<p>I was wondering about MSU's academic reputation. After talking to my family, I've come to the conclusion that I'll probably have to go there (despite it being lower-ranked and probably more expensive than some schools I could get into). The residential colleges are really nice, and I'm sure that some departments are renown. But how is the school seen as a whole? Do people consider it an average or better university? Are MSU grad's employment prospects far worse than top LAC and UM grads?</p>
<p>im assuming youre talking about michigan state. msu's reputation is pretty good. its academics have gone up a lot. average gpa is around a 3.6, and many people are surprised by that. the business, science and packaging schools are really strong. it also has a well earned reputation for its parties. ive been to a few, and theyre out of this world. im not sure about grad employment compared to um, but im sure that theres not a huge difference.</p>
<p>I do not believe that attending MSU would hinder your future prospects, it has a very good overall reputation. I may be a bit biased however since all the MSU grads I have met have been in either engineering or the sciences. This includes one of the most impressive engineers I have ever met.</p>
<p>I was going to suggest that MSU is great for sciences and especially engineering. Forget Sociology there. It's baby college. I have heard similar good things about the business/packaging programs.</p>
<p>So MSU is good for the sciences, engineering, and business? That's good. What about political science and pre-law? I hear James Madison is well-respected.</p>
<p>It's good to know that MSU has a good recommendation.</p>
<p>"Are MSU grad's employment prospects far worse than top LAC and UM grads?"</p>
<p>I seriously doubt that, and it depends where your looking and what profession. For example, in Michigan and many parts of the Midwest, like Chicago, MSU's job prospects are probably about even with UM's, lower in some areas, higher in others. UM's rep probably does travel better to other parts of the country, like say the east. But even then, UM is clearly 2nd fiddle to Ivy League schools out east (I'm sure Alexandre will object to that, but I've lived out east long enough to see how many elite quarters that fawn over the Ivies, Potted Ivies,7 Sisters, MIT, Stanford, Duke, ... etc., look at UM as a nice Big 10 school, but still a Big 10 school. MSU to them, is just another Big 10 school)...</p>
<p>So no, I don't think MSU's hiring prospects are "far worse" than UM's, unless a UM grad is doing the hiring... And as to LAC's, that's rather specious, cause LAC's are, by their nature (and title), liberal arts schools that prepare kids for Grad School. As for sheer employability, unless your talking one of the real heavyweight national LACs (Amherst, Williams, maybe Oberlin, etc.) MSU probably is just as strong if not stronger than most LAC's simply because of its sheer size and superior resources.</p>
<p>And don't discount the size and diversity of MSU's alumni base which is all over the country and world. When a school like MSU's floods a region with alumni, like Chicago and (obviously Detroit), or LA, D.C. or Florida, its local prestige will be higher, even among non-alumni... I've frequently heard Chicago, non-MSU alum comment how it just seems like there are Spartans everywhere in that town... I don't think that, in such an atmosphere, your job prospects will suffer one iota, do you?</p>
<p>And in general, as has been noted, MSU has a reputation that considerably better than the average large state school.</p>