<p>Here’s a good reason: the student wants a new experience, and Michigan is definitely different from California.</p>
<p>And also, ParentOfIvyHope, realize that money isn’t a primary concern for everyone, so the 20k difference may be a trivial matter in decisions for many.</p>
<p>“It may make sense for students from Michigan to choose U-M over Brown as there is tons of difference in tuition for some of its departments.”</p>
<p>That may not be true, actually. They’d get UMich in-state tuition, but they’d probably get pretty good finaid at Brown. As a result, Brown may even be cheaper than UMich. After all, the average % need met at UMich is 90%, compared to Brown’s 100%. The difference, as I said above, is negligible.</p>
<p>Don’t forget, you’re not restricted to JUST the classes within your college / major. You can make your U-M experience be almost exactly like a Liberal Arts one, with the exception of smaller classrooms and campus. </p>
<p>Hell, in the LS&A, we’re required to have some ■■■■■■ amount of credits for just distribution requirements. While other students say in Engineering don’t have to take those, most of them still do because it interests them.</p>
<p>My D has said she didn’t want to go to a school in California, where we live, because she didn’t want to go to a school filled with kids from California, she wante something different…</p>
<p>Well each family’s situation is differently. I would never pay 30k for U-M (neither would my parents) when I had better financial options available, but that’s just me. Some people don’t care about the money, or they just really like engineering…</p>
<p>It’s essentially a personal choice based on your family’s situation. Each is different. </p>
<p>Maybe the girl wanted to double major with business like so many engineers? My interviewer for MIT got his undergrad at MIT, then an MBA from Sloan, and was rolling in a brand new upper level trim A6…If that’s the case, then it would have made a lot more sense.</p>
<p>But maybe she just felt a lot of love for U-M.</p>
<p>parentofivyhope is correct. if you were the CEO of a company will you choose someone in a enginieerring major from Brown or michigan you’ll choose brown, go any where in the world, they dont know michigan but they know brown, only ppl in the USA know lots about michigan. </p>
<p>the only thing you got to understand from colleges is connection, CEOs who went to Brown will choose ppl from Brown, even if the other person competing for the same job came from Harvard. think about it, you’ll help ppl from your high school rather than some random dude.</p>
<p>Everyone here knows that Ivy’s long ago were related to sports rather than academics. But it’d be ignorant to say that it does now. Especially when you mention Ivy League to a person that doesn’t exactly research colleges like us, they’ll think Ivy’s are the best of the best colleges. A lot of colleges fit the “New Ivy” or the “Public Ivy” or whatever “xxxx Ivy” name, it shows the college in a new light to those that are just reading MSNBC during work or something.</p>
<p>No, I am just saying why some awesome and top ranked schools aren’t in the “ivy league”. It’s not that they aren’t that caliber or that prestigious, it’s just that they weren’t in the league way back when.</p>
<p>But that’s the thing, no one refers to the Ivy League as just a sports now. It’s kinda like when you see a new basketball player being called “the next Michael Jordan…” or something like that. Since most people don’t know squat about basketball, and Michael Jordan was like THE player for awhile, saying that this new basketball player is comparable to THE player elevates them to another level.</p>
<p>It’s the same way with colleges and the Ivy league.</p>
<p>WOW! I can’t believe how many people have replied to this post. My friend and I have talked about her decision extensively since I did the exact opposite of her (turned down UMich for one of those new Ivies so many people talk about-I really LOVE the school).
Firstly, she would not get in-state tuition from any school she applied to; we do not live in California or Michigan. The only reason she has given for her decision is that it felt like UMich was the best choice. It is a real change from everything she has been around since third or fourth grade (our graduating class has less than 65 people). I know that she is happy with her decision; everyone else is still shocked.
I just wish her luck…and that she will stick with engineering, otherwise I have no idea how she will justify her decision.</p>
<p>She likes her decision, she is happy. What else is there to justify? Rankings are one thing, but if you hate the school, you’re gonna find it tough to succeed there. No matter where it is.</p>