<p>I've narrowed my college choices down to University of Michigan and Lehigh University. I'm having a really hard time trying to predict which college will be the right choice. I plan to study engineering. Lehigh has the advantages of being a smaller school, with smaller classes. Michigan has the advantages of having a significantly higher ranking. It's seventh in the country for engineering, and Lehigh is 37. I live in PA, so Lehigh is much closer and the out of state tuition for Michigan will be roughly the same as Lehigh. I strongly dislike the partying/drinking reputation of Lehigh. I realize that partying/drinking is at every college, but the fact that Lehigh has a huge reputation for it worries me. It's not my idea of fun, and I've often heard that it is pretty much the only thing most students do on the weekends.</p>
<p>What really draws me to Michigan is the unrivaled school spirit. Everyone there loves going to see sports, especially football. This is a category where Lehigh just doesn't compare. I once spoke with someone who had one son who went to Lehigh and another that went to Michigan. He spoke very favorably about Michigan because it is wone of the few schools that has great school spirit and athletics as well as excellent academics. I've visited the campus twice and liked it, especially the college of engineering on north campus. Lehigh obviously has a spectacular campus as well.</p>
<p>I realize that small class sizes are beneficial, but I'm not convinced that I am the type of person who would really take advantage of this type of environment.</p>
<p>I know that I'm going to have to make this decision myself, but any sort of insight that you could provide would be greatly appreciated.</p>