MICHIGAN STATE HONORS COLLEGE OR MICHIGAN

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

I’m looking for help deciding between going to college at Michigan state or University of Michigan. I was accepted to both schools, and I’m going to be studying mechanical engineering. Michigan is obviously the more prestigious school, but I was also accepted to Michigan states honors program which I’ve heard is good too. The question is would I be better off being one of the top students at Michigan state or an average to possibley below average engineering student at Michigan. I hope to go to grad school to get my MBA so idk if a low Michigan gpa would hurt my chances of getting into a good program. (Average Michigan engineering gpa is 2.9)

If anyone has experience or information about engineering at either school, or social life at either I would be grateful for the help, thanks!

2

You’re the only one who can make the decision. You shouldn’t just make the decision based on how the school ranks in US News. You should also consider factors such as finances, distance from home, whether or not you like the campus, strength of other programs (keep in mind that many students change their minds after freshman year), etc. In choosing a college, keep in mind that it will basically be “home” for the next four years or so. Look beyond just rankings.

At Michigan, for ME I know people who have a decent social life and are still able to get a 3.5+. Probably not as much free time as the IOE people get, but it still exists.

3

And also MBAs are usually after you have already worked a few years (and are usually more valuable this way).

4

Here’s what I would tell you as a parent, since I have some time on my hands:

  1. Look at the 4 year class flow charts at both unis for mechanical engineering, which one looks more interesting, more manageable in whatever time frame you are giving yourself. The core classes are identical for both so look upstream into sophomore, junior, senior year and the concentrations and classes.
  2. Look at the required GPA requirements that must be maintained at both schools along with any scholarship GPA requirement you get from both unis.
  3. Look at the university graduation requirements outside engineering - how many, what’s required, are they interesting to you, how do they fit with the engineering suggested class order flow chart
  4. Go visit…again if necessarily. Look at the housing you’ll be in at least for freshman year, look at the locations where your classes will be, look around you at things you like to do. Make sure you will be happy at whichever uni you pick. Stay with someone you know if you can so you see it from your perspective not a tour guide perspective. Look at silly stuff. For example if you need to work-out or run to work off stress where will you do that. If you play a sport and you want to do intra-mural or club, how easy is it to do that. How important are frats to you - Michigan is frat heavy, State if frat-light. Both have Triangle, an engineering frat. Your going to probably spend alot of time in a library - where is it, can you see yourself there.
  5. If you can, talk, text or email anyone you know that has done that major at both places. Ask them about classes, labs, professors, TAs, how easy is it to find a tutor if you need one.
  6. When you are visiting try to get an opportunity to talk to someone in the engineering office about internships, career opportunities. If you are thinking about foreign study, ask how engineering students fit that in. Ask them where graduates end up taking jobs, where are they working, how they will handle advising and getting over-rides or help with your schedule.
  7. Finally, you really can’t predict how ‘good a student’ you will be or what kids will end up in your cohort - believe me at both engineering schools the kids will be really smart former high school students, there will be really, really smart international students and finally kids struggle with different classes - what is “easy” to one can be “harder then heck” to another - you might ace Statics and your best engineering buddy might be sweating a C and then the tables turn in Physics II and you are the one sweating and best buddy is sailing on through.
  8. Most people don’t even start their MBA and most programs “like” students who are in the workforce so where you get your MBA might depend on where you are living as much as where you get in. So thinking about MBA now is alittle putting the cart before the horse and as far as any advanced degree what degree or what you want might change over the next 6 years.

Either uni will give you a solid foundation and the degree you want. Companies recruit at both campuses, what company wouldn’t? They are less than 2 hours apart so they both get hit by the same companies year after year.

5

I’m currently a Michigan State Freshman (in the Honors college) who is going to be transferring to the University of Michigan next year so I hope I can give a bit of insight. Look back at my comment history if you want a bit of proof (so that I don’t look like some huge UofM enthusiast.
I’m in business though, not engineering, so I don’t completely know your field.

I can speak a lot for Michigan State though.

As for Michigan State, I’m actually fairly disappointed at the honors program here. You just have to take eight ‘honors credits’ (which don’t necessarily have to be honors classes, they can be normal classes where you write an extra paper at the end or something of the sort). Your Honors credits can be from honors classes though, which are a fair amount more rigorous, but also much smaller (typically 25ish students rather than 400 student lecture halls)

What rewards do you get? The main reward is that small scholarship… Other than that, you get honors written on your diploma (can be good for writing on resumes), can pick classes early (really not as great as it sounds, if you’re smart you can get in the classes you want anyway), and there is one or two extra study abroad programs and teachers assistant programs. However there are thousands of students in the honors college so it’s not like you’re guaranteed these.
You also get your own honors college advisers, which is very nice for business majors, since there’s so many business students that the business advisers are always busy. I assume it may be similar for Engineering because I know a lot of engineers.

As for having a social life at MSU, it’s extremely easy your freshman and sophomore year to have a social life at Michigan State. Especially if you have some transfer credits coming in (which MSU accepts tons), then you may only have to take 13-14 credits a semester. Even engineering majors, you’ll find yourself with hours upon hours of free time a day.
I heard it gets harder starting your junior year but it’s still bearable.

Other things about MSU (my opinion)
Athletics: Great - Similar to UofM, Michigan State has some great school pride. Tailgates and game day are tons of fun
Cafeteria’s: Also great. Most are open until midnight (rather than 9:00 or 8 at UofM) everyday.
Classes: Lots of big lectures. Over half of my schedule is big, 300+ person lecture halls
Buses: Horrible. And we have to pay to use them (which sucks because campus is huge)
Scenery/Outdoors: Pretty good. Everyone talks about how beautiful it is all the time, but I prefer Ann Arbor
Dorms: Average, nothing special
Greek Life: About 16% of students are in greek life. It’s a fair size for if you want to be a part of it, or if you want to avoid it. UofM is known for having a slightly larger greek life scene, but still nothing crazy
Parties: Great for parties, similar to UofM, but with likely more parties on weekdays.
Academic Environment: Average I guess. Most freshman don’t put too much emphasis on school, but I heard it builds and people care more as the years go on.

Why I’m transferring: Mainly academics. My desired major is finance (one that MSU lacks a bit) so I aspire to go to Ross’s Finance school, even if it takes five years of university. There’s other reasons though. The people are great and I really enjoy MSU, but I feel like UofM will not only have better connections, but the overall college feel is just slightly better than MSU.

My advise: I am not you, and I don’t know everything about your preferences, characteristics, etc. But if I had to recommend one, I would say to go with UofM. You already got into the Engineering school there so you must be a fairly incredible student. I’m someone who believes that surrounding yourself with successful, smarter people will help you be more successful and intelligent. Not the MSU’s students are dumb, they’ll just be a bit better at UofM to push you the extra distance. Plus, in your field, MSU is ranked around 50 or 60, while UofM is a consistent top 10. UofM would be a huge help in getting you to a graduate school, even with a worse GPA than MSU because of the quality, connections, and academics.

6

^^One thing I do know from all my kids’ friends is that they wash out early from MSU’s Business Program and MSU’s engineering program so by junior year the best of the rest are all that is left. But I agree with you, therice etc.as a parent I think that for Finance you’re better off in the long run selecting Michigan.

7

That actually sounds incredibly accurate @momofthreeboys. A lot of the people I’ve worked with through clubs or those in the honors college who are juniors and already in the business college have been incredible students who will create great futures.
Some of the freshman though have more of a “C’s get degrees” type. Obviously not all, but a fair amount…

8

@Michigankid21 you may have already have made your decision about your school by now, however, I have some advice. My friend is a junior at MSU this year, has been in the honors college all three years and his major is mechanical engineering, he has a 3.8 and absolutely loves MSU. He had a 4. in high school and a 30 on his ACT, he had to decide between Umich and MSU and he chose MSU based on the fact that he talked to employers and they explained to him MSU engineers are at times more valuable than Umich engineers because they understand how to work in a team. Umich competitiveness causes less trust and teamwork. If he had to choose again he would choose MSU time and time again. His exact response when I sent this post to him was " The real question is would he rather have the best four years of his life or strangle himself with a computer cord."
Now I went through this myself and my major is probably going to be business but I’m still undecided. I went back and fourth between both schools but I chose Umich because I would rather come from a more prestigious school with a little lower gpa and social life than from a school that allows the average student to be admitted. And I realized if I did not like my choice I could always transfer, you’re not stuck anywhere.