OT: Nephew looking to defect to U of M

Submitted by Helloheisman on July 27th, 2021 at 11:07 AM

My nephew who is an exceptional student in Ohio (save the jokes), was born and raised a Buckeye and has seen the light. The young man is looking to defect to Michigan and attend U of M. His parents looked to book a tour but they are all booked solid at this time. I'm looking for some recommendations to create our own tour to help the young man in this process. He is looking to work toward a degree in the medical field to be a PA eventually. Any relevant advice is helpful.

Lakeyale13

July 27th, 2021 at 7:00 PM ^

You think you’re “too intelligent” to read Gladwell!?  Are your serious!?  If you are, count that as one of the most ridiculously egotistic comments I’ve ever heard in my life. You can disagree with Gladwell all you want politically, which I do many times, but he is a brilliant man.  Period. 

blueheron

July 27th, 2021 at 7:29 PM ^

I missed where I disagreed with Gladwell's politics. I'm not even sure what they are.

Gladwell is plenty bright. That's not the issue. It's that his apparent primary motivation has always been to be the biggest influencer / attention-getter in the land of TED Talks. Accordingly, if he needs to take a few shortcuts along the way to make his presentation palatable to as many people as possible, he'll do it.

I'd personally rather go the the source and do my own interpretation. (I don't mean that in a QMoron "do your own research" way where I go to the same site every time.) Maybe I won't get it. There's a good chance Gladwell will most of the time. But, I won't trust his presentation. It's too often a little intellectually dishonest.

taistreetsmyhero

July 27th, 2021 at 2:25 PM ^

I appreciate the importance of having a career goal in mind when starting college. However, I strongly believe he should keep an open mind. I had multiple friends who initially wanted to be PA's but then did some soul searching and decided to take the plunge and apply to medical school. 

gremlin3

July 27th, 2021 at 4:37 PM ^

If you have anyone in your 1st or 2nd degree network who has a kid(s) at UM, that would be the way I'd go. If you could meet up with them and have them show y'all around I think that would be beneficial.

For example, I have a close friend I went to UM with (both West Quad Adams Housers), and his sister had a son who wanted to go. I met them on the tour and so we got the official plus a little of my straight dope (albeit old). If you could do something similar, but with a current non-tour guide student tagging along instead of an old buck like myself, that would be a great start. 

If the tour doesn't go into buildings, perhaps the current student could get you access to some, especially the dorms. However, I'm not sure about what the current COVID protocols would allow anyone who isn't a student, faculty, or staff. Pretending to be family members of the current student would be a wink, wink/nudge, nudge situation. (For the record I'm not suggesting you do this.)