The University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

I come from an extremely small town. In fact, there were fields left and right of anywhere you might find yourself. My high school was incredibly small. Three people from my graduation class (myself, my boyfriend, and one other male) decided to attend UM. I had toured many other colleges and was impressed by every single one. However, I had always heard of the "Michigan Difference", AKA the reputation. I received full rides to four in-state colleges, and decided to attend the one closest to home, that is however, until I found out I could go to UM for free. I decided to go last minute.

Worst. Decision. Of. My. Life.
Not only was orientation a living hell, my advisor gave me zero help deciding which classes to take. I am literally the most indecisive person ever, so I chose an easy route. Actually, I remember quite specifically walking into my advisors office. She took one look at me and said "Oh, you don't want to do pre-med" without me saying a single word. So she talked me into a different major, being that I was incredibly gullible.

So it came time to leave and go to the university. Luckily, I got a nice, brand new single room. My boyfriend did not. He lived in the worst possible place ever, East Quad. Unless you are in the god-forsaken RC, please dear lord do not accept living there. If you don't die from the heat or terrible showers, the hipsters will surely eat you alive. Luckily, he got to move out into my dorm, Couzens. I can honestly say if I had any other room coming in, I'd be gone in a matter of months.

1st semester: hell. Not only was walking to class every day absolutely awful (I kept track, I walked about 7 miles a day). But the teachers were the most terrible people I've ever met. I never EVER got help outside of class because quite frankly they knew nothing about the material. They would present it in huge lectures, and that's fine, but the GSI's for discussions knew NOTHING. Let alone, none spoke english. But I did fine teaching myself completely, i got a 3.5. But, I also lost contact with every single one of my friends. I forced to stay on the weekends studying every day all day. After 1st semester, the other kid from my high school left immediately.

I am now in my second semester, and can honestly say I am incredibly happy to be leaving after this. Yes, I got a full ride, but I would much rather pay to be happy than have a free time being miserable. I am taking incredibly hard classes and doing fine, but not a single one of my teachers speaks english this semester. I do not even attend class anymore, I read lecture slides to myself out loud to teach myself. My boyfriend had to drop all of his hard classes because his teachers didn't attend class. Just yesterday, I went to a professor's office hour to get help and she said, "Get out of my office you stupid girl, you know nothing." Yep. So, everyone from my school has officially been driven out by the "michigan difference."

Here are some more rants. On your 5 mile trek home from nightly meetings, you will almost positively feel like you're going to get stabbed. I carry a jack knife and pepper spray at all times. The food is awful, not to mention you have to walk to the dining halls. I ate fake sushi every day because I was terrified of all the oriental food. They serve Korean Bi Bim Bop every damn day. I came in expecting a new life, meeting new friends. All I ever want to do is go home (mind you I HATE my home, my parents make less than I do each year because they are lazy and ignorant). But forget having a job here, you won't have time. Anyways, having friends is nearly impossible. For one, absolutely no one, and i mean NO ONE is what Michiganders consider "normal" they are all snotty, east coasters who get pissed when they don't get into business school. Oh wait, don't forget the asians. My hall is FILLED with terrible examples of African Americans. I mean this in the least racist way possible, but my father worked in the heart of the ghetto of Saginaw his whole life. He dealt with the worst African Americans you can find, so you can imagine I was pretty used to that. My hall has made me take a whole new view on things, and I can honestly say I am 100% racist now because of these awful people. My RA was Black, and literally the most annoying person I've ever met. I lived next door to her, and she would leave her door open and blast music ALL night and day. She would talk on skype SO EFFING LOUD. When it came time for evaluations, our hall ripped her apart. Funny thing is, she said "I've been getting some face-to-face complaints about the noise level, can ya'll jus keep it down out there?" when everyone was talking about her. Here's my favorite story I like to tell people: we all share a bathroom, which is fine. everyone is respectful. however one day, i placed my stuff (facewash and towel) next to a sink to use it. I went to go to the bathroom. I came back, lo and behold my RA is using my stuff. I scoffed at her and she said "Whas ur problem bitch" and I yelled at her for using my stuff. she said bitch this aint yo stuff. So I went to complain to my hall director. Guess what? theyre ignorant and black too. They work 3 hours a week. seriously. so when I finally get ahold of them they say "shouldnt have left yo stuff sittin' out like that."

Please enjoy some more ranting: Ann Arbor is gorgeous. As long as you are visiting for less than 8 hours. Living here is HELL. Not only is all the food weird as shit, it's expensive as hell. Forget parking anywhere, and if you find somewhere plan on spending your savings account on your parking spot.

Housing is okay, in the 2 dorms that are bearable: Couzens and North Quad. This year they changed it so that sophomores got priority picking for next year. They randomly assign times to choose. So when the signup began I looked online and was pretty pumped to see a lot of spaces open. When it got to my time, EVERY ROOM WAS CLOSED IN EVERY BUILDING EXCEPT ONE. I kid you not. My room was taken right from under my feet. This means absolutely no juniors or seniors got on campus housing. Rumor has it 500 sophomores have nowhere to live (apartments are all full.) no juniors, and no seniors. Rush rate had a 60% increase just so people could have somewhere to live. Shows how much you really are just a number here. Speaking of sororities and frats, every single person you'll meet from one will be the most raging douche you'll ever meet.

Extracurriculars: Coming from such a small school, I had always been involved in everything you can imagine. So when I came here I agreed to be in a TON of organizations. HUGE MISTAKE. you will NOT have time for them if you want good grades!!! and you ESPECIALLY will not have time for a job.

Pre-Med: I still don't understand why I want to go into medicine, I guess I just don't understand what "successful" is and have always thought it'd be perfect for me. Well here, literally everyone is pre-med. The advisors encourage you to either become a doctor, engineer, or some bullshit artsy stuff. Anyways if you want to have a life outside of your career, this college is not for you. They encourage you to do research here and there is absolutely no way you can get involved in it. Everything requires previous experience in research, with no way to start. I had always thought I wanted to go the med school here. However, I met with a few of the current students and realized they are absolute freaks. Not to mention I was at practice one night and the med school students were putting on some artsy ass show and they were all HUUUUGE douches.

SO. thank you for listening to my rant. As I speak, I am putting off my homework because I am daydreaming about leaving this god forsaken place and going somewhere else. Hopefully Central Michigan University, for those of you who know it. If any of this stuff sounds appealing to you, more power to ya. For now, I have become a state fan. Go green.So, as I speak, I am putting off my homework because I am thinking about how wonderful my life will be next year.

1st Year Female -- Class 2015

Social Life: B-, Faculty Accessibility: F

Pros:
-The motto is Give it. Get it. Expect Respect. and everyone really lives up to that.
-Professors and GSIs are more than willing to help you by any means necessary.
-The school's resources are ridiculously good. Like, overwhelmingly good.
-School is proactive in every aspect of its students' well-being.
(Potential) Cons:

-During the week you won't find people partying. Weekdays are study days and informational/club meetings, so if you want a 24/7 party school, UofM is definitely not for you.

-I think the # of good looking guys in comparison to good looking girls is significantly lower. -Weather is constantly a mystery.

1st Year Female -- Class 2014

Education Quality: A+, Innovation: B-