<p>I got my acceptance letter to MSU - James Madison and the Honors College last week. Yay!</p>
<p>On the other hand, there's the University of Michigan. I'm still waiting on a decision, but I'm fairly confident. Now, there's actually a lot less I like about U of M's department (massive classes Freshman/Sophomore year, more liberal professors, less community feeling, etc.) but that being said, it's got the prestige. As someone who wants to go to an elite law school someday, that's sort of a big deal, isn't it?</p>
<p>I've got my opinions on other aspects of the schools down pat, but education is a pretty big part of college (duh) and as much as I love U of M, Ann Arbor, and the thought of being a Wolverine, I'd be miserable if I was in a learning environment that I didn't like for four years. Everything about Michigan clicks with me, except for the PolySci department. State's the opposite. Am I misinformed? Do you guys have any thoughts/input? It'd be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Considering MSU has a higher ranked PoliSci program that U of M… prestige isn’t really a factor here. </p>
<p>I got into both, I chose MSU. I am not in James Madison (I am in a different residential college program) and when I first started here, I too wanted to go to law school (that quickly changed though). </p>
<p>It really does depend on what you’re looking for. MSU as a whole is much more laid-back and accepting than UMich. I also happen to think the profs here are a lot better as well because we have MUCH less TAs than UMich. </p>
<p>As I said before, it depends on your likes and dislikes. I knew for a fact that I would be miserable at UMich because I am not hyper-competitive and I like the intimacy of small classes. For you, that could be different. Although, James Madison kids do tend to give UMich kids a run for their money when it comes to being hyper-competitive. But, one can’t beat the small classes. And, as I said before, MSU has a higher ranked polisci department than UMich when James Madison is taken into consideration.</p>
<p>What are your specific concerns?</p>
<p>Btw, congratulations on your acceptance and your honors acceptance. I hope you make the right choice, whichever school the right choice is for you :).</p>
<p>Thanks for your input! I’m with you, I like the idea of a Residential College like James Madison. U of M can talk about their RC and the Ford School all they want, but they have no James Madison equivalent.</p>
<p>I guess my biggest concern is law school. I’m pretty much set on attending an Ivy-league or at least top tier law program, so whatever school is going to give me the most competitive edge would be at the top of my list. At the same time, though, I must say that I’m a Conservative Libertarian, and while I have absolutely no problem with professors disagreeing with me, I’d hate to get graded down due to my opinions. I’ve heard of this being a problem at UMAA, not so much MSU, though, and certainly not James Madison. Any opinion on the latter? Thanks again!</p>
<p>Honestly, James Madison will give you the edge over UMich. However, it is what you DO at the school rather than the school itself that is the major determining factor for what law school you’ll get into. </p>
<p>James Madison is actually where you’ll find some of the most conservatives on campus. I personally haven’t heard of issues where you get marked down for disagreeing, as long as you defend it. I’m sure it happens I just personally have not heard of it.</p>
<p>Really, you think? My own personal experiences are obviously a limited representation, but I’ve heard James Madison spoken of with great aplomb, but only ever by in-staters familiar with the world of academia, whereas UMich tends to have a more nationally-recognized status. Would that play any role in law school admission, and perhaps just as important, getting a job or paid internship straight out of James Madison?</p>
<p>Connections are a big deal too, as half of college is networking. I’ve heard of the U of M network being a tried-and-true system, but haven’t heard much from State or James Madison. This is especially key as I have no intention on remaining in Michigan after mu Undergraduate degree. So how’s MSU’s network?</p>
<p>Thanks for answering all these questions, it’s hugely helpful.</p>
<p>I can’t really answer the questions about internships and such, but if you do a quick search on here I’m sure you’ll come up with some answers. </p>
<p>Both schools are great, and after reading your post it seems like you would prefer MSU James Madison College over U of M… even if you were given the chance to attend their Ford School junior year. As you’ve stated, you would like to have a more conservative teacher ( and according to romainigypsyeyes they are all including the students at James Madison College) while at U of M your concern by the school being more liberal than MSU. Which ever school you think you will get the right education and better personal experiences as romainigypsyeyes stated than you will likely want to attend there.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot. Actually, I don’t really care if my professor is Liberal or not. Hell, I’d almost prefer a Liberal professor and student body, it’d be a fun challenge and a good experience. I just don’t want any unobjective grading. Although even then, I’ve heard about it at UMAA, never at MSU. </p>
<p>Plus, I applied mid-October (3.85 UW GPA, 30 ACT) and still haven’t heard back from them, which is frustrating in itself. :/</p>
<p>No. 4 Michigan. Moo U is no where to be seen. Just compare the number of political figures who are Michigan grads and the number who are Moo U grads would tell the story.
Sure you could find ONE ranking that ranks Moo U ahead. Similarly I could find one ranking that ranks Michigan overall ahead of Stanford, or one that ranks Ross ahead of Wharton…</p>
<p>But I do agree Moo U will give you a better shot at law school just because of the fact that the proportion of clueless students is so much higher that you can stay ahead of the curve much easier. (I am not saying that everyone at Moo U = idiot, but the proportion of idiots is much higher)</p>
<p>bearcats, that is graduate school. OP are you going to graduate school? Don’t think so. Good try though.</p>
<p>Go away bearcats unless you have something objective and reasonable to contribute. Moo U does nothing to help your argument.</p>
<p>Btw, we all know that US News isn’t biased or unobjective (rolls eyes). They’ve been discredited time and time again.</p>
<p>EDIT: Thanks though for reminding me why I didn’t go to U of M. Notice there was not one negative thing said about either schools until a UMicher came on here? Perhaps bearcats is just bitter because of their loss of any bowl chances? Hmm…</p>
<p>Never said it was. Btw, if you actually read the site, it was conducted by the London school of Economics, not by politicalstuides.org. That’s just where the article happened to be. It is a compilation of many, many different political science rankings from all over the world. It’s actually a very interesting read.</p>
<p>"Perhaps bearcats is just bitter because of their loss of any bowl chances? Hmm… "
Sure… I am bitter because I went to a prestigious world class university that got me into a prestigious industry and on track to make 6 figure my first year that 99.9% of Moo U grad wont even have a chance to sniff…</p>
<p>“Considering MSU has a higher ranked PoliSci program that U of M”
You speak as if that was a fact, while in fact most rankings favor Michigan with a selective few rank State ahead. That is why I am negative towards you.</p>
<p>Interesting. Every person I know who graduated from MSU is making 6 digits. But I digress.</p>
<p>Then again, going UMich is all about making money, right? Give me a break. UMich is a good school. No one denies that. I want to go to UMich for grad school. But, you are doing a grave disservice to your school though by being such a donkey. It is people just like you that give UMich the snob reputation that it has, and it’s unfortunate. </p>
<p>OP doesn’t need UMich or James Madison to make six figures. His dad has connections. He just doesn’t want to be penalized for his right wing convictions. NU has a pretty good law school. It has a great location.</p>
<p>Congratulations Cronotiggerfan!! I definitely agree that James Madison is the better choice. It is extremely prestigious. I have considered going to law school myself. I got into the college of engineering a few weeks back; However, if I were going strictly into law, I would go to James Madison. No question. </p>
<p>btw…im surprised that nobody has posted a “Official Michigan State Acceptance 2014” thread. someone has posted one for michigan, but not for state. Has someone made it yet?</p>
<p>answering the OP, James madison has a crazy good networking system (and Michigan state is pretty decent in itself). They send out bulletins of all the jobs available, and we constantly have presentations from awesome organizations/gov. entities with representatives who often have graduated from James madison at MSU (we also have several alumni nights, expansive networking opportunities if you take advantage of it etc.). </p>
<p>Granted, UofM (the university itself) does have more international prestige overall. But Michigan State (especially within its residential colleges i.e. James madison) has a significant amount of clout amongst top grad and law school programs. I think an average of 1/3rd of james madison students end up going to law school (and they get into schools such as UofM, harvard, yale, columbia etc.) </p>
<p>As far as political spectrum-diversity within James madison, we do have the most vocal conservative student body on campus (the college republicans are pretty hard-core here). However the college dems are still incredibly prevalent and in general, the professors and students are very liberal although there is a large segment of the population who are moderate in views. Don’t worry, the professors won’t grade you down for your political views in james madison (although there are a couple feminist teachers that you should probably be aware of). </p>
<p>When it comes to getting a job/paid internship right out of graduation it really depends. On average the success rate seems pretty high in finding placement (whether it is in a job, military, or graduate school), even with the depressed economy. A lot of students end up doing something like peace corps, americorps or teach for america before going to law or grad school. What’s great about james madison is that you are required to take 1 semester of field experience (through study abroad or full-time internship). So coming out of graduation, you should already have substantial experience in the real world that should help you significantly in being able to find a decent-paying job.</p>