Quick Facts:
- Location: East Lansing, Michigan
- Undergraduate Enrollment: 40,000
- Average ACT/SAT Score for Freshman: 24-30 ACT; 1100-1310 SAT
- Known for: its honors program, residential colleges, and rivalry with UMich
- Learn more: https://msu.edu/
Residential Colleges, Honors Colleges, and Unique Programs
Residential Colleges: MSU is known for its 3 residential colleges: Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, James Madison College (pre-law, social justice, political science), and Lyman Briggs College (STEM). Students in these programs spend their first two years living in their themed community, with access to faculty offices, career services, and their courses right in their residence halls. These students engage deeply in their colleges’ curriculum, build strong relationships with advisors and professors, and enjoy smaller class sizes.
Honors programs: Honors students have a much more flexible curriculum and are allowed to skip prerequisite courses, replace general education requirements, enroll in graduate courses, and access major-only courses outside of their degree program. Honors consideration is automatic for all students who apply, and selected students are typically in the top 5% of their incoming courses and have taken rigorous high school course loads.
Unique programs: MSU offers several difficult-to-find majors and concentrations including Turf Management, Fisheries & Wildlife, and Packaging.
Bikes, Buses, and Heated Sidewalks
MSU’s 5,000+ acre campus is huge, with lots of green space, nine dining spaces, and twenty-seven different dorms. Bikes are encouraged and the campus bus system runs until 2:30am. Freshmen and sophomores live on campus, even if they are not in residential learning communities. Students concerned about winter weather will be pleased to discover that sidewalks are heated!
Scholarship Opportunities
The Alumni Distinguished Scholarship program awards approximately 40 full-tuition and full-ride scholarships per year to highly qualified students. Students should apply well before the Nov 1 deadline for fullest consideration. High-achieving students who are invited to the honors college may also be eligible for merit awards.
Why should students consider Michigan State University?
MSU offers Big10 facilities, energy, and academics at a more accessible admissions rate than many of its peers.
