Why MSU? Why not UM or another University?
How do you like the town? Is it hard to get a job? (Off campus)
Can speak as a Mom-son choose MSU for Mechanical Engineering. Applied because he needed a safety school and didn’t want to go to any SUNY colleges. Wanted a unifying reason for a larger school- and loves football. Friends of mine went to MSU and 30 years later all their children went there. So, we put it on the list. Accepted at GA Tech, UIUC (honors, merit), Perdue(honors, merit), Mines (merit), RPI (merit), WPI (merit) and Cornell as well as MSU (Honors, merit Grant, Prof Asst)
After staying at RPI, WPI and GA Tech he began to get a feel for what he wanted in a school. Once he visited larger, research based colleges, (UIUC, Perdue & MSU) he knew the smaller schools were not for him. GA Tech was too close to the city (that is why he wouldn’t even consider applying to UM) And although he loves to ski and had been Captain of his downhill school team for 2 years, CO Mines just “didn’t feel like him.”)
Before acceptances, his list was primarily “rankings” based. After all visits, the list was tailored to him:
- Research and Facilities
- Availability of Coops/Internships, paid? % of students? Companies, location?
- Instructors seem interested in student’s input /success, not just their own. (Facebook posts from schools was big input- what did they find important to share- student or instructor news?)
- Rural feel/setting of school- he thought MSU would be overwhelming due to size. Park-like feel and lots of open space made it feel “smaller” along with their “neighborhood” Dorm set-up
- Suite-style bathrooms (Did NOT want hall bath shared by floor)
- Food- MSU has unlimited plan and tons of choices. You can pop in to get coffee and a cookie or exchange a meal at a food truck or Sparty’s Express. Café open from 6 am to midnight. (This might seem like he’s a big kid- actually he’s underweight. AND as much as he ate, he lost 8 pounds his 1st semester) For an active teen boy- this is honestly one of the things almost everyone of his friends talks about! Most were starving with a 14 or 19/ week plan or couldn’t get to the café before closing or spent a lot of extra $$ on food. I wouldn’t have though of it, but he did and it was important!
Visit, make your own list. Talk to your parents about finances and look at offers/packages. Visit after acceptance.
Most of all, know you will find your place and you can make the most of whatever opportunities you are presented!
I was accepted to MSU as a freshman but decided not to attend due to financial reasons. I transferred as a junior and it’s honestly the best decision I’ve made in my entire life. I considered transferring to UM to major in Economics but decided that MSU was a better fit for what I want to do. I am a Supply Chain Management major, and MSU has the #1 program in the country (The Broad school is around ~ 25 overall). Everyday I get to learn from professors at the top of their field, and I get to listen to executives and managers from global companies speak regularly. I had the opportunity to travel around the country for internship interviews, and this summer I will be interning at a Fortune 100 company.
Besides that, it’s pretty close to home (in-state tuition was definitely a plus), and I already knew a lot of people going here so even if I had trouble making friends (which I haven’t at all) I’d have people to hang out with.
East Lansing is nice. MSU’s campus is pretty self-contained with tons of restaurants, bars, stores etc along Grand River on the northern edge of campus. Shouldn’t be that difficult to find a job off campus job if you really want one.
I honestly couldn’t imagine being anyplace else.
I am now a few years out of MSU and will be pursuing my PhD at U of M this fall. MSU was still one of the best decisions I ever made.
I made it because I loved the campus, got good aid, loved RCAH, and felt more welcomed there than U of M. I ended up having a great 4 years, got a dual degree, and was accepted to every graduate program I applied to as a senior.
romanigypsyeyes, did you transfer from MSU to U of M as an undergraduate and, if so, why? Also, what degree did you pursue here at MSU?