Alexandre

Menehune, your analysis of UVa is spot on, but you lack insight into Michigan. Michigan is not overshadowed by its Engineering programs. Michigan is so well rounded, that all programs shine. So no, as overall institutions, UVa is not more prestiguous than Michigan. I agree that on the East Coast (with the exception of NYC), UVa is more prestigious than Michigan. However, nationally and internationally, the edge probably goes to Michigan.

Secondly, can you please explain how Charlottesville is one of the greatest college towns in the US but that there isn't much to do in Ann Arbor? Those two college towns are very similar.

dilksy

Engineering is practically on it's own separate campus at Michigan, which is about 2 miles away from everything else. I'd guess there's a pretty sizable percentage of people at Michigan who haven't even seen a single engineering building. Your assertion that academics at Michigan are overshadowed by engineering is the exact opposite of reality.

gaotingting007

what about the two viewed in the NYC? And which one has more students admitted by top graduate school such as Harvard, MIT or Stanford, etc.?

gaotingting007

Thank you for your reply, 'cause i have to make my choice before May 12th.

keefer

I don't think the school name will help or hurt you at either of these schools for graduate school applications. Research experience will be very important for graduate school, Michigan has the largest and arguably the best undergraduate research program. with this program, you don't need to do any work to get involved in research, the program will set up everything for you, there are project catalogs for you to look through , and the best part is that you can get involved in your freshman year, which many other programs at other schools cannot say.

Now I don't know the exact numbers, but out of my Mechanical Engineering graduating class of about 120 or so people, I knew about 30 of them, and half went to work, 25% stayed at Michigan for Master's degree(which is only 1 year)., and the other 25% all went to better or equivalent schools, mostly for PhD. (Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, Georgia Tech, Cornell)

Alexandre

"what about the two viewed in the NYC? And which one has more students admitted by top graduate school such as Harvard, MIT or Stanford, etc.?"

In both cases, Michigan and UVa are roughly equal.

rjkofnovi

Menehune you clearly have never been to U-Mich or Ann Arbor. It is best to comment on what you know. This person is from China, and prestige is very important in Asia. Can anyone comment about international prestige of the two schools? That is what is most important to the person who started this thread.

hoedown

rjkofnovi is right....I think the OP really needs some input on which school is considered better in Asia (if that's his concern). Because from where I stand, both schools are great and both are in nice places to live....so either choice would be a fine one.

If it comes down to prestige abroad, maybe there are some differences worth basing an enrollment decision on. I don't know if anyone here can answer what he's asking.

evil_asian_dictator

Go to the cheaper school. Both are roughly equal with regards to prestige and placement into top grad programs.

If finances are also not a factor, here are some intangibles:

1. UVA has better weather than UMich.
2. UVA has a smaller undergraduate population than UMich.
3. UVA's campus is prettier than UMich.
4. Charlottesville has better music/dining options than Ann Arbor although they are both good college towns.
5. UVA girls are hotter than UMich girls.

keefer

ok, ...

"1. UVA has better weather than UMich."

I wouldn't say better weather, is an orange better than an apple? I knew people, myself included, who liked cold winters and hot summers.

"2. UVA has a smaller undergraduate population than UMich."

This is true, but smaller isn't always better, neither are LAC type of schools, Michigan has a larger international student population, might provide a better support system.

"3. UVA's campus is prettier than UMich."

This is also quite subjective, many parts of UM campus are stunning.

"4. Charlottesville has better music/dining options than Ann Arbor although they are both good college towns."

Ann Arbor is always listed as a top 10 college town, I can't think of any college town that's better in music/dining options.

"5. UVA girls are hotter than UMich girls."

Also, a poor reason to choose a school, not to mention a highly unscientific one, Michigan has many attractive girls, we don't have that Hot Girl reputation, but if you actually step on campus, you'll realize there are hotties everywhere.

If you are coming from China, Michigan definitely has a better reputation if you want to go back there. We have a joint institute with Shanghai Jiaotong University(a premier engineering/technology college in China), they are basically building their school based on Michigan's model. And they send about 10-20 of their brightest engineering students to Michigan every year as exchange students. There are all sorts of ties between Michigan and China, Mary Sue Coleman took a week long trip to China in the summer of 2005, where she met China's minister of education, presidents of Shanghai Jiaotong, Tsinghua U, Beijing U, Beijing Normal U, Renmin U. Michigan's University theme was about "China" last year.

Many famous Chinese scientists and prominent figures are Michigan Alumni, including CC Ting(Samuel Chao Chung Ting), who won a Nobel prize in Physics in 1976. He received all of his degrees from Michigan.

You can check out the rest of University's ties with China in detail at the following link:

History of the University of Michigan and China | 2005 China Visit | University of Michigan

GoBlue81

I believe Michigan is more well known in China, probably because it has a longer history there.

UM - China Inititiatives for the 21st Century
There are currently 876 Chinese students (including HK/Macau) studying at the University of Michigan, together with 318 visiting Chinese faculty and scholars.

Ever since Mary Coleman's visit to China about 3 years ago, the University of Michigan has entered into a number of cooperative agreements with some of China's major universities, including:

UM-Beijing Normal University's collaboration in the area of Psychology, Education and Cogitive Neuroscience

UM-Chinese Academy of Sciences' collaborations in the area of Psychology and Education

UM-Fudan University's co-established the Institute for Gender Studies

UM Medical School - Fudan University's academic exchange in the area of Medical Science

UM Medical School - Beijing University Health Science: academic exchange

UM-Beijing University's collaboration in the area of Psychology and Education

UM-SJTU's collaborative research in Chemical Genomics and Drug Discovery

and more...

The College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) and the university's Center for Chinese Studies have recently launched the China Now 2007-08 Theme Year with a series of events including a Dragonboat Race in Gallup Park (http://www.lsa.umich.edu/chinanow/index.asp).

Globalist

Keefer, 5% of UVa students are international - many of them come from China. Also, UVa is well-known for its extraordinary emphasis in undergraduate education especially for a public flagship university. To quote Meredith Woo, who just left Michigan to be UVA's new Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences:

Gaotingting07, to get the best answers about UVa from an international student's perspective (especially from China), you should email UVA's International Student Ambassadors from China.

Also, UVa is a member of Universitas 21, an international consortium of research universities along with Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the University of Hong Kong. So, UVa has a lot of connections to China and other universities throughout the world.

Good luck next year wherever you go.

rjkofnovi

UVA is an excellent school Globalist. No one should ever deny that. Glad to see that they are as involved with China as it appears. China is the future of the global economy. Also nice to see another professor from Ann Arbor become the head of a prestigious college and/or university. That says a lot of the quality of Michigan. :-)

Globalist

Yeah, it's a good feeling. I was proud when Professor Ayers left UVa to be the President of the University of Richmond, and Gene Block left to be the Chancellor of UCLA...though sadly we did lose 2 great profs. Professor Ayers' classes were mesmerizing.

rjkofnovi

Yes i know what you mean. We lost our last two presidents to Princeton and Columbia. But you can't blame any of the profs or presidents for wanting to go back to their alma maters. :-)