UMich or Michigan State?

College Search & Selection
1

WARNING: LONG POST

I’m in-state and have been accepted to both schools (LSA for U of M). In truth I’ve been recently going through a “what career am I going to pursue” kind of crisis… but generally I hold an interest in the medical sciences/laboratory setting.

I’ve visited both schools, and honestly, I love both in their own ways. I like the downtown/suburban feel of U of M, but I also really liked the open and rural campus at State (however, I did visit UMich during the fall while I visited State in July; so in that sense, I didn’t truly see State in its ‘natural’ student-body atmosphere).

Size isn’t entirely a big concern for me, however - State is considerably larger than Umich, but I honestly feel that I could adapt to either campus if I attended either.

Academics, I know Michigan ranks better than State, and that Michigan has more national prestige… which is kind of where some debate comes in for me. State I know offers a major in what I’m interested in at the moment (Biomedical Lab. Science). Based on what I’ve looked into at Michigan, a lot of their degrees for undergrads seem to gear them up for graduate school (please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong) and I honestly don’t think/know if I want to go to graduate school. But I’m also aware that I could change my mind within the next couple years.

State is slightly cheaper than Michigan, but Michigan offers more need-base aid, so I hear.

I hear that MSU’s students are generally more friendly/laidback and - being very shallow here - better-looking, lol. On the flip-side, I hear Michigan kids are more serious/competitive, still party but not as much, and can come off as snobbish. I know each school has their stereotypes, but it’d be great to hear from people attending either school on what the student bodies are like. I really want a balance between fun and studying.

Location-wise, both are fairly far from where I live, but State’s one hour closer. Not a huge deal, but still a detail.

So… with all that taken into consideration, where do you guys think I would better off going/would fit me better? I know I hold the reins on where I want to go, but I’d love to hear people’s opinions!

2

Wait until you get your financial aid packages before you decide.

3

IMO you’d need a lot of perks to attend MSU over Michigan. If you get huge aid/scholarships, are in a program where MSU is much better (only a few of these) or you base your entire choice on basketball, or want an easier college go to MSU. There is a good reason that 40K+ OOS students want to go to Michigan and the overall admission rate, now around 25% , drops every year. MSU still admits 2/3rd of applicants. Most Michigan departments are in the top 10 nationally. Michigan has a giant research budget - #2 in the US - and will have amazing opportunities for cutting edge research that will help you attend an excellent grad school (you may change your mind when you see the job market!). or and give you a leg up for job interviews. Michigan also has a thriving entrepreneurial community if you like start-ups. The Michigan network is much stronger than MSU. Michigan is the #6 school for corporate recruiters according to the WSJ.

Cost wise tuition is virtually identical but you will see after you get your aid package. Michigan housing is generally more expensive though.

As for parties and good looking people - here’s an observation from an old guy- you are all good looking. It’s just a matter of which flavor. Michigan tends to have more Asian and brown kids, MSU more white kids. Michigan students are a bit more fit and smoke less. Both have all of the parties you could ever want, and ways to get away from them too.

As for the campus experience, MSU has a beautiful campus which the students trash every football Saturday. Michigan’s is more spread out and cleaner and has amazing spaces like Hill Auditorium, the biggest football stadium in the world, and the top medical research center in the state… Michigan has world class cultural events, much better food, and more interesting people from further away too. MSU has access to the political world with Lansing so that might interest you. I can’t begin to tell you how many Michigan grads - no matter where they are- still look back at their time at Michigan as the very best years of their lives. That’s the reason they are fanatically loyal to the school even after 20, 30 or 40 years and keep sending their kids there. Wear a Michigan hat in London? You’ll hear “Go Blue” a dozen times by the end of the day.

You are very fortunate to be in-state and be accepted to both. I don’t think this should even be a discussion. Choose Michigan.

4

Given the choice, no doubt I’d attend UM. For pretty much the same price, it is the superior academic institution.

5

I loved MSU. Best experience of my life. Though I have kids your age, lol, I got a great education and employment. Grad school at MSU though I was accepted at UVA as well. (Better program at MSU for my major.)

I can tell you, as long as you make friends, you will be happy at any school. I have a mantra that I’ve taught my kis- You can go anywhere and do anything! Older son was valedictorian of HS, took full ride at a school ranked in the 30’s. Got into a top 20 grad school. Younger son, applied to and got accepted to all 15 schools. Decided on one of our state schools (half scholarship) as he loved the program there. He did amazing things on campus in his major and had summer internships each year that he interviewed for at a Fall job fair for his major on campus every year. 3 job offers by thanks giving his senior year.

In the end, UM or MSU, won’t matter much especially after your first job. No matter where you go, try to biuld up a decent undergrad resume.

Good luck to you.

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Michigan. It’s an internationally known university. You are overthinking it. There are 25,000 undergrads at Michigan. There is no one “type.” Plus, there’s this:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-curse-of-michigans-other-school-1451500030

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If costs are appreciably the same, Michigan seems the obvious choice. Unless you just don’t feel a fit there. I would visit both again before making a decision. If you’re Michigan caliber, I’m sure you can do quite well and be very happy at MSU.

8

It’s not “overthinking” or “not discussion worthy” to consider factors other than academic prestige when choosing a college. Fit and happiness and just as important, if not more so.

Especially since you’re not deciding between an amazing, top-of-the-line school and Podunk State University. You’re deciding between an amazing school and a very good school.

9

Despite what every kid in our state seems to think, U of M is not any sort of no-brainer over MSU. You can excel at either school, so considerations like atmosphere are indeed important. It’s not like you’re choosing between U of M and something like Ferris State. MSU is a very high quality university.

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@“Erin’s Dad” Yeah, the financial packages are a large reason why I’m holding my breath, lol.

@TooOld4School Thank you for the in-depth answer and mentioning the details/pros for each college! :slight_smile:

@happy1 Thanks for the input.

@crazed Thanks a lot! Mind if I ask what major you picked at MSU?

@brantly That article talked five percent academics and ninety-five percent sports. That’s where I feel a lot of bias comes towards MSU, for things that don’t have to do much with academics. I’m not a huge sports person, nor did my family didn’t bring me up to “Go blue” or “Go green”, so sports aren’t really something that’ll be the deal-breaker for me in deciding which college to attend. A bonus, sure, but not something I set at the top of my list.

@LucieTheLakie I’m unsure when I could visit both, since they’re both far from where I live. I remember Michigan well enough, it’s really State I’d visit again because, as I said up top, I didn’t see it during its active period.

@Marakov29 and @DetroitLeper Thank you guys very much. I agree, haha, and sometimes it gets old when I tell people in my life that I’m stuck between the two and they just raise their eyebrows in surprise. A lot of people in my area seem to diss State, but then nearly all the kids in my school go to places like Ferris and Central. Not saying either are bad schools… but you can just see the bias a lot.

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Still taking in responses!

ALSO: I always hear State has “a few programs” that are better than Michigan’s… can anyone specify which ones?? I’ve heard MSU’s Agricultural programs are good, along with their Physics… any others?

ALSO, haha: does Michigan have a program for clinical sciences, just by a different name? I know that State does, and I know that’s the field I’m interested in going into… details would be lovely.

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@K8Nichol, have you been in contact with @romanigypsyeyes? I believe she chose MSU over Michigan for undergrad and later when to Michigan for grad school. Maybe she could offer you some additional insights.

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@K8Nichol, I’m a UM grad but also have lots of family and friends that are MSU alums. I would totally echo what tooOld4school said. I would also suggest reading the very pretentious thread at the top of the UM forum that is entitled something like “Is UM weak in any way”. Lots of good stuff in there.

As a kid who grew up in a hick town in Northern Michigan, spending 4 years in Ann Arbor was awesome. My best friends during college were from New York, California, Texas, and even Ohio. My friends who went to MSU basically had an extended high school experience since so many kids from our school went there. My niece currently goes to MSU and I think 40+ kids from her Oakland County HS are there with her. It’s a much different experience. Not saying one is better or worse, but UM has a much more diverse student population. Diverse in color, geography, and intellect. Both schools are massive so no matter what you are looking for, you’ll find it.

The overall intellectual horsepower at UM is pretty amazing. I spent most of my youth always feeling like I was the smartest kid in most of my classes. At UM I regularly felt like I was struggling just to be average there. It’s humbling but also very motivating to be surrounded by so many ridiculously smart people.

I’m not sure how much value the whole prestige thing has, but I have lived in California for the past 20 years and still gets lots of positive reactions when people hear I"m a UM grad. Even out here, UM has an awesome reputation. It’s probably really shallow to care so much about the prestige of UM but all these years later, I still love the fact that people are impressed with my UG degree. MSU doesn’t have a bad reputation, it’s just more generic.

I also still get lots of “GO Blue” shout outs in the airports:)

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In short: MSU is a regional school. Michigan is a worldwide powerhouse. I’m not really sure why you would be hesitant to choose Michigan over MSU. It’s analogous to asking whether you should choose UC Berkeley or UC Davis. Or Cornell vs. SUNY Binghamton. Or University of Virginia vs. Virginia State.

What worries you about University of Michigan? What are you worried could happen if you go there?

P.S. I posted the article from WSJ just for fun. But I do think that the same reactions apply to the academics.

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@brantly “In short: MSU is a regional school. Michigan is a worldwide powerhouse.”

I do think this is an overstatement. MSU is a major research university and is recognized as such nationally and internationally. It does not have the reputation that Michigan has, but I would not call it regional.

If my kid were making this decision, I would definitely nudge her toward Michigan, while being open to consider factors that could convince her to prefer Michigan State. I would not think sports is a good reason. Sports are excellent at both schools.

There are factors that could make Michigan State interesting: admission to the honors college, research opportunities, particular majors, a preference to be more of a standout student.

DD1 needs to be surrounded by amazing students. If she is the best student in a class, she feels like she is wasting her time. DD2 has slightly lower grades and test scores, when she is a stand out, she likes it. It would be much easier for a student like DD2 to convince me that MSU was the right place for her. However, I would want to hear her plan to leverage opportunity to be a top student to get an amazing college experience through research, clubs, and active involvement in general. If she were just choosing the easier path to be lazy, I would be against it.

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Yes, I chose MSU over U of M for undergrad. I am now at U of M for my second graduate program (first was also here at U of M). I have no regrets about either of my decisions.

In short, I chose MSU because I didn’t like the competitive environment of U of M. I think I received the same quality of education at MSU that I would have at U of M but had an overall less stressed experience. I was also interned and worked in Lansing (in the Senate, the state library, and a few other places) which I wouldn’t have been able to do in Ann Arbor. I also grew up near Ann Arbor and frankly just don’t like the city. I know many people love it, and that’s fine, but it’s not my cup of tea. I now commute to Ann Arbor and own a house for the same monthly price that I would’ve paid to rent a 2 bedroom apartment in AA.

I think you’ll be fine either place. I don’t think MSU is a step down. I say this as someone who has studied and taught at both. I do think you should go wherever will leave you in less debt (for me, the price was pretty much the same because I qualified for MSU’s Spartan Advantage program- a program for extremely poor students). If money is not a factor, then go where you’re more comfortable.

Just remember, you have to spend 4 years there. It’s YOUR decision and your life. Do not let others tell you where to go. I’m so glad that I didn’t listen to what everyone else said (everyone told me I was an idiot for choosing MSU over U of M) because I ended up meeting my best friends and SO at MSU and had the opportunity to go into bioethics- a field which doesn’t really exist at U of M at an undergrad level. It was that experience that led me to my graduate programs.

Happy to talk to you if you want to PM me.

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“Or University of Virginia vs. Virginia State” Virginia State University is an HBCU. If a kid wants that type of education, they may not have an interest in UVa. UVa gets more of the top instate students than Virginia Tech but there are always top students every year that do choose VT over UVa. I had one kid at each. The atmospheres are different and would appeal to different types of kids. That may be true with Michigan and MSU. You can do well at either school , and would probably do best where you would feel happiest. If that happens to be MSU, so be it. People that feel you should have gone to Michigan will get over it.

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. Ah. Apologies. didn’t know that. I was just comparing major flagships to state ag schools.

Of course, go wherever you feel better about it. But I think Michigan would be a more expanding experience.

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@gluttonforstress Yeah, I’ve read through a bit of that thread :slight_smile: Cool to hear your personal expirience, since I’m actually kind of in the same boat (hick town, northern MI, etc). I doubt that I would a see a lot of kids from my school at State, however, since most students in my area end up going to colleges like Central or Ferris or community. But I do like the diversity asset, and I know that’s something Michigan values a lot.

@brantly I feel like the majority of U of M 's majors offered to undergrads are just gearing them up for grad school… which is fine, but at the moment I’m simply unsure if I want to go to grad school. Part of it has to do with money, the other part of it is because what I want to go into (clinical laboratory science) I don’t see as a major offered at U of M. I’ve been looking through the undergrad majors, since it might be part of a program or go by a different name, but do I know that MSU’s College of Natural Science does offer the given major. BUT I’m also aware that I could change my mind in the future, which is why I’m in the circle of uncertainly, lol.

@Much2learn I guess I identify more with DD1. I’m not too concerned about standing out or being “the absolute best ever”…but I still want to be able to tread water, not drown in it, lol. I know Michigan would push me in a good way, but I don’t think that makes State a walk in the park either.

@romanigypsyeyes Ah, thank you so much! I will most likely message you in the future, haha.

@sevmom Thanks :slight_smile:

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“I hear that MSU’s students are generally more friendly/laidback and - being very shallow here - better-looking, lol.”

I met my wife there. So I have to agree! Lol