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University of Michigan recommendations

SC DEAC

SC DEAC

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My high school son is really interested in Michigan so I'm taking him up to visit in a few weeks. Do we have any Ann Arbor experts on the boards? Any can't miss places to show him when we visit? Also, they play Indiana that day- any idea of how easy or hard to get a pair of tickets for a game in the big house- they are going for 150 at the cheapest on stubhub. Thanks in advance!
 
The Brown Jug. Pretty much any place on University Ave. Absolutely love Ann Arbor. About 30 min west of DTW. Gorgeous campus.
 
For tickets, yeah, that’s going to cost you, no matter the opponent. But if you get tix, then park on the golf course or the Catholic school across from the course. Expect to pay about $60 for parking. And if it’s a noon game, lots open at 6 or 7. But be prepared to get in line with your car around 5am if not 4am.
 
Buddy got married in Ann Arbor and went in prepared to hate it but had a great time. Watch out for nerds though.
 
Make sure you do a return visit in February. Ann Arbor winters are not like SC winters. I had a high school friend who's (late) father was a dyed in the wool Michigan guy who escaped south. My friend is back to Ann Arbor.
 
thanks for all the suggestions! I've never been there so I'm looking forward to it. Not sure how my son got interested in it but it is one of his favorites ....and yeah the weather...oof! My son wears shorts year round and doesn't even have a winter jacket so he will be in for a massive change if he goes there.
And you guys will love this ....he is a fantastic student (doesn't get it from me) and he gets mail all the time from the Ivy league schools, Duke, Vandy, Chicago,northwestern, etc. Guess what he has gotten from Wake Forest (he has 3 family members who are WFU grads)- a couple of emails!!! Those other schools send him big thick packets of 30 page glossy picture brochures and Wake sends out an email blast every couple of months. Oh well.
 
SC DEAC said:
thanks for all the suggestions! I've never been there so I'm looking forward to it. Not sure how my son got interested in it but it is one of his favorites ....and yeah the weather...oof! My son wears shorts year round and doesn't even have a winter jacket so he will be in for a massive change if he goes there.
And you guys will love this ....he is a fantastic student (doesn't get it from me) and he gets mail all the time from the Ivy league schools, Duke, Vandy, Chicago,northwestern, etc. Guess what he has gotten from Wake Forest (he has 3 family members who are WFU grads)- a couple of emails!!! Those other schools send him big thick packets of 30 page glossy picture brochures and Wake sends out an email blast every couple of months. Oh well.
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Take this for what it is worth. We sent our kids to one of the well known private schools here in our metro who sell families on college prep and in depth college counseling. Over the last several years putting two kids through admissions we’ve gotten more than an earful about how many of the high flying universities actively court a ton of kids with loads of stuff bc they want to get their application numbers to be as inflated and then they will turn to their yield on admitted students. IOW they want to look as selective as possible and yield a high percent on the kids they admit. So pump up the app numbers is step one in that process.

The University of Chicago is one example of a school that does this to the extreme. Northeastern is another school that really plays this game hard. Our son was a good, not great, student with good, not great, test scores. He received multiple packets from the University of Chicago and a couple of more elite academic institutions out East imploring him to apply. When you looked at the math he had almost zero chance of being accepted.

Now your kid sounds like he is imminently qualified for all these schools sending him stuff. But as the head of admissions told parents at our high school over and over, the college admissions process is to a significant extent for many schools about the college manipulating their own math for their own ends. It plays into the ratings game the schools feel like they have to play.

Among schools we were told that were less inclined to play that game are BC, Notre Dame (big school to admit legacies) and Wake. They are known to take a much more what you see is what you get approach.
 
SC DEAC said:
Oh that is interesting Deacman- thanks for that insight. I know this much, the game is a lot differ than when my wife and I went to college
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Word. No 1 thing we stressed to both kids is you get to pick one school. So only apply to places you know you could see yourself attending and then pick from the ones who accept you based upon where you think you are most likely to be happy (keeping in mind the money each school offers - which is another crazy game entirely).

For really smart kids like your son it also places importance on having a couple of viable safety schools bc the math on applicants at some of these schools is totally insane. Also, if you can find schools where no one else from your son’s school will apply, that can help too. Like if you live in South Carolina and he’s willing to look at Wisconsin and likes it, I suspect your odds will be higher than applicant No. 56 from a large Twin Cities public high school.
 
Seems like a school if I saw in person I would have really liked.

Anyone I've met who went there loves it. Enjoy it.
 
My wife went to grad school at UM. We have many happy memories of Ann Arbor days. It's a great town and we love it but get your trip in before the winter. Slightly different vibe when it's freezing cold.

Zingerman's is a must, but will be very crowded, esp on a home football weekend. Worth the long wait, though. Go to the deli on Detroit Street, not the sister place called the Roadhouse. Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger might or might not still be there but it's another gem. Other good casual eateries are Angelo's (breakfast), Cottage Inn Pizza, and Knights if you reeeally like beef. Washtenaw Dairy is good for ice cream. There are a lot of good restaurants and it's hard to go wrong, so just do some research and pick one. There used to be a great Indian place a few blocks from downtown whose name I forget but I believe it closed. Also, a little farther afield is Sidetrack in Ypsilanti which is also very nice.

It's been years since I went to a FB game there and it was during a down period for the team. I'm sure it's a tougher ticket now. There's tons of parking options throughout the neighborhoods surrounding the stadium so if you're willing to walk several blocks you might get a cheap place in somebody's back yard. Downtown is pretty compact and if you're in decent shape you can cover downtown, the campus, and most areas in between there and the stadium on foot.

The arboretum is nice and there's a couple of cool museums on campus. Other than that, just soak up the atmosphere.

Go Blue.
 
I remember going out to dinner in AA one January night with my future wife about twenty years ago. When we left the restaurant and got in the car it was minus-nineteen degrees.
 
Man, now you have me really missing AA. The Sat farmers' market was always great when we were there and there was an awesome antique shop diagonally across from Zingerman's where we would kill time after eating. Still have a bunch of furniture from that place.

We very seriously considered living permanently in AA but the lack of a wide range of job options and distance from family pushed us elsewhere. We try to get back at least every couple of years. Several lifelong friends remain there.
 
I visited U of M with two of my college-bound kids and neither liked it at all. To both of them, it had the feel of a big city even on campus (they grew up in a much smaller city in northern Michigan). Both were somewhat turned off too by the "Harvard of the West" vibe given off during the tours. There was a certain pride that might have slid into arrogance.
 
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