@aboveaverage My niece turned down MIT for Berkeley full pay out of state. USC PhD, 1st post doc in Germany, 2nd at Harvard. 25% of the acceptances to MIT turn it down. Full pay is likely starts in the low $200k family income. That doesn’t mean that you have $280k to spend on one kids education. A lot of factors come into play. Where you live, how long you have been at that income level, other kids, etc. I know this from personal experience.
This thread has officially jumped the shark.
“If you’re full pay at MIT your parents are rich. this isn’t even a debate - MIT. nobody that applies to MIT and gets in would turn it down for a public U.”
“The Public U” you are referring to is Michigan. It’s not your typical state school.
5 US news vs #28
1 in the world Quacquarelli Symonds vs #30
1 engineering undergraduate vs #6
Boston (with Harvard dual enroll an option) vs metro Detroit
If the OP is studying engineering, the difference is whether the OP will be staying up until 3am or 5am to complete problem sets. The average ACT is 33/34 vs 34/35. Both have vast engineering and CS resources. The OP would be paying $280K extra for a sliver of additional rigor. A Ph.D. program is likely to be funded anyway. Better to save the $280K for startup equity.
@aboveaverage, people who hire don’t actually look or care about the minutiae of rankings.
How it works is that they have a list of target schools they recruit at, and then it is up to the individual to impress during interviews. And both UMich and MIT would be a target school for any major software company.
Also, Ann Arbor is near Detroit in the sense that Princeton is near Philly.
@aboveaverage The real world is far more complicated than predicting success based on ranking lists. The Stamps Scholarship is a highly coveted award, speaks volumes in and of itself, and creates an entire additional network.
https://www.stampsfoundation.org/2018/02/08/introducing-stamps-scholars-connect/
FWIW, there are plenty of young people out there who are quite successful without having attended HYPMS. They may even work or attend grad school right alongside MIT grads with their lowly state school degree (of which UM does not even qualify since it is a powerhouse U.) MIT grads aren’t like people on TV commercials walking around with a golden glow bc of their UG degree. 
And the MIT degree does not guarantee automatic business success or grad school admissions. The person behind the degree matters, and a student who qualified as a Stamps Scholar has demonstrated significant accomplishments already.
As a high school student, your perspective is limited to what you hear from others that you believe. I hope the OP of this thread is in dialogue with his parents, not his peers, and that they ignore everything except what is best for their personal situation. This young person faces a win-win decision. There is no bad answer (unless the $250,000 does financially hurt his parents.)
I wouldn’t pay $260k extra just for the prestige or the hope that you might earn more when you graduate. The most important ingredients in success are the people. MIT does offer on average higher quality faculty (and better access to the faculty) and a stronger student peer group than UMich, but the ultimate ingredient is you. How much do you need the advice and directions of the faculty and the pressure from your peer group to motivate yourself? If you don’t, don’t waste the money. Another factor to consider is whether you’ll be in the top quartile at MIT (presumably you’ll be in that quartile at UMich). If you’re not, you won’t likely have much better opportunities.
Take the Michigan scholarship & save the $260,000 if you did in fact get a “full ride” to Michigan (as opposed to a “full tuition” scholarship).
After graduation, if you get a job in Silicon Valley, then you can use the saved $260,000 to make a small down payment on a 400 square foot efficiency condo.
@publisher Based on posting history, the OP received the Stamps. https://leadersandbest.umich.edu/stamps/the-scholarship#sthash.zcmfDM3C.dpbs
Thank you.@Mom2aphysicsgeek
I haven’t read this entire thread, but I want to remind OP and everyone, that the alternative to Michigan is taking some money from parents’ retirement. I personally think this is a ridiculous thing to do. Your parents might be willing to offer it to you, but parents are willing to do all kinds of self-destructive things for their children. At some point, it is up to the kids to look out for their parents. You have nearly enough money saved in college savings account to pay for MIT. If you choose it over the full ride, you should commit to providing the rest on your own and not further burdening your parents. They have already done their part. They saved up an enormous sum for your education. Be grateful and give them a break.
I’m actually amazed that you are even questioning this. It’s not like you’ve been offered a full ride to Podunk U. You said you love the school too. Turning down a full ride at Michigan is folly, especially if attending MIT means taking money out of your parents savings. I’m trying to be nice here, but what on earth are you thinking? And have you even been accepted to MIT? How? Their decisions aren’t out yet.
@Lindagaf, well, MIT does have EA.
Go to UMich!!! I don’t want to make any decisions for you/if MIT is what you love more then by all means go there, but a full ride to a school of that caliber is something I could not turn down… it has a great reputation and academically it’s great too. I know MIT is harder to get in, but in the long run nobody will look at you resume and be disappointed by seeing Mich. Good luck in your decision!
@Theloniusmonk “I’m on the inside of making offers at tech companies and nobody makes $200k starting out of college.”
All I can say is that you don’t know what they don’t know. You may not see it, but many top CS students from elite programs are making that much annually from day one. I’ve seen the written, signed offer letters.
@Much2learn & @theloniusmonk, you guys are talking about different things.
@theloniusmonk isn’t counting the signing bonus or equity.
There are few academic pursuits, if any, that you can do at MIT that you can’t accomplish at Michigan.
Now, the support is probably a little bit better and most equivalent classes are smaller at MIT, but the differences probably are not huge in most cases – certainly not worth $280k. That is an obscene amount of money, especially if grad school is on the horizon.
So unless you hate Michigan and are in love with MIT, Michigan is a pretty easy choice.
“All I can say is that you don’t know what they don’t know. You may not see it, but many top CS students from elite programs are making that much annually from day one. I’ve seen the written, signed offer letters.”
I think as purpletitan posted, you’re including signing bonus, equity and the projected yearly bonus to get that number. Maybe some of your examples are from outside silicon valley, where college reputation matters more. Even then you’d have to show that that was a causation between college and salary, not just a correlation.
BTW, Michigan is considered elite for CS or EECS (among other majors), my point is that where you got the undergrad does not factor into compensation in silicon valley CS jobs out of college. Once you get the interview, it’s how you do there and if you fit with the culture.
I have worked for a top CS company and know peers that have worked for every one of FAANG, Lyft/Uber, Airbnb, you name it, and the only way you get 200K starting is by working in finance with bonuses and the like or with equity offers being counted. My last job I worked side by side with new grads from both schools in this thread, and the range was usually 125K for the top tier, regardless of what school you come from.
While I’m here, another clear vote for Michigan - it’s industry reputation is practically the same as MIT for CS.
@theloniusmonk
For example, say the equity vests over four years. I am adding the base salary, signing, and equity in the contract. The total over the four years has to be over $800k ($200k x 4 years). I am not adding any projected numbers. All potential raises, potential annual bonuses, additional equity etc. are assumed to be zero.
I think @purpletitan and @PengsPhils are pointing out that I am counting total compensation and you are thinking of salary. I agree with PengPhils that I have not seen a base salary of $200k+ for a CS major in tech. I have only seen a student get that much to go to an investment firm.
“Michigan is considered elite for CS or EECS (among other majors).”
Agreed. I don’t know of a single engineering major that Michigan does not do well.