Michigan or PSU or UVA?

College Search & Selection
21

<p>I am not sure about the image of those two universities in the eyes of the layman, nor does it matter since the layman doesn't have any influence over a person's life. I suspect that laymen living in the Mid Atlantic will favor UVa whereas laymen living in the Midwest will favor Michigan. In other parts of the country, I would say they are probably equally respect with Michigan having a slight edge in the West Coast and UVa a slight advantage in the South. Both have excellent reputations in NYC.</p>

<p>In the eyes of employers, both universities are equally regarded. I have never seen a corporate poll that places UVA above Michigan. If you have evidence that employers recruit more heavily at UVa or that UVa receives higher ratings in corporate polls, feel free to share it with us, but I doubt you will find such evidence.</p>

22

<p>^fair enough. Maybe when I reach 8,730 posts I will be as technical as you.</p>

23

<p>You seem to be doing well at Penn State UP, so I am not exactly sure why you would consider leaving. Why risk becoming a middle of the road student at michigan or uva. Admittedly, I haven't seen Michigan, but I have visited uva. UVA is a great school. It has a beautiful campus, but you are going to get just as much preppiness/frat boy stuff, and partying there as you will at PSU. Also, I hear Michigan is a fun place, but from what I hear it is EVEN colder there, and the girls are beat (not trying to offend people, but that's what I have been told). Before you go running off from a great place, just remember that the grass is not always greener. Best of luck with your decision.</p>

24

<p>I know a bunch of damn hot girls going to UMich next year. I wouldnt be worried at all. UVA and UMich both have much more intellectually stimulating atmospheres than PSU. Both are my dream schools--I couldnt pick one. I'd def. transfer.</p>

25

<p>
[quote]
I know a bunch of damn hot girls going to UMich next year.

[/quote]

You must have low standards.</p>

26

<p>Not particularly. I didnt say I wouldnt prefer IU girls tho ;)</p>

27

<p>I have created a new format for the comparisons that I have been posting. I am drawing data from several sources and some of the years are not exactly matched. As a result, I am NOT currently including USNWR category ranks as much of the subdata provided is fresher than the USNWR ranks. If anybody has any comments or suggestions for improvement to the information or the format, then please let me know. Thanks.</p>

<p>Data mostly drawn from a combination of collegeboard.com, USNWR, NACUBO, & collegedata.com (note: The collegeboard data is from the most recent CDS while USNWR, NACUBO, and collegedata are one year older, but are only available data for the category. Every effort is made to make comparisons apples-to-apples.)</p>

<p>O B J E C T I V E D A T A</p>

<p>UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT
PSU: 36,613 U Michigan: 25,555 U Virginia: 14,676</p>

<h1>AND % OF STUDENTS WHO ARE IN-STATE</h1>

<p>PSU: 26,361/72% U Michigan: 16,866/66% U Virginia: 9833/67%</p>

<p>% OF FEMALE STUDENTS
PSU: 47% U Michigan: 52% U Virginia: 57%</p>

<p>% FROM PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS
PSU: na U Michigan: 80% U Virginia: 77%</p>

<p>% OF STUDENTS IN GREEK LIFE (Male & Female)
PSU: 12%M/11%F U Michigan: 16%/15% U Virginia: 30%/30%</p>

<p>TOP MAJORS AT EACH SCHOOL (acc to collegeboard.com)
PSU: 18% Business/Marketing, 13% Engineering, 10% Communications/Journalism, 6% Education, 6% Social Sciences, 5% Computer Sciences, 5% Psychology, 5% Health Professions
U Michigan: 17% Engineering, 16% Social Sciences, 8% Psychology, 6% Arts, 6% Biology, 6% Business/Marketing, 6% English,
U Virginia: 23% Social Sciences, 9% Engineering, 9% Psychology, 8% Business/Marketing, 7% History, 6% English, 5% Biology, 5% Foreign Language</p>

<p>COST (Tuition & Fees)
IS: PSU: $12,164 U Michigan: $9723 U Virginia: $8500
OOS: PSU: $22,712 U Michigan: 29,131 U Virginia: $27,515</p>

<p>TOTAL COLLEGE ENDOWMENT AND PER CAPITA (undergrad and grad)
PSU: $1.326 bn ($30,995) U Michigan: $5.65bn ($141,331) U Virginia: $3.62bn ($150,331)</p>

<p>AVERAGE HIGH/LOW IN FEBRUARY
PSU: 36/20 U Michigan: 34/19 U Virginia: 49/29</p>

<p>GRADUATION RATES
-% OF STUDENTS EXPECTED TO GRADUATE IN 6 YEARS:
PSU: 69% U Michigan: 77% U Virginia: 86%
-% OF STUDENTS WHO DO GRADUATE IN 6 YEARS:
PSU: 84% U Michigan: 86% U Virginia: 93%
-% OF STUDENTS WHO GRADUATE IN 4 YEARS:
PSU: 56% U Michigan: 70% U Virginia: 84%</p>

<p>FACULTY RESOURCES
-% OF CLASSES WITH <20 STUDENTS
PSU: 31% U Michigan: 43% U Virginia: 47%
-% OF CLASSES WITH 50+ STUDENTS
PSU: 18% U Michigan: 16% U Virginia: 16%
-FACULTY/STUDENT RATIO
PSU: 17/1 U Michigan: 15/1 U Virginia: 15/1</p>

<p>STUDENT SELECTIVITY
-% ACCEPTANCE RATE
PSU: 58% U Michigan: 47% U Virginia: 37%
-SAT/ACT RANGE (Middle 50%)
PSU: 1080-1280 U Michigan: 1210-1420 U Virginia: 1220-1430
-% OF STUDENTS RANKING IN TOP 10% IN HS CLASS
PSU: 37% U Michigan: 90% U Virginia: 88%
% OF STUDENTS WITH HS GPA > 3.75 (Unweighted)
PSU: 25% U Michigan: na U Virginia: 86%</p>

<h1>OF NMS FINALISTS IN 2005 (% of student body)</h1>

<p>PSU: 24 (.28%) U Michigan: 75 (1.18%) U Virginia: 41 (1.15%)</p>

<h1>OF 1500 STUDENTS ENROLLED (% of student body)</h1>

<p>PSU:687 (2%) U Michigan: 1645 (6%) U Virginia: 1723 (12%)</p>

<p>ALUMNI GIVING %
PSU: 21% U Michigan: 15% U Virginia: 26% </p>

<p>S U B J E C T I V E D A T A</p>

<p>PEER ASSESSMENT
PSU: 3.8 U Michigan: 4.5 U Virginia: 4.3</p>

28

<p>I can tell you right now, PSU is mostly public school kids.</p>

29

<p>^^ Yep, I agree. PSU is a decent school, but if you're an above average student you might find yourself out of place.</p>

30

<p>Couldnt pay me to go there, nor would I have gotten in. I feel for ya Nick. I'd rather go to college than 13th grade</p>

31

<p>Penn State is a huge, big 10, top 50 university, with an extremely selective honors college, and increasingly difficult admissions standards...not exactly what I'd call 13th grade. </p>

<p>Personally I'd take Michigan over PSU and UVA any day, but it seems like you only want to go to Michigan because it's diverse, a few spots on the ranking list higher, and not Penn State. but only you can decide, and if Mich or UVA feels like home, go with it...</p>

<p>ps. i'm probably wrong on that assumption, that's just the vibe that i get...</p>

32

<p>You obviously dont live in Pennsylvania OBrien...
Also, Schreyer is def. not as selective as they act like. I personally thought it was, but met a kid who got in who is in no way what people describe as accepted Screyer kids.</p>

<p>I'd probably take UMich over UVA. I was just talking to a friend of mine who's in the honors program at UMich and she loves it.</p>

33

<p>i'd say between UVA and UMICH econ it's pretty much a toss-up, depending on which one you like better</p>

<p>if you were accepted to their business schools that would be another story</p>

34

<p>UMich is a bit more prestigious than UVa's...
It's as much of a difference between Berkeley and UCLA.</p>

35

<p>I'm OOS for all three schools, and in high school I did apply to Schreyers and I didnt' get in (was expecting it coz I got rejected by UVA and waitlisted by UM). Freshman year I did pretty well at PSU and my advisor said I have a good shot at Schreyers (even though they admit 75 students in junior year). But I just didnt want to take the risk of staying there and hoping to get in. And besides, I think doing Econ at UVA/UM would be better for grad school than doing Finance/Accounting at Smeal. Ideally, I'd like to get into Ross/McIntire, but I'm happy with Econ. </p>

<p>Campus wise, I think PSU is very beautiful (I haven't seen UVA though!). Ann Arbor is also nice (but not as clean and good looking as State College) and it seems as if there's a lot to do there. I've decided to go to UM, but I'm still waiting to hear from UVA (got put on the waitlist). If I get in, I'm gonna visit UVA - and most likely go there because its closer to home and cheaper than UM.</p>

36

<p>Loslobos....I am not really sure you can base your entire view of Schreyer Honors College on one kid that you met that got in there...I am a current student at Penn State UP (not Schreyer). You obviously don't know what you're talking about. All of the Schreyer's kids that I have met have been very intelligent (Obviously, I have met more than just one). I just spoke with one that is heading to U of Chicago for grad school for next year. The main campus is a top 50 national university (top 15 public university in the country). I am not sure how that equates into being a 13th grade. Not being from PA, I can tell you that pennsylvania kids take Penn State UP for granted (or they are angry because they get rejected and shuffled off to a branch campus)...The main campus is beautiful, safe, full of school spirit, has modern facilities, friendly students, has a great alumni base, and is nowhere near a 13th grade. Mightynick, I hope you enjoy michigan or uva. They are both great schools. I am sorry to sidetrack from your thread, but I wanted to respond to loslobos' ridiculous comments, for fear that someone might mistake him for someone that knows what they are talking about with PSU.</p>

37

<p>Your choice should definately be between Michigan and Virginia.</p>

38

<p>I agree with jec completely. Btw, jec, why don't you post on PSU's forum more often?</p>

<ul>
<li><p>It is funny how people are so swift to claim what the right choice of someone's college should be based solely on ranks and prestige with complete disregard to context. </p></li>
<li><p>lobos, your generalizing of schreyer based on one individual is utterly ignorant and pompous. I know several students from schreyer and most of them could have probably gone to harvard, yale, or princeton. Not only are the kids there brilliant, they are also very social and active, which surprised me. Five students I knew (out of ten I met) had a SAT of >1510 and were coming out of HS with +7 APs. Schreyer classes are extremely competitive, intimate, and the attention given my the instructor is unbelievable. If you are claiming that UM or UVA will have a superior atmosphere, you are either in denial or have some deep resentment toward the school.</p></li>
</ul>

39

<p>Here is an alternative: Nick(3.9x GPA + good Ecs) could invest one more year at PSU trying to maintain the same GPA and then apply to Yale, princeton, columbia, NYU, and Schreyer Honors college-- now beat that UVA or UM!!!</p>

<ul>
<li>That way you can likely get into better schools that are way more feasible for you. In addition, you have already taken the hardest courses and established a good foundation there. In the fall, you could take a couple of honors courses and higher level courses, join some clubs/participate in activities to build up your resume. Worst case scenario, you would get into a public school that is better than the ones you are currently dealing with. </li>
</ul>

<p>However, I do understand that you did not have a pleasant experience at PSU and want to settle once and for all (honestly, I would take the same course without thinking twice), but I am sure there were at least some people scoring higher than you on exams and also getting A's.</p>

40

<p>if you get off the waitlist...JUMP at UVA</p>