This past summer I was offered a guaranteed transfer to Umich for my sophomore year. I was delighted to receive this as I thought I had no hope of attending umich, the school my family has historically attended and my dream school. I decided to spend my freshman year at MSU and just wrapped up my 1st semester there. My GPA is 4.0, which was not hard to achieve at all, and I have no major problems with the campus life here in East Lansing. Also, I am pre med so i know that the college that I attend during my undergraduate years does not have much sway in med school admissions. I currently have a big decision to make, go to umich, a world renowned university where it be harder time to maintain my high GPA, or stay at MSU, a good state school where it will be pretty easy for me to succeed. I have to send my info for my guaranteed transfer admission by February 17th
If you are satisfied with MSU and are doing well there, I see no reason for you to switch just for the sake of the name of UMich. MSU is a very fine school and as you hinted, undergrad school does not matter as much for undergrad but a lot of the times that GPA is important and it seems to be that you have been very successful at MSU. However, if you believe you would really like UMich more than MSU, think you could be competitive there with your grades, and the financial aspect is not an issue, then maybe you should transfer. Bottom line, unless you definitely think UMich will be a much better experience for you, I would recommend staying at MSU because you currently like it there, have an excellent GPA, and it will be cheaper for you.
I agree with TooOld4School. Take all your Chemistry, Calculus and Physics classes at MSU, and then transfer to Michigan. It is not difficult to maintain a 3.7+ GPA at Michigan once you have completed the more cutthroat classes.
I think both avenues have their advantages, as the only thing better than a 4.0 at MSU would be a 4.0 at UMich for medical school. However, a 4.0 at MSU is going to look killer compared to a 3.7 at UMich. Name-brand is important, but it’s not going to make or break you as an applicant to medical school (besides private medical schools).
Extracurricular wise though, I think MSU offers similar resources to UMich. While UMich may have more abundant/prestigious research opportunities (due to the heavy investment into research here), that isn’t to say that you wouldn’t be able to find similar opportunities at MSU. I just don’t think there’s a big enough difference in extracurricular opportunities to justify UMich as better than MSU.
So, I’d say that if you’re happy at MSU currently, I’d stay there. If you think you want a change in environment, come to UMich.
What pre-med courses have you/will you take at MSU?
If you are happy there, it’s a no-brainer! It will be stressful and hard to transition to another school, which will add to the mix. If you weren’t happy, I’d say give it a shot, but since you are, don’t borrow trouble!
Two other things to consider when you consider whether to transfer; many students who initially want to medical school change their mind. You may want to alter your major in the future. Michigan medical school also favors its own undergraduates.