<p>I'm from Illinois and I think I would rather go here than UIUC. What would you guess is the percentage of out of state students. Also, do you feel like it's worth going out of state?</p>
<p>Yes–counting Minn kids about 40% OOS for undergrad and over half for grad students. Much more national feel than UIUC. Also better town/campus/school spirit/social life overall. Also less dominated by engineering/CS types.</p>
<p>My son is an OOS freshman at UW and has many friends from Illinois, especially Chicago area. From his perspective, Illinois and Minnesota are most prevalent states other than Wisconsin, but he has lots of friends from East Coast and West Coast as well. I believe the Common Data set (search on UW webpage for the term) shows geographic breakdown. I had understood from reading somewhere – and this might not be true anymore – that UW is about 75% instate so if you add the MN students with reciprocity, it makes sense that it would be about 60% Wisc/MN and 40% everywhere else. UIUC has historically been about 90% instate, so much lower geographic diversity, though I saw an announcement somewhere they were radically changing that to get to about a 60% instate and 40% OOS. </p>
<p>Whether it is “worth” going out of state is a financial question to discuss with your family. OOS tuition at UW is about $27k, and room and board are fairly reasonable. So, it can be a reasonable decision if your family can comfortably handle the difference between instate at IUUC and OOS at UW. </p>
<p>Good luck with your applications and decisions.</p>
<p>Thank you guys!</p>