<p>I would definitely say U of M hands down for engineering. Although I go to Kettering University and I would even recommend Kettering over U of M for undergrad. I have friends that go to U of M and it just doesn’t seem as if they get the same level of education.</p>
<p>I don’t think it really makes too much of a difference about where you go to college as what you do while you’re there. If you study eight hours a day and graduate with a 3.9 from MSU HC, especially if you’re doing undergrad research while you’re there, you can get into a great graduate program. If you go to Michigan and maintain a 3.7, spend all your time posting on CC about which schools rank better, and are a generally mean person, you may (probably will) still get into a great grad school, but won’t be a very happy person. I’d rather be happy than right any day. No one argues that UMich beats MSU in national rankings. MSU ranks much lower than UMich in many areas. However MSU is designed to be a land grant university, it’s a public university for a reason: everyone should have the opportunity to go to a respectable college. My cousin and his soon-to-be wife have both recently (08) graduated from MSU in the honors program with foreign relation degrees. They are very happy and both have very promising job opportunities. But these examples are silly, you can’t generalize how any one person is going to be later based one other person’s experience. I’m going to MSU for computer science from Texas. Sure Texas has UT and A&M, both very good schools for computer science. UT’s computer science program is nothing to laugh at, especially compared to UMich, which is not a “bad” school either. As an incoming freshman, I know many things about computer science, but not everything. I don’t think I know more than any professor, grad student, or even other students. I’ve been coding for more than ten years in more than twenty languages, and am quite strong in the mathematics to back it up. In short, I’m not going to a school where they hand you knowledge. Neither MSU nor UMich give you an advantage over what you learn. It’s your responsibility to study and learn about your classes. I’ve been doing this for years by myself with things I like, which doesn’t mean I’m smarter than anyone else, but if you want to know stuff, it’s out there. UMich may “force” you to learn more because they will fail you out if you don’t study as much. But this isn’t the point, if you don’t learn the diligence to study like hell instead of partying all the time, it’s your loss. I’m not saying people at UMich and MSU can’t be equally happy, intelligent, or appealing to graduate schools (I do know many people who have gone to graduate schools, but you may waive my advice if you’re in a bad mood), but I’m pleased at my choice of MSU. All other things equal, I know that I can study and read the same books at everyone at any other university. The libraries have no magic powder (well okay, maybe Berkley’s) that makes you able to learn more from the same books. My ACT and class rank (33 and top 5%), along with my other computer science awards, would probably have qualified me for UMich. However, I am ready to leave the Texas atmosphere and want to go far away and make new friends and see a different part of the country (as well as learning how to differentiate between the Michigan girls, they all sound the same to me at this point). MSU’s campus was very pretty, and the college town atmosphere was also very nice. The professors I met were very accessible, nice, and realistic. I was also offered quite an acceptable scholarship. I’ve had relatives that went to both schools, and both seem happy. Good luck to everyone making the decision, I hope you’ll find the place you seem happiest.</p>
<p>As a Michigan graduate, I’m embarrassed by folks like Mighty Nick. My daughter evaluated both Michigan and Michigan State (ultimately selected Duke) - both Michigan and Michigan State have fine qualities - great programs and great students.</p>
<p>I’m a firm believer that the student has to find the “fit”. That can happen in an academically challenging place like the HC at MSU (or Residential Colleges within MSU like James Madison College or Lyman Briggs), or at the honors college at UM.</p>
<p>Mighty Nick, take a step outside the state of Michigan…it’s a big world out there.</p>
<p>MightyNick is a transfer from Penn State, who thinks he is above god, because he goes to Michigan.</p>
<p>Somehow, I missed post #121. Great taste in schools! I am a Kettering alum (GMI in my day, though). I agree … for undergrad, it’s about the best kept secret around. Hope you are enjoying it! I have fantastic memories! :)</p>
<p>To address MightyNick who even confesses the amount of arrogance that UM students have…where you go to college and the people within that college shape who you are for the rest of your life and they form the friendships you will have for the rest of your life. With this in mind, I would not want to go to a school with so many snooty people.</p>
<p>I decided to go to Umich, where I will have the opportunity to take part in research as a freshman. While at orientation I met a number of individuals, none of whom were anything like mightynick, or mightynick’s online personality anyway. I enjoyed my time, and think that I will be happy during my 4+ years in Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>You will be happy bennis. Sometimes we all have to remind ourselves that conversations between a few people online in CC do not necessarily represent the entire student body of a school. Well, that is with the exception of Duke backers of course. Just kidding. ;-)</p>