This is my first post ever after lurking for many years. My son is trying to decide between these two schools. We are instate for Cal Poly and it will be about $80,000 less than UW Madison. We can pay but not sure it will be worth the extra money. He has spent a weekend at both and likes them both but if all things were equal–ie money–he would prefer Wisconsin. I’m just unsure whether a kid who is not super focused or driven will be successful at such a large school vs Cal Poly which is smaller and very successful at getting students internships and ultimately employment. Also worried about harsh winter for a California kid who has only known cold weather as an occasional skier. I know that Wisconsin has a bigger reputation but Cal Poly is a terrific school for the money in a beautiful town with beautiful weather 20 minutes from the beach. Any feedback would be appreciated as there are only a few days left to decide.
$80,000 is a lot of money.
What major does he want to study, and what major has he been admitted to?
For engineering majors, both admit directly to the major, but Wisconsin has progression requirements that may require a GPA substantially higher than 2.0 to remain in the major: https://www.engr.wisc.edu/academics/student-services/academic-advising/first-year-undergraduate-students/progression-requirements/
He is not interested in engineering. Will be a humanities or social science kid. Was admitted to SLO for political science but now says he might want to switch to Psychology or business. It is not guaranteed that he will be able to but it sounds like it should be a possibility assuming he does well his first quarter. At Wisconsin he could do a bit more exploring as he wouldn’t have to commit to a major till end of sophomore year. He is a good student but just not driven.
At CPSLO, psychology is not that easy to change into – 3.5 GPA in psychology courses and 2.8 GPA overall needed: http://psycd.calpoly.edu/students/change-of-major
It is not stated how difficult it is to change into the business major: http://www.cob.calpoly.edu/studentservices/changing-major/
At Wisconsin, political science and psychology do not appear to be difficult to declare, but business does have higher requirements:
https://www.polisci.wisc.edu/undergrad/declare
http://psych.wisc.edu/undergraduate-requirements.htm
http://bus.wisc.edu/bba/admissions/uw-madison-student
Thanks for those links. For sure that is one of the drawbacks to Cal poly SLO as opposed to the greater freedom of UW.