bronxblue

September 4th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^

I'm sure there are financial reasons for some (it is a bit cheaper), and certain programs are top-notch.  Beyond that, though, unless you are some family legacy type it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to go to MSU over UM if you want the perception of a better education.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 171434

West German Judge

September 4th, 2014 at 1:05 PM ^

When I transferred in, I applied to State and Michigan.  I was either going to stay home at Oakland or go to one of those two bigger schools and get some ~life experience~.  State offered me some money to get in (can't remember how much, but it wasn't a full ride), Oakland offered to make my experience free if I chose to stay, and I had no idea how I was going to finance Michigan because my financial aid package wouldn't have been rewarded until AFTER the semester started.

I packed up, moved in, and got settled in Ann Arbor for two weeks before I found out how I was going to afford it.  That's how badly I wanted to go here if given the opportunity.

Joined: 11/14/2012

MGoPoints: 99

ADSellers

September 4th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^

In related news, MSU continues to suck at spelling. They apparently sent this to one of their football committs:

 

 

Joined: 08/26/2013

MGoPoints: 982

Zarniwoop

September 4th, 2014 at 1:56 PM ^

I went to state and got two engineering degrees there completely and totally because of money. State gave me unbelievable amounts of money in grants and other financial aid.

But, I wore my Michigan sweatshirt to school on the Friday before every gameday.  Even with an offensive lineman in my chem class!

To those who ask why I root for Michigan if I went to Michigan state:

I grew up 20 minutes from Ann Arbor and started rooting for them when I was about 4 years old.  I'm nothing if not loyal.  Even while attending state I rooted for Michigan. Loudly. Everyone in my Apt building hated me on game day I'm sure.

Edit: There is no question that Michigan is a better overall school that MSU. By a lot.  But, MSU does have some wonderful programs despite all the general snarkiness.  I doubt I could have gotten a better chemical engineering education anywhere short of MIT.  I was prepared when I came out against EVERYONE from other schools.  Computer science... was awful at MSU. Just horrific.

So, while I do sometimes wish I was a U of M alum, I still got to go to the games (had a friend there), and honestly, I'd already been rooting for them for 20 years (I went to college in my mid 20s) so it wasn't quite as big a deal as it would have been in my late teens.

Joined: 09/10/2013

MGoPoints: 10498

CarrIsMyHomeboy

September 4th, 2014 at 2:21 PM ^

I applied to four schools and got a full ride to MSU, Wayne State and Oakland, and nothing to Michigan. Since I'm a member here, you already know where I picked to go. It wasn't a hard choice, either. All the admissions offers came early and I sent in my acceptance before mid-November.

In fact I'd have only applied to Michigan if my parents didn't insist on a three-tiered list of back-ups (they considered WSU next best).

After graduating from Michigan in position to get into and succeed via the "MD/PhD program" route, I've never again given much thought (or regret) to the undergrad decision. To me, it remains obvious.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 7324

Zoltanrules

September 4th, 2014 at 4:52 PM ^

I'm living this discussion right now. It kills me to say as a two time UM graduate, but MSU has impressed me more than UM with their HS recruiting and campus tours. My daughter and MANY of her top scholar friends are faced with UM's reputation vs MSU's practicality.

My daughter is applying both MSU RC/ Honors College and UM. We are upper middle class and white so we will see no $ from UM and have to wait until XMas to find out about early admissions. MSU has some very attractive residential colleges that are actively going after these students reaching out with personal friendly  pitches, quick acceptances and scholarship offers.

For grad school I'd put costs way behind getting into the best school you can get into. But for undergrad, especially the first two years, if a student is willing to challenge themselves and work hard, a good education can be achieved at MANY schools.

 

 

 

Joined: 08/23/2009

MGoPoints: 21117

JediLow

September 4th, 2014 at 5:57 PM ^

From working with undergrads at MSU (not many from Lyman Briggs) for a number of years I can tell you have her go to U of M; a lot of the general classes suck (Both my wife and I lived in Lansing for a number of years and interacted closely with undergrads; she's appalled at what they get for an education there (coming from Cornell), and I found that I had to change my vocabulary, etc in order to be able to interact with students).

Joined: 11/11/2008

MGoPoints: 1221

Michigan NNP

September 4th, 2014 at 8:20 PM ^

Stupid me chose MSU over UM in 1983. Had planned on going to michigan always. MSU was my safety school. Accepted at both, went to both orientations, but was put off by Michigan arrogance, so went to MSU. Dumb. Dropped out of MSU and eventually returned and graduated from Michigan. Wish I could take that mistake back..

Joined: 03/31/2013

MGoPoints: 24

Sparty123

September 5th, 2014 at 10:10 PM ^

I graduated from State and never applied to Michigan because I knew I wouldn't get in.  I rarely applied myself in high school and my grades reflected it, so I didn't bother.  Looking back if I could have gotten in to Michigan I probably would have gone.

So I graduated from State with a degree in Mathematics (not all of us are packaging majors) and got a great job in finance in Chicago.  I later got my MBA from one of the top business schools in the country, which basically goes to show even people from MSU can lead successful, productive lives.

Is UM a better school overall than MSU?  Yeah, probably.  But MSU does plenty of things really well too (they have the top-ranked graduate nuclear physics program in the country for example).

Joined: 11/10/2013

MGoPoints: 64