Hello Everyone,
Recently gained admission to the schools above as a transfer student. All of the institutions cost the same (Thanks Uncle Sam). I’m 23, single, and will be studying Economics. Any insight from current or past students would be greatly appreciated. Where would you go?
All are going to be fine academically.
I have visited all 3, & live close to Ann Arbor.
Los Angeles and its lifestyle & attitudes are loved by many & hated by many. If the whole SOCAL/Hollywood vibe really appeals to you, then USC. It’s no accident that so many teen actors & offspring of actors end up there.
Michigan is a blend of smart/affluent frat types & edgy/political/artsy types, with both groups being very confident. I’ve seen few campuses where everybody seems so confident. It doesn’t feel very Mid-west, perhaps due to the presence of lots of students from the coasts. Lacks the humility & kindness that is present on many other Mid-west campuses. Lots to do right off campus. Off-campus housing tends to be pretty run-down. Despite prominence in several sports, doesn’t have a jock vibe to it.
UNC seems like a smallish traditional public university that suddenly expanded past what it was meant to be. So the little business district just off campus seems small & quaint compared to Ann Arbor. And a whole bunch of newer buildings fan out from the old part. Enthusiasm for the basketball team seems to be the dominant emotion. Vibe from people seemed to be nicer than at the other 2 schools you are considering. This is the one I would pick. I’m a veteran, and if you are like the guys I served with, you will fit in here best.
all three are awesome. Do you have a preferred landing spot for a career? For example, USC has strong connections to SoCal employers. UNC is a lot more local, and definitely has a southern vibe.
That being said, Michigan probably gives you the broadest reach of the three. Strong alumni network coast-to-coast. Quintessential college town.
I would not describe UNC-Chapel Hill as “smallish”. Has almost 19,000 undergraduates & thousands of grad students enrolled. UNC & USC both have about the same number of undergraduates.
OP: No wrong choice. Location & fit & feel of campus are quite different, however.
all good all very different from each other. Never been to michigan but I hear the weather is a lot different than the other two where I have been. UNC is a beautiful campus with a lot to do for an older student in nearby Durham which is now millenial urban hipster creative class hub. There are no wallls between UNC and the surrounding neighborhoods. My impression from driving around USC is that it is definitely not truly integrated into the surrounding neighborhoods. LA weather > UNC > michigan
Congrats!! I would choose UNC or Michigan too as I think both are better for an older student. Location is biggest difference. Where do you see yourself after college? If it’s in the midwest you’ll have better networking and opps in Michigan. UNC will be better from DC through Atlanta, though it’s also got very strong network in NYC – though I’m sure Michigan does too.
Chapel Hill / Carrboro / Durham combined have a lot to offer adults as well as college kids.
Michigan takes more out of state students, I think, so that might be a difference. But b/c NC has attracted so many residents from all over the country in the last few decades, by the time their kids end up at UNC it doesn’t really have so much of a southern feel these days.
Michigan has a small edge on national brand, but not much. Biggest overall difference is that UNC is smaller than Michigan and has warmer weather – not sure how you weight those in terms of good or bad.
Let us know what you decide!
Not for undergrad, which is still 90% instate students. OTOH, both have large grad programs which bring in 20-somethings from all over.
@bluebayou – UNC is 82% in state for undergrad, per state mandate.
But my larger point is that NC as a state has been a huge in-migration state for the country in recent decades. Meaning many in-state students were born or have parents from the northeast, west coast, midwest, international, etc. This means they are not culturally as Southern as compared to decades past.
@bluebayou , @AlmostThere2018 is correct. UNC fills the undergraduate cap to its fullest since their pay is >triple in state tuition. And as you mentioned UNC has a lot of grad students that are mostly out of state. The “natives” on my block who had lived in NC the longest emigrated from Russia in the 1980s. Literally no one was born in NC. The triangle (raleigh/durham/chapel hill has majority of residents not going back more than 1 generation in NC. When adjusted for size Durham has one of the largest percentages of newcomers.
https://indyweek.com/news/archives/newcomers-changing-face-durham-s-population/
Debate is between UMICH & UNC. Both are regarded as public ivies and will give you a stellar academic and social experience. Ann Arbor and Chapel Hill might be #1 and #2 for college towns. Weather is better at Carolina and RTP is a growing area. I would go UNC here but it’s super close.
I recommend Michigan
With a total enrollment of almost 30,000 students, I wouldn’t call UNC “smallish”.
Ann Arbor’s significantly higher violent crime rate, close proximity to Detroit, and long harsh winters are certainly valid concerns for many prospective students.
Having lived in both Michigan and NC, UNC would be my choice.
^^^^You’ve got to be kidding! I’ve never heard anyone describe A2 as having a high violent crime rate. UNC is way closer to Durham, a city not known to be particularly safe, than Ann Arbor is to Detroit. Wherever you supposedly lived in Michigan, you are greatly misinformed.
Come on, guys, nobody said UNC is smallish. I said it seems like it was smallish & expanded greatly (like almost all public schools did), but some things didn’t keep pace with the growing enrollment. The number of businesses on Franklin Street seem more appropriate for a college of 10,000, not 30,000. The single-minded obsession with basketball seems more appropriate for colleges Butler or Gonzaga, schools that are not known for almost anything other than basketball. Etc.
I don’t know if the OP has chosen yet. There are no bad choices here, but I am most familiar with UNC. The businesses on Franklin seem to come and go; although quite a few have been there for many years. The new Target helps- I wasn’t thrilled with it at first but it blends in nicely. Is it as big as AA? No…but it’s a cute little town that merges with the campus and seems to serve the needs of the students. Older students seem to congregate in some establishments in CH, as well as Carrboro and nearby Durham.
Yes basketball is huge, but I would not call it a single minded obsession. There are a lot of other things going on including research ( it’s hard to find somebody who is not involved), strong academics, clubs with significant involvement, volunteering, acappella groups etc. So yes…basketball is huge…but it is really a piece of what students are involved in. It’s not the entire pie.
The OP has/had 3 great options. Good luck!
A “single-minded obsession with basketball” at UNC?!
UNC has won 44 NCAA Division I team national championships in seven different men’s and women’s sports, more than Michigan’s 35 national titles. Quite impressive considering Michigan’s athletic department spends a lot more money, and Michigan has about 10,000 more undergrad students each year.
And unlike so many universities, UNC doesn’t give short shrift to their women’s sports teams. UNC women have won 30 of of the school’s 44 team national championships. UNC is one of only a few schools with more women’s team national titles than men’s.
UNC women are the most dominant team in NCAA soccer history, having won a whopping 21 national titles.
Only Stanford and UCLA have won more NCAA Division 1 team national championships in women’s sports than UNC.
Compare UNC’s 30 women’s national titles to Michigan’s paltry 2.
“Compare UNC’s 30 women’s national titles to Michigan’s paltry 2.”
…or compare UNC’s paltry men’s titles to Michigan…14 for UNC and 33 for Michigan…
I live in Michigan but always liked UNC. But when you have to resort to bragging about how many women’s soccer titles you’ve won, you’ve lost.
The bulk of those UNC women’s soccer titles were won in the nascent years of women’s soccer, before the Year 2000. UNC has not won a national championship in women’s soccer in 6-7 years as the talent has become more diversified around the country. Ansen Dorrance, the UNC women’s coach, had a competitive advantage by being able to recruit the best talent and employing “unusual” formations. The competition has now caught up and surpassed UNC at the highest levels of women’s soccer. And it will never be the same.
“…or compare UNC’s paltry men’s titles to Michigan…14 for UNC and 33 for Michigan…”
Most of Michigan’s men’s football titles were won in the early years of the 20th century. Many of them are more than a century old. Very old news from a bygone, racially segregated era when there were very few teams competing.
Michigan’s last undisputed NCAA football championship was in 1948. In the over 70 years since, their lone NCAA title was a DISPUTED one in 1997 - Nebraska actually won more games that year.
So Michigan hasn’t done very well in the modern era - having lost in the Rose Bowl a dozen times since 1970 and getting beaten by Ohio State about every year.
Michigan has won only one NCAA Men’s basketball championship tournament in its history - 30 years ago in 1989.
UNC has won six - 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2017.