[BigLake]

Originally Posted by edsg25

oh, really? so The Prof has "arrived" at a place you've never been. How nice. How smug. And how arogant.

You go right on kidding yourself, BigLake. And ignore reality. And the reality is:

it is all perception

that's right. yours, mine, TheProf's, USN&WR's. Everyone of us. Pure perception. None of us have "the answers." We take the data in and we do the best with it. But we are all taking in it with our own spin and we're all doing it with probably less than 99% of what we really need to know.

It's perception. It's subjective. And it's all we have. So we operate on it.

Thus you may go with "OK... I'm not stopping you. I am happy for you that seem to have arrived at a decision that you are comfortable with." but I choose to go with the far more humbling but much more gratifying and totally human...

IMHO

Why the need to post this? What's the purpose of this and what do you expect to accomplish?

If you look at the last few posts, it appeared the poster TheProf was thinking along the same lines, then in his next post said he didn't agree. He seemed to vacillate in his conclusions (comments about spporting Michigan, et al) and I responded that I thought we were actually thinking along the same lines. He then came back and said he then did not agree. It's not a big deal. I respectfully said so and actually kindly deferred.

Through this thread, I've offered my thoughts on the subject -- was very conscientious and respectful of others opinions. The only time I raised up was early on when I recieved an unsolicited comment of a "silly agrgument". I actually thanked others for their thoughts (I believe if I'm remembering correctly, I even thanked you for your thoughts and links about Public Ivies). Frankly, I was enjoying the banter.

What I don't get is why do you feel the need to engage me as you just did. Please don't engage me in this manner again.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by BigLake

What I don't get is why do you feel the need to engage me as you just did. Please don't engage me in this manner again.

yes, sir. any other instructions?

[beachmouse]

Originally Posted by Giesela

U of M is a second choice for all the high level coasters who don't get their first Ivy type picks - that may make Michigan feel more elite than MSU IDK.

As we used to say, one of the alternate names for U of M was SUNY-Ann Arbor.

[BigLake]

Originally Posted by edsg25

yes, sir. any other instructions?

No, but thanks for acknowledging. It's a message board. The crap we're discussing isn't really that important. I was actually enjoying the banter previously. No need to muck up a good debate.

[Sparrow_temp]

For Bachelor degrees, your school doesn't mean much of anything after your first job -- nobody cares. It's all about your work experience and skill lists. For post graduate work, perhaps it means a lot more.

Best advice is to go whatever school you want and try to limit your college debt since it's one of the few debts that even bankruptcy can't get rid of. I don't envy new grads and their huge debt burdens. Most jobs require several years of related work experience and the unemployment rate is high enough that employers can find experienced workers rather than hire new grads.

[qdd36]

"No one in their right might would say that MSU is better than, or even comparable to UM overall "

This is just ignorant. MSU is absolutely comparable to UM overall. If it wasn't, you wouldn't see MSU grads and UM grads working side by side at every position

[e130478]

They are both good schools with a large amount of resources and well-respected faculty. That being said, I don't think either school offers an ideal undergraduate education. They both enroll way too many students. I spent a a semester at Ann Arbor and felt like a cog in a machine. Everything was systematic and impersonal, from advising to instruction to administrative services. In an ideal world, a student would attend a very good liberal arts school for undergrad, and then seek out the big research universities for graduate work.

[mgkeith]

Another old thread, but what the heck, people are looking and gathering information from it. So here I am to add my two cents.
Some people love large schools! I happened to be one of them. The many different people to interact with and tons of activities to choose from, can be delightfully stimulating! Heck, I even thoroughly enjoyed the "people-watching" when resting in the student union. It was such fun! Most find their own niche eventually.

Other people feel uncomfortable with the vastness of it all, and that's OK, too. It's just a matter of preference.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by MaryleeII

Well, I wasn't referring so much to their academic rating as their cost for housing. It seems extremely high to me, in comparision to other universities, guess it just floored me to see it cost so much. Is it really that great to pay so much to live there?

Michigan state universities are a rip off tuition wise. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is top notch and offers lower tuition rates.

[Texamichiforniasota]

I know this is a really old thread, but back to the OP's question about room and board rates being high in Michigan compared to Texas: they really aren't. Room and Board at the U. of Texas for a dorm room ranges from $9000-$11,000/year. Room at Texas A&M and Texas Tech dorms are about $6000/year not including board (food), so the costs are pretty comparable. Now, living off campus in Lubbock or College Station is probably cheaper than East Lansing or Ann Arbor. Austin is more expensive near campus but has some worse neighborhoods further away that would be comparable to rents in Lansing or Ypsi.