NYU or UW-Madison Chemical Engineering?

College Search & Selection
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So I got into UW-Madison and NYU-Poly (now a part of NYU). I’m out of state for Madison. I got enough aid from NYU for them to be roughly equal as far as price is concerned. I know that UW-Madison is renowned for chemical engineering and supposedly gives the ultimate college experience but there are a couple of things that draw me more towards NYU.

I’ve always wanted to live in big cities and NYC is the best of the best in that regard.

Poly’s job placement rate is 90% and its average mid-career salary is close to 120k, up there with the likes of MIT etc.

The job and internship opportunities in NYC would be immense compared to Madison.

Winters in Madison are supposedly brutal. New York is pretty cold too but significantly less apparently. I’ve lived in Islamabad, Pakistan for most of my life, where the temperature rarely reaches below freezing point (degree celsius) in winters, and as a result, weather is a very significant factor for me.

So what would you recommend?
Thanks.

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bump

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Both NY and WI will be difficult for winters. I say UW Madison. Its Chem Engineering program is phenomenal.

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“So I got into UW-Madison and NYU-Poly (now a part of NYU). I’m out of state for Madison. I got enough aid from NYU for them to be roughly equal as far as price is concerned.”

Did NYU really give you over $30k/year in FA? Because as it is, NYU is roughly $30k/year more expensive than Wisconsin.

“I’ve always wanted to live in big cities and NYC is the best of the best in that regard.”

Pragmatically, there is very little you can do in NYC. The city is designed for gainfully employed adults, not college students. As a college student, I should hope you will spend most of your time on/around campus, and for that, Wisconsin is in fact more suitable than NYU. Also keep in mind that NYU Poly’s campus is not in Manhattan (I think it is in Brooklyn).

“Poly’s JOB placement rate is 90% and its average mid-career SALARY is close to 120k, up there with the likes of MIT etc.”

$120k won’t get you very far in NYC. I am fairly certain that Wisconsin will attract at least as many (if not more) employers than NYU Poly for Chemical Engineering jobs. Starting salaries for Engineering graduates coming out of Wisconsin will not be lower than the starting salaries for Engineering graduates coming out of NYU Poly.

“The job and internship opportunities in NYC would be immense compared to Madison.”

I am not sure that is accurate. NYC isn’t home to more Chemical Engineering firms than the Midwest. Dow Chemical and 3M, two of the three largest Chemical firms in the US, have their HQs in the Midwest.

“Winters in Madison are supposedly brutal. New York is pretty cold too but significantly less apparently.”

Madison is definitely colder than NYU. Both have cold winters, but Madison’s is longer and more intense.

“I’ve lived in Islamabad, Pakistan for most of my life, where the temperature rarely reaches below freezing point (degree celsius) in winters, and as a result, weather is a very significant factor for me.”

I grew up in Abu Dhabi, which is possibly warmer than Islamabad, and I had no trouble adjusting to life in the Midwest. It takes some getting used to, but it is not as bad as you may think.

“So what would you recommend?”

I recommend Wisconsin. It is not even close really. Wisconsin’s program is significantly superior and the college experior at Wisconsin is better than the one at NYU Poly.

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NYU Poly is located in Brooklyn, not the super-hip, gentrifying Brooklyn areas although very close to downtown. Polytechnic University used to be a fine engineering school before going into a steep decline during the 90s and 00s, lucky that NYU did not have an engineering school and was willing to resuscitate it. Still, despite the NYU name, it’s no match to Wisconsin for engineering.

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I think that you are overreacting to the temperature difference. The fact is, in both places the winter temperature is about the same because you will spend most of your time INDOORS studying! Wisconsin is a much more respected program.

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I will just add that my daughter from California where it is warm went to grad school in Madison. It is a great place to live and you would have more of a traditional college experience there. I think once it is really cold, you put on your winter clothes when you are outside and it may not matter how really cold it is. But it is going to be colder for longer periods. NYC is really something that no where else is like and it might be fun to experience when you are in college. It is more international and diverse. But I think it is too much for 4 years. You could try for an internship there maybe?