OT: Who Should Claim UM Alumni Status
So posts on another thread inspired me to post this as I have wondered about it for a while. To be considere a UM Alumni, do you have to have graduated from UM? I myself had about 50% of my undergraduate credits from UM, but I graduated from another school (grew up in Ann Arbor, had to leave). I have never been comfortable saying I am an alumni from UM. We certainly consider athletes who don't graduate alumni. The UM Alumni Association will take anyone who wants to write a check as a member.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:48 PM ^
I hear heavan is as easy to get into as Arizona State
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
In no way do the Flint and Dearborn campuses have the same admissions standards as the Ann Arbor campus, nor do they offer the same caliber of education, sorry to say.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:48 PM ^
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April 23rd, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
Personally, it doesn't matter what connotations/denotations I garner for having not graduated from UM. I went to NYU, where we didn't even have a football team. However, I grew up in and around A2 and have been a Michigan fan my entire life. I have several family members either currently attending or alumnus. They can call me "Walmart" all they'd like, whoever "they" may be. I'll never love another team like my Wolverines.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:23 PM ^
Additionally the Walmart Wolverine thing is a lazy, stupid and tiresome meme outside of Michigan fans, and when used by Michigan grads to shade it is all those plus pedantic and childish. If anything, I consider myself both a better fan than some Michigan alumni who don't particularly care, as well as someone who is proud of the degree I received from my own institution, which I would consider more academically rigorous if not having the same brand cache that a Michigan degree does.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
Maybe that's unique to the West Coast. I think UM has a pretty good reputation on the East Coast as well. In the Midwest it is one of the best in terms of academic prestige.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:50 PM ^
Thank you. LOL @ Cornell and Brown being able to call themselves Ivy League. They are like the girls who got into the "hot-girl" crowd in middle school and were fat in high school. Yeah, you're part of the crew, but everyone laughs at you behind your back.
I'm going to Princeton next year, and I don't know anyone who thinks of Cornell or Brown like that. Both are fine institutions, and lots of smart kids out there would love to go to either of them.
my computer today!
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:48 PM ^
Yup, as an interviewer, I actually spit in the faces of people who went to Duke, Virginia, NYU, Michigan, Vanderbilt, or Hopkins when they come in. Literally spit. If you didn't go to CORNELL OR BROWN, literally the best SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD, fuck you! DID YOU HEAR THAT!? CORNELL AND BROWN ARE THE BEST SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD!!!! THEY ARE IN THE IVY LEAGUE.
(Because yeah, they are just really great schools now........ lol)
I understand you're joking and I think you are pretty funny.
However, in the East Coast, the hiearcy is as follows:
1. Ivy's and maybe Stanford/ Cal Tech. There is absolutely a hiearchy within the Ivy's, but they all are top tier.
2. (Only applies for really old money and New Englanders) Small liberal arts schools (Williams, Vasser...) that are really hard to get into and generally are in the Northeast.
3. Nationally known academic universities (Michigan, NYU, UVA...)
4. Small liberal Arts schools that are not in the Northeast (Grinnel, Carelton, Macalaster...)
5. Large state schools not in tier 3: (Rutgers, Maryland, Minnesota, Penn State, SUNYs...)
6. Small Liberal Arts schools in the Northeast that nobody has ever heard of (Moravian, Shippensburg...)
7. Directional state schools (Eastern Connecticut, Stockton State)
you forgot 1a: Where you went to high school. When I transfered from UM to a NESCAC school (number 2 on your list) people kept asking me where I went to high school. I was a dumb midwesterner and didn't realize they were asking me to socially place my back ground. Most of these NY and NE families really go by high school. Did you attend a Phillips or Choat like a goddamned Kennedy or did you schlub it out with the neuvoriche at Salisburry? (Note: saying I went to a place called Community High impressed no one.)
To be fair, where you went to high school is a pretty common question to ask new friends at college. Community is a "progressive arts-focused public" right? I don't think a school like Community boxes you out from the elite spawn. Lots of powerful people send their kids to public, especially niche publics like Community.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
Very little cache out of the Midwest? A school that boasts one of the largest, worldwide alumni groups? One of the top 3 public schools in the Country? A school ranked in the top 5 (or top 10) in almost all major graduate school programs? A school hundreds of top New York students choose over Ivies?
I think you'd be better off questioning those you're hangin' with, Bro.
He's not talking about cachet.
He's saying that Michigan doesn't have many caches outside of the Midwest, because we hide our stuff in our own region.
I've hidden at least 3 michigan themed items in geocaches in Arizona, so there's that.
In my defense, I was parroting the poster. But since that is no real excuse, I am downvoting my own post above.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^
That is absolutely not at all my experience over the past decade in the LA area. I would say the precise opposite and that many here -- SC, UCLA, Stanford or Cal grads -- hold MICHIGAN in very high regard, akin to Notre Dame or other schools not in the area. I always attributed it to the many Rose Bowl trips over the years and general success of the program and brand, but also because there are quite a few SoCal natives who went to MICHIGAN.
I find my degree from UM serves me very well doing business in LA and garners respect that is often higher than I would expect.
Same is true of COLORADO ...so many here in LA hold CU in very high (too high) regard.
LA is FILLED with Michigan grads. As is Seattle. Dunno what your degree is in but my Michigan degree did me plenty of good on the West coast and certainly carried a lot more weight than one from Minnesota would have.
I've been in LA for about ten years and have had various reactions when I tell people that I went to Michigan. In some cases you are correct in that they don't know the difference between Michigan and Minnesota. But just as often I've gotten props for going to "such a good school".
Make no mistake about it there are those in the know out here that absolutely know the difference between MIchigan and Minnesota, and MSU for that matter.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^
When you go to NYU, no one gets to call you Walmart anything.
They are right, when I think of NYU, I think of Walmart! Perhaps you area Barney's Wolverine
SUNY-Greenwich Village does have a nice ring to it, though.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:11 PM ^
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^
The word for that would be graduate.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:24 PM ^
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:27 PM ^
Except it's not an opinion. It's a factual question.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^
"I wasn't asking about the definition of the word, I was asking about what people on the board think. I agree your definition is correct, but is that how you feel about it?"
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^
wrong
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^
I'm not sure why there is a debate here. Take one credit hour and quit after one day, you're an alum.
You can't change the meaning of a word just because you want it to have more gravitas.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^
Just because words do change doesn't mean they should change. Hand-waving away ignorance with evidence of other times ignorance prevailed isn't compelling to me.
This isn't just dictionary-banging pedantry either. The "no-graduate no-alumni" is essentially redefining an existing word to exclude the non-graduates from the graduates. Not exactly a crusade-worthy purpose, but it's still elitist and dumb.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:26 PM ^
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:33 PM ^
Exactly.
Like my 8yr old son living in CO where the projected cost of UM Out of State for him will be $450,000 ...
CU is less that half of that and God willing, tuition will drop in the next ten years somehow
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^
With the out-of-state tuition, we won't be sending him to Michigan though I think he would have a great time there. Reality is he'll be attending UVA or William and Mary College as we live in VA and it's in state. If he gets merit based aid to either one, that will be the deciding factor.
You can not underestimate the value of getting out of school with zero debt. You run with that full ride.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
We call it an all Michigan crew. Reality is David Scott attended UofM for a couple of years before finishing up at the USMA and later got an honorary degree from Michigan (prior to the mission).
Now, 'all Michigan crew' does not equal 'all Michigan Alumni', but I think to draw the distinction is splitting hairs too finely.
If you attended UofM I think you can call yourself an Alumnus.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^
really gets my knickers in a twist. No offense to any of the great commencement speakers, but why do they all get Honorary degrees? Now they are alums?
As for Dearborn and Flint students, I say, the more the merrier! Go Blue everyone! But I do know a gal who is a UofM Flint grad and one of my friends (Spartan) HATES that she says she went to Michigan.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^
That is because all Sparty fans are insecure losers.
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^
Didnt Graduate = Not an alum*
*Not my actual opinion, but secretly waiting for Achilles to repy with how even if I don't like the definition it doesnt change anything
April 23rd, 2015 at 12:29 PM ^
There seem to be two different discussions taking place. One where some are seeking inclusion in the term Alumnus/i based on the broad dictionary definition and those who are drawing the line at whether you actually went to the school and/or finished.
semantics with respect to the definition of a word versus the common understanding of it.
Poll 10 people about what being an "Alumni" means and I bet all 10 say it means you graduated from a particular school. Then show them your dictionary and call them out and correct them if you like.
A guy I worked for years ago said for a long time "I went to Michigan" and often wore M or Wings logowear. While just being friendly and genuine I asked what dorm ...what Frat (if any) and where he lived. Finally after weeks of vaguely dodging the question he said he'd gone to UM-Dearborn.
Why not just say that in the first place to a M Grad like me? Sure, to others its just as easy and less confusing to say "Michigan" but for someone who was a student there and lived in A2 and graduated from that campus, it was silly and misleading and unnecessary.
It was his own insecurity about it