<p>Okay so I had been struggling for a long time to decide between these two options and after much thought I originally decided on UMich very narrowly but I still haven't officially decided. The other day I got a financial aid report from U of M and they are only offering me 3000 in loans for my freshman year, my family isn't rich but the household makes over 100000 but not enough for my parents to actually pay my college education, they will help me out yes but not to the extent I need. And in the most ironic fashion I received a letter that same day from MSU offering me roughly 30,000 dollars in scholarships over the course of my 4 years. This was a shock honestly I had about 5,000 in scholarships but I just didnt expect much more so it was pretty exciting. But now I'm just not sure anymore my gut is leaning towards the money and the freedom of the Honors college at MSU. My parents both want me to go to Umich saying going to such a good school will make all my hard work pay off, but 30k seems like a great pay off to me but I'm not sure. Theres also the matter of my AP credits and potential IB credits. If I do as well as I think I will on my IB exams combined with my APs I would have 35 credits at MSU (probably wont use a few of them though) and 20 credits at UMich. So I'm just asking for a second opinion here. I want someone's advice who is not my parents. I am confident I will succeed at either school and would love either one. I am planning on chemical Engineering being my major btw. So its the prestige of UMich vs the money and freedom of class scheduling of MSU Honors. I love both campuses and the communities are not my concern at this point. So please any advice would be welcome, and please no school bashing or senseless chest thumping, I am a hardcore spartan football fan but that does not matter to me right now so please just academic advice. Thank you anyone who responds to this thread</p>
<p>This is a jumble. I can’t make out what UMich will cost you. It seems you are full pay, are you instate or OOS? What is the total cost of attendance, how much are your parents paying and what will be your personal debt? Same question for MSU.</p>
<p>Go to U. Mich, its a much better school and worth 30k extra in student loans</p>
<p>heyhey, let me guess, you’re a high school student. :)</p>
<p>Please list: parents’ established budget (ie, your parents said they could pay z), cost after any scholarship and before any loan for each school, perks of honors college at MSU.
How much in loans were you thinking of?</p>
<p>As of now, I’d say Honors College at MSU indeed. Graduating debt free from an honors college is something you’ll never regret. However if UMich is within budget…</p>
<p>The 3000 in loans is what? The subsidized Stafford? The unsub Stafford which is available without need is higher than that for a freshman? </p>
<p>At UM, some students have to request the Stafford unsub to be part of their package. </p>
<p>No one here can tell you what the better fit is for you. You will have to decide what is truly affordable and what works for you. I admit, I do not actually understand your OP’s financials. They are a bit unclear. </p>
<p>Rankings-wise, UM is about 20 or so places higher in ChemE than MSU. But rankings aren’t everything, and you have to take your personal preference into place. </p>
<p>This UM vs MSU question has been given a lot of attention in just the last six months. Check out earlier threads.</p>
<p>Sorry if it seems jumbled I was rather exhausted last night.</p>
<ol>
<li>Yes I am in-state I live in the Lansing area
2.I am not sure what kind of loans really, I just got my financial aid report from U of M and it had the words "family share 23,000 dollars on it and it scared me. U of M has not offered me any scholarships.</li>
<li>MSU is offering me 30,000 in scholarships and I’m applying for one to cover a year of free housing now but I feel I won’t get that.</li>
<li>My family will help me out, I dont have an exact x dollar amount but a few thousand I’m guessing, its hard for my parents to say “we’ll pay for x dollars worth of college” </li>
<li>Some of the advantages of MSU Honors college:
A. Ability to take any class you want skipping pre reqs (obviously you can’t be stupid about this but say you want to take a 300 level psychology class your freshman year you dont have to take Psychology 101)
B. Smaller class sizes (eg most below 30 or 40)
C. Priority scheduling after freshman year (Honors sophomore get priority over standard seniors)
D. Chance to take honors classes with further study
E. An Honors advisor who helps with additional planning for things like graduate school
F. The chance to take some graduate level classes while still in undergrad school (idk if i’d use this one)</li>
</ol>
<p>Look, you need to know what your parents are willing to spend. Too bad that they don’t want to think about it. You need to press them on this. Do you want to decide on a college only to have them say, “uh, not that one” and then have you say, “what about this one?” and they say, “not that one either”? Honesty, transparency, mutual respect.</p>
<p>Looks like the COA for MSU is $21.8K. <a href=“http://admissions.msu.edu/finances/tuition.asp”>http://admissions.msu.edu/finances/tuition.asp</a> Your scholarship would bring that down to $14.3K. You can get a $5.5K loan yourself leaving $8.8K. That would have to be paid from a combination of your parents and whatever money you could earn over the summer. Is that doable?</p>
<p>UMich starts at $26.2K. <a href=“http://www.finaid.umich.edu/TopNav/AboutUMFinancialAid/CostofAttendance.aspx”>http://www.finaid.umich.edu/TopNav/AboutUMFinancialAid/CostofAttendance.aspx</a> You can get the same $5.5K in Direct loans leaving $20.7K to be paid by your parents and whatever you can make from work. </p>
<p>Have that conversation with your parents.</p>
<p>I do not think academics should enter the picture here. You can easily access hundreds of rankings relevant to your own academic interests. Since you live in EL, and money is a concern, you could commute to MSU, saving the parents an additional $8k/year. You seem more inclined to go to MSU, and the CoA seems to favor MSU anyway, so go for it.</p>
<p>Thank you guys, I will talk with my parents, still not sure but I got a month and a half to decide.</p>