Review of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Going away to University for your first time is an exciting experience for anyone. You finally get to leave home, far away from the rules and restrictions of your parents, the expectations of your high school circle of friends, and the daily grind of your summer job. You get to begin fresh and new, and forge yourself in any direction you'd like. Unfortunately, this process can be a difficult without proper guidance, and you may get lost within the paperwork, the multiple websites, and the many advisers. At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, this becomes an even bigger problem with the immense size of the school. It becomes very easy to lose your sense of guidance within the first semester.

Each major (or concentration) at the University of Michigan has its own dedicated web page, which would not be a bad thing if there were a hub that connected them. Instead, you have to search out each individual department yourself through the university's maze of a website, and frequently the web pages are down or outdated. It was not uncommon for me to find pages dating back to the 1990s when deciding upon a major. It took hours of searching to find just a list of majors offered at the university, and most of the links to the department websites did not work. As such, figuring out which subject you'd like to major in is a difficult task of its own. Declaring that major is another effort entirely, one which took me months of contacting advisers. It became quickly apparent that the university is as disorganized physically as it is online. I still receive emails telling me to send in certain bits of paperwork to one department that I have already sent to another department, which they assured me would be sent to all other departments necessary.

The actual quality of education is a mixed bag as well. Like any other university, if you take the introductory classes you will come across either too easy of classes, or disinterested professors who could not sell you on their subject if their life depended on it. Once you progress farther in the subject, you come across some absolutely wonderful, dedicated professors who truly devote their lives to giving you the best education you can have. If you have any interest in the German language, I do not think you can find better professors than at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The department absolutely excels above many others, and the professors are so personable. One in particular even invited all of his students over to his apartment to have tea and cake.

On the other hand, it is impossible to fail a class at this university unless you absolutely never show up to class. If one shows up to at least every exam, they are seemingly rewarded with a C-, and the only stories I have heard of failing classes have been extreme examples of trying to fail, just to prove it was possible. Unfortunately, while one might appreciate the safety net below them when they take a difficult class, it also unfairly curves the grades, and rewards those who do not try too much.

As a whole, the University of Michigan is a decent, if unorganized, school. It is nowhere near the quality of an Ivy League school as it so frequently claims, but it provides a good education at a respectable price. However, given the choice between spending the extra money to go out of state, or staying at the University of Michigan, I would likely choose out of state now.