<p>Didn’t we just have one of these cheesehead posts? Does anyone go over to the cheeseboard and post</p>
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<p>^^classic!^^ lol</p>
<p>Is this even a decision? Weren’t you supposed to submit your enrolment deposit 6 weeks ago? I would say it is too late to change your mind.</p>
<p>Who’s “sad and uncomfortable”?</p>
<p>And Scott Van Pelt? Are you kidding me? Is that where you’re getting your information about colleges? Puh-leez.</p>
<p>Look, I had lots of positive things to say about Madison. But lots of sources besides Michigan students and alums would dispute you (and Scott Van Pelt) on “quality of life.” Princeton Review, for example, gives Michigan a 93 on quality of life, and Wisconsin an 89. It also rates Wisconsin #6 for “lots of beer,” #12 for “lots of hard liquor,” and #13 for “party schools” while Michigan doesn’t get ranked for any of those things. And I think that’s fair. Not to say there aren’t parties at Michigan, but I wouldn’t call it a “party school.” On the whole, it’s more serious than that.</p>
<p>Frankly, being a “party school” is not a positive for Wisconsin in my book, and I’m very proud of my daughters for avoiding Wisconsin because of that reputation, which IMO is well deserved. To be perfectly candid, I think Wisconsin has a drinking problem–not just the university but to a scary degree the whole state. Per capita alcohol consuption is off the charts.</p>
<p>And notice that most people, including Princeton Review, don’t equate “quality of life” with alcohol consumption. Their #1 party school is West Virginia, which they give a 76 quality of life rating. #2 party school, Iowa, 80 quality of life rating. #3 party school, Ohio University, 76 quality of life rating. #4 party school, Illinois, 79 quality of life rating. Notice a pattern here? Students tend to drink the most at schools where quality of life is kind of mediocre, because there’s nothing else to do and the party culture takes over. Wisconsin is something of an exception to that because quality of life is actually pretty good there, independent of the party culture. But better than Michigan? Sure, you can find some Wisconsin partisans who will say that, and even a few “neutral” sources, but you’ll find at least as many who say the opposite.</p>
<p>LOL at the links to all of those extremely subjective (and useless) ratings, especially the ones trying to judge party scenes. You shouldn’t have to show those to anyone to justify your college choice. And no matter how I much think Michigan/Ann Arbor>>>>>>Wisconsin/Madison, if Wisconsin is the better “fit” for you, for whatever reasons, that’s that. No point having second thoughts now!</p>
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<p>I had that same thought, but then I assumed the OP was just a HS student who hasn’t actually applied anywhere yet. Either that or a Wisconsin student just trying to stir things up. One tip-off was that the OP couldn’t correctly spell the name of his own state–if in fact that is his state.</p>
<p>If that’s your opinion great. Have fun in Madison. But if you decide to come to another school’s board to talk about how another school is better, why would you expect people to respond kindly? If someone posted what @res ispa said on the Wisconsin board, would you expect people to say stuff like “Oh wow, I’m so glad you think Michigan’s better. You’re so smart for not picking Wisconsin.” or “Totally, I also agree Michigan’s academics are much better than ours and their party scene is just slightly worse than ours. You are a genius for not picking our mediocre school.” Nice job trolling and representing your school.</p>
<p>“Where at a day when more then just academics matter…”</p>
<p>The fact that the OP used “where” instead of “we’re” indicates that she/he probably didn’t get into Michigan… have fun at Wisconsin.</p>
<p>^ Also “then” instead of “than.” Tons of writing errors. More than even Wisconsin would ignore. Makes me think the OP is a HS wannabe who hasn’t yet applied to or been admitted to either school–and may never be admitted to either school.</p>
<p>1) Notice how almost everyone agreed Wisconsin is a great school, so there’s your validation. However if you expect people to say Wisconsin is better than Michigan then you really need to really open your eyes. You keep on saying that Wisconsin is not that far behind in terms of academics. Well, Michigan is not that far behind in social life. It’s just Michigan has more people who want to actually become astronauts, developers of ipods and founders of Google etc. So excuse the wolverines for not wanting to spend every day drunk.</p>
<p>lokus, you said Michigan students ignore rankings. For every ranking you find that Wisconsin is higher than Michigan, I’ll find 3 that Michigan is higher. By the way, I do not count rankings that are based on how much beer the student population can consume or how much sports they watch because firstly, that’s just plain stupid, and secondly, because it’s entirely subjective. Mainly the first point though.</p>
<p>Michigan is a top 10 dream college, Wisconsin isn’t
[College</a> Hopes and Worries Press Release](<a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/college-hopes-worries-press-release.aspx]College”>2020 College Hopes & Worries Press Release | The Princeton Review)</p>
<p>Michigan is ranked 12 in the world according to TIMES for reputation, Wisconsin is 30th
[Top</a> universities by reputation 2013 - Times Higher Education](<a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013/reputation-ranking]Top”>World Reputation Rankings 2013 | Times Higher Education (THE))</p>
<p>Bottom line, Michigan students only care about rankings that matter and are looked at by employers. Both are great schools, and by the impression I get of your priorities, you have chosen the right school. I congratulate you on your correct decision.</p>
<p>What state are you from? Isn’t cost a factor?</p>
<p>Didn’t you read it seaslipper? The OP is from “Deleware.” I would be surpised if he made any more appearances here under that screen name.</p>
<p>Sad thread. OP sounds quite butthurt for some reason, trying to way too hard to justify his decision and overcompensating to the point where it looks pathetic.</p>
<p>Wisconsin is a fair school.</p>
<p>Since we love to quote silly rankings so much on this thread, here’s one you might enjoy reading:</p>
<p>[Why</a> does Ann Arbor keep landing on ‘best of’ lists that touch every aspect of life here?](<a href=“http://www.annarbor.com/news/ann-arbor-often-placed-on-top-ten-lists/]Why”>Why does Ann Arbor keep landing on 'best of' lists that touch every aspect of life here?)</p>
<p>Ann Arbor is ranked:</p>
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<p>See anything here that might help you make your college decision?</p>
<p>@ForeverAlone don’t say that, it hurts OP’s feelings and he will think you’re a meanie. You don’t want that right?</p>
<p>Wisconsin’s graduate programs are about as highly ranked as Michigan’s but its undergraduate student body is weaker than U of M’s and its professional programs are far weaker than U of M’s.</p>
<p>He isn’t receiving much love on the Wisconsin board either</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-wisconsin-madison/1514710-help-me-verify-my-decision.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-wisconsin-madison/1514710-help-me-verify-my-decision.html</a></p>
<p>I am not surprised. Not many serious students want to be associated with, or have their university dismissed as, a “party school”. Making any sort of “party school” ranking is usually considered insulting for the university. Virtually all universities will strongly object to, and dispute, a report that suggests they are a party school.</p>
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<p>Sorry to be nit-picky, especially when goldenboy is saying generally nice things about Michigan. But I think there’s a difference in the graduate programs, too. Here’s how US News ranks the graduate programs at the two schools in key academic disciplines:</p>
<p>Biology: Wisconsin #15, Michigan #20
Chemistry: Wisconsin #7, Michigan #16
Computer Science: Wisconsin #11, Michigan #13
Earth Sciences: Michigan #9, Wisconsin #13
Economics: Michigan #13, Wisconsin #13
Engineering: Michigan #7, Wisconsin #13
English: Michigan #13, Wisconsin #17
History: Michigan #7, Wisconsin #14
Math: Michigan #8, Wisconsin #16
Philosophy (Philosophical Gourmet): Michigan #4, Wisconsin #22
Physics: Michigan #11, Wisconsin #17
Political Science: Michigan #4, Wisconsin #15
Psychology: Michigan #4, Wisconsin #9
Sociology: Wisconsin #1, Michigan #4</p>
<p>Mean ranking: Michigan 9.5, Wisconsin 13.1</p>
<h1>top 5 programs (of 14): Michigan 4, Wisconsin 1</h1>
<h1>top 10 programs (of 14): Michigan 8, Wisconsin 3</h1>
<h1>top 15 programs (of 14): Michigan 12, Wisconsin 10</h1>
<h1>top 20 programs (of 14): Michigan 14, Wisconsin 13</h1>
<h1>top 25 programs (of 14): Michigan 14, Wisconsin 14</h1>
<h1>of programs where Michigan leads: 9 of 14</h1>
<h1>of programs where Wisconsin leads: 4 of 14</h1>
<h1>ties: 1 of 14</h1>
<h1>programs where Michigan leads by 5 or more places: 7 of 14</h1>
<h1>programs where Wisconsin leads by 5 or more places: 2</h1>
<p>There are two ways you can look at this. One is to say they’re both great universities, with most or all of their graduate programs in the top 25, or top 20, or even top 15… Or you can look at the divergence at the very top, and say that while Wisconsin mostly has programs ranked #11 to #20, Michigan has a lot more programs in the top 5 or top 10; in fact, a majority of its programs in this sample are in the top 10, and only a very small number of schools can say that (Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Harvard are three, but after that it gets spottier). I think for many people pursuing Ph.D.s and hoping to go on to academic careers, it’s no longer enough to be in a top 20 program. Top 10 is better. Top 5 is even better, if you can get it.</p>
<p>I say this not to knock Wisconsin. I really do have a lot of respect for the school. It’s one of a handful of major research universities that manages to have real academic strength across a full range of disciplines, without any obvious weaknesses, and it’s vastly underappreciated in that regard. But while all of Wisconsin’s graduate programs are very good, Michigan’s are at least very good, and more of them break into the truly elite level.</p>
<p>The difference between Wisconsin and Michigan is nearly the same difference between Michigan and Berkeley.</p>