Just got word from my husband that a potential move to WI is on the table. Our oldest is a homeschooled junior, and I just finished working on his college list. Now I need to start looking at options up north to see how those compare to what we have here.
We are lifelong Texans and all of our friends/family are here, so I have no idea what schools are good in other locations, whereas we know quite a bit about the atmosphere and reputations of many Texas schools. How would we find this out for other areas?
We were looking at state schools (UTD, Texas A & M, Texas Tech, etc.) where ds might get some merit money toward tuition. We are full pay and have 6 other children so this is fairly important.
He is URM, has a 3.76 GPA, taking PSAT next month and SAT in Nov - practice test scores are around 1350. (He’s still studying, though.) ECs are basketball (a few regional awards), pt job, some volunteer work. We’re looking to contribute around $15k per yr.
Ds is still deciding between business and engineering majors. He’s not interested in liberal arts schools.
What kinds of schools in or near Wisconsin might be similar to what we’ve been looking at in terms of fit/merit.
U of Wisconsin at Madison and U of Minnesota at the twin cities are excellent. The various state Us are decent. Check current policy about in-state tuition/fees for WI residents at U Minn. In the past there was a tuition exchange, but I am not up to date about details.
UW Madison is outstanding and our in-state kids pay around $25k all in. With reciprocity with Minnesota you can get in-state tuition at the U there as well and it is about $3k higher than Madison tuition. Here are the details on the program: http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/PDFs/WI_reciprocity.pdf
I think the following University of Wisconsin schools might be good for business or engineering, too: UW-Whitewater (business); UW-Platteville (engineering); UW-Stout (engineering).
You may want to run the net price calculators on the TX, WI, and MN state universities as a resident of TX and WI to get an idea of the financial implications of a move from TX to WI. (Private schools and other out-of-state public schools should not vary too much when you move from TX to WI.)
Pay attention to how the state universities handle impacted engineering majors in terms of whether one is directly admitted to the major as a frosh (e.g. UT Austin), or if one has to meet high college GPA requirements or face another selective admission process to get into or stay in the major after enrolling (e.g. Wisconsin, some majors at Minnesota, Texas A&M).
This is helpful. Thanks! Those schools look like matches, and are similar in price to what we have here.
Also, we have a strong community college system in our area that has transfer agreements with some of our really good state schools. Is there anything similar in or around Milwaukee?
There is most definitely tuition recoprocity with Minnesota as a Wisconsin resident. For state schools with engineering and business, I’d definitely look at UW Madison and U of MN twin cities. In state tuition is ok, but they do not seem to do boat loads of merit. My junior is looking at both schools too (among others). My junior is homeschooled as well.
The smaller UW’s are worth looking at too. They are VERY reasonably priced, many have honors programs. I’m not sure which ones are strongest for engineering or business. But some of the schools have partnering degrees with the stronger engineering schools in particular. I’ve heard good things about UW LaCrosse.
@MusakParent Can I message you about homeschooling in WI? We have a great homeschool community here - lots of support and activities - so homeschooling in another area is a big concern.
If you know that you will not qualify for need-based aid, then you can just look at list prices (although some net price calculators also include automatic-for-stats merit scholarships). But you may want to try the net price calculators anyway if you have 7 total kids.
The local community college for most who live in the Milwaukee area is MATC. They have several campuses; downtown Milwaukee (main), Mequon, Oak Creek, and West Allis.
Due to the number of children you have, you might qualify for more financial aid than you think.
The UW College system is a group of 2-year schools that have direct transfer options to various 4-year UW schools. They are VERY affordable. Closest to Milwaukee would probably be UW Waukesha. Also have one in West Bend (depending on where you are moving to), and maybe 10 others, all over state.
@ucbalumnus Thank you for sharing that info. It definitely raises a concern, and I will make sure my husband looks into it before making any final decisions.
U MN very actively recruits URMs, and has special programs for high stat URM kids. Application fees are waived too. I’d check into that as well, especially if your child is interested in engineering, especially if he does very well on the SAT or ACT. Also check out the midwest student exchange: http://msep.mhec.org/
Both U of M and UW are top tier and highly competitive (as is UT-Austin). ACT average test scores for both states tend to be above the national averages as well. Wisconsin public (outside the Milwaukee Public School District) schools, including HS, tend to be better than in many places- including the many smaller districts.
With a planned move you need to be aware of the rules for residency status in Wisconsin. Since you are homeschooling you won’t need to worry about taking your child away from his HS but you do need to time the move to have 12 months residency to be eligible for instate tuition. It might be nice for your son to experience the public schools as well. The public schools in most places do a great job- one reason people use them instead of private ones (including for gifted kids).
You get what you pay for- as in, higher taxes mean traditionally more spent on quality schools. Hopefully things have not deteriorated too much under the current governor( we voted in his recall election and left in 2012).
