[octopi]

Given most of the post is about the quantity of Michigan students at hackathons or other events, I think it's worthwhile to mention how the school is also unique because it has the advantage of size: there are just so many students there.

I find Penn's breakout achievements far more impressive given their much smaller student body, as well as what Columbia/NYU have done with hackNY.

[chriwend]

There are many state schools as large as Michigan, such as Penn State, Ohio State, University of Illinois. Illinois in particular actually has a larger CS department but their hackers don't come anywhere close to the turnout Michigan gets. None of the other large schools do. That being said, this shows how impressive of a feat this is for Penn and other small private schools.