University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Visit Report by noimagination

Visit Activities:

Information Session: Yes - The main info session was well-presented but had a shocking number of misleading or inaccurate statements.

Campus Tour: Yes - Decent but unremarkable Central Campus tour, great N Campus tour.

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Campus:

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Students were quite friendly and helpful.

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All the staff were welcoming.

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North Campus was gorgeous. Five stars there. Central was not nearly as appealing to me, so it would only get three.

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Didn't see anything needing renovation or work.

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Housing was mediocre at best. Once again, I prefer N Campus, but the dorms are not a selling point for UMich.

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I didn't see anything in Ann Arbor that felt remotely dangerous.

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Solid impression overall. If this were just N Campus and the engineering school, it would be five stars.

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Off-Campus:

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Downtown A2 has lots of restaurants. I did not like it very much but cannot deny the volume of things to see and do.

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There is plenty to do in Ann Arbor. It seemed like a really nice community - no wonder many companies have offices there!

Campus Visit Notes for University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Visit Description:

We arrived on Thursday night and toured on Friday. There were tons of people in downtown Ann Arbor on Thursday. Finding a spot in the garage wasn't easy. I will admit that I had a migraine and this did not improve my mood, but I thought downtown was overrated. The collection of overpriced stores and restaurants is nothing special compared to any comparable city. However, the Indian restaurant we ate in was excellent.

Friday, we parked with great difficulty and headed over to admissions on Central Campus for an info session. The presenter was convincing and had good visuals, but her information was not good. There were a number of cases where she misspoke and gave incorrect facts. Still, the overall effect was decent.

Next was the campus tour. Our guide seemed to have some nervousness about public speaking but did a good job of overcoming this and gave a good tour. We saw pretty much the whole area. I thought Central felt kind of cramped and worn.

After lunch - I had Panda Express, which is the same here as anywhere - we took the bus up to N Campus. It's a surprisingly long bus ride considering the distance.

What a difference! While Central was crowded and old, North was spacious and modern. It just felt like spring. We watched a good presentation at the engineering school. I thought they laid it on a bit too thick when talking about entrepreneurial opportunities, but otherwise this was impressive.

Our tour of North Campus was thorough and excellent. We visited every major engineering building, walked through a few labs, and met with a funny guy who works for the college as a glassblower. This tour was fun and informative - kudos to the department and the tour guide.

While I wasn't impressed by downtown Ann Arbor, I think the city as a whole has a lot to offer. The area felt surprisingly prosperous and I thought it was quite livable.

Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:

The Courtyard was great. Lots of hotels to choose from here.

Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:

We ate at an Indian place downtown and then at CPK near the hotel. Both were great.

Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):

Parking in downtown is absolutely awful. I can't overstate how bad it is. Park as rarely as you possibly can.