Theoretically, if someone went here, joined the honors program, and shined, would they be at any disadvantage applying to grad schools like MIT or Stanford compared to someone who went to a school like UC Berkeley and was in the middle of the pack?
Basically, which would give me a better chance at getting into one of the best STEM grad schools? Being top of the pack at University of Wisconsin Madison, or being middle of the pack at UC Berkeley?
UW Madison is not some directional or for-profit university. It is one of the premier public research universities. There isn’t too much separating it from Cal. So excellent grades and recommendations from UW-Madison would be far better than average grades from Cal, along with an excellent GRE, GMAT, MCAT, or LSAT score, one of which you will need wherever you apply.
Thats the same thing leaning towards - just wanted to make sure there wasn’t an error in my thought process. Thank you very much 
Also, just a heads up I don’t think it is fair to assume that an “average” student at Cal would be at the very top of UW Madison.
I am extremely sorry about my wording. I meant no offense, and I know that the caliber of students at wisconsin is extremely impressive. I was just bringing it to extremes to make it easier to think about. Like theoretically if someone went there and became the best, would they beat someone in grad admissions who was middle of the pack at cal.
Berkeley and Madison have many comparable top rated departments. The UW student would be very competitive with the Cal student. The professors giving recommendations likely know of each other and are equally known by top grad schools. If the reason for your question is deciding between the two schools do not use the prestige factor to decide. Look at the campus differences, including costs.
Eons ago the other NMS and I from our HS class got undergrad degrees from UW in very different majors. He has been a prof at Berkeley for decades. I went the physician route. Ancient history anecdote but the two schools are still in the same big leagues.
Very interesting! Thank you very much! Also may I ask, do yo happen to remember any of the grad schools your class ended up going to?
Or if there are any specific grad schools that have especially good relationships with Wisconsin? Like I know my school is a feeder school for Lehigh for example.
Wisconsin is a pretty good grad STEM school too.
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Unless you are a CA resident or your parents are wealthy UC Berkeley will likely require $200,000 in student loans.
The question is more “How good are you?” You can get into top grad schools from lots of places (including UWisconsin). But can you get the high GPA needed, and develop relationships with mentors and get research experience with them?
That’s what I’m afraid of. I was did very well in high school, but I never saw how I was outside of my bubble. One of my fears is that I’m gonna get to college and be the dumbest student there…
Any college that accepts you believes you can succeed there. What you accomplish in college is entirely up to you. You are the one deciding which of the schools you chose to apply to that accepted you will give you the best education. Forget about feeder high schools for colleges. It does not matter if you are the only one or one of many from your HS attending the college. You can excel or fail at any school regardless of your HS top performance. Good colleges require a lot more effort than HS. This means doing the homework and studying. One reason far less time is spent in the classroom than in HS. YOU choose weather to be average or better. You also find students much smarter than you. Can’t change that but you can learn from them and be motivated to do more. You do not want to be top dog/big fish in a small pond.
Grad schools do not have a defined feeder system with certain colleges. However, those in a field recognize their colleagues who are doing the research and value any recommendations from them. This means that a top student from UW or Cal will have similar chances based on the strength of curriculum and professors who know them and will give top recommendations. Remember you will also take the general GRE and likely a GRE in your chosen grad school field along with your subject matter grades in your resume.
If planning on grad school it is up to you to take the courses and do well in them. You will also find that top tier schools like UW and Cal will offer a lot more in any given class than lower tier colleges. For example, AP calculus is not adequate for material covered for second semester calculus at UW in most cases. Likewise another state school’s comp sci semester class will not cover as much as the one at UW (this comes from a friend who once taught at a lesser UW system school and was to teach less than at the grad school courses she TA’d elsewhere).
I could go on and on. But hopefully you get the message. Nationally known top tire school or more regional one (outside of CC never heard of Lehigh, btw).
Of course you will find more students from instate/the region for any school.
You won’t be the dumbest student there. But what you will find is possibly students with better preparation than you have (in particular, they might repeat intro courses where they have already seen the material, and get an A while you struggle with new material and have some Cs on your transcript before you know it). And then they have fully solidified their grasp of the building block material with their 2nd attempt, and STILL have an edge on you in the higher level classes because you are maybe a little soft with only one repetition of it.
On top of that, it can be harder to get help at large universities. Often you don’t know anyone in your class, so it is hard to go see a friend when you are stuck in a problem set. Sometimes the TAs are not native English speakers, so you go to office hours, and you still aren’t getting what you need. Or some TAs are there because they want to do research, and TAing is just a way to pay the bills – they don’t really want to spend hours helping you with your lab problems or areas of confusion.
You are going to find these challenges at any large university (UW or Berkeley).
So here are a few thoughts:
Finally, one thing to know about grad schools is that the “biggest names” might not be the best spot for you. It matters a lot more about the individual professors in the department and the work they are doing that you are a part of. Get some research experience as an undergrad and figure out what specific areas you are interested in for grad school. When the time comes to research graduate schools, focus more on whether they are doing work you want to do than the name brand.
Ditto on that last post final paragraph. You will figure out grad school AFTER you have spent time in college. Some of the elite schools for undergrad do not have the top grad schools in many fields. Computer science? Not Harvard by a long shot. For grad school you also do a subfield of the department. Some lesser known schools have the top research in given areas. btw- if you look at faculty at the tippy top schools you will find out they came from different places. Plus the undergrad schools are often what was affordable and where they were from. And- those top schools often use textbooks written by authors from many varied schools. I looked at the Harvard bookstore some years ago when H and I were vacationing on the east coast and discovered this.
For your undergrad college you want one that offers good classes in your major and related fields. You likely want grad school class offerings available as well. You need to not only check on required courses for a major but other available courses as well. You should also check on research experiences available to undergrads- UW has them.
Places like UW are for self directed students. “Handholding” is not considered needed by the school or students. A good fit for those who go there. Other places may be needed for you. There is no one best school for everyone.
@SirKhazatsky “Theoretically, if someone went here (Wiscy), joined the honors program, and shined, would they be at any disadvantage applying to grad schools like MIT or Stanford compared to someone who went to a school like UC Berkeley and was in the middle of the pack?”
No.
@Sirkhazatsky “Basically, which would give me a better chance at getting into one of the best STEM grad schools? Being top of the pack at University of Wisconsin Madison, or being middle of the pack at UC Berkeley?”
They both give you a good shot, but I would say that being at the top of the pack at Wiscy is better, if I had to pick. However, I suspect that you will find it tougher to be at the top of the Madison pack than you anticipate. They have some great students, and it is an excellent school.
@wis75 “(outside of CC never heard of Lehigh, btw).”
This is true in Wisconsin. However, if you ask the average person in Wisconsin to name an Ivy League school, their first answer is most likely going to be, “Wisconsin.” To some extent, all schools are regional. In contrast, people in NY, NJ, and PA are more likely to see Lehigh as a top engineering school, and not know how good Wisconsin is outside of sports.
Why are people on this thread referring to Wisconsin as Wiscy?
As an undergrad who is doing STEM research right now in a UW lab and has interviewed many professors about their research for the Daily Cardinal, trust me when I say that there is a lot of really exciting and top notch research going on in UW. There are also a lot of really prestigious professors and it can be quite surreal to realize you’ve met some of them or that they worked in the university for many years. UW is a top research institution, period.
For what it’s worth, there was someone that did undergrad research in the same lab that I’m in now who is now attending grad school at MIT. I also know another guy who was accepted into Penn’s (Perelman’s) MD/PhD program.
Are you interested in a specific STEM major already? The Chemistry department is historically very prestigious, and I have taken several of their honors classes. I do research in biochem, and I’m also taking the Biocore honors program in the bio department. If you have any questions, feel free to message me.
Also, you don’t necessarily need to be in the liberal arts Honors program. You can also opt for Honors in the Major, which allows you to concentrate more on honors classes within your major, as well as do an honors thesis in your senior year.
A short answer to the thread title. There is NO “top ten STEM grad school”. Prestige varies depending on the specific department. You need to know your exact major, and for grad school, the subdivision within the major.
For STEM UW and Cal both are fantastic for undergrads.
re how to refer to UW- posters who are naïve use other monikers.