Calling all [[Michigan (Ross)]] 2008 applicants...

Thanks R.E.D . I've been looking at a few places today and I'm looking closely at:
1) Woodbury
2) a couple of places at Division Street (through Bartonbrook)

I've spoken to a couple of students and this is what they had to say about the far-away/close-to campus debate. The apartments further away from campus *tend* to be nicer and a little cheaper. But yeah, there's the commute problem during winter. For people who have a car or who don't mind a bus ride, living further away is best.

The apartments closer to campus are more expensive (understandably) and probably not as nice as the ones further away (but there are exceptions). But apparently, this area is a lot noisier because of the undergrads.

For me it would be important to live close to my fellow students. Where do the MBA people live? wasnt there a chart from the school?

Also, do people use bikes in Ann Arbor? Because 1.5miles is a lot on foot, but nothing if you re on a bike.

Are you still considering Ross? Well, most MBA students (20 - 25%) live in Woodbury (30 min walk). Also as RED mentioned Nob Hill also has a number of MBAs.

Bikes are big in Ann Arbor. The campus as a whole is rather spread-out, so a lot of UGs use bikes. You won't stick out at all, if that's the concern.

Don't underestimate the winters either... living close and having a short walk can make a big difference vs. fighting traffic when it dumped 3-6 inches of snow the night before.

Good luck to all! I am going to be applying in the Fall!

I think Woodburry Gardens is the most popular amongst all the MBA students and they also provide the best discounts etc. Apparently they are also starting a shuttle service from next year.

Nob Hill is the second most popular.

KK- I spoke to a friend of mine who lived in Forest Hill/Plaza and he said the apartments themselves were ok- but it was < 5min to walk to school.

Darden: I did see that website harbourhousesucks.com but it seems more like one or two disgruntled tenants. It does have some good reviews from apartmentratings.com. But it is not on the top of our list. Briar cove seems like it is a decent place and does not seem to expensive. It is not on the other side of the highway, though it is close to it.

In fact, depending on my wife's job, we may not even live in AA- might actually commute from say, Canton (~30 mins) or somewhere around there.

There is a spreadsheet containing the information from a survey of current mba students available in the admitted students portal (check under housing and then "where current students live"). Thats pretty good reviews.

Also, check out https://www.apartmentratings.com, seems like a pretty decent website.

I definitely am (full ride!), but I dont want to buy a car, and I WANT to be able to walk to campus. I find that EXTREMELY important as part of my biz school experience. But I also want to be close to other students. Another part that I find important.

Here is the link to the page with the links to the most popular search engines/apartment listings:
https://www.bus.umich.edu/StudentLife/StudentServices/

Here is a survey about where MBAs live:
https://www.bus.umich.edu/StudentLife/St ... BALive.htm

And, certainly, the direct link to the housing survey of MBA students:
https://www.bus.umich.edu/StudentLife/St ... ey2008.xls

What about the Northwood Appartements?

Has anyone researched those?

sooo about a car...
I think I will lease a car during b-school. Since I am international and I probably won't stay in the states after the MBA I think it is better to lease a car for 2 years instead of having to buy an old car, mainatin it and than sell it. Also, it is much cheaper (per month) to lease a car than to make payments on a car loan. Sooo I will probably lease some nice set of wheels . But as I said HVC apartments have good bus connection with the school so even if I change my mind about the car I will be fine.
I think the US is a very car-dependnt country, and I think that you should really not leave yourself car-less even if you live close to the school.
I have found that Saturn of Ann Arbor has some good deals on car leases.

Downside to leasing: 1. Higher car insurance rates. 2. I am not sure if you have a credit history in the US but you probably will be paying more than the advertised rate, especially since you wont be able to show a source of income.

But again, I agree with the hassle of selling it in two years.

I bought a car for a half year when I interned in San Diego and sold it for more than I got it for. I dont see the hassle, but oh well, if you have the dough.

Yes, America is car-focused, but I will rent one adhoc if needed.

You full riders have all the dough

Anyways- for all Ross'ers interested in consulting: I spoke to a friend of mine at Ross who is joining Mck (Full Time) this year and he said the consulting internships have been solid at Ross. Only Booz Allen hired fewer (both internships and FT). In fact, McK made 17-18 offers and about 15 are accepting, which is pretty solid and an increase over last year. According to him, about 70-80% of the guys who are really interested in consulting, get "a" consulting job. There might be more people who tend to just throw in an app for the MBB but the serious guys who prepare pretty solid for the cases etc are usually successful. Another thing I thought was interesting was that apparently you can gauge your chances pretty early on through mock interviews, case competitions and discussions with career counselors etc. and set realistic expectations. Might be obvious to some of you but was sort of new to me.

This is really off-topic, but do you know where/how I can check my credit score? I have heard that some agencies do it for free. I have a 5 year credit history in the US (2001-2006)

Freecreditreport.com but make sure you cancel it in 30days as it is not FREE beyond 30 days.

this is the true FREE one that the Federal Trade Commission authorizes. It's completely free (unless you want to get some extra stuff) and no cancellation of anything needed. I did it through this one and it's great!

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

I dont think you get your credit score with that, however, right?

that is true, if you want the score, then probably the 1-month free trial thing is better. You can get your credit report in detail there... I used it to cancel some old credit cards I forgot about.