VISIT: University of Michigan

My visit to U of M ended up being shorter than I expected. Their representative for the Texas region has stepped down and they don’t plan to hire to refill the position until much later in the summer. In the meantime, I was offered the same brochure I received in the mail and was invited to take a campus tour in which they didn’t show the inside of any of the campus buildings. Not inexcusable, but not impressive when I wasn’t otherwise getting much information beyond what I saw online.

Ultimately, the best information about U of M is on their very extensive website: http://www.umich.edu. My personal opinion of the university is that it’s an exceptional research university with a sterling national and international reputation. You can get a great education at Michigan, and many people—including my own dad and four of his brothers—do so. However, U of M just isn’t doing as much for its undergraduates as many other schools are. For example, Purdue has a huge focus on its first year of studies programs in each college; Michigan State has residential colleges and several special undergraduate “living/learning communities” through which students live in a dorm where they take most of their classes and can visit their professors’ offices. U of M has programs like these, but on a much smaller scale. Furthermore, U of M’s out-of-state tuition is comparable to that of a private university, and they’re not huge on offering merit-based aid. If you’re going to pay tuition like you’re going to a small private college, why do it at a huge school where you’re probably not going to get as much personal attention?

My advice would be to check out U of M for graduate school—its law school and other graduate programs are exceptional. But for the time being and for your undergraduate education, there are better values for your money right now, in my opinion.