<p>Michigan is a much more renowned school, but its 12 hours away by car. Rutgers is only one hour away, however. Is there that much of a difference in the schools that I just have to go to Michigan over Rutgers?</p>
<p>Well, would you rather be closer to home (Rutgers) or farther away (Umich)?</p>
<p>If you are a nj resident, aren't we talking about a 30,000/year difference? that's just insane......</p>
<p>Rutgers is very good in some areas--sciences, english, history, philosophy.</p>
<p>UMich dominates in engineering and the biz department.
What are you intending to major in?</p>
<p>Michigan is SO MUCH BETTER than Rutgers</p>
<p>you are instate
so rutgers, mich is not worth the extra tens of thousands of dollars.
you will be getting the same type of large lectures from both schools. umich may be better than ru, but not enough to justify the substantial oos cost.
and if youre smart enough to get into umich oos, then you'll probably qualify for some substantial merit aid from RU and probably get in the honors program. </p>
<p>so hands down RU.</p>
<p>Pick Rutgers. You'll be happy when you're not drowning in debt after college.</p>
<p>Rodney, cocohesive and Sbaster are all correct. It is not worth paying 6 figures more to attend one college when you have access to a school like Rutgers, not for Michigan or any other university.</p>
<p>I think the biggest difference is the money and (as I said before) the distance from home. I live in NJ, but that doesn't mean Rutgers is the right school for me; I want to be out of state.
Of course, if these schools are equal in your mind (if you like both equally), and you don't mind staying in-state, then I'd say pick Rutgers, simply because it'll be way cheaper.</p>
<p>Rutgers is the worst, but Mich is so expensive. Look for compromises...good academics but not so expensive out of state tuitiion....Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Virginia Tech, Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas, Alabama, Clemson, Miami (ohio), Michigan State, Purdue, Minnesota.</p>
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good academics but not so expensive out of state tuitiion....Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Virginia Tech, Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas, Alabama, Clemson, Miami (ohio), Michigan State, Purdue, Minnesota.
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<p>Dude, U of Colorado is expensive as @#$% for a nonresident, with tuition at about $27,000 this year. Not worth it at all... most of the kids who go there from the east coast and midwest just wanna get stoned in Boulder for four (more like seven) years on their parents' dime.</p>
<p>I don't think anyone but the OP and his/her parents can decide whether it's "worth it" to go to Michigan; that depends on their financial circumstances and personal preferences. Rutgers is a pretty good state school, currently ranked the 24th-best public by US News, and at about $11K/yr in-state tuition and fees it's a bargain for NJ residents. No one could fault you for going there; it's a sensible, cost-effective choice. Michigan is a much better school, currently ranked #4 public by US News and an academic pace-setter in many, many fields, but at roughly $33K/yr OOS tuition and fees it's a costly choice for non-residents.</p>
<p>I think much depends on your (and your parents') financial circumstances. If you can comfortably spare the extra $22K/year, I'd say choose Michigan; if not, then don't. It might also depend on your chosen field of study. Personally, I wouldn't choose Michigan for most of the sciences, social sciences, English, or other extremely popular majors, because even though most of the faculty are outstanding, you'll end up in a lot of large classes with a fairly impersonal education that's probably not appreciably better than what you'd get at Rutgers. I would choose Michigan for business or engineering, because it's one of the very best in the country in those fields. I would also choose Michigan for a more specialized niche liberal arts field like philosophy or classics, because there are relatively few undergrad majors and large and academically outstanding faculties in those fields, which translates into small classes with some of the very top people in the field. Of course, you may not know what you want to study, and even if you do, you might change your mind, making all of this something of a gamble. But these are all highly individualized calculations, making gross generalizations like "it's worth it" or "it's not worth it" pretty useless.</p>
<p>Rutgers Philosophy Dept. was ranked 1 or 2 in most surveys. UM is good but not as good.</p>
<p>I don't think Rutgers being 2nd and Michigan being tied for 3rd under one ranking system is really enough evidence to say that Michigan "isn't as good" as Rutgers at philosophy.</p>
<p>You can argue as much as you want, but UMich is better in almost every aspect. It all comes down to money for the OP.</p>