<p>Is Michigan State University <em>really</em> that bad compared to umich? I feel really crushed about being waitlisted and my second choice is MSU. Has anyone been on the campus or know anything about MSU? I really don't want to go to MSU, but it looks like that's going to be the institution where I'm going to spend the next four years. Please...make me feel better about possibly going to MSU if I am not taken off the waitlist for umich.</p>
<p>Hey smurfette.</p>
<p>I'm in the same situation. I wanted to go to UM my entire life, but I too was waitlisted.</p>
<p>Michigan is arguably easier to get into as a transfer than it is as a freshman applicant. So if your dream is to go to UM, then go to State, have some fun, get your general requirements done with, and transfer. </p>
<p>I like this route better than the CC route because 1) You don't miss out on the college experience, 2) You always have a good, cheap education option if you choose to stay there.</p>
<p>I'm visiting the campus, seeing how the school is. I'd suggest doing the Day-At-State program next week (Mon-Fri) and seeing how the option is. You can always go to a CC and transfer, it's pretty easy to do so at UM.</p>
<p>It's really not a bad school. In some areas, it's better than UM, traditionally in the agricultural areas. It's just overshadowed by one of the elite institutions in the country that happens to be less than an hour away from it.</p>
<p>How good is MSU for pre-med? How are the science classes? This is what I'm concerned about because I wanted to go to umich because of the occupation I want to pursue.</p>
<p>I was just accepted to UofM as a transfer (didn't apply as a freshman) and hopefully will hear from MSU soon (its a lot "easier" to transfer to UofM because State has inanely specific transfer requirements).</p>
<p>If you're pre-med, I would say MSU would be an excellent choice. Lymann-Briggs has an outstanding reputation. You have the benefit of having two human medical schools attached to the university and It appears to be a lot easier to get research opportunities @ State as well. And since you plan on medical school, if you want to do academic mediciene, you can go big name for med-school and residency. I know someone who is headed to UofM medical school on a full ride, was accepted at Harvard and got offered a nice chunk of change from Pritzker from MSU ugrad.</p>
<p>So the science classes are quite good, physics especially, the math classes suck, in a way simillar to how my non-engineering UofM friends tell me math sucks at UofM. They're huge and taught be people who don't exactly have the best English skills. If you don't have AP Calc credit coming in, walk accross the street and take MATH126 @ LCCEast (gets 2 MSU classes done in one semester, and class size is like 30, 12 of whom dropout halfway through).</p>
<p>As for me, I think I'm leaning towards MSU right now (assuming they come through for me and Northwestern doesn't), but a lot of that is because my dad is a professor there and I get half tuition. I'll be able to study abroad almost every other semester and still graduate debt free. And while I'm completing pre-Med pre-reqs, I'm also intersted in majoring in International Relations and James Madison college is outstanding. I know I'm going to go to some variety of professional school so the name doesn't matter to me as long as I can get good grades (and its not <em>that</em> bad of name in the first place).</p>
<p>The things about UofM that keep me considering it:
MUCH MORE flexible core/distros
The name, there's a little bit of a prestige whore in all of us ;)
I would loooove to get out of Mid-Michigan
Ann Arbor is way cooler than EL
I have more friends that go to UofM
If I decided I wanted to get a "real job" straight out of ugrad it would probably be better to go to UMich (unless of course I wanted a real job in packaging design or equine nutrition :))</p>
<p>To smurfette: No, MSU isn't "that bad" compared to UM, and when you come down to it, many programs in undergrad science/premed match and exceed the quality (in attention and resources) that you'd get at UM, esp in such areas as physics. And wandergirl hits the nail directly on the head viz Lyman Briggs' excellence. It's also important to note that Briggs: a) is a residential program, meaning most enrollees live in the same dorm where the classes/labs/library/faculty offices reside, and b), unlike similarly excellent James Madison residential college, Briggs is a "school", meaning theres no dean and that many, if not most, profs in the program have their permanent appointments in the College of Natural Sciences (where Briggs is housed), which can be a good thing in that they are more in tune w/ the cutting edge research of the larger Nat Sci program (like physics (esp nuclear physics w/ MSUs amazing cyclotron), astronomy, now w/ the SOAR telescope) but can teach/assist Briggs students in a small liberal arts setting. So contrary to what A2wolves says, MSU has considerable power in non-agricultural areas as well as Ag ones, physical and natural science being among them.</p>
<p>UM is going to carry more weight reputation-wise, but I think the further you get away from Michigan, the less that's a factor. UM's got an awesome medical school, one of the best. It is a traditional powerhouse that focuses heavily on research while MSUs, while very good, is geared toward primary care practitioners. Thus, the advantage to attending undergrad at such a place as UM is obvious. They used to have a program called Inteflex where, if you had boffo stats, get direct entry into the medical school as an undergrad in an 8-year program, stressing broad liberal arts and granting a double BS/MD at the end. I'm not sure it still exists though. </p>
<p>Ann Arbor's the better of the 2 towns. Much more breadth and depth of things to do, esp book stores (Borders was founded here). East Lansing's not terrible, but it's no Ann Arbor (or Berkeley or Madison). EL is part suburb for Lansing pols and GM execs as much a college town, while A-squared is ALL college town and just far enough away from Detroit to have its own distinct, highly-cultural identity. As I'm sure you know, UM's more integrated into its town where as MSU is self contained and merely adjacent to E.L. </p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Smurfette, forget about comparing MSU to Michigan. MSU is a great university in its own right. It is one of the nation's top 100 universities, arguably one of the top 50, and there are well over 1,500 universities out there. MSU's campus is very nice, its students are friendly and alums are loyal and proud. Academically, MSU ha many highly regarded department from Physics and Biology to Political Science and Economics. Of course, Broad is one of the better B-schools and MSU's Medical school is very highly regarded in "primary care". Also, MSU is one of the 50 or so universities that has an endowment exceeding $1 billion. Of course, you'll have to get used to losing to Michigan in Football, but that's another story! hehe</p>
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So contrary to what A2wolves says, MSU has considerable power in non-agricultural areas as well as Ag ones, physical and natural science being among them.
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I never said that they were only good in Agricultural areas, but you've already shown me and hundreds of others on this board that you don't understand how to read.</p>
<p>A2Wolves6: "It's really not a bad school. In some areas, it's better than UM, traditionally in the agricultural areas."</p>
<p>Yes, so how is that stating that it doesn't have power in non-agricultural areas?</p>
<p>Again... reading comprehension. A 8th grade skill.</p>
<p>Although, I did not make this exact decision. (My stats were too low to get into U of M so I didn't apply, lol) But, my decision came down to MSU and another school. And honestly, I have no clue why anyone would want to go to MSU. East Lansing/Lansing is a terrible city and the people there are so closed minded. Plus, the school in general isn't that great really. Choose Umich</p>
<p>Haha, I believe it would be "an 8th grade skill" not a. But regardless I understand your point and there is no reason to accuse you of knocking MSU, because that was not your intention.</p>
<p>The farther you get away from U of M, the GREATER the difference in reputation from U of M, MSU. U of M definitely has a more salient reputation across the country. </p>
<p>I personally hate the MSU experience, from the many times I've stayed over there for the weekend. Most of my HS friends go there. Sure it's a good school, but it is massive--especially geographically. </p>
<p>In the end, it's whatever suits your needs. One college or the other isn't going to make or break your career and the rest of your luck.</p>
<p>Hope you've spent a night at both school before you decide--very different atmospheres, IMHO.</p>
<p>Quincy is correct, Inteflex doesn't exist anymore. At the time I think it wasn't an 8 program, but may have shaved a year off. I am sure it will shock him to learn I got that WITHOUT READING USNEWS.</p>
<p>Is it competitive to get into Lyman Briggs, or do you just have to check the box in your application?</p>
<p>I visited MSU and the students seemed much more close-minded than at UM. At the ADS scholarship competition i would say it seemed like 95% of the kids there were in-state and they weren't too friendly; they just stayed in small groups with other kids from their high schools. The MSU students weren't very outgoing and they didnt seem as academically driven as the students at UofM did. Also I agree that the difference between MSU and UofM is huge for out-of-state. I live on the east coast and most ppl have only heard of MSU because of athletics.</p>
<p>smurfette - if you have been waitlisted at Michigan (nothing to be ashmamed of!!) you likely are at the top of the class credential-wise at MSU. Sounds like more of an opportunity to me than a problem. No matter where you go, you've got to focus and develop academically and as a person. As Alexandre posits, there's plenty of resources at MSU to do that. </p>
<p>As an aside, I believe that MSU is the first land grant university, founded by an Act of Congress in the 1870's. As such, it has a proud history, and I am not at all surprised to see it in the top 100.</p>
<p>hmmm... i'm in a similar situation with you - i got waitlisted from U of M which wasn't my first choice when i applied so i screwed my application and sent it in the same day i started it.. haha - really regret it but w/e.. i was actually considering just going to an instate school like East Michigan or MSU - b/c it would save me a whole lot of money instead of going to private college. I heard MSU was really good school but really different too. Of course I'd pick U of M over MSU anyday, but if you dont get off the waitlist (like me) I guess there isn't really much of a choice..? Lafayette gave me a really excellent financial aid package but i'd still choose U of M if i got accepted.</p>
<p>did you send in any extra letters/essays/recommendations? i heard the administration doesn't even read them. -- i'm not sure if thats true but if it is, i find that extremely disrespectful</p>
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did you send in any extra letters/essays/recommendations? i heard the administration doesn't even read them. -- i'm not sure if thats true but if it is, i find that extremely disrespectful
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</p>
<p>I don't know how much of the administration reads any of the application. But admissions does. I know they read the material that is supposed to be a part of your application. I don't know if they read extra material if students send it. </p>
<p>If they didn't, I could understand. IMO, it's not extremely disrespectful; it's time management and keeping the playing field level. Students will send in all kind of things--three extra recommendations, the honors paper they did as a junior, a new list of award, extra essays..... where does it end? How much staff time should be tied up reading unsolicited material, or essays that are four times a long as the guidelines call for? Do you want a system where the applicant who send the most extra material gets the edge? </p>
<p>I guess on one level it's "disrespectful" to not read extra essays, but when you've worked to develop an application process that you think works, and got 25,000 applications to read, I think a university would be correct to say "Send your best recs and write your best essays within the framework of what the app asks for. And NO MORE!"</p>
<p>Alexandre never dissapoints in using cliches. "Of course, you'll have to get used to losing to Michigan in Football, but that's another story! hehe"</p>
<p>NYao, it's just a joke, he obviously respects MSU.</p>