Penn State VS U of Wisc

<p>My son has been accepted to both Penn State Smeal College of Business and to U of Wisconsin in Madison. We have visited both schools. He found both appealing. His dilema is as follows: at Penn State he has been accepted directly into the business school. At U of Wisc you cannot apply to the business school until your Junior year. It is a numbers game at wisc. 1300 Max in the school and the accecptance rate is about 75% of those that apply. Both schools are very good. Please help with your comments so I can guide him along in this decision he must make.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>if you dont mind, what were his stats? sat/act/gpa? I am wondering because i am applying to Wisconsin, also how long did it take him to get his decesion from Wisconsin?</p>

<p>It would help to know what the GPA history of the 75% accepted into UWMadison was. You should look at the course work required, look at the GPA history of those accepted/declined. I am guessing that at Madison some of the classes leading up to application may be large with departmental exams. These circumstances would speak more to your student as an individual. Have you looked into these factors? Some state schools have "screening" courses aka flunk out courses to cut the number applying to the limited programs such as business. Are you familiar with these strategies?</p>

<p>My understanding from the meeting we had at U of Wisc was that it is primarily based upon 1. Gpa of pre bus classes. 2. Overall Gpa 3. Personal statment. The reason I say it is a #'s they do not give you a minn Gpa to qualify. Just the top 350 or so candidates based space available get in.</p>

<p>The avg UW business admit gpa was about a 3.2-3.4 over the last few years. Not a huge hurdle but certainly not a cinch either.</p>

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The reason I say it is a #'s they do not give you a minn Gpa to qualify. Just the top 350 or so candidates based space available get in.

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<p>I understand that it is not a minimum. The reality is that they take the top GPAs until the spaces are filled and anecdotally or factually you can find out where the admits stopped.....that is what I am referring to. You can ask and find out in previous years what the stats looked like.</p>

<p>Another factor that sometimes plays into these decisions is the number of undergrad courses taken at that institution....thus transfers may be at a disadvantage. If you know the number of spaces available, how many applicants are declined and what happens to them.....those are interesting to know. Do you have multiple times to apply? What courses do you take if you are awaiting another admission cycle?</p>

<p>You can apply anytime you reach 54 Credits. My son feels a certain comfort level being "in" at Penn State's Smeal. I would like him to welcome the competition at Wisc. It will keep him on his feet. He hated the college application process and I think that is what is pushing him to Penn State.</p>

<p>How large are the classses at Madison compared to PennState? How do grouping and projects work at each school? How about internships? I can see that there would be advantages to either school........what other factors do you think make Madison your first choice?</p>

<p>Admit info</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bus.wisc.edu/undergrad/admissions/statistics.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bus.wisc.edu/undergrad/admissions/statistics.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The UW would place better in the Midwest while PSU is stronger back east. Otherwise I think they are very close as far as business goes. Does he have an area he wants to concentrate in?</p>

<p>Some placement info</p>

<p><a href="http://www.sa.psu.edu/career/PDF/postgrad/BUSSALARY.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.sa.psu.edu/career/PDF/postgrad/BUSSALARY.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.bus.wisc.edu/career/pubs/YIR/2004-2005%20Year%20in%20Review.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bus.wisc.edu/career/pubs/YIR/2004-2005%20Year%20in%20Review.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>