Slow news day: Why did you choose M?

UM was my safety school, and the Sorbonne had record applications that year

The combination of in-state value and national prominence was irresistible, first for undergrad and then for law school. Caveat: it was the 70s, so in-state tuition was really good. 
And the helmets.

In Soviet Union, university choose you.

I would have gone to State, but I tested out of it.

Because it was the only school to which I applied!

Both of my parents were grads - 1949 and 1952.   

I just naturally took to the school and its football/basketball teams.

Never occurred to me to apply anywhere else.  

In retrospect, it seems crazy...but I was admitted...and here we are.

Son is class of '23...and I'm nervously awaiting word about my daughter's admission...which supposedly is due to come out within a week or so.  

Went to grad school at Michigan because both my wife and I were accepted there (along with several other schools). U of M was my "dream school". Growing up in the 70s, we only got ABC games of the week on ABC (3 or 4 channels....no cable yet in the UP, kiddies) and it was usually Michigan on their broadcast. My older brother and I would religiously watch Saturday football and cheer for Michigan. All I have to say is -- It's great.....to be.....a Michigan Wolverine. Go Blue.....forever.

I chose U of M for undergrad and Med because they were the best schools for the money. 

Out of State and private school costs made no sense whatsoever. 

It's mind boggling to me how much debt some kids take on these days, especially for majors and degrees that don't translate into well paying jobs. 

1997 Season.

2003 Season.

Didn't attend. The football gods had a plan to see how much I could endure from age about 10. Grew up in MO with no family college connection and I just watched a lot of sports. UM was always on and I first remember Des, Wheatley, etc. It just weirdly stuck and I have always followed them. Went to KSU and obviously root for my Alma Mater, but UM was my first favorite college team. Oddly enough, I have been to Ann Arbor more (prior to the pandemic) than Manhattan in the last 5-10ish years. I wouldn't have had the grades to get in UM anyway and even if my kids do, i'm not shelling out 50k a year, but my son loves to watch games with me. I often wonder if I should put him through the same pain!!!! ha.

damn double. sorry

I was 10 and I loved their helmets.

Then Desmond Howard made a diving catch and later won the Heisman and I tried to make diving catches in the end zone like he did against ND, after which I’d strike the pose.

But then I discovered something called, “out of state tuition” and I got ghosted by Lloyd Carr’s staff and some position coach named, Brady Hoke. Apparently 5’10, 245 pound defensive tackles aren’t, “Big Ten material.”

A discussion with my Grandfather after my sophomore year of high school.  He said, “… keep this up, and you’ll be accepted by MSU, but not U of M.”  Paraphrasing and G-rated language, of course. Kicked ass my last two years of high school, but wasn’t enough to close to close the gap created by bad freshman and sophomore years. Needed two years at WMU-Kalamazoo to close the gap, transferred to Michigan and graduated with a BA in Economics 1988.

Why? The Residential College. All the best benefits of a top-tier small liberal arts college while also having all the best benefits of a large top-tier flagship state university. 

I was a huge Michigan fan growing up, but I really wanted to go to Stanford.  It wasn't until I was at a Water Polo tournament in Ann Arbor during my sophomore year that I started wanting to attend Michigan.  I'll never forget driving into downtown A2 on Main, then walking around campus and I was like this is exactly where I need to be. By that time, I had already given up on Stanford (mainly because reality set in and I started enjoying being a high school kid a bit more) but from that point forward I went all in on Michigan. 

When I applied to colleges, I only applied to Michigan and MSU, with MSU being the in-state fallback option.  I got accepted to MSU in less than two weeks (lol).  Michigan made me sweat it out for a few months though.  The day that Block M envelope arrived in the mail, however, was one of my best memories of high school. 

I got pushed into engineering by my father.  Looking back, I wish I would have went the B-school route instead of engineering.  Other than that, I wouldn't change anything (except maybe my GPA after my first 3 semesters, woof).  Top notch college experience.    

Growing up in the U.P., I was just blown away by the campus look and vibe when I toured the campus.   UM was otherworldly.   It was love at first sight, but I was still very hesitant to even apply, much less attend when I received my acceptance letter.   Like many rural students, I had a severe case of impostor syndrome when I arrived on campus as a petrified and overwhelmed first year student with no AP credits and a desire not to test out of any intro language, math, and English courses (I thought I would flunk out if I didn't start with the intro courses).   But it all turned out well.   It was a life changing experience for me.

Full disclosure...I'm not going to lie and say that the opportunity to root on my favorite collegiate sports team didn't play a role.  It absolutely did.  I don't think I would've gone to Michigan State if Michigan hadn't accepted me.   I probably would've been a Michigan Tech alum instead (a gem of a school).

Addendum:  Like 1989 UM Grad above, UM was the only school I applied to.   I was going to flood the market with applications upon a UM rejection letter, but never had to do it.  

My (dirtbag) maternal grandfather got his JD at Michigan.  My mother did 2 years at Michigan before the money ran out.  My mother really pushed for me to apply to Michigan so I did.  I probably would have attended Penn State or CMU otherwise, having grown up in Pittsburgh.

My moron guidance counselor asked me in the 11th grade about where I want to go to university.  I told him Michigan.  The next year I meet with him again. He pulls out his notes from my file and asked me if I still wanted to attend Michigan State University.  I corrected that notion.

I was trying to choose a law school and was down to Michigan Law and one other highly ranked school. I chose Michigan for a few reasons, including:

• I fell in love with Ann Arbor
• I liked that there was a strong sports culture, which I didn't have in undergrad
• I had friends encouraging me to go somewhere that I wasn't familiar with (hence my username)

The bit that really caught my attention, though, came during their "pitch" to prospective students. The law school administration talked about being very confident and comfortable with their identity as a high-ranked midwestern school, and didn't feel the need to pitch themselves against the other T-14 schools. I really liked that understated but clear self-confidence.

Very happy with my choice.

Best education available and I could theoretically afford the in state tuition over time.

I didn't. I never would have gotten in as an undergrad (barely graduated high school).

I chose UC Berkeley for grad school (ROLL ON YOU BEARS) because it was a far better program (#1 when I attended with 2 future Nobel Prize winners and 2-3 current winners on staff).

I'm just here because I was raised on campus as both my parents worked at UM, uncles and aunts and grandparents lived in AA. Been going to Yost and Spring Games as long as I can remeber. Uncle lived across the street from Yost.

I was that annoying kid running around screaming on the Diag in the early 80s trying to get college aged kids to play catch with me and they were all like "whose fucking kid is this and why is he running free on UM campus?"

M v. OSU game 1969.  Watched it on a small black and white tv in my bedroom at home.  I was hooked.

Applied and was accepted to Amherst (never saw it), M, MSU (meh) and Notre Dame (more Catholic school - no way).  M acceptance letter sealed the deal.

BGS from LS&A - no interest in taking a language but took the max in Pol Sci and History.  Ended up going to law school.

My parents went there, my brother went there, my dad's dad went there (and dotted the i when the band did the script ohio for osu...and then when announcers one day talked about the osu script ohio tradition my dad wrote them a letter heh), my dad's dad's dad went there. I went to my first game in the womb at the rose bowl (back when we went every other year). So even though i had only ever lived in los angeles it was the only school i applied to.

Came down to Michigan and McGill. Ann Arbor was like 40 degrees warmer than Montreal in April, when I visited both. That and the school spirit/sports fandom.

Grew up in Lansing.  Cousin who is an msu football alum told me to go to Michigan.   “Otherwise you are never going to leave the house”.   Best advice I ever got. 

The two people I looked up to the most. My grandfather loved Michigan football, and my brother loved Michigan basketball. Neither one were able to pursue Michigan degrees and I wanted to be a part of the University for all of our sakes. I love this school and it means the world to me and I’m proud to have my little piece of it. 

Best school I applied to, I wanted to something in environmental science (SEAS is a top 3 if not the top program), and my parents wanted me to stay in the midwest. I also had a filter of wanting to go to a sports oriented school that was bigger than my high school (~3000 students) so I was already filtering down to state universities.

Out of state.  Completely overestimated my ability to get into an Ivy League.  Decided on UofM after spending a whole half-hour there on a visit.  

Spent the next 7 years of my life there (undergrad and law school).  Plus the time I lived in Ann Arbor with my wonderful Wife who I met my sophomore year.  Attending Michigan is the best choice I made outside of marrying said Wife.  

I would say Michigan is not for everyone.  Hate walking in the cold to a large lecture class?  Maybe a Pomona College - small college in a warm climate - is a better choice.  But for the people I met, the things I learned and the times I got my intellectual ass kicked - those all put me in good shape for the career and life I've had afterwards.

Oh, and I knew nothing about the football team.  Still can remember walking into a packed Big House for the first time.  Literally took my breath away.  

Became a fan because blue was (and still is) my favorite color. Later became a student because of in-state tuition and Northville being 18 miles away.

Occam's Razor, but it worked out.

I didn’t attend (lord, if I could turn back time). I ultimately chose a smaller school for a Track and XC scholarship. I grew up in Columbus, and was told I needed to be a OSU fan. It was when I was a little kid and hung out with my friends that were also huge (osu) football fans. I was enamored with Charles Woodson. Then Chris Perry came in and was my favorite player. The rest is history. 
 

Coupling those players, people I knew/loved telling me I needed to root for osu, and my family having a lake house in Houghton Lake, well, led me to the world of UM fandom and the ups and downs. So jealous for all that attended UM. 

Honestly, Michigan was a reach school, and they wildly accepted me. So, I took them up on their mistake. Hopefully when it was all said and done they felt validated, but still, I had no business getting in. Thus, I had no business saying no...

Grew up in East Lansing and was a huge State fan. In high school I found out UM had the best Engineering School.  I didn’t have much money growing up so I wanted to make bank after college, which meant UM.  I was lucky to get accepted to State and UM.  I chose UM, married my college sweetheart and have lived a wonderful life. Go Blue!