<p>Although it will not effect my final decision, I am curious about the overall prestige of UW-Madison. For example, would attending the big state school make it harder to get a job or be accepted into top grad schools than if I attended a school such as Wake or Northwestern?I know that UW is a top school and I honestly don't put any weight into rankings, but I'm concerned others won't have that same view.</p>
<p>I think UW- Madison has a pretty good reputation specially in the midwest, although it is also known as a “fun school”.</p>
<p>Wisky is a great school. Do well there and you can attend top grad schools anywhere.</p>
<p>I admit that schools like Northwestern and Wake Forest may have more perceived prestige, but I think Wisconsin is a great school. If you work hard, then you’ll get into a good grad school, and if you like Wisconsin, then go for it by all means.</p>
<p>This is field specific, but Madison is renown for its prowess in biochemistry and genetics. My first two professional positions after college hired me in part on the strength of my undergrad institution.</p>
<p>I plan on studying economics, which I believe Wisconsin is very strong in, especially after hiring 4 highly sought after professors. My only concern is that the large classes will prevent the professors from giving me meaningful feedback on papers and that my writing, a skill necessary for any career path, will not improve as much as I would like it to. I am a very motivated student with a strong work ethic, and in fact I am currently working on a research project with members of a UW comp sic professor’s lab. If anyone who attended a state school and could share any experiences they had, good or bad, it would be much appreciates</p>
<p>It is good, as far as public schools go. It is not “prestigious”, but it is good enough of a degree. There are hardly any prestigious public schools though. You really have to look at the east coast private schools for prestige.</p>
<p>^^^^My vote for the dumbest post of the week.</p>
<p>So says the inevitable public school grad. Enjoy the midwest/south.</p>
<p>Post #9: “It is good, as far as public schools go. It is not “prestigious”, but it is good enough of a degree. There are hardly any prestigious public schools though. You really have to look at the east coast private schools for prestige.”</p>
<p>Historically, Wisconsin and Michigan have been popular alternatives for many students from the Northeast. Unfortunately, many others from the Northeast suffer from extreme provincialism and prestige-whoring that causes them to overlook the great public universities of the Midwest. </p>
<p>Wisconsin is strong across almost all fields of study, and, I daresay that with few exceptions, a top student will be able to obtain an education as good as, or better than, he/she could obtain at just about any private Northeastern university across a range of disciplines.</p>
<p>“So says the inevitable public school grad. Enjoy the midwest/south.”</p>
<p>My vote for the second dumbest post of the week. It runs a close second with the dumbest post of the week.</p>
<p>Wisconsin is a fabulous research university and has a quite a bit of prestige. I would say that it is the sort of school that probably won’t be mentioned by the layperson in the same breath as HYPSM, but for the experts in some fields, it’s right up there.
Large class sizes are a concern, but once you get into the upper level classes, they get much smaller, and you can always seek out your professors in office hours, even in the larger classes. It /is/ a fun school, and so it is fitting that it has that reputation, but its what you make of it. If you study and work hard, you can certainly be challenged by the extraordinary depth and breadth of classes, while having a good time.
Perhaps I am a bit biased :), but its a good school.</p>
<p>uw name will never hold you back (world university raking #17; arwu.org). with instate tuition, it’s great buy.</p>
<p>rjkofnovi, I’m with you…OP, please don’t think that informative represents the opinions of the general public. Go for Wisconsin if you really want to!</p>
<p>Yes, a Northwestern degree will be viewed in higher regard than a Wisconsin degree anywhere outside the Badger State. Anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves.</p>
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<p>Thanks, hope you enjoy giving half of your paycheck each month back to the government.</p>
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You’re acting like a ra-tard(like the they say it in “Get Him to The Greek”). A college degree isn’t a label that puts a Wisconsin degree lower than a Northwestern degree. Get real. Mostly what matters is work experience and individual effort to come up well in life.</p>
<p>How well you do at UW-Madison matters. If you make the top 5%, then your chances at top grad schools (with the exception of medicine and business). If you want to go into finance, and then to business school, Northwestern would be many tiers above UW-Madison.</p>
<p>^^^^^And you have definitive proof to back that statement up?</p>
<p>No. If you want to go into academia, then do well at UW-Madison, and you won’t be in a disadvantaged position even compared to students at Ivies. For finance, a lot of top firms, especially top hedge funds and PE firms, don’t recruit at UW-Wisconsin. The fact is, a degree from UW-Wisconsin won’t be viewed in any higher regards than a degree from UofM-Twin Cities.</p>