University of Michigan

(ignore my user name lol)

I was wondering if there is anyone here that is going, or went to UM for undergrad or what have you and if they could answer a few questions for me:

1. Is the weather really that bad? I'm from Oregon which never is freezing, but gets a lot of rain, so is the weather that hard to adjust to? Every time I say I'm applying to Michigan, people say I'll freeze my ass off, but is it honestly that hard to adjust?

2. Since I'm coming from out of state, I was wondering if most people stick to their high school friends (since it has a large % of in-staters) , or if people are pretty friendly to everyone?

3. I'm thinking of going pre-biz or pre-dentistry, so I was wondering how good those departments are?

I might add more later on if I think of more, but thanks for the help!
 

punch

Semi-Pro
i'm from Michigan, I don't go to U of M but I do attend another in state university.

However, I think I can answer the weather question. It is not that hard to get used of.

Usually April - October here we have no snow at all with a wide variety of temps and conditions (much like Oregon I imagine), yes november - february can be a bit cold but you can get used to it yes.

In my school we have people from out west and I even know someone from Hawaii and they say it is different but they have adjusted (although there is no snow yet).

Seriously if it is really in your heart to go to Michigan then you will be able to adjust to the bit of cold we have, let's put it this way, the weather alone shouldn't keep you from coming to U of M.
 

ollinger

G.O.A.T.
My sister-in-law attented UM and yes, as geography suggests, winters are very cold in that part of the country. Dress accordingly. There is no "department" per se that is pre-this or pre-that....if you plan to go on to a professional school, the nature of the undergrad departments is frankly not that important. What is important is that you have excellent grades to get you into the professional school. In that respect, any major university will suffice.
 

hjminard

Rookie
1. You'll adjust to the weather. I know ... I lived in warm climates for 7-8 years and then returned to Michigan. A good winter coat is mandatory, however.

I find the key to dealing with winter is to embrace it ... get outside and do things, whether it's sledding, cross-country skiing ... whatever. Otherwise you get cabin fever from being stuck inside for months at a time. Some indoor tennis will help, too, of course.

2. College is like starting over for most students. No high school cliques to worry about ... no reputation preceeding you. There will be a few hanging out with old HS friends, but most people are looking to create new relationships.

3. All of Michigan's academics are relatively top notch. Certainly known for their business school, and I'm sure they have a good dentistry program, too.

http://www.bus.umich.edu/

http://www.dent.umich.edu/
 
(ignore my user name lol)

I was wondering if there is anyone here that is going, or went to UM for undergrad or what have you and if they could answer a few questions for me:

1. Is the weather really that bad? I'm from Oregon which never is freezing, but gets a lot of rain, so is the weather that hard to adjust to? Every time I say I'm applying to Michigan, people say I'll freeze my ass off, but is it honestly that hard to adjust?

2. Since I'm coming from out of state, I was wondering if most people stick to their high school friends (since it has a large % of in-staters) , or if people are pretty friendly to everyone?

3. I'm thinking of going pre-biz or pre-dentistry, so I was wondering how good those departments are?

I might add more later on if I think of more, but thanks for the help!

Hello,

I'm currently a Junior at the University of Michigan - College of Engineering.

Maybe I can answer some of your questions:

1) Unfortunately, the weather does get bad. The biggest thing about the weather is, it's sooo unpredictable. However, I don't think we've had a day where the weather's been extremely terrible - so far in my days. The winter does get cold/snow so be prepared about that.

2) One of the thing I really like about Ann Arbor is, everyone mingles. I know there's a lot of in-staters but people tend to hang out with everyone, instead of trying to stick with their HS friends. Since there's so many students, expect to make lots of friends. BTW, be prepared for some parties if you come to Ann Arbor ;)

3) I'm an engineering student so I'm not as knowledgeable about other schools, but I do know that our business school used to be ranked first (might have been the graduate school) last year. This year we got dropped to 7th or something like that after some of the recruiters found our graduates to be arrogant. I do know that our business school is one of the best. I'm not sure about the dental school, so you may have to search online for some more info.

Hope that helps. During football season, Ann Arbor can't get better. Getting to the stadium with 110,000 people is just amazing.

Good luck with your search
 
Y

yodudedudeyo

Guest
I'm currently a U of M freshman.

1) The weather isn't really that bad. Sure, every time I meet a California girl I always say "Geeze, you know it gets cold here right" as a joke. But really, Michigan weather get's the full spectrum: really hott, really cold, perfect, windy, foggy, etc. I don't think it's much different from Oregon weather, maybe less rain. A winter coat is a must.

2) There are a ton of other out of staters. Finding people to hang with isn't going to be a problem at all. I hang out with my highschool friends at Michigan from time to time but not often. Though I must say, I didn't know prior to coming here that there would be this much partying and drinking. EVERYONE here drinks and parties. I don't drink, so it's kind of hard finding people to hang out with. It's so easy to get beer here it's ridiculous.

3) The Ross School of Business is one of the top in the nation. It was #1 in the nation for the past 6 years or something like that. Except this year it's down to #7 (crazy soccer's point about how Ross School of Business students were too arrogant. but comeon, if you were at the #1 business school in America you have every right to be ;) )


Since Michigan is a top three Public University school, a lot of smart intelligent people are going to be here, definitely above average. I was in the top 5% of my highschool which consisted of 2000 students. Here, I currently have like a C average, which kind of sucks for me. So just be prepared.

Good luck with your decision.
 
I did the West Coast to ******* thing (California to the Ohio State) and had a great time meeting new people, going to football games and playing indoor tennis..that being said...Sophmore year found me back on the west coast thanking god that I never had to deal with 8am walks in 5 degree weather to class, attractive women at the college bars and tennis outdoors after october...to each his own though...
 
I did the West Coast to ******* thing (California to the Ohio State) and had a great time meeting new people, going to football games and playing indoor tennis..that being said...Sophmore year found me back on the west coast thanking god that I never had to deal with 8am walks in 5 degree weather to class, attractive women at the college bars and tennis outdoors after october...to each his own though...

so pretty much you couldn't deal with the cold weather?? Dang...that makes me nervous lol :(
 
Y

yodudedudeyo

Guest
though while there are some good looking chicks here, there are not nearly as many as other big schools. in fact, michigan gets a rep for ugly chicks. soooo if that's on your priority list, rethink michigan. it was on my priority list, yet i still ended up here......:(
 

Phil

Hall of Fame
so pretty much you couldn't deal with the cold weather?? Dang...that makes me nervous lol :(
Don't be such a damn sissy. Millions and millions people live in regions that experience cold winters...it's part of the cycle of life. It builds character.

You need to get out more. As crazysoccer said, if weather is on top of your priority list, you have it all wrong. Maybe you should just stay on your nice, warm little West Coast...it's nice and cozy there, I heard.
 
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