Michigan 2012 Forum

[stevededalus]

I'm amazed at how many of us are weighing Michigan against UCLA. Most TLSers believe there's no comparison considering Michigan's reputation, but those of us who are California-bound after graduation seem genuinely torn. I know I've gone back and forth almost daily on which school to choose. I'm hoping an ASW visit in April will clear things up.

[itzjulz]

I'm amazed at how many of us are weighing Michigan against UCLA. Most TLSers believe there's no comparison considering Michigan's reputation, but those of us who are California-bound after graduation seem genuinely torn. I know I've gone back and forth almost daily on which school to choose. I'm hoping an ASW visit in April will clear things up.

I know.. It's almost funny now many of us there are.. Maybe it's also because ther are no beaches in ann arbor??

I was initially hesitant about Michigan, because there's a good chance my only option is going to be paying sticker price, but now considering the financial predicaments of the UC schools and the extra COL in LA, the money might work out to be almost the same. I'm looking forward to ASW at Mich and 2 weeks later, a visit to LA, to help sort things out for myself as well

[dresden doll]

I'll be on the 8:30 am megabus (I think it gets it at 2:10 as well)... maybe I'll see you there!

Yep, that's the bus I'm on. I vote for a TLS party on the megabus

Seconded.

[06072010]

Just another invite to the TLS meetup tomorrow at ASW -- Dominick's on Monroe street (across from the law school) at 6:15 - 8ish. Be there or be square. Details in the ASW thread.

[stevededalus]

I know.. It's almost funny now many of us there are.. Maybe it's also because ther are no beaches in ann arbor??

I was initially hesitant about Michigan, because there's a good chance my only option is going to be paying sticker price, but now considering the financial predicaments of the UC schools and the extra COL in LA, the money might work out to be almost the same. I'm looking forward to ASW at Mich and 2 weeks later, a visit to LA, to help sort things out for myself as well

I stopped by UCLA and had a fine visit. As has been noted elsewhere, the library is awesome, the classrooms are OK, and the weather is phenomenal. I got the sense that students are happy at UCLA. But Michigan students and grads really seem to go out of their way to talk about how much they love their school. My sample size is admittedly small.

People seem divided over which school will offer better opportunities in California. No doubt UCLA dominates Southern California, but I'm a little concerned about Northern California. I have no doubts about Michigan in Northern California, however.

No beaches in Ann Arbor is a factor, as is proximity to family. But Ann Arbor is more walkable and more of a community. I'd have to live three miles from campus at UCLA, while I'd hope to find a place close enough to walk to campus at Ann Arbor.

[lilybbloom]

oh yay! hopefully we will find each other on the bus. i was a little worried about missing the official registration time, what do you guys think?

[itzjulz]

oh yay! hopefully we will find each other on the bus. i was a little worried about missing the official registration time, what do you guys think?

I think we should be fine.. megabus is usually pretty on schedule, and traffic shouldn't be bad going out of the city on a weekday. Hopefully wherever the "accommodations" are that we're staying in are close enough that we can check in quickly and get back to register.

I was going to take a bus from the park 'n ride to campus, but if you're interested, we could probably split a cab or something and get there a lot faster

[awesomepossum]

And Michigan is officially a basketball school now.

[06072010]

And Michigan is officially a basketball school now.

Go blue!

[oliviachicago]

I'll be on the 8:30 am megabus (I think it gets it at 2:10 as well)... maybe I'll see you there!

Yep, that's the bus I'm on. I vote for a TLS party on the megabus

Seconded.

Me too. It's like the school bus, but to law school

[itzjulz]

Ugh, woke up this morning to my financial aid summary in my e-mail.

Looks like no merit money for me

I don't know what to do

[lilybbloom]

I'm definitely up for sharing a cab to campus-

Sorry about your financial aid- it was the same for me Do you have offers from comparable schools to leverage with?

[tcortez]

Yea i'm in the same financial aid boat. At this point, I dont have any comparable schools. I have $$$ from WUSTL but I don't think they will care. So maybe I will be $150k in debt. sigh...

[itzjulz]

I'm definitely up for sharing a cab to campus-

Sorry about your financial aid- it was the same for me Do you have offers from comparable schools to leverage with?

Sweet - I forget that Ann Arbor isn't like Chi and there isn't a cab on every block - we'll probably be able to call ahead to one of the companies and have one waiting when the bus gets there. Anyone else interested? We can probably fit 3 or 4 people

I don't have any offers right now - I'm still waiting to hear back from a few schools, but they're not really considered "comparable", so I don't think I will have much to bargain with.

My numbers weren't auto-admit to begin with (167/3., so I wasn't expecting a lot of money - but I was hoping for something. Hopefully the financial aid presentations and such during preview weekend will give us some ideas. I'm definitely going to want more information about LARP, and try to find out some info about any scholarships available to 2Ls or 3Ls.

[just a girl]

I'm definitely going to want more information about LARP,

There's a great thread sticky in the Financial Aid Forum (I think) that has a pretty comprehensive summary of UMich's LRAP. I'm not totally familiar with it, but it seems better than a few other schools in the T-14.
You may be able to get a bit of money from them later on in the cycle; if people they awarded scholarships to turn them down for other schools maybe that will free up some funds? I'm not sure, but good luck and have fun at ASW!

[neverborn]

lol... weighing UCLA against UM for weather purposes is about the dumbest thing ever.

htfh

[TrojanBadger]

lol... weighing UCLA against UM for weather purposes is about the dumbest thing ever.

htfh

+1

Southern Californians are generally incapable of understanding that you can be warm and comfortable when the temperature is below 50, and can't grasp that someone would "suffer through" a continental climate for better long-term opportunities.

[stevededalus]

In my case, the weather isn't an overriding factor for me personally. I lived in Ann Arbor-like conditions for undergrad. But I'm moving my family from California, so the weather factor is not as easily dismissed as it might be if other people weren't affected by my decision.

[dresden doll]

lol... weighing UCLA against UM for weather purposes is about the dumbest thing ever.

htfh

Yeah, I gotta agree - though for me it's also slightly the issue of likely wanting to settle in SoCal in the long run. Still, even with that in mind, it's pretty much a no contest sort of a situation - I'm certain Michigan will take me to Cali if I choose to pursue that route in the end.

I will add, in defense of South Californians who dread continental climate (mind you, I'm not from SoCal myself), that cold weather can really make some of us miserable. Bitter Chicago winds used to genuinely upset me (just as high temperatures drive my mother up the wall). Weather can be a huge factor in terms of QOL.

Then again, I'm totally willing to put up with harsh winters with three more years - so long as I don't end up suffering the same way afterwords.

[leotrotsky]

Hi folks. Anyone else entertained by the way faculty and staff were subtly dinging on Chicago (some schools have a single philosophy which pervades them, but we're interdisciplinary), NW (for anyone who claims to reinvent law school, their reach exceeds their grasp), Columbia and NYU (schools in big cities rarely have faculty around outside of office hours) over the course of the weekend?

I'm not saying it isn't true, just that it was funny.

Other things:
1. I wish I had the Dean's spiel eviscerating USNews rankings in writing to post verbatim on this site.
2. Where do you get the summer job that allows you to drop $1300 on a sandwich?
3. I'm glad we've got the Torts guy for Summer Start. He was awesome.

[dresden doll]

Hi folks. Anyone else entertained by the way faculty and staff were subtly dinging on Chicago (some schools have a single philosophy which pervades them, but we're interdisciplinary), NW (for anyone who claims to reinvent law school, their reach exceeds their grasp), Columbia and NYU (schools in big cities rarely have faculty around outside of office hours) over the course of the weekend?

I'm not saying it isn't true, just that it was funny.

Other things:
1. I wish I had the Dean's spiel eviscerating USNews rankings in writing to post verbatim on this site.
2. Where do you get the summer job that allows you to drop $1300 on a sandwich?
3. I'm glad we've got the Torts guy for Summer Start. He was awesome.

Dean Z. eviscerated rankings? I wish you'd post it verbatim, too.

On that note, I hear a letter eviscerating rankings is regularly sent out to future 1Ls every spring, right around the time USNWR comes out. It's signed by most law schools' deans and it instructs future law students not to delegate their decisions to USNWR because the rankings are flawed, meaningless, etc. It really sounds kinda entertaining; I hope I get my copy this spring.

I know NU is the one school that never cosigned the letter because they think protesting rankings is useless. Honestly, it's hard not to appreciate their pragmatic approach to the situation and resist snickering at the rest of the schools for seemingly putting down rankings that their own deans practically live and die by (not necessarily saying Michigan is totally obsessed with USNWR but that sure does hold true for the vast majority of law schools).

[bgc]

Hi folks. Anyone else entertained by the way faculty and staff were subtly dinging on Chicago (some schools have a single philosophy which pervades them, but we're interdisciplinary), NW (for anyone who claims to reinvent law school, their reach exceeds their grasp), Columbia and NYU (schools in big cities rarely have faculty around outside of office hours) over the course of the weekend?

More reports! I'm really sorry to be missing the asw.

Who is the summer start torts prof?

[06072010]

2. Where do you get the summer job that allows you to drop $1300 on a sandwich?

Methinks that oftentimes mommy and daddy pay for SFF items.

[awesomepossum]

Hi folks. Anyone else entertained by the way faculty and staff were subtly dinging on Chicago (some schools have a single philosophy which pervades them, but we're interdisciplinary), NW (for anyone who claims to reinvent law school, their reach exceeds their grasp), Columbia and NYU (schools in big cities rarely have faculty around outside of office hours) over the course of the weekend?

More reports! I'm really sorry to be missing the asw.

Who is the summer start torts prof?

Sherman Clark the Shermanator.

I have him for torts now.

[Alexandria]

Are we talking about having the Zingerman's sandwich named after you? Who bought it?