[jedc]

Disclaimer: I went to UMich.

Go to Michigan. It's a great combination of a GREAT school, fantastic school spirit, and great college town.

Also, as a hacker you might enjoy working on the Solar Car Team (http://www.umsolar.com) A few of us alums are here on HN, and it's an amazing experience. The car I built is on permanent display at the Museum of Science in Boston, which is pretty cool!

It's been a few too many years for me to speak directly to student life, but you'd be surprised at how a huge school can quickly get small. My senior year I would walk across Central Campus and always meet someone I knew... despite the fact I hadn't had a class there in 2+ years! (And neither had any of my other engineering classmates.)

My sister also went to Michigan (education major) and also loved the experience. It's tough to go wrong when the school excels at virtually every major available!

Happy to chat more; my contact details can be found through my profile.