I have been accepted as a transfer student into both MSU (environmental geoscience) and MTU (geology). I have absolutely no idea how to decide between the two! About the only information I have found for these schools is that MTU ranks slightly higher as a geology school than MSU, but I don’t know how important that is in the long run. Each school has their pros and cons for me.
MSU: I have been living in Lansing on and off for the last decade (I’m definitely above the typical college age), and have always had my eyes set on going there. I have taken all the core requirement classes at LCC and would only be behind in math. However, I really dislike living in Lansing for many reasons and would jump at the opportunity to leave. The idea of having big auditorium classes kind of worries me as I have heard some horror stories from students that went there about.
MTU: Even though this school is far from home (Chicago) and friends in Lansing, I love the thought of living in the UP. I am quite nature lover and the thought of having places to hike and get out makes me happy. I have been to Houghton before, but I need to head back up and take a proper tour of campus. I would be completely relocating for the duration of my education, as I am not able to go “home” during breaks. The winters there do not scare me off either, but it is more snow than I’m used to driving in. About the biggest con for me is I did not start off with this school in mind, there is a possibility I would need to take some more gen ed classes as well as one or two that are required for the degree that I did not need at MSU (specifically chem lab II). I do like the thought of a smaller classroom as all. The biggest pro is they are offering me a transferring scholarship of $3k/year for 3 years.
I want to do what is best for me in the long term, but I am at a loss on how to decide. Will one of these universities look better on a resume? I’ve heard MTU has a great job placement, but I’m not sure how accurate that is for non-engineering students. I know MSU does a lot of research, but part of me wonders if I’ll get more real life experience at MTU since it’s in a more natural setting. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!