<p>This post only confirms why I applied to both UIUC and UMICH - they are very, very similar! Since tuition cost is almost exactly the same, I would go with UMICH. </p>
<p>Reasons
1. Both are neck and neck in engineering programs, so either would be great.
2. UMICH has a great liberal arts education that you can fall back on and business majors are recruited heavily. </p>
<p>Alexandre stated the facts and summed everything up perfectly, but UMICH has the edge, and not by a large margin. I would wait and visit UIUC before you make any commitments because happiness should play a huge factor in your decision, especially if you are choosing between two very similar schools at a very similar cost.</p>
<p>I hate to bring USNEWS into this, but Michigan is ranked 25...Illinois is ranked 38. Whether or not you agree with the methodology of the ranking, Michigan has more then a "slight" edge over UIUC, as good a school as it is.</p>
<p>CCRunner, I don't think a 15 spot difference in the USNWR is that significant. But a 0.5 difference in Peer assessment score is. Michigan has a peer assessment score of 4.5 and Illinois has a peer assessment score of 4.0. No university in the US has more than a 0.4 advantage over Michigan. Harvard, MIT, Princeton and Stanford have peer assessment scores of 4.9. Yale and Cal have a peer assessment score of 4.8. Caltech has a peer assessment score of 4.7. No other university has a peer assessment score higher than 4.6.</p>
<p>15 spots when looking at state schools does make a difference. Michigan is one of the top 3 state schools, OSU is not one of the top 15. That's a significant difference. But in the overall USNWR ranking, I don't see a significant difference between #10 and #25 or between #25 and #40.</p>
<p>"UI might have a bit better overall reputation worldwide. Lots of internationals flock there."</p>
<p>I am an American living in Korea, and UM definitely has a better reputation here. Most of my classmates are Koreans and a lot of them are applying to both schools. However, UM is a school they might actually go to... UI is mostly used as a safety. I don't know that that is necessarily reflective of two schools' actual quality, but it does say something about their reputations.</p>
<p>sorry to bring this back up again but im really conflicted on what to do. im from illinois so u of i would be cheap for me while UM would cost double. my hopes are to get in to medical school which will cost a lot so im wondering if i should just stay instate and save 80k or is the UM undergrad a much better degree than u of i for going into the medical field? thanks.</p>
<p>There is no such thing as a "better" degree to get one into Medical school. If you were aiming for Law schools or for MBA programs, I would say it matters, but not medical school. A medical school will only care about your GPA, the classes you took, your essays, the interview and your MCATs. Which university you attended won't matter. Go to UIUC, maintain a 3.7+ GPA, ace the MCAT and you are set. The $80,000 you save will pay for two years of medical school.</p>