OT: Great Family Stories

Submitted by Tuebor on

Link to source: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/a-plus

 

Michigan State - GPA and Test Scores for Admission
Michigan State - GPA and Test Score Data for Admission

 

University of Michigan - GPA and Test Scores for Admission
University of Michigan - GPA and Test Score Data for Admission

 

Perusing some college rankings and I came across a list titled A+ options for B students.  Sure enough on that list is our favorite little brother.  I'll be sure to remember this next time the msu branch of my family starts running their collective mouth.  My cousin even had the gall to tell me she got accepted to both msu and Michigan but choose msu.  She has yet to present any evidence to this and until she does I won't believe it.  Although it was fun visiting as an undergrad for various reasons.

 

The best advice my father gave me was don't have an intercollegiate family, marry a Michigan girl. Sadly he failed to heed his own advice and now a pet peeve of mine is dealing with family spartans.  Especially when they say things like the education at msu is just as good as Michigan, both schools use the same textbooks, etc.  With a family trip to Orlando coming up at the end of the month I know these topics will come up. I plan on showing these graphs to family sparty, should they mention anything this year, to visually prove that UofM is much more competitve. 

 

In family sparty's defense, at least they love the state of Michigan and are fun to hunt with, go to Tigers/Lions/Wings games with, and they know how to throw a great 4th of July BBQ.  My uncle is one the funniest guys I know, although this could be due to the fact that he married into family sparty from Detroit Mercy and isn't a big college football fan.  This is more than can be said for my cousins that go to Cal-Berkley and Columbia.  (my Electrical Engineering Degree from the University of Michigan is just as elite as your polisci degree from Columbia or Berkley)  They view the state of Michigan and the midwest for that matter as Hickville usa and they aren't afraid to share those views.  

 

Thanks for reading my Washington's Birthday/only guy at the office on a holiday rant.  Does anybody else have a pet peeve about spartan family members.  Any good stories about them?

 

note:

As an engineer I was surprised to see Purdue on this list.  I suppose college of engineering rankings are different from overall university rankings though.

Tuebor

February 20th, 2012 at 4:54 PM ^

In high school you had to deliberately work for a c+ average.

Hell if you were that smart most teachers would have let you not do the homework so long as you were getting A's on the tests.

 

While a 4.0 and 12 tells me that they were likely 2 years behind in math, didn't take advanced science courses and took all the easy electives. 

PatrickBateman

February 20th, 2012 at 9:39 PM ^

12! Not upper-teens, but 12!  I think that individual was more than a few years behind in math.  The only way I can imagine someone getting those numbers is if they attended one of those shady "boost-your-grades-so-you-can-play-football-in-college" schools.

Wave83

February 20th, 2012 at 4:33 PM ^

If the graph is from 2009, I might actually know who the kid is.  A guy from my son's H.S. was admitted to UM, but was denied automatic admission to the Business School.  No biggie, I guess, despite his awesome scores/grades.  However, another kid from the same HS, with markedly poorer scores (still okay) was admitted after being on the wait list, he was granted automatic admission to the BSchool.  Kid number one went nuts, had a little too much to drink, and uncorked an ill-advised email to UM Admissions.

UM talked to HS.  Admission was withdrawn.  Kid No. 1 went to another excellent university -- and then transferred to UM later. 

Feat of Clay

February 20th, 2012 at 4:56 PM ^

Lots of overlap there.  I hate to pick on MSU for having lower admissions standards than U-M does.  It isn't news that we're more selective.  MSU is a solid option for some students--even highly-qualified students--and our state is better for having a variety of choices.   

And yes, some well-qualified people who are admitted to both MSU and U-M do, in fact, choose MSU.  That said, the operative word is SOME.  A small minority.   

 

Tuebor

February 20th, 2012 at 5:07 PM ^

I see more accepted won't attends in the upper right for msu though. 

I have seen way to many kids grow up UofM fans only to be rejected and go to State as their backup.  Those are the worst spartan fans because of the deep seeded feeling of rejection and envy of not going to their dream school.  These were the kids whose dad's were dentists, lawyers, executives, etc and they just didn't quite have the grades or the ACT score to get in.  All the die hard msu fans growing up knew they were going to a second rate school and just got 3.3 and 24.  

BlueHills

February 20th, 2012 at 5:49 PM ^

MSU kids are no dummies. Each school has a slightly different focus, and that's as it should be, though in the LSA fields that colleges are traditionally judged, Michigan has a higher rated faculty and student body.

My wife went to both schools and had a 4.0 at both. She felt that the courses at Michigan were more interesting, and she disliked the TV courses that were offered only in the dorms when she was a freshman at MSU. It's probably a lot different now.

Tuebor

February 20th, 2012 at 6:29 PM ^

I know plenty of smart people who have gone to msu. My two program managers both got their BS, MS, and PhD's in Electrical Engineering from msu in the late 90s early 2000s.  The guy I work closest with on my team has his BS and MS in EE from msu as well.  They are smart guys and all went to msu from out of state (Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois).  So lil bro does attract some talent.  But like a previous poster said, msu has lower acceptance standard than UofM so inherently the classes are easier because there are more 3.3 and 24s at state than UofM.

Another interesting thing about msu is you can't directly apply to thier schools.  At UofM you directly apply to the nursing program, college of engineering, etc. 

 

To say that msu gives the same education as UofM because of a similar class/same textbook is to say that regular classes in high school are the same as honors because they cover the same material.  What sets them apart is the academic standards required at UofM are higher.

lazyfoot10

February 20th, 2012 at 8:14 PM ^

Michigan is the better school, but State is just fine.

There are smart people that get in both places, but choose to attend MSU.

You can go to State and be very successful. 

It's pretty simple. I never understand why discussions/arguments get brought up like this whenever U of M and State people get together. 

DeuceInTheDeuce

February 20th, 2012 at 9:12 PM ^

I think MSU makes a compelling choice for grad students, especially for those who are headed for lower-paying fields.  If you aren't lucky enough/smart enough/connected enough to get funding, saving 30-50 grand in unsubsidized loan debt (at 7% interest) by virtue of attending MSU instead of M is a serious scale-tipper.

manchild56

February 21st, 2012 at 12:35 AM ^

friend in high school stil a friend today was a slacker skiped school all the time. But when he went and took his ACT or SAT the one which 36 is perfect in Ohio at least. He scored a 33 on it and the school said he cheated and no way he could have scored that high. Made him take it again which he didnt care cause he didnt cheat scored a 34 the next time. So you can have a low GPA and still rock a test, he ended up using that to enroll at UNC Tarheels. You cant judge a book by its cover all the time.