Comparing Michigan's Public Universities

[LA Dave]

A few years ago, there were some posts in the GVSU development news thread the exclusivity (or lack thereof) of several state universities. Using CollegeData.com information (which presumably is reasonably acccurate), I have compiled some statistics for the Michigan public universities. I may have missed one or two, but have captured most of them. I will have the admission rate (percentage of applicants admitted) middle ACT (25-75%) range and, in the case of some Us, the percentage of entering freshmen in the top 10th of their high school class.

University of Michigan: 51%/27-31/92%

Michigan State: 70%/23-28/29%

Wayne State: 86%/17-24

EMU: 66%/18-23

CMU: 73%/20-24/14%

WMU: 83%/20-25/11%

GVSU: 81%/22-26/21%

FSU: 54%/18-24

NMU: 73%/19-24

Mich. Tech. 73%/23-29/30%

SVSU: 81%/18-24

Oakland U: 69%/19-25

LSSU: 29%/19-24

UM-D: 64%/21-27/26%

UM-F: 72%/19-25

This is very unscientific, but gives a thumbnail sketch of which schools are more "elite," at least in terms of entering freshman stats. There are of course many more factors that go into the admission decision and these stats can vary from year to year. In the list, UM-Ann Arbor clearly stands out. Michigan Tech is slightly more rosy stat-wise than MSU, but it is a much smaller school. UM-Dearborn and GVSU arguably come next, though CMU and WMU are very close. The rest are quite similar, with ACT ranges in the high-teens mid twenties and admission rates generally well north of 50%. I can't explain Lake Superior State's lowest admission rate, as the rest of its stats are unremarkable.

[Veloise]

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LSSU: 29%/19-24

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I can't explain Lake Superior State's lowest admission rate, as the rest of its stats are unremarkable.

Wild guess: most of the applicants sent it in as a CYA second+ choice.

Acceptance goes both ways. I applied to MSU, got an immediate c'mon down you are a Spartan letter, and Michigan, who strung me along playing hard to get for a couple of marking periods. That made A2 seem more appealing. Life happened, and I ended up transferring to MSU.

[LA Dave]

You nailed it, Veloise. Acceptance does go both ways. Michigan (my alma mater) has become infamous for stringing kids along on the "waiting list." This is a particular form of torture that I would not recommend for anyone. Glad you liked MSU.

I think that the stats point out that GVSU is really carving a niche for itself and is arguably separating from Central and Western, especially for what I would call the B+ students; ACTs in the high 20s or SATs in the high 600s, strong grades in hard but not top classes. There are plenty of kids in that category and Grand Valley can offer them a newer, prettier campus, access to a more interesting city than Mt. Pleasant (I like Kalamazoo a lot, but Western's campus is older) as well as excellent leadership. President Haas has done a great job interacting with West Michigan's movers and shakers as well as with other University presidents. And, Dr. Haas (who has at least two master's degrees, a doctorate and served to the rank of Captain in the US Coast Guard) is a real academic, unlike GVSU's previous president. Well done, Lakers.