<p>“Michigan is one of the 20 or so universities that can legitimately claim to be ranked #6 in the nation.”</p>
<p>Patently false. This is borderline propaganda. Depending on your criteria, only the four C’s can make a legitimate claim to be #6. Caltech, Cal-Berkeley, Columbia or Chicago.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d go with Caltech. The general consensus is that along with HYPSM, Caltech make up the “super six” of higher education. That is why you often see the acronym HYPSMC. When have you ever seen “HYPSMM”???</p>
<p>happymendstudent, there is no C attached to HYPSM. After those 5, you have 12 or so universities of equal quality, although they vary in style and environment. Those are, in alphabetical order, Brown, Cal, Caltech, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Northwestern and Penn. None of those schools can make a clear claim at being #6 in the nation and Michigan can certainly lay a legitimate claim at being the 6th university on that list.</p>
<p>And Michigan is mater is several deparmtents. Anthropology, Business, Classics, Engineering, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology are all ranked between #1 and #7 in the nation. That makes those departments elite. Virtually all other departments are ranked between #10 and #15. Your statement that Michigan is jack of all trades would make schools like Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern and Penn no better off. Most top universities, like Boston College, Emory, Notre Dame, USC, Vanderbilt and WUSTL are not ranked among the top 25 in more than 2 oe 3 departments. Michigan is ranked among the top 10 in 30 departments and among the top 15 in over 100 departments.</p>
<p>You should be careful when you lable or make categoric claims…or use big words like “patently” or “propaganda”.</p>
<p>Don’t kid yourself (and prospective students). No matter what “style and environment,” Michigan definitely does not measure up to the two above and arguably many more.</p>
<p>Are you seriously a “moderator” or just an advocate?</p>
<p>Also, the acronym HYPSMC is used extensively, esp. in CC forums.</p>
<p>Happymed, Caltech and Cal are not better than Michigan. Caltech pffers 10-15 majors…all of them sciences. If one wishes to major in any Humanity, Social Science, Business, Architectrure etc…, Michigan blows Caltech out of the water. Cal is better than Michigan is some ways, weaker in others. </p>
<p>As for whether 12 or 20 universities can claim to be #6 is a question of sementics. There just isn’t that much differences between top universities. The 12 I listed are academically stronger than schools like Emory, Georgetown, Rice, Vanderbilt and WUSTL, but in terms of undergraduate education, they are all pretty even. </p>
<p>Finally, the CCers who use the HYPSMC acronym are generally aged 15-19…hardly a quote-worthy group. You won’t see many adults in the real world or on CC who genuinely believe in that acronym and those that do are ignorant.</p>
<p>And yes, I am a moderator…have been for 4 years. As such, it is a given that I am neutral and have no personal agenda. My even handedness is pretty clear.</p>
<p>happymedstudent, no offense, but Caltech is pretty self-selective. Its non-STEM departments are very weak. I can remember years ago that I have never heard of the university until I came to CC. I have met several prominent adults, who are much older and leaders in their field(s), who have never heard of the place. For those of us in non-STEM backgrounds, Caltech doesn’t even cross our minds. At least MIT has some top non-STEM departments in Philosophy, Economics, Business, Linguistics, Political science, etc.</p>
<p>Cal and Michigan (and even MIT) are more well-rounded than Caltech. Michigan and Berkeley together can lay legitimate claim to the #6 spot.</p>
<p>happymedstudent, you don’t have to like the content of this forum, but do remember that this is the Michigan forum. You are likely to run into people who believe Michigan is a good school. As a guest in our forum, you are welcome to express yourself.</p>
<p>^^ Agreed. I will be a graduate student this fall, and I will already be affiliated with three different schools (!). The educational opportunities are almost limitless at Michigan. In my previous job, I was working along with people from Columbia Univ (who treated us U-M employees as peers). Two directors in my office have also been recently promoted to senior administrative roles under the Obama administration. People in my office were watching their confirmation hearings. Clearly, Michigan (to the general public, including the White House) is not lagging at all. </p>
<p>HonorsCentaurs - Just for consideration…Given that one of the majors you are looking at is French and given your academic profile (IB), check out the RC (Residential college) program at U Mich the next time you visit if you haven’t already. It’s language intensive and kind of interdisciplinary (like IB) in some regards. You might find it presents unique opps for those interested in foreign language and culture. Several student’s from my s’s magnet school attend and feel it’s a nice fit.
Good luck in your search.
And I agree it sounds like a nice fit for you, and represents a theoretically cheaper option (by apx 10k) than HYPSM – I say theoretically because it does not always end up being as generous in terms of merit/grant/aid as the ivy’s for high/very-high admits who are either very low or upper-middle income earners – it really depends on the situation. Check in with your folks early on that end of the business as well.
Cheers,
K</p>
<p>The entire country has been affected by the bad economy. I don’t think the impact on the University has been materially different from that found elsewhere. Ann Arbor is less affected than other parts of Michigan. For a student it probably means that apartment rents are dropping.</p>
<p>Reason I asked about economy vis-a-vis University of MI is due to tremendous unemployment in the area. Read following statistic recently:</p>
<p>"Of the 49 metropolitan areas with a population of over 1 million, the Detroit area once again claims the sad prize of highest unemployment, with a rate of 17.1 percent, up from 14.9 percent in May and an 8.1 percent point increase year over year. " (statistics from June '09)</p>
<p>Just wondering how much of a risk it is to settle in MI given current situation?</p>