<p>recap5, if finances are going to be tight, if your folks aren't too well off, I would say go to IU. It is a great university and has a great campus. If, on the other hand, the $10k-$15k difference is easily managed by your family, then I would say go to Michigan.</p>
<p>It looks like Michigan is my choice right now, but I'm leaving in an hour for Pitt. I'm very excited. Someone wanted to know about the student body, I'll see what i can find out.</p>
<p>This is an interesting thread. We fortunately have things more striated in CA. We have nine UCs, that are in a pretty strict order of preference and selectivity of admission... UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB+UCI+UCD, UCSC, UCR, and the new UCM. The midpoint SAT score drops abut 20-25 points each level as you drop through the seven levels.</p>
<p>Then we have the 24 campus Cal State University system, which overlaps at the fourth level with SLO, then back down to UCR with San Diego St., then Long Beach and Fullerton, then on down the line through the other 19 campuses.</p>
<p>I can imagine that at IU and especially UM, the top 20 or 25% will be equivalent to student aspiration at the top 3 UCs, but then the bottom 75%.... it would seem too much like a continuation of high school.</p>
<p>I guess it is important to find out who the serious students are, find a way to room with them and hang out with them, and support each other academically.</p>
<p>I got back from Pitt yesterday. The campus and Oakland area are very nice. I didn't like the city of Pittsburgh as much as I thought I would. I'm from NYC though so maybe I was turned off by its lack of busy, organization, New Yorkness. The student body at Pitt was hard to read. I did go to an admitted students day so I got a lot smiles from the students giving tours etc. When visiting a couple dorms the students seemed nice. Nothing overwhelmingly telling. On a personal level I think this rules out UPitt for me. It sort of came down to city or no city. I felt like Pittsburgh was far from what i want in a city and I believe Ann Arbor has more than enough to do.</p>
<p>C'mon guys! UMich over IU any day of the week. It's a top "25" school and quite prestigious.</p>
<p>It's not about Michigan being better than IU, it comes down to value. Michigan will be 10-15K more per year than Indiana, and it isn't worth it to go into 40-60K debt for a school that is very much associated with the other (both Big Ten universities).</p>
<p>^ Agreed...IU is a fantastic school, like all the Big Te(leve)n schools are...choose the cheapest option. </p>
<p>And forget being dragged down because you have to interact with lower scoring SAT students...it's not true...there are stupid people all over this country (and a 3-hour test does not equal intelligence). You'll have to learn to interact with dumb people sooner or later. I can guarantee you the average student at IU is no different from the average student at U Mich...but both student populations will be light years ahead of the general US population.</p>
<p>The faculty and facility quality at an IU will be better than all but the top two or three UC campuses despite the lower academics of some of the students. You can't make a straight comparison using just SAT scores. IU is a big school in a small state with another big state school (Purdue). The best students get dispersed pretty quickly. The midwest schools had a different philosophy than California. Instead of providing a top school for only the few top students and let the rest go to a decidedly inferior second tier, they try to provide a top school to most of the state kids.</p>