<p>Here's my situation: I live in Wisconsin and am planning on entering engineering. If I had to pick a major right now, it would be chemical engineering, but there's a good chance that could change to another type of engineering. I've basically narrowed it down to Madison vs. Twin Cities.</p>
<p>UW has a better overall engineering program than UM. UM is right up there with UW in chemical engineering (both top 5 in the country), but I want to feel comfortable switching majors, and UM is barely top-25 in most other engineering areas, while UW is top 15. If I went to UM I'd almost feel obliged to stick with ChemE whether I enjoyed it or not.</p>
<p>I live in Wisconsin, so I receive in-state tuition to both UW and UM (due to reciprocity). My parents will pay about $10K a year, the rest is up to me (it's about $18K-$20K each when it's all said and done). UM is offering $11,500 a year in scholarships, which, combined with my parents' $10K, would basically be giving me a free ride. UW so far has only offered me $2250 a year, and while I'm still entered in several scholarship competitions, I can't expect more than another $1K.</p>
<p>So, my dilemma is: UW for about $7K a year vs. UM for nothing. I've got about $10K saved up and could probably earn at least $2K this summer if I needed to to help pay for UW, plus I'll have a job while in college, so I wouldn't be graduating with $30K in debt. However, I'd almost certainly have SOME debt, and is it worth UW's "prestige boost" to graduate with debt vs. without?</p>
<p>This is a close call. Both are very highly regarded engineering schools. I agree that overall Wisconsin has a slight prestige edge but IMO Wisconsin is not as strong across the board in engineering as you suggest, nor is Minnesota's strength confined to chemical engineering. US News ranks their undergrad engineering programs tied at #14 in mechanical, and very close in materials (both top 15). Neither makes the undergrad list for aerospace but Minnesota comes in #18 in the grad rankings in that field, Wisconsin not listed. Similarly neither makes the list for undergrad biomedical engineering but at the grad level Wisconsin is ranked #20, Minnesota #25. Civil at the graduate level: Wisconsin #13, Minnesota #16. Computer engineering grad level: Wisconsin #16, Minnesota #18. Environmental engineering graduate level: Wisconsin #15, Minnesota #17. These are on the whole very evenly matched schools in most engineering fields, though Wisconsin does hold a larger edge in a few areas like electrical engineering and manufacturing engineering. But based on these rankings, I think the idea that you'd be confined to chemical engineering at Minnesota is not well founded.</p>
<p>A bigger concern, perhaps, is what you'd do if you wash out of engineering completely, as a high percentage of engineering students do. There I'd say there's some advantage to being at Wisconsin as overall it's a somewhat stronger school, though Minnesota has many strengths as well. But the trade-off is it's going to cost you at least $8K more per year to attend Wisconsin and possibly leave you with a substantial (though not crushing) debt load when you leave. My inclination is to say go with Minnesota because the differences between the schools are just not big enough to justify the difference in cost.</p>
<p>I have a sister who is in the college of biological sciences at U of MN. It's a great program with top research opportunities. I think you would be in the institue of technology for chemical engineering which is the second toughest college to gain entry on campus. U of MN is a great school for science period, but I also understand how great Madison is (I visited it and loved it). If it were only $7k a year I'd go to Madison because it has the better program and in my opinion the better university. As an OOS student I'll probably have to pay $33k a year so take advantage of your opportunity.</p>
<p>Bottom line, danmam, you're lucky to have the choice between these two excellent engineering schools at in-state rates for each, and with FA to boot. Exceptionally generous FA at Minnesota, I'd say. Congratulations!</p>
<p>Does anyone from Madison know how easy it is to get scholarships as a returning student there? I know they rarely give out scholarships to incoming freshmen (especially for college of engineering), but they're much more inclined to give money to returning students. If I go there and get good grades, will those scholarships open up to me or is research and joining student groups required? If it's the former, approx. how much could I get with pretty good grades?</p>