<p>i got accepted into the engineering schools at both northwestern university and uw madison. i am a mildly conservative minnesotan and i went to a VERY small high school. I like to party but know there are plenty of other ways to have fun too. Also, NU is really expensive and i will have to take out a lot of loans. Basically, my question is: Is it worth it to shell out an extra $25000-30000 for NU and will i feel out of place at madison, which is stereotypically very liberal and incredibly drunken? Please help, this is torturing me.</p>
<p>Not worth it. Most engineering students are not partying that much. Not the ones that graduate anyway. The rest are out of engineerinng after a year.</p>
<p>I went to UW-Madison over Northwestern and some others because of money. The graduate programs rank higher then NU in your field and I'd imagine undergrad as well. Further, there is a small but lively conservative movement on campus. Remember, a lot of areas in Wisconsin are rather conservative and they still send students here too. You <em>will</em> be the minority, but you will <em>not</em> be non existant.</p>