“Lots of useful responses on this thread, and nothing of substance to add, but I’m intrigued by how different groups of people view different colleges regionally, culturally, etc. All schools under discussion are terrific schools, but in the environment I grew up in, Amherst would have been the no-brainer and UMich the tough sell.”
That’s a good point porcupine98. Some people do not see the value in a university like Michigan, while others do not see the value in a college like Amherst. Either one of those points of view is unfortunate because it fails to recognise a truly exceptional university/college. In this case, the tough sale is Amherst, as it comes at an incremental cost of $160,000 over four years of college…assuming Michigan has not given the OP a scholarship, or Amherst has not given the OP FA. In terms of quality, both options are stellar, so in the OP’s case, it comes down to fit. Is the OP’s family sufficiently wealthy to assign a price of $160,000 to fit?