ok not even talking about academics, which school has a better campus? I mean food, dorms, shopping, parties, overall layout?
Unless there’s a person here who transferred from MSU to UMich, you’re going to have a hard time finding the answer to that question. Both schools’ students love their university, so of course both sets will say that their respective school is better.
Would probably be best for you to visit both. UofM is more integrated into the city of Ann Arbor due to the fact that the two were developing at the same time, so there are plenty of restaurants (cheap and expensive), shops, theaters, etc. From my understanding, MSU’s campus is very spread out.
You have it backwards…UofM is spread out as you mention into pockets and MSU is contiguous.
I had a sister who went to MSU and her boyfriend ment to U of M, graduated about 5 years ago,. I talked to them each time before I went to visit both schools.
I chose U of M because of cost, and the quality of engineering.
which school has a better campus? I mean food, dorms, shopping, parties, overall layout?
U of M is basically Ann arbor. It is large, varied, and incredible in many ways. It is also overwhelming and easy to get lost, but there is free bussing.
MSU is a small campus, with a lot packed into a small area. It is not integrated, it is like its own section of East Lansing.
Food, MSU is better, Then again I got the nicest MSU dorm food, and the average dorm food for North Campus at U of M.
Dorms are comparable, U of M may be slightly smaller, but honestly they are very similar unless you opt for a suite.
Shopping, well U of M is around a lot of stores.
Parties, not really mentioned. I guess there are more at MSU, but U of M still has them. MSU is more known for partying, but they are both good.
Layout is personal preference. I would personally choose a smaller campus, but the spread out style has advantages.
“MSU is a small campus, with a lot packed into a small area. It is not integrated, it is like its own section of East Lansing.”
You totally lost me after the above statement about MSU being a, “small campus.”
“You have it backwards…UofM is spread out as you mention into pockets and MSU is contiguous.”
Not really. MSU has a contiguous campus, that stretches over two miles!
Personally, I never cared much for the MSU campus. While it does have natural beauty, in spots, I prefer the integration and variety of the U-M campus. The north campus at Michigan has an MSU feel to it, except that is not nearly as flat. MSU has no answer to Michigan’s central and south campus’. While there is commercial activity to the north along Grand River Ave., there is little to nothing around the vast remainder of the large campus. It’s just a matter of personal preference I suppose, but prefer an environment where there is easy access to an urban, city environment.
“U of M is basically Ann arbor. It is large, varied, and incredible in many ways. It is also overwhelming and easy to get lost, but there is free bussing.”
I can’t imagine anyone who has attended Michigan for a considerable amount of time will feel that the campus is, “overwhelming.”
@rjkofnovi Totally agree, maybe on the 1st day being at U of M can be overwhelming (but who wouldn’t be at their first day in a college town?), but I mean when you go here every day it becomes far from overwhelming.
Yeah, I can confirm what the other two said. You get the general layout of the place within two weeks, but I’m still discovering new little places around campus almost a year in.
I’m currently a freshman at Michigan State but I am going to be transferring to UofM next year, and I have visited friends at UofM countless times so I think I can give a bit of input. Note, I’ve never really been to north campus at UofM.
As for food, I would say it’s about even between the two schools. MSU gets such a good rep strictly because of how good the Brody Cafeteria is, but all of the other cafeteria’s on campus are very mediocre and average, and unless you live in Brody, you’ll never eat there. Similarly, I find South Quad at UofM to be very good, but the others to be similarly average.
Dorms, I would say is also about even between the two schools. Both schools have their good dorms and their bad dorms. MSU has some dorms with great location (river trail, north campus), but they are pretty mediocre inside, and then dorms far away that are new and roomy (Brody). It is easier to choose your dorm at MSU though, and you’re guaranteed the dorm you want as long as you choose early. However, almost all of the dorms are pretty ugly at MSU though, especially east campus and south. The architecture just isn’t nearly as beautiful as at UofM.
Parties, I would give a very slight edge to MSU, but that’s just because the school parties a bit more on weekdays. Wednesdays and Thursdays are huge party days at MSU but not so much from what I hear at UofM. However the schools are very similar on Friday and Saturday nights. UofM does get a slight edge though in that their campus is not as spread out and thus parties are not as far. It’s not uncommon to have to walk 2 or 3 miles to get to a house or frat party at MSU…
Overall Layout, I give UofM a MASSIVE advantage. I think MSU gets too big of a rep for their campus, and it isn’t that deserved… Yes there is quite a bit of grass, but it’s not really in the beautiful areas of campus. Really the only nice part of campus is North, and the rest of the architecture and buildings is pretty mediocre or downright ugly (lookup the dorms in South or East Campus for example). If you like peace and quiet you may like MSU more, but I love the liveliness of things like the Diag at UofM, which MSU has no equivalent. I also dislike how far things can be on campus at MSU, with some classes up to two miles away (making bikes on campus very necessary). Also UofM is much more lively because of downtown AA. MSU has a very, very mini “downtown” that boarders north campus, but it’s pretty far unless you live in North campus and it’s very mediocre.
I do dislike UofM for the distance between Central and North campus though. That’s annoying.
Most likely going to MSU next year. Is it difficult to transfer to UMICH??