Just like @Knowsstuff I’m attempting to be fair and balanced, since I do have a kid attending UMich. We’re from CA, so Ohio State and Michigan State just aren’t on the radar out here. In our area of Silicon Valley, UMich is recognized as being a “tippy-top” university. There are many UMich alums out here.
Just an anecdote, but a new member joined my small gym. He’s an OSU grad working in tech out here. He mentioned in our conversations that he rarely sees OSU alums out here in the SF Bay Area.
Here’s a stat from the CDS’s, which is/was important to me when we were looking at colleges:
Student-teacher ratio:
OSU 19:1
MSU 16.3:1
UMich 15:1
When we visited Ann Arbor, we thought it was the “best thing since sliced bread.” Sure, it’s got almost 30,000 undergrads, but the campus and town didn’t feel that way to us. Both campus and town have a small town atmosphere. I’m a runner and have run the bulk of the town in many directions and it’s just a cute quaint town IMO.
OK, I failed at being fair and balanced. 