I am a professor and pre-med advisor at CMU. I disagree that the basic premed courses are defacto better at U-M. We teach many intro bio and chem courses in active learning classrooms with fewer than 100 students, using innovative and engaging pedagogy. When I toured Mich. with my son, the tour guide had never heard of active learning classrooms. It will really depend on the student as to which environment will work best for them to learn the material. We have many students who turn down Mich because of the full ride at CMU, and most do very well, going on to med and grad school. It is true, of course, that CMU doesn’t have the cache of Mich, and if your aspirations include very selective med schools, then Mich. May be worth the cost. If you hope for an in- state med school, other than Mich., schools like CMU will prepare you very well for the MCAT and success.