I am currently a high school senior in Michigan who has basically narrowed my college options down to Michigan State and of M. Choosing between the two has started to cause me a lot of stress so I wondered if I could get any input. As for a major I consider myself undecided but I’m very interested in the natural sciences/environmental field. At U of M I was admitted to LSA and at MSU I’ll be in Lyman Briggs. I have a 3.96 GPA and only scored a 29 on the ACT so I’m not getting any scholarships to either school nor am I available to join either honors college right away. My parents both went to MSU but they both think that U of M is considered the better school so I should ultimately go there. Michigan is obviously a higher ranked school and supposedly has more opportunities for research and internships which I like but I’m not sure how much of that to truly believe, or how it stacks against MSU. I am also unsure about which school would ultimately be better for a major in natural science. I have visited both campuses and think they are both beautiful in their own way, and I have heard many mixed reviews about student life, and the students in general, at both schools. If anyone has any input about what they like/dislike about either school or any other suggestions I would be happy to hear them.
If your family can afford either, go with UM. It has a stronger national reputation all around, and you can’t beat Ann Arbor as a college town.
Congratulations on your admission to Michigan. It is an elite national school, among the best , and is is very difficult to be admitted there. As an in-state student it is a bargain.
I definitely understand wanting to attend your family’s school, but you should consider the following:
In favor of Michigan:
- Every LSA major is open to you. MSU has GPA minimums for many of their majors.
- The Michigan alumni network is the among largest in the world and will help you get jobs worldwide.
- Michigan has the 2nd largest research budget in the nation, and many opportunities are available to undergrads.
- Recruiting is better - more major corporations recruit at Michigan than MSU
- You will have a slight edge in graduate school admissions
- You won’t be one of those people who turned down Michigan to go to MSU. Ask your parents about this. We hear ‘I was admitted to Michigan but went to MSU’ sometimes. We never hear the converse. Little brother syndrome.
- Dorm food is better, dorms are a little nicer, sports teams win more, facilities are better, students are smarter, and there are more international and OOS students for a bit more diversity (about 50%).
- You pay in-state tuition for study abroad programs. If you decided to spend a semester at Cambridge you’d pay the same as in Ann Arbor, plus travel expenses. The variety of programs is much greater.
- The town is integrated with the Campus and you have greater access to shopping, food,etc. nearby.
In favor of MSU:
- You can switch to engineering, nursing etc. with a lower GPA. You generally need a 3.0 GPA to transfer schools at Michigan, and a 3.6+ to transfer to Ross (business)
- The National Superconducting Cyclotron lab is at MSU. If you want to study physics, MSU is the place to go.
- Vet, animal and ag programs are outstanding at MSU. None at Michigan.
- The campus is nicer and more centralized.
- Parties are wilder. Maybe a plus, maybe not.
- Housing costs are a lot lower, especially off-campus.
Socially, the Michigan students are a bit wealthier, and most everyone works pretty hard. There is a lot of partying at both schools, and at Michigan there is more greek culture… I would speak with your friends who attend both schools with specific questions about their experiences and attend admitted student days.
Full disclosure: I attended MSU and have many friends who attended Michigan.
You can get an excellent education at either one, but if you were my kid, I would definitely encourage you toward Michigan. I don’t agree with his list entirely, but I think that @TooOld4School is taking the right approach in thinking about what your reason would be for choosing MSU.
If you were my kid, I would want to know what is causing you to be stressed?
I am also curious about what type of natural science you are considering? For example for pre-med, I might consider MSU strongly because Med schools focus heavily on gpa.
Again, I suggest that you default to Michigan, but there are a number of reasons that you might choose State.
For example, my D1 hates any class that is not extremely difficult. She needs to be in a very difficult program. In contrast, D2 likes a challenge, but does not want to be pushed to the very limit every day. She chose top school that is just a bit less crazy on the the difficulty scale.
To be fair, @TooOld4School, MSU has done pretty well in sports vs UM recently. But I agree with most of your other points. And Michigan does have a great sports culture.
@intparent , regretfully (as a Michigan fan) , I must agree with you. MSU’s revenue sports have been very good vs Michigan over the past decade. The non-revenue sports are a lot better at Michigan.
intparent and TooOld4School, this decade (2010-2017), Michigan and MSU have been even in Basketball and Hockey. Admittedly, MSU had the edge in Football in recent years, but things have shifted since Harbaugh became coach. Going forward, I think Michigan will have the edge in Football while the two programs will continue to compete well against each other in Basketball and Hockey. Regardless, both Michigan and MSU excel athletically.
My wife would do a sailor proud whenever Michigan and MSU play. The strings of expletives (at home) terminating with ‘Spartans’ (or refs) and ear splitting volume (at games - no expletives with children nearby) makes her a bit of a legend to surrounding fans. It makes games a lot more fun. Hopefully the OP will become equally passionate about whichever school the OP picks.