University of Michigan vs Syracuse University

Hello, my child has been accepted to both Syracuse and University of Michigan, but she’s having a hard time deciding between which. She plans to major in political science at the moment and I’ve heard that UM has a great political science program, but she’s really drawn to Syracuse and it’s smaller student population, among other things. I don’t know much about either schools, so I was wondering if anyone could provide some input/advice? Is UM as good as everyone’s been saying it is? And would it be so bad if she were to pick Syracuse over UM?

well, my son was accepted to the honors program at Syracuse 3 years ago. We went to the accepted students day and couldn’t leave fast enough.I’ll never forget the signs posted in a dorm up the hill. One read “please don’t have sex in public areas”, the other, in the kitchen pantry of a dorm read “please don’t vomit in sink”. Students were living in the hotel I stayed at because of lack of dorm space, and the supposed street with cafes that everyone raved about online was depressing. Academically comparing Michigan to Syracuse is like comparing apples to oranges. I believe the weather is actually worse in Syracuse which says a lot. Syracuse is known for it’s communications program. Syracuse is also known as one of the universities where you get least value for your money. I liked the quad and the dome but little else there. Michigan is a world class renowned public university in one of the best college towns in America. Apples and oranges in my opinion.

@mersylla I agree with @byeretirement. I am a Michigan alum and am familiar with both schools. Unless your daughter is direct admit to Newhouse for communication or Whitman for business (where if she did not get into Ross) your daughter should pick Michigan. Michigan is a world class university with best profs and departments in almost every field, especially political science. It offers the best combo of academics and sports and is in the best and safest college town in America. And it has about 10x the endowment as Syracuse. These schools (other than what i mentioned above) are not comparable. Your daughter might not fully appreciate how fortunate she is to have this opportunity. She needs to research more about Michigan to fully appreciate all it has to offer. There is a reason why Michigan received over 65,000 applicants (twice as many as Syracuse). It’s just that good!!