Hi all, thanks for the great posts and for your insights and perspectives. It is all extremely helpful to me in thinking through this with my son. We chose 3 in-state schools to apply to: 1st choice was “dream school” UM, however DS’s academic credentials were somewhat on the lower to average end of what UM accepts. (We thought he had about a 50%-67% chance of acceptance to UM); 2nd choice was Michigan State, a very solid alternative (and my alma mater), that he knew he would be accepted to, although he was not terribly excited about; and 3rd choice was the “safety backup” EMU. On a whim he participated in EMU’s “presidential scholarship” competition,mainly for the experience - to improve his interview skills and “presence” - and in short, he was one of the winners… So that’s how we got to this point. It would have been UM or MSU but he happened to win this full ride opportunity, hence my starting this thread! I’m leaning Michigan as hink it will be better for him and worth the investment! But oh man, a full ride… Kind of hard to turn that down … but he was accepted to UM 2 days after he was offered the full ride to EMU… Thanks again, to all of you, for taking the time to write very thoughtful responses. You all have helped us immensely!
What is his preference order between UM, MSU, and EMU?
I would go with UM in a heartbeat. However, I will relate the story of an EMU graduate I know. He was from Ypsilanti and was accepted at UM but decided to attend EMU on a full scholarship similar to what the OP was offered. He saved the tuition money, and invested it an apartment building that he lived in while in college. After he graduated, he stayed in the area, got a moderately well paying job and bought some other apartment buildings in Ypsi. Now in his mid-40’s, he quit his day job and lives off the apartment building income, and hangs out at Arbor Brewing all day. Smart guy, even if he never went to Michigan.
LOL, well I always said to my kids that an uber selective college isn’t going to make an unambitious smarty-pants a rock star post-college.
Especially if money is not a top consideration factor, I would understand if he truly wants to go to UMich. It is a great school and if he chooses to work after undergrad he has a really good chance of getting a top tier job. I believe that the degree would serve him better even if EMU is offering him a very significant sum of money. In the end, he is going to have to learn the value of money by himself when he starts working so it is better fo him to at least do it with a top quality education 
definitely go to michigan. michigan has been rated the best value public university in the whole country last year by money magazine. merit scholarships for michigan start coming out in feb/march, so your son may get some and also umich is pretty good with financial aid for in state students. a michigan degree is a small price to pay, a definite bargain for in state students when plenty of out of state students have already committed this year and are happy to pay 60k a year out of state, and its definitely a valuable investment that will open up many doors for him for the rest of his life. umich alumni network is one of the best and largest in the country with alumni spread in pretty much every corner of the united states. i promise you and your son will never regret the decision to go to umich. umich is good at pretty much everything (academics, athletics, social scene) with many academic programs in the top 10 in the country, so your son can be confident that he will get a great education at umich no matter what he chooses to study. umich is an internationally recognized university (ranked in the top 20 in the world) which definitely helps. congrats on your son getting into umich. its a very prestigious school on the same level of some other top schools like cornell. you are lucky to live in michigan and be able to pay in state tuition for such an amazing renowned school.