Premed at Umich vs Lyman Briggs

College Search & Selection
1

Hi everyone!

I’m stuck between doing premed at Umich and MSU Honors College + Lyman Briggs. Here is what each college has to offer me:

Umich:
$10,000 four-year renewable scholarship
$1500 regents merit scholarship (1 year)
(still applying) Health Sciences Scholars Program
Student diversity=appeals to my minority
Bigger classes=bad for rec letters
Normative/bell-curve grading
Lots of research opportunities

MSU Lyman Briggs:
Professorial Assistantship ($3200 per year for up to 2 years)
$5000 four-year state scholarship
Honors College membership
Student diversity=not as appealing for me
Smaller classes=better rec letters
Objective grading
Sibling attends= I have access to clubs and possible leadership positions

High School Stats:
ACT: 35
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.21
APs: Bio, Chem, Calc BC, Stats, Gov, Psych, Eng Lang+Lit

Looking at what each college has to offer me, what do you guys think is my best choice? My concern for choosing Umich is that I will lose the PA position (which is immediate paid research in freshman year), the possible leadership positions in my sibling’s clubs, and honors college recognition. However, I am further perplexed by the amount of scholarship Umich has offered me, and so my concerns for choosing Lyman Briggs is the scholarship difference as well as the student life (I don’t see myself fitting in).

In all honesty, I am leaning towards Umich, but I want to know if going there will be a decision I will regret for the rest of my life. After all, I may have done well in high school, but I am well aware of the fact that college is a whole different ballgame.

More questions:
At Umich, how difficult is it to get 3.8+ GPA while doing research/volunteering and being part of clubs?
How about for students in Lyman Briggs ^?
For Umich, exactly how hard is it to get into research, knowing that there are so many bright premed students competing?

Thank you all in advance!

2

We’re in CA. My kid is at UMich. So, you have my answer. :smile:

Bell curve grading? We (my kid and I) have discussed grades a lot over the first two years and grading has almost always been by strict % at least on the STEM side. In some classes, for instance Orgo, an 80% is considered an A. But that’s Orgo, which is probably one of the most difficult classes. Math classes have been 90% is an A, 80% is a B, etc.

Not “Mission Impossible,” but definitely “Mission Extremely Difficult.” You can fit all in, but you will be studying a lot and on most of the weekends too.

Just looking at the Student Employment Website often, there are lots of research jobs available in various disciplines and those are just the advertised ones.