily hostile.

+1.

Chicago flyover country…this board is officially insane!! I can’t even…

Anonymous wrote:“The sheeple bandwagon of Big10 Flyover Country cheerleading for UM here is a disservice to OP's kid.”

Northwestern is also in B1G flyover country too, right?

haha the rest of the Big 10 loves having Northwestern to kick around! Chicago is flyover country but not at the same level as West Lafayette, East Lansing, or Lincoln. I guess this doesn't work anymore with New Brunswick, College Park, and soon Los Angeles there too

“The sheeple bandwagon of Big10 Flyover Country cheerleading for UM here is a disservice to OP's kid.”

Northwestern is also in B1G flyover country too, right?

Anonymous wrote:They seem totally different to me. I’ve visited both and hated NW, loved UM. Seems like it would be an easy decision if your child visits both.

Heard that a lot over the years.

“Mine chose Northwestern and is very happy. But we are not in-state for Michigan so cost difference would have been a lot less.”

I’m sure you would think differently for 40K/year, unless money is no issue for you.

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Anonymous wrote:For engineering, I don't see how it's worthwhile to pay an extra $250,000 to attend Northwestern.

Even without the price difference, Michigan Engineering is head and shoulders above. OP, did your kid do the specific engineering tour at Michigan? It was very impressive.

NP: What makes UM Engineering better than Northwestern Engineering? They're ranked about the same. Northwestern, as a private school, might have more amenities, more attention to getting its students jobs? UM might have more big research grants because it's so big? (I'm a UM alum and fan, by the way).

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate

Michigan reputation score 4.5
Northwestern rep score 4.0

Right, just like someone would reject Harvard and go to Maryland because it ranked Maryland above Harvard in engineering.

Except that Northwestern is no Harvard and Michigan is no Maryland.

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Anonymous wrote:NU is smaller & more manageable. Shorter walking distances, better housing options, better basketball team, easier to get to know professors, more scenic views, better Journalism dept. I’m not saying these are worth the extra money, but let’s stop pretending there are NO advantages to going to Northwestern.

+1. No need to take a bus to get from one "campus" to the other. NU encourages kids to double major in a variety of areas and has plans in place to help it happen. UMich certainly does not encourage music majors to also major in Engineering or theater majors to double major in math (and for theater you'd definately go to NU).
It's normal for many kids to explore multiple areas

That true. You just have to walk a half a mile to go from north to south with delightfully brisk bitter temperature winds from the lake hitting your body over your entire journey. The quarter system allow a bit more of a range at NU. Of course you end the school year a full month after students at Michigan are already out. For Musical Theater, you’d definitely go to Michigan. For instate $$$ and overall value, you always go to Michigan over Northwestern.

Transplant homerism runs strong in DCUM. The sheeple bandwagon of Big10 Flyover Country cheerleading for UM here is a disservice to OP's kid.

OP, depending on your kid's personality and goals, it's a toss-up. I went to school both at a UM direct comp and Evanston. They are different schools and rankings websites are not your friend.

UM-Ann Arbor is a perfect match for the idealized traditional mainstream big college experience. College sports, Greek system, big research university, diverse course catalog. But no grade inflation or handholding and specialized mentoring here. Profs, grad assistants, esp in engineering, everyone is all about the research and less about babying undergrads, no matter how talented or motivated they are. It's the real world, put on the big kid pants. Some kids will thrive here, many will do fine, some will fall through the cracks.

For NU, first off the beach sucks 9 months out of the year and school's out during the three months it is nice. You don't just pop over to Chicago and Wrigley Field as much as you might think. It is a traditional mainstream selective private university that has a lot of the advantages of SLACs and big public research universities with less of the disadvantages. These days, it's Ivy-adjacent thanks to the Ivies being unable to take all the qualified overachievers. Several of my Ivy alum acquaintances gladly sent their kids to Evanston when they didn't have enough hooks to get them into their alma maters. Helicopter parents can be as involved as they were with administrators and profs as they were with DCs in high school. The school has a reputation and donor base to cultivate that UM doesn't need to fret over.

Both are great options for your kid!

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Anonymous wrote:For engineering, I don't see how it's worthwhile to pay an extra $250,000 to attend Northwestern.

Even without the price difference, Michigan Engineering is head and shoulders above. OP, did your kid do the specific engineering tour at Michigan? It was very impressive.

NP: What makes UM Engineering better than Northwestern Engineering? They're ranked about the same. Northwestern, as a private school, might have more amenities, more attention to getting its students jobs? UM might have more big research grants because it's so big? (I'm a UM alum and fan, by the way).

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate

Michigan reputation score 4.5
Northwestern rep score 4.0

Right, just like someone would reject Harvard and go to Maryland because it ranked Maryland above Harvard in engineering.