for engineering: uw-madison vs. CMU

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Wisconsin
1

<p>ive already begun agonizing over this decision between these 2 great engineering schools. ive visited Madison and really liked the campus and town feel. this makes this decision so hard even though its competing with CMU. </p>

<p>here are my thoughts:</p>

<p>UW
pros- cheaper by at least 15K
excellent social life
its located in Madison
sports
I can tell they really want me, they gave me honors, invited to overnight visits, etc...</p>

<p>cons- lack of diversity, everyone is white (im asian)
far from home</p>

<p>CMU
pros-stronger reputation for academics
very diverse
easier to get to from home</p>

<p>cons-lack of social life?
expensive
incredibly tough grading</p>

<p>I havent really visited Pittsburgh yet but it also seems pretty nice.
any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated</p>

2

<p>What's your intended major?</p>

3

<p>right now its undecided engineering, i was planning on taking the first year to figure out exactly which kind of engineering i wanted to pursue</p>

4

<p>UW-Madison does have a decent sized asian population</p>

5

<p>I'd personally take UW because you get a more interesting atmosphere with roughly equitable academics. Plus it's cheaper.</p>

<p>But hey, I'm biased, I'm going there next year :)</p>

6

<p>yeah im asian too. i love madison but the only thing i dont like is the lack of diversity. which is why i was leaning towards Illinois and michigan for awhile.
oh well... i'll adjust.</p>

7

<p>This is the ranking post...</p>

<p>CIT's strength is ECE, specifically CompE, because of the top CS school. UW's strength are ChemE and NuclearE. All other programs are either top15 and top 25. </p>

<p>So, both CIT and UW will prepare you well from an academic standpoint. Truth be told, the real differences among top 20-25 engineering schools are usually very small in part because everyone has to offer the same curriculum (to be ABET-accredited). Most companies know this and recruit at these top schools. Graduate schools place their PhDs there too. </p>

<p>Having that said, it is an open secret that the current CIT dean is aiming for top 5 ranking (he has previously took CMU CS to #1 ranking). On the other hand, UW is making a serious effort to get back (from top 15) into top 10 ranking on all core areas within next 3-5 years. If all these moves even matter at all...</p>

8

<p>This is the real post...</p>

<p>UW COE is a much larger engineering school with many bells and whistles. As undergrad, you may get involved in some of the 38+ research centers as well as some super-fun projects like FutureTruck and Concrete Canoe [1] where one can spend the entire four years working on. After surviving the core, you will find way too many graduate-level courses or seminars that your advisors insist you to enroll. Way too companies/recruiters will ask for your resume and request for interview. Trust me, the Career Connection events (twice a year) are a real sight and serve to remind that all those sleepless nights are well worth it!</p>

<p>And when you find the time to venture outside Engineering, you got the rest of UW-Madison that everyone is talking about ... :)</p>

<p>[1] <a href="http://studentservices.engr.wisc.edu/research/teamprojects.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://studentservices.engr.wisc.edu/research/teamprojects.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>screw it im going to Wisconsin, i think i would go insane without a decent social life</p>

10

<p>I think you're up for a great time :)</p>

<p>Class of '11 ftw!</p>

11

<p>CMU apparently is REALLY BORING. Not a good mix of people. My bro went there for undergraduate engeneering, and didnt like it a lot. However he did graduate, and then went onto to Stanford for graduate studies.</p>