<p>Michigan is ranked lower in the overall ranking, but in the engineering ranking, they both are almost identical. Which school should I choose for engineering? I am not really sure yet about what I like, but probably mechanical or EE. Any idea? (I am an International student so the tuition between the 2 schools almost cost the same)</p>
<p>You've gotta be careful --- to those of us who live in Michigan "CMU" means "Central Michigan University"! That's somewhat different than "Carnegie Mellon University". </p>
<p>Part of my childhood was spent in the south, so I still think "University of South Carolina" instead of "University of Southern California" when I hear "USC". It's another regional-bias thing.</p>
<p>These schools couldn't "feel" more different. CMU is a downtown school with minimal classic college sports while UM is in nearly the quintessential midwestern college town with every type of collegiate experience imaginable. Both are excellent schools but your experience would be completely different at one or the other.</p>
<p>For Mechanical, Michigan (#4) is better than CMU (#12). For EE, they are roughly equal (Michigan is #5 and CMU is #8). In terms of overall Engineering, they are peers. I am not sure which ranking you are referring to, but CMU is rarely ranked higher than Michigan in overall Engineering rankings. According to the latest USNWR rankings of undergraduate Engineering programs, Michigan was #6 and CMU was #8. Not that it matters really, since there is no difference between #5 and #10, let alone between #6 and #8.</p>
<p>As overall universities, Michigan is more "complete", especially when you factor in things like quality of life and extra curricular activities.</p>
<p>i have a few friends at cmu, and i wouldn't say that michigan is more 'complete' in terms of college life.</p>
<p>they just have different atmospheres and you should decide on the school that you think is the best fit for you. in terms of academics, you can't go wrong with either.</p>
<p>Forgiven, I have several friends who attended CMU too. I even have several friends who completed their undergraduate studies at one of those two schools and their graduate studies at the other. None of them hated their experience at CMU, but it is unanimous that Michigan had a lot more to offer. Almost all student types at CMU can find their niche at Michigan, but it doesn't work the other way around.</p>