Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Not saying they're equal, but Michigan seems like a great alternative to UMD or Va Tech or Penn State for those looking for something else. Anyone have current or recent Michigan experience who could offer any insight?

I went to one of those schools and i don't think Michigan is an 'alternative'...it's a class above.

The issue of course is - is it worth paying OOS tuition for michigan over instate at UMD, VTech (or if your from PA, PSU)?

That's a very subjective/case-by-case thing dependent on your finances and your desires.

University of Wisconsin-Madison also is a well regarded state school on the East Coast and has far cheaper OOS tuition. I'm not saying it has the stature of Michigan but the school has a similar feel and student body and seems like a relative bargain compared to Michigan and other popular state schools in these parts.

University of Wisconsin Madison has a beautiful campus with great academics and a vibrant social scene and is not as expensive as many schools. It is a better deal than many colleges.

Penn State (#37) and Michigan (#28) are comparable Top 40 schools. The others are fine schools, but in a different class.

UM-W is ranked #41. Hardly "a different class" from #37 and #28. In fact, PSU was ranked #46 last year and years before that. I have nothing for/against PSU (the S $60M fine + $60M settlements so far +$60M legal fees so far aside) but its #37 rank (and sudden 9 spot jump this year) is indefensible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not saying they're equal, but Michigan seems like a great alternative to UMD or Va Tech or Penn State for those looking for something else. Anyone have current or recent Michigan experience who could offer any insight?

I went to one of those schools and i don't think Michigan is an 'alternative'...it's a class above.

The issue of course is - is it worth paying OOS tuition for michigan over instate at UMD, VTech (or if your from PA, PSU)?

That's a very subjective/case-by-case thing dependent on your finances and your desires.

University of Wisconsin-Madison also is a well regarded state school on the East Coast and has far cheaper OOS tuition. I'm not saying it has the stature of Michigan but the school has a similar feel and student body and seems like a relative bargain compared to Michigan and other popular state schools in these parts.

University of Wisconsin Madison has a beautiful campus with great academics and a vibrant social scene and is not as expensive as many schools. It is a better deal than many colleges.

Penn State (#37) and Michigan (#28) are comparable Top 40 schools. The others are fine schools, but in a different class.

As a PP noted, Wisconsin is not far from the top 40 and is probably closer to the Michigan PSU tier than the other schools

Anonymous wrote:Penn State is really an enigma in the USNW ratings. Its average SATs are 250 points lower than Michigan, for example, and it has over a 50% acceptance rate. And its statistics are lower than many schools ranked well behind. It is also in a very remote, not particularly nice area. It seems to do very well on the some of the measures not related to selectivity, however.

Which should pretty much put to rest the notion that schools bump their ratings by encouraging applications to improve selectivity. The USNWS ratings are more nuanced than some think.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not saying they're equal, but Michigan seems like a great alternative to UMD or Va Tech or Penn State for those looking for something else. Anyone have current or recent Michigan experience who could offer any insight?

I went to one of those schools and i don't think Michigan is an 'alternative'...it's a class above.

The issue of course is - is it worth paying OOS tuition for michigan over instate at UMD, VTech (or if your from PA, PSU)?

That's a very subjective/case-by-case thing dependent on your finances and your desires.

University of Wisconsin-Madison also is a well regarded state school on the East Coast and has far cheaper OOS tuition. I'm not saying it has the stature of Michigan but the school has a similar feel and student body and seems like a relative bargain compared to Michigan and other popular state schools in these parts.

University of Wisconsin Madison has a beautiful campus with great academics and a vibrant social scene and is not as expensive as many schools. It is a better deal than many colleges.

Penn State (#37) and Michigan (#28) are comparable Top 40 schools. The others are fine schools, but in a different class.

UM-W is ranked #41. Hardly "a different class" from #37 and #28. In fact, PSU was ranked #46 last year and years before that. I have nothing for/against PSU (the S $60M fine + $60M settlements so far +$60M legal fees so far aside) but its #37 rank (and sudden 9 spot jump this year) is indefensible.

Penn State is really an enigma in the USNW ratings. Its average SATs are 250 points lower than Michigan, for example, and it has over a 50% acceptance rate. And its statistics are lower than many schools ranked well behind. It is also in a very remote, not particularly nice area. It seems to do very well on the some of the measures not related to selectivity, however.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not saying they're equal, but Michigan seems like a great alternative to UMD or Va Tech or Penn State for those looking for something else. Anyone have current or recent Michigan experience who could offer any insight?

I went to one of those schools and i don't think Michigan is an 'alternative'...it's a class above.

The issue of course is - is it worth paying OOS tuition for michigan over instate at UMD, VTech (or if your from PA, PSU)?

That's a very subjective/case-by-case thing dependent on your finances and your desires.

University of Wisconsin-Madison also is a well regarded state school on the East Coast and has far cheaper OOS tuition. I'm not saying it has the stature of Michigan but the school has a similar feel and student body and seems like a relative bargain compared to Michigan and other popular state schools in these parts.

University of Wisconsin Madison has a beautiful campus with great academics and a vibrant social scene and is not as expensive as many schools. It is a better deal than many colleges.

Penn State (#37) and Michigan (#28) are comparable Top 40 schools. The others are fine schools, but in a different class.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not saying they're equal, but Michigan seems like a great alternative to UMD or Va Tech or Penn State for those looking for something else. Anyone have current or recent Michigan experience who could offer any insight?

I went to one of those schools and i don't think Michigan is an 'alternative'...it's a class above.

The issue of course is - is it worth paying OOS tuition for michigan over instate at UMD, VTech (or if your from PA, PSU)?

That's a very subjective/case-by-case thing dependent on your finances and your desires.

University of Wisconsin-Madison also is a well regarded state school on the East Coast and has far cheaper OOS tuition. I'm not saying it has the stature of Michigan but the school has a similar feel and student body and seems like a relative bargain compared to Michigan and other popular state schools in these parts.

University of Wisconsin Madison has a beautiful campus with great academics and a vibrant social scene and is not as expensive as many schools. It is a better deal than many colleges.

Michigan is hard to get into, especially oos. It's also a hot school right now with kids from this area, which makes it even tougher.

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Anonymous wrote:In general, schools in bad weather/economically depressed areas will be easier to get into than schools in pleasant climates that are economically vibrant. Look at the trends for Duke and Michigan as an example.

I see that for Penn State. But what's the "trend" for Michigan?

Not OP but Michigan was a top school at one point, but it's dropped out of the top 25. Duke has moved into the top 10, above Stanford in some rankings.

Anonymous wrote:In general, schools in bad weather/economically depressed areas will be easier to get into than schools in pleasant climates that are economically vibrant. Look at the trends for Duke and Michigan as an example.

I see that for Penn State. But what's the "trend" for Michigan?

In general, schools in bad weather/economically depressed areas will be easier to get into than schools in pleasant climates that are economically vibrant. Look at the trends for Duke and Michigan as an example.

Whatever PP said Brown is completely crazy. admission rate last year 9.6%, lower than Cal Tech, Penn, Dartmouth, just about everywhere except HYPS and some unusual places like the service academies and Julliard.

Anonymous wrote:Brown. They'll let anyone in. No joke.

You've got to be kidding....

Jew U? Goodness, I hope M suits my fairly conservative DD applying from a Catholic HS in Va. Maybe she'll appear unique to the admissions committee.

Anonymous wrote:Not saying they're equal, but Michigan seems like a great alternative to UMD or Va Tech or Penn State for those looking for something else. Anyone have current or recent Michigan experience who could offer any insight?

I went to Michigan 15 years ago, so not so current. I'm from Michigan. Tons of my friends were from the east coast. Lots of students from Long Island and New Jersey. I had two roommates from Maryland - both from Betheseda. The school was 60% in-state back then. It was known that the out-of-staters had to have better stats for acceptance. They were very prepared and tended to do well there. Most students were going on to some form of graduate school (except maybe my engineering and B-school friends). The undergrad B-school is very competitive. The med school feeder courses are competitive - second semester calculus, org chem, and biology. Econ is competitive for those applying to B-school. I liked the school, but the competitive nature of the classes was a grind at times. The greek scene was big.

Regarding the feel of the school, as they say in Michigan, we have two large state schools - Moo U and Jew U. U Mich is Jew U (Michigan State is Moo U).