“I saw this and actually showed them this. However, my parents generally don’t care about any ranking system and neither do I. They quote-unquote “don’t need anyone telling them which schools are good” haha. Yet they were impressed with Michigan’s standing in the global rankings which is part of the reason why they are interested enough to take me to Campus Day.”
This makes little sense to me. I guess your parents are interested in admit rates only. What other reason would they want to let you be full pay for UCLA over Michigan for engineering?
@rjkofnovi, They are more willing to pay full tuition to UCLA because of its reputation. Not saying that Michigan is less reputable, but my parents have only heard of the school this year whereas they have known about UCLA for most of their life.
Campus Day should open their eyes. See if you can spot the guy wearing a shirt that says “Harvard is the Michigan of the East”, like we did on our visit.
As a fellow chinese, I can somewhat understand the emphasis on prestige. Did you also get into the STEM Scholar program for UCONN? I did and I happened to get the same amount of merit money and am in-state as well. Other honors kids in my school seemed to only get 5K.
I would definetely give UCONN more consideration, because STEM Scholar seems like a pretty new initiative they are taking this year, and seems more exclusive than honors. Also, if you are valedictorian or salutatorian, you’ll also get the Presidential Scholars, which will be a full ride if I’m not mistaken.
I also happen to be hearing back from Berkeley and Yale, best of luck to you!
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@aPandaa, I believe I got into the STEM Scholar program for UConn. In the letter, I was selected as a “STEM Academic Excellence Scholarship recipient. The STEM Academic Excellence Scholarship holds a value of $10,000 per year for a total value of $40,000 over four years.”
I will definitely check this STEM Scholar program out. Thanks and good luck with Yale and Berkeley!
@EMPire18 Got the same in my letter! I sent the admissions office an email asking about the perks of the STEM Scholar program, I’ll let you know when they get back.
“They are more willing to pay full tuition to UCLA because of its reputation.”
Once again I don’t understand their viewpoint. I realize that they weren’t born on the east coast, but Michigan has a better academic reputation in that part of the country. You live in the NE, not in China or the west coast. Make it clear to them that in the northeast, Michigan trumps UCLA in prestige. I am just trying to figure out ways to get them to pay so you can be happy in your collegiate choice.
@rjkofnovi, I am really grateful for all the help you have given me so far. Michigan definitely has a stronger reputation than UCLA in the Northeast.
One of the concerns my parents have for UM is that when I graduate, it would be harder for me to find jobs outside of Michigan/Northeast. If I want them to pay premium for UM, I have to convince them that I would be able to find a job pretty much anywhere in the US after I graduate.
I looked at the annual job report for UM engineering students. http://career.engin.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2014/12/annualreport.pdf
Indeed, it looks like the majority of UM engineering graduates stay in the Midwest, especially Michigan. But this does not mean that top engineering firms in, let say, CA or Texas, are less likely to hire UM graduates?
onceuponamom said - “Campus Day should open their eyes. See if you can spot the guy wearing a shirt that says “Harvard is the Michigan of the East”, like we did on our visit.”
Comparing Michigan to Harvard? All I can say is wow!
@adkdad, Haha, the t-shirt has nothing to do with UM or its students being pretentious as you may think. The saying “Harvard is the Michigan of the East” comes from JFK who said this when he was campaigning for president.
He said “I want to express my thanks to you, as a graduate of the Michigan of the East, Harvard University.”
I did Mechanical Engineering at Michigan and I’m doing a part time masters at Uconn while working. Kinda stuck w/ uconn because it’s the only school around here and it’s a free degree so… Anyway, I go to the Storrs campus a lot, and I can tell you that your experience will be quite different. Uconn is alright. The gym sucked. Even my local YMCA (which is crappy by the way) has a locker room bigger than uconn’s. It’s something that bothers me a lot. Oh ya, no AC in the summer and it’s in the middle of nowhere. There’s some diversity, but not enough. There’s a lot of diversity at Michigan, including many Asian organizations that you can take advantage of.
You mentioned other states for jobs. I have plenty of friends who moved to Texas to work for the oil industry and all over the US, so that’s not a problem. I think Michigan had over 300 companies for the fall career fair.I looked it up for uconn a while ago, I think it was half of that. I’m sure you will be fine upon graduation, but like other posters have mentioned, your options will be quite limited. You’ll likely be stuck in CT. You will perhaps stay in CT for the rest of your life, which I’ve seen plenty of my coworkers do. I think it really depend on you: what do you value and what makes Michigan a more desirable choice over uconn? For most people, it’s not worth it. 140K or so is a significant sum, but your family is able to afford it. Think twice before you decide.
" I think it really depend on you: what do you value and what makes Michigan a more desirable choice over uconn? For most people, it’s not worth it. 140K or so is a significant sum, but your family is able to afford it. Think twice before you decide."
The point is his parents can afford to pay for Michigan and that is where he wants to attend. They just don’t think it’s prestigious enough to justify the additional cost. They would pay the premium for UCLA, but not for Michigan. It makes absolutely no sense to me.
rjk, “prestige” is subjective. Well, with few exceptions anyway. Obviously, schools like Harvard, MIT and Stanford are universally prestigious. But schools like Cal, Chicago, Michigan, Northwestern, UCLA, UVA etc…are prestigious to some, not so prestigious to others. In EMPire’s parents’ case. I am not surprised that Cal and UCLA are so prestigious. In China and most of East Asia, the UCs are very well regarded. Michigan is too by the way, but obviously, not to EMPire’s parents.
adkdad, those shirts are common everywhere and are harmless. MIT had a shirt with “Harvard, 'cause not everybody can get into MIT!” “UIUC has a shirt that says MIT, the Illinois of the East.”
At least in the case of Michigan, it was a Harvard alum, JFK, who famously said it.
Also, looking at my financial aid package, the total cost of attendance = Tuition & Fees + Housing Costs + Other costs.
It says that “other costs” includes books, supplies, and personal expenses. So is this essentially pocket money? If I use it frugally, I would be able to keep the extra that I don’t use to help pay my parents my tuition if I were to go to UM? Also, can I save money by buying used books instead of buying them directly from the University?