#UMich OOS vs. UNC In-State

31 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

weak holly
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Schools: UMich Ann Arbor (OOS) and UNC Chapel Hill (In-State)
Intended major: Economics, Mathematics
Similarities: Large public universities
Costs: Will be living with immediate family, who plan to move with me, at either university - $64k tuition/year at UMich for the first two years, $69k tuition + fees/year for last two years. Will graduate with ~$50-60k debt that parents are willing to help pay off. $9100 tuition + fees/year at UNC Chapel Hill - will have more expendable income/savings and less of a financial stretch.
UMich Pros:

  • Honors Math Program (more rigorous academics/considerably better preparation for econ PhD program) w/ pipeline to T10 PhD programs
  • Better-connected/renowned faculty for later PhD admissions
  • Opportunities to become Research Assistant in Youth Policy Lab; maybe do things with Education Policy Initiative -> interesting programs
  • Like the campus a lot more (personal preference) - visited and fell in love!
  • Want to leave the South (wayy too hot 🥹)
  • I like Michigan for my PhD, if I get in
  • Stronger Russian language program
  • Legacy, meaning I have an automatic tour guide lol
  • I really, truly want to get into a top PhD program, and this will give me a lot to work with in terms of academic/research opportunities :)
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UMich Cons:

  • VERY expensive
  • Far away (all my extended family is here in NC)
  • If anything happens to my family, I know effectively no one in Michigan (family/friends are all in NC)
  • Parents would need to relocate with me, and it's very, very far + a big move
  • Probably would need to stay at Mich for grad school if I/parents didn't want to move for PhD
    UNC Chapel Hill Pros:
  • Super, super affordable! (no debt going out of undergrad + lots of money to travel/actually buy a car/do fun things with family)
  • Not bad academics?
  • Not a far move
  • Extended family is close by
  • I know a lot of people from my school going there (both a good and bad thing 😭), not starting social life from scratch
  • "Big fish in a small pond" (opportunity to stand out more)
  • Grad school opportunities at Duke nearby
  • I can theoretically grind summer classes and do well (also can do two honors theses before graduating, one in econ and one in math)
    UNC Chapel Hill Cons:
  • Not as strong faculty (not as good recommendations/research opportunities for PhD)
  • Less students go to PhD programs from UNC
  • Math program is nowhere near as good as Michigan's Honors Math
  • Will need to work hard to make my way uphill and get into a good PhD program
  • For one reason or other, I and my family dislike the campus (I know it's well-liked generally, just personal preference 🥹)
  • Dislike the summer heat in the south
  • Most grads go onto Masters degrees or go directly into industry, not PhD
    Tiebreaking considerations
    If I knew which PhD programs these schools sent their students to, I think I'd be better able to tell whether it's worth it to go to Michigan over Chapel :)
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UMich OOS vs. UNC In-State

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If anyone has any opinions on going to any of the following schools, those would be appreciated greatly as well 🥀

  • Georgetown for $60k per year (I love DC <3)
  • UMD for $12k per year
  • Johns Hopkins for $55k per year
  • Northeastern for $45k per year
  • BU for $50k per year
  • BC for $65k per year
  • Tufts for $62k per year
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I really don't want to sound pretentious, but this has been a really overwhelming, somewhat depressing decision to make 😭 I've worked really, really hard throughout high school and gotten all of these wonderful acceptances, which I'm grateful for, but now that it comes down to it, I don't know if I can attend any of these schools.

I don't know if it's worth the price tag per year to go to Michigan. I'm just worried that, by letting go of Michigan to go to Chapel, I'll also be letting go of research opportunities/faculty connections/an overall enjoyable experience. On the other hand, by going to Michigan, it will be a big financial commitment for my family (doable, but no more expensive fun vacations) + a far distance from our extended family + a big move.

My family brings up all the fun vacations we can take/things we can spend money on if I go to Chapel (pretty much all of the "pros" for Chapel Hill), but it just makes me really sad to think about committing there because I see all these cool econ/math things at Michigan and I really want to do them but won't be able to, and it feels like I worked so hard for pretty much nothing 💀 I didn't even get into UNC's Honors program :/

fleet oracle
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apply to honors carolina as a current student https://honorscarolina.unc.edu/prospective-students/info-for-current-unc-students/

Honors Carolina | Come Here. Go Anywhere.
Jason Clemmons
Info for Current UNC Students - Honors Carolina | Come Here. Go Any...

FOR UNC STUDENTS INTERESTED IN JOINING HONORS CAROLINA Honors Carolina students are smart, driven, and inquisitive. They have a passion for learning that extends beyond the classroom. They question, experiment, create.   FIRST YEAR STUDENTS Students who are not invited … Continued

hallow frost
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i feel like your perception of UNC's offerings might be a bit skewed because you want to attend umich but i can assure you that the insane cost difference isn't worth it
also i never did honors carolina and missed out on basically nothing :P i still went straight from UG to PhD, did an honors thesis, and took honors classes. i basically just didnt dorm in cobb lmao

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but to address specific cons

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Not as strong faculty (not as good recommendations/research opportunities for PhD)
Less students go to PhD programs from UNC
im very curious where you've heard this from? i mean it might depend on the specific research area but our econ/math department is hella strong

Will need to work hard to make my way uphill and get into a good PhD program
Most grads go onto Masters degrees or go directly into industry, not PhD
it's really uncommon for people to go from undergrad straight to PhD, usually people will get a masters first to build up research experience (or if they didn't get accepted directly into a PhD program first). that being said, it's not impossible (i did it lol), it's just much less common. related, undergraduate research is highly accessible, in terms of research-based classes, working in labs, or other things like field sites/study abroad, so youre gonna be leagues ahead of anyone that isnt at an R1/R2

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also a reminder that just bc it's easy to get into a school doesn't mean that that school is somehow lesser than a more selective school. just means that top-tier education is more accessible :)

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it does make sense to be disappointed bc it sounds like you really want to go to mich and i dont blame you

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but i think its worth considering that you can most certainly go to umich for REUs/grad school and you arent missing out on a great econ education just because of the affordability

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if any of that makes sense

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im more than willing to provide resources & answer any questions you have about UNC btw - go heels :D

weak holly
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If you don't mind me asking, what did you major in/pursue your PhD in? (This is kind of unrelated but I'm curious haha)

hallow frost
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no worries! i think it totally makes sense to catastrophize, its a high stress event with lots of emotions involved, so i dont blame you at all
i double majored in biology & environmental science, and am pursuing my phd in geospatial analytics :) i also picked up a certificate in applied data science

weak holly
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I'm not sure if you'd know, or if there's someone I could talk to about this, but I'm kind of trying to map out UNC's math offerings to what UMich offers to weigh whether the curriculum is significantly stronger at UMich, or whether I can, by being selective with my classes, effectively have the same education at UNC without the hefty price tag - how would you advise me to go about this?

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I feel like I can theoretically just make a spreadsheet, but it's kind of tricky because the course titles are so different lol 💀

hallow frost
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i might be able to help but definitely start by looking at the catalog! they usually have decent descriptions, and if the descriptions arent enough, you can look around for previous syllabi

weak holly
dusk sinew
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UNCs math dept shouldn't lack any of the math classes necessary to go on to do a math PhD if that's what you want to do. Also if your goal is a PhD then it just matters that you join a lab and get used to the trial and error of researc investigation, but the prestige of the lab doesn't matter

weak holly
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Committed to UNC! :)

weak holly
hallow frost
hallow frost
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i cant think of anything that'd be too much different other than the content of the research
the process of "getting research exp" is the same

dusk sinew
weak holly
weak holly