University of Michigan Dearborn

**noenaim** · October-16-10, 10:32 AM

I was wondering about U of M Dearborn, if you attended this school is it the same as going to U of M Ann Arbor? I know the two schools are affliated but how?
I have a co-worker that attented Uof M Dearborn, but he acts like he went to school in Ann Arbor wheres a Michigan shirt and has a one of those block M lisence plates. I just want to know how close is Uof M in Ann Arbor to the schools in Dearborn and Flint?

**Lowell** · October-16-10, 10:46 AM

UofM Ann Arbor is difficult to gain entry so many who don't get in try going to UM Dearborn, getting good grades then transferring to Ann Arbor. As I understand it the credits get carried over and re-applications get preferred status.

UM Dearborn is a good school. Unfortunately it is a purely commuter campus. It's most striking feature is the massive parking lot behind it, recently totally resurfaced which said to me that they plan to keep it that way. IMO they should build dormitories back along the Rouge and make it a real campus.

**Malcove Magnesia** · October-16-10, 03:05 PM

I went to Dearborn for a couple years [[and transferred to A2, just like Lowell said).

The pluses for U-M Dearborn is that it's close to home, tuition is cheaper than Ann Arbor, and the piece of paper you earn at the end [[the degree) is exactly the same as the one from Ann Arbor. Recruiters & hiring manages looking at your resume tend to only look at the words "University of Michigan" and ignore any mention of the word "Dearborn". You also get to attend the football games out in Ann Arbor and you can feel, nominally, like you're part of the U-M community.

The cons for UMD is that it is indeed a commuter campus. After classes are done, the campus completely and utterly shuts down. They had a tiny amount of student housing behind the campus back when I was going but as Lowell says, they really ought to build dorms on campus [[like as Wayne State has done) and they'd attract a much more vibrant student population and have a more fulfilling campus life.

**wolverine** · October-16-10, 08:24 PM

The degree is the same, but employers will actually be more interested in what comes after University of Michigan....and no it's not the city...rather "Ross School of Business" or "Ford School of Public Policy." When I was job hunting post graduation, it was interesting the person interviewing would not even mention University of Michigan, rather mention the college within.

**bike4beer** · October-16-10, 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by Lowell

UM Dearborn is a good school. Unfortunately it is a purely commuter campus. It's most striking feature is the massive parking lot behind it, recently totally resurfaced which said to me that they plan to keep it that way. IMO they should build dormitories back along the Rouge and make it a real campus.

that is HFCC that was resurfaced.

I work at UM-D and they have been talking about dorms for years. I doubt it will ever happen though.

**SMRJim** · October-17-10, 03:36 PM

It's a very good school and great 'bang for the buck'. It IS part of the University of Michigan, but it's the Dearborn campus. Same goes for UM-Flint. So your friend DID go to U of M. Even if he didn't, nothing wrong with wearing the shirt and having the plate. Plenty of people who never went to school at any of the UM campuses do the same thing. They have a great engineering program there and have really built up their facilites over the years. As for them having dorms, even if they do that the it won't change the campus other than allowing students to live there, i.e. the campus is physically separated from the rest of the city more or less, and dorms won't change that. Not quite sure how to word this, but UM's main campus was built so that the campus isn't really separated from the rest of the city, it's part of it. They did have apartments at one time back in the 70s and 80s, but converted them to offices.

**Patrick** · October-17-10, 03:46 PM

So a business degree from the Ross School in A2 the same as a business degree from UMD?

**Whitehouse** · October-17-10, 04:10 PM

Speaking about the University of Michigan, I found this. Really cool!!!
Woohoo!!\

FoxyScholar10 · October-17-10, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by Patrick

So a business degree from the Ross School in A2 the same as a business degree from UMD?

I'm wondering the same thing.... wishful thinking [[like rose colored glasses, not maliciously delusional)....

**Malcove Magnesia** · October-17-10, 04:37 PM

I suspect the reason the U-M Regents won't go forward with dorms at Dearborn or Flint have something to do with risking undermining the premium they can charge for student housing in Ann Arbor. Many state schools have multiple campuses with a vibrant resident student population at each [[I'm thinking University of California here; UCLA, UCSC, UCSB, UC-Bezerkley, etc.). The Regents are too chicken to invest [[too much) in expanding U-M Dearborn or U-M Flint.

**DetroitPlanner** · October-17-10, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by Whitehouse

Speaking about the University of Michigan, I found this. Really cool!!!
Woohoo!!\

the folks in Ann Arbor will sue you for that. They forget that Fr Gabriel Richard started the school at his parish in DETROIT!

**detroitsgwenivere** · October-17-10, 10:25 PM

I started U of M Dearborn last year, as opposed to Ann Arbor or an out of state school, cuz I needed to be close to home and have no interest in attending Ann Arbor. It seems like most of the people attending school there are more recent high school grads [[we callit U of M High), where I'd been in the workforce for several years already and wanted to network with a better variety of people. I very much enjoy attending the commuter style campus [[athough it would be better if I could take light rail) and would attend the dorm campus if that was the lifestyle I was looking for. The different campus distinctions were made clear to me by the U of M recruiter I was interviewed by.

But I will say that U of M as a statewide program does not cater well to the non-traditional crowd. They don't offer very many options to those of us who must work and/or take care of families. And they are horrendously slow when dealing with student appeals and returning phone calls. I missed three whole semesters because of their bullshit appeal response time

**noenaim** · October-18-10, 04:48 AM

I nothing against UM Dearborn my wife went there but the state of Michigan make license plates for all the state universities

http://services.sos.state.mi.us/plates/

Why does U of M Dearborn and Flint have there own separate plates? The guy I work with choose the regular block M plates for his car not the one that says Dearborn under it. If you graduated from U of M Dearborn show it who cares.

**East Detroit** · October-18-10, 07:18 AM

The "piece of paper" is actually not the same. UMD diplomas are marked as such.

**kenp** · October-18-10, 07:46 AM

UM-Flint has dorms, they opened this year. It is a new building right on campus. Other housing is opening in the downtown area including the Durant hotel that was renovated after sitting vacant for at least 20 years.

**DetroitPlanner** · October-18-10, 07:56 AM

Originally Posted by noenaim

Why does U of M Dearborn and Flint have there own separate plates? The guy I work with choose the regular block M plates for his car not the one that says Dearborn under it. If you graduated from U of M Dearborn show it who cares.

I never understood that myself unless the extra dollars you pay for those plates gets funneled to a campus and not to a general U of M fund. Personally I find most of these plates to be just a way that the govt uses to suck extra taxes out of people. I took a WSU class once at a satelite in Southfield, is there a WSU Southfield plate?

**gumby** · October-18-10, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by Malcove Magnesia

I suspect the reason the U-M Regents won't go forward with dorms at Dearborn or Flint have something to do with risking undermining the premium they can charge for student housing in Ann Arbor. Many state schools have multiple campuses with a vibrant resident student population at each [[I'm thinking University of California here; UCLA, UCSC, UCSB, UC-Bezerkley, etc.). The Regents are too chicken to invest [[too much) in expanding U-M Dearborn or U-M Flint.

Last I check U of M-Flint has dorms now. They opened in Fall of '08, 2 years too late for me as I graduated in '06. First Street Residence Hall has 310 beds and is located on a former parking lot next to Murchie Science Building. It was such a success a year after it opened the former Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Flint was converted into student housing for students of all the universities located in the city; UM, Kettering, Mott CC, and Baker College. There is a misconception that the Durant was renovated exclusively for U of M students, this is untrue as it it open to anyone who wants an apartment there.

It is the student housing which is driving U of M-Flint to be the fastest growing public university in the state. It reached its 5 year goal of surpassing 8000 students this year and shows no signs of slowing down. They are looking into the possibility of adding Varsity sports within the next few years and already boast several club sports including Ice Hockey, Basketball and Football.

As to whether my education is inline with one received at the Ann Arbor campus I would argue that I got a better one. As I had one on one relationships with my professors due to smaller class sizes. 4 years after my graduation I can still walk into the Psych office and be recognized by first name. You don't get that at a large university. My diploma does state that it is from the Flint campus but I am not ashamed of that fact.

**artds** · October-18-10, 08:35 AM

Both schools are part of the University of Michigan public university system, but Ann Arbor is far more competitive, and is one of the top public universities in America.

Dearborn is more of a commuter school, while Ann Arbor is one where most students live on or near campus.

The history of U of M - Dearborn is that in the 1960s, Ford Motor Company decided that they needed a local supply of engineers, so they approached the University of Michigan and told them that Ford would donate land to the university [[which turned out to be the Henry Ford Estate) if the University would create and operate a college there.

In my opinion Dearborn is a very solid school with name recognition that carries well.

**kenp** · October-18-10, 08:35 AM

I would agree with Gumby on the degree I received from UM-Flint. I did 2 years their before moving on to MSU for Hospitality Management. I had classes at State that had 200-300 students. It was a cookie cutter education. I went back to UM-Flint got a BS in Computer Sci, minor in Math and Business and have had a great career ever since.

**artds** · October-18-10, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by noenaim

I nothing against UM Dearborn my wife went there but the state of Michigan make license plates for all the state universities

http://services.sos.state.mi.us/plates/

Why does U of M Dearborn and Flint have there own separate plates? The guy I work with choose the regular block M plates for his car not the one that says Dearborn under it. If you graduated from U of M Dearborn show it who cares.

I think the "Ann Arbor" block M was the only one that was available for a while.

Also, there are people who sport those plates to show their support for University of Michigan athletics, particularly the football program. U of M Dearborn doesn't have a football team, and even if they did, the level of interest in it would pale in comparison to the level of interest in the U of M Ann Arbor football team.

**EastsideAl** · October-18-10, 09:04 AM

One of my best friends from the west side of Detroit went to UM-D. School was literally minutes from his home, which saved him time and money and allowed him to hold down jobs at the same time to defray much of the cost. While he wasn't necessarily the best student in those years [[a combination of a lot of outside work and not the best, umm... personal habits), he went on to get it together, go to grad school and graduate with high honors, and later to law school where he graduated near the top of his class. He became a very successful lawyer and widely published legal author.

So, despite the fact that he also became, from this Spartan fan's point of view, an insufferable UM fan [[saving grace: he did get me tickets for the MSU-UM game in AA for several years), it sure seems like UM-D was a good deal for him. He's said so himself to me many times.

Like anything else in life, it all really depends what you put into it yourself and what you do with it afterward. But UM-D seems to work well for people who would have trouble affording a full-time residential school and who may also need to keep working, and as such is definitely an asset to this area.

**iheartthed** · October-18-10, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Patrick

So a business degree from the Ross School in A2 the same as a business degree from UMD?

No.

The different University of Michigan campuses are viewed as distinct schools within the University of Michigan system. If you are a student at Ann Arbor and want to take classes at Dearborn for a semester, you have to apply as a non-degree student just the same as if you were coming from Wayne State or Princeton.

The only real areas of overlap are that the regents and governing administration that oversees Ann Arbor also oversees Dearborn and Flint. Also, students from Dearborn and Flint get the same privileges as Ann Arbor students to attend football games. I don't think that applies to the other sporting events since Dearborn has its own sports teams except football.

**English** · October-18-10, 01:41 PM

Agreed on all points re: UMD. One of my aunts is a grad of UMD; she matriculated at the Ann Arbor campus, hated it, and transferred.

I'm a fan of smaller universities for anything except for terminal degrees. When you're a med, law or Ph.D. student, you need the resources of the largest universities. However, as undergrads and non-terminal master's students, many first generation students benefit from smaller classes taught by senior faculty [[as opposed to TAs and lecturers), personalized attention, and a more human scale.

**iheartthed** · October-18-10, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by English

Agreed on all points re: UMD. One of my aunts is a grad of UMD; she matriculated at the Ann Arbor campus, hated it, and transferred.

I'm a fan of smaller universities for anything except for terminal degrees. When you're a med, law or Ph.D. student, you need the resources of the largest universities. However, as undergrads and non-terminal master's students, many first generation students benefit from smaller classes taught by senior faculty [[as opposed to TAs and lecturers), personalized attention, and a more human scale.

Not sure if this thing sends notifications, but I sent you a question through the private messenger.

FoxyScholar10 · October-18-10, 02:16 PM

Is this thread getting away from the OP's main question about the equality [[IN PRESTIGE) amongst these three connected [[yet) distinct institutions? I get it that all three schools offer a different schooling experience based on location, resources, mission, curriculum, faculty, etc. For many students, a smaller institution is better. BTW, smaller classes are better for ALL students! ;-)

But, do we just not want to admit that some may think that SOME [[not all) students just wanted a U-M brand on their degree certificate and instead of trying for the Big House in Ann Arbor [[or tried and didn't get accepted), they chose Dearborn or Flint instead?

That's a harsh, cold-hearted reality...but reality it is, yes?