Info about U Mich

[ChocolateKiss]

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Question: U Mich is currently one of my top choices. However, there are a few aspects of U Mich and Ann Arbor that I was hoping some of you could clarify.

1. How liberal/conservative is the school and town? I know that midwest cities tend to be more conservative than the coasts, but I felt like U Mich was pretty liberal. What has been your experience? Please differentiate between students(med)/faculty/town/ugrads..

2. How diverse is the med school? The other schools?

3. Do students tend to be religious? If so, are the majority, Christian, Jewish, etc? Does any religion seem to be overrepresented?

4. Is the class "young" or does it have many non-trads? I know the avg is 23ish, but we all know how those can be skewed. Are there many married students in the class?

5. Do med school students tend to interact with the other grad students?

Thanks! Any info about U Mich or Ann Arbor would be much appreciated. Current students- what do you like/dislike? I fell in love with the school, but it's hard to get a good idea of the school on the interview day.

 

[SailCrazy]

1. Fairly liberal reputation, though you'll find a mix of people on campus.

2. Quite diverse... I'm sure there are more specific stats on the website.

4. More than a few nontrads & married students (but I don't know of any school that has tons of nontrads.)

 

[UMP]

having lived in ann arbor for over 10 years now, I can easily tell you that it is fanatically liberal... with undergrads probably being the most diverse politically. The faculty, grad students, and people in the town (esp. in the downtown area) are very very liberal.

I wouldn't say they are very religious (ugrad), but there are at least 10 churches or so within 5 minutes walking time from campus, and it wasn't my scene but I know there are lots of people that get involved... I would say the campus is filled with "Christians in name only" as well as about 10-15% jewish (town and ugrad)... in name only also. Fairly secular campus, I would think, but then again I wasn't looking for anything of the sort since I was a product of almost 10 years of Catholic schools and I felt like I needed a break.

 

[UMP]

oh, and Catholicism is the predominant denomination at about 50% of all Christians (and two big parishes on campus)

 

[AStudent]

I've lived in Ann Arbor twice (once on Ann and once on Forrest) and it's a ****hole. Good luck trying to find reasonable rent in a non slum house and parking 👍

 

[happydays]

Housing in AA is like rich detroit: same houses, but cost $$$$$$$$$$$$ more.

However, there's low crime, the people are cool, and the school can't be beat (in MI).

 

[LadyWolverine]

I wasn't at U of M as a med student, but I did attend as an undergrad. I loved Michigan. Ann Arbor was a great place to spend 4 years. I love its "college town" charm...it's certainly not a big city, but the University is so large that it's impossible not to meet people from all walks of life.

1. How liberal/conservative is the school and town? I know that midwest cities tend to be more conservative than the coasts, but I felt like U Mich was pretty liberal. What has been your experience? Please differentiate between students(med)/faculty/town/ugrads..

One of the greatest things about Michigan is the mix of people that you will encounter. Although the school itself has a reputation for being extremely liberal, believe me when I say that the entire spectrum is well-covered. There are many politically-active student groups on either side of the fence, and, although there are occasional clashes, in my experience, most folks are pretty tolerant of others. The faculty that I interacted with ranged from radically liberal (e.g. my genetics prof was a total hippie) to "beyond-Georgetown" conservativism. As you said, though, it is the midwest, and this does play a factor in what the town of A^2 itself is like. (It was a little strange for me, coming from suburban DC, which is about as blue as you can get.)

2. How diverse is the med school? The other schools?

This is one aspect of Michigan that I was not proud of. U of M really sells itself on being diverse. Which is definitely true - for a midwestern school, I think that they have a good representation across the board in terms of "minorities," whatever you may define that to be. HOWEVER, I found that, at least in the UG programs, there was a substantial amount of self-segregation. So although the school may be technically "diverse," these different groups weren't really interacting, and thus the benefits associated with encouraging such diversity seemed lost. (Except for diversity in religion...see below).

3. Do students tend to be religious? If so, are the majority, Christian, Jewish, etc? Does any religion seem to be overrepresented?

I met SOOO many people of different religions at Michigan. In my freshman dorm hallway, for example, there was an orthodox jew, a devout muslim, a couple of practicing catholics, a bible christian, and an atheist, among others. For some people, religion was a very important part of their college lives, and they went to services and holy-book study and participated in their religious community. For others, religion was less important, but still a part of their lives, especially around certain holidays. And others were not religious at all. But it was never a point of contention, and everyone seemed really tolerant and even open to learning about each other's religions.

4. Is the class "young" or does it have many non-trads? I know the avg is 23ish, but we all know how those can be skewed. Are there many married students in the class?

Dunno about this, sorry.

5. Do med school students tend to interact with the other grad students?

I dunno about this either. But it should be noted that the med school is actually pretty distant from the rest of the campus. It's walkable, but it's a decent hike (especially in the winter!) So the distance factor may play a role in keeping these groups separate. I know that there is a very strong grad student community at Michigan, and I think that med students have the opportunity to participate if they so choose. But I think that this is up to the individual student, and depends on how active you want to be.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll love Michigan...you can't go wrong with that choice.

PS Housing in Ann Arbor is CHEAP if you come from an area like DC or New York!!!

 

[DrinkSKYY]

Question: U Mich is currently one of my top choices. However, there are a few aspects of U Mich and Ann Arbor that I was hoping some of you could clarify.

1. How liberal/conservative is the school and town? I know that midwest cities tend to be more conservative than the coasts, but I felt like U Mich was pretty liberal. What has been your experience? Please differentiate between students(med)/faculty/town/ugrads..

2. How diverse is the med school? The other schools?

3. Do students tend to be religious? If so, are the majority, Christian, Jewish, etc? Does any religion seem to be overrepresented?

4. Is the class "young" or does it have many non-trads? I know the avg is 23ish, but we all know how those can be skewed. Are there many married students in the class?

5. Do med school students tend to interact with the other grad students?

Thanks! Any info about U Mich or Ann Arbor would be much appreciated. Current students- what do you like/dislike? I fell in love with the school, but it's hard to get a good idea of the school on the interview day.

Just a few thoughts - I lived in ann arbor for my undergrad, and then moved to Chicago. It's definately a college town - though not like a lot of other college towns in that the people are pretty smart, and therefore, I feel, a bit different. My brother went to MSU down the road and it always seemed far easier to have fun there...maybe "dumb" people are just easier for me to get along with...but I always felt that the people at Michigan were a little up tight or socially stunted. My friends and I always joked most girls there thought they were a lot better looking then they really were (mostly, this was our problem and not theirs, I'd say). Now that I've lived in a bigger (nicer) city, I can see that the town is a little slummy in most places on campus - you'll find plenty of run down apartments with bad landlords and the like. That being said, I did like my stay there - it's a great school, and there are very many different types of people. I'd agree with whoever said people tend to self-segregate....though I think that's not too uncommon.