I’m a resident of Michigan and an aspiring CS major! While I would love to get into UMich, with a 3.7UW and a 1440 SAT I don’t know if it is going to happen. My back-up instate school is Michigan State, but I’ve also applied to Purdue, Wisconsin - Madison, Georgia Tech, and UT - Austin. Unfortunately, while these out of state schools are more prestigious, they will cost me an extra $20-25k a year. I’ve heard the school I attend for CS isn’t incredibly important, but do you think the prestige of these OOS Universities is worth the extra cash? Thanks a ton of for any advice!
You heard right: in CS the “prestige” of the school is not terribly important. You will receive a very good preparation at Michigan State, connections to very good internships, and a very good job upon graduation. If you have “all that cash” laying around, use it for a couple amazing summer study abroad programs… or a great car… or a down payment on a house. The possibilities are endless – but they won’t be if you graduate with debt.
Bump
It’s not worth the extra money, unless you really love one of those schools and want to go. But the boost in prestige you’ll receive isn’t enough to justify that much more money. MSU is a fantastic school and if you do well, you’ll have no problem getting a job.
Go to Michigan State.
Unless your family is so wealthy an extra 80k is nothing, follow the money.
Do well and try for a prestige grad program, where they’d fund you.
“MSU is a fantastic school and if you do well, you’ll have no problem getting a job.”
I agree. Prestige is not important in computer science (thus the t-shirts and blue jeans). What matters is what you can do.
Go to MSU.
You have a reasonable shot at Michigan. Apply to LSA, not CoE. If you do not get in, MSU is a great option.
If you’re willing to spend the out-of-state tuition, I would probably explore private colleges. That way you can get a smaller, supportive environment.
fivesages, LACs obviously provide a smaller, more supportive environment. Research universities, private or public, do not. But I am not sure the OP is interested in LACs.
Not all students want a smaller environment – many love the sheer wealth of opportunities, both academic and social, at large research universities. And the outgoing student WILL find support at big schools, though it’s true he/she may have to try just a tad harder than at LACs.
@Alexandre Not just the LACs, but also private research universities tend to provide much better support than large public research universities for undergraduates.
fivesages, it depends on the public and private university in question. I have attended a public university and a private university, and they offered very similar support. Assuming that the public and private universities in question are peer institutions, have roughly the same endowment and tuition revenue, and are equally engaged in research activity, the level of support will not vary wildly between them.
@alexandre is giving you an important tip. For Michigan, apply to LSA. If you get in, you can probably transfer to eng later. Many students drop eng so there is usually room.
I already applied EA to LSA about a month ago 
Fingers crossed arudelic…and Go Blue! 
You are unlikely to be admitted to GT or UT-Austin, but should be OK for UW-Madison, possibly for Purdue. I think you have a reasonably good chance at Michigan, especially if you attend one of the feeder high schools or a rural HS.
You have a good shot at UMich and LSA. And Msu is a very good school - if you have the 80k (IE, they wouldn’t come from debt), run the NPC on Rice, URochester, Northwestern, Tufts, Bowdoin. Those would be peers for UMich but would offer a different experience and they’d be better than MSU for undergraduate education - provided they’re affordable. If you really want to go OOS, apply to UMinnesota, since UWisconsin is unlikely to offer any financial aid.
CS is an interesting major - lots of different ways to do it. MSU is a very good school, but the CS program is engineering oriented, so not the best fit for some students. If that works for you, then you’re making an excellent choice. If not, read the fine print on the specifics of other academic programs and course requirements- the programs are not all the same and the differences can be significant. Technology is so prevalent in all aspects of business and society these days, you don’t have to restrict yourself to an engineering degree (and I have one…) to become a successful CS professional.