I plan on studying Microbiology with a pre-med track and, so far, have been accepted into MSU and suspect that I can get into UMich LSA. The question is which one provides me with more research opportunities and a better science curriculum to support my pre-med intentions? I know U of M has the UROP program and MSU also has plenty of research opportunities. Thanks in advance.
Michigan is the #2 university for research, with the vast majority spent in life sciences. At both universities you are going to have to search out opportunities (plenty, but matching to our interests takes some work), even through UROP. For med school grades and MCAT scores are paramount so you will have to judge the relative rigor of the two schools vs better research opportunities at Michigan. If you change your mind about med school (fairly common) Michigan will afford you better opportunities and a better alumni network. You also might want to consider ChemE (at either school) which is a much better fallback plan than biology. That would require you to apply to CoE at Michigan or transfer from LSA later, or just enter the engineering school (with sufficient GPA) at MSU.
I’m a current freshman and I was just accepted into a research position UROP. UROP really is a great program, mostly because of its resources it gives to students. It was so easy to find labs I wanted to apply to, and I had multiple professors who wanted me on their projects. Without UROP, finding research positions would be as difficult as any other school. However, if you did get into UROP, I don’t think it can be beat.
There’s no black or white answer to this. You probably aren’t going to solely consider rank. You might also consider other things such as distance from home, financial aid, etc.
My kid is a microbiology major on the research track, so I can’t comment as much about the pre-med track…but I will say that her research opportunities have been terrific at UMich.
She was a UROP scholar last year, and love it. She found a job at a research lab on campus freshman year (this is unusual, but not unheard of for a kid who is a bold go-getter). She’s worked for them ten hours a week the past three school years. Skills that she acquired working at her lab at UMich got her hired into a full time position this past summer at a biological station evolutionary biology lab. Her week was a combination of field work, specimen prep, DNA extraction and amplification, etc.
Both labs she’s worked for have required her to read research papers and attend lab discussions, which she has found invaluable.
She’s applying to internships with the CDC and a medical research company this summer. Thanks to UMich, she has a lot of practical lab skills, and some excellent references and work contacts that might give her an edge in getting the kind of internship that will look very good on grad school applications.
MSU is a terrific school for microbio, I won’t run it down…but we’ve been exceedingly happy with the opportunities at UMich.
My daughter considered MSU as well. We were very surprised when her net cost to attend turned out to be considerably less at UMich with the aid package they offered her. She was also given a departmental scholarship…a really nice one (5k per year for 4 years).
Both schools are terrific for Microbio. My clear favorite is UMich, but you’ll do well at either.
This is a fun comparison: http://medical-schools.startclass.com/compare/11-108/University-of-Michigan-Medical-School-vs-Michigan-State-University-College-of-Osteopathic-Medicine
Ultimately, I think UMich premed gives a bit stronger prep for the MCAT. (UMich students score higher on it, at least)
I have one question for the OP:
Do Calculus and Chemistry come naturally to you? Did you get As and 5s in AP Calculus BC and AP Chemistry without breaking a sweat? If so, go to Michigan. If you struggled to get Bs and/or 4s in those AP subjects, you will struggle at Michigan.
I think Alexandre is spot on. Great advice in my opinion.
Calculus and Chemistry do come naturally to me and I don’t struggle in either of them. Anyways, thanks for the replies!
It depends on what you wanna do w/ the microbiology…
fancytowels said pre-med track.
Calc and Chem are a different type of animal at UMich. I knew plenty with a 5 in AP Calc BC who fell flat on their face for Calc 3
If premed go to MSU, unless you are a genius…