U of I Urbana-Champaign v.s. U of Wisconsin Madison?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Wisconsin
1

<p>Hey everyone, I bet you've answered a bunch of these already, but I hope you can sacrifice a few seconds to help me out.</p>

<p>I want to go to one of these two places to start because I know there are so many different high-quality majors and opportunities to experience at a large state school, and I want to try a bunch of stuff out. After finding what I'm really interested in, I'm probably going to transfer to somewhere else that specializes in my chosen discipline.</p>

<p>However, I'm stuck. I like both of these places cause they are close to home (good place to start, I figure), but they are so similar. I have a slight gut feeling for Illinois, I would get in-state tuition and I think it is slightly more prestigious (what I hear, please correct me if I'm wrong), but I'm in the Honors Program over at Wisconsin (I didn't apply at Illinois for stupid reasons) and I'm on the waitlist for the Wisconsin International Scholars Program. </p>

<p>I plan to major in International Relations and double minor in Chinese and Japanese. They are pretty even in those departments from what I can see (Wisconsin has a Japanese house while Illinois has an international house, and it seems that both have good language and IR departments.) </p>

<p>Does anyone have any opinions that could sway me one way or another? Thank you!</p>

2

<p>"I think it is slightly more prestigious."</p>

<p>Overall, wrong.</p>

<p>Certain programs, correct.</p>

<p>Nothing I could say would really sway you, visit both. VERY different feel to each campus.</p>

3

<p>There are almost no universities "better" than Madison that are easy to transfer into, and none that will offer a transfer the value that Madison does (in state). Almost everybody who winds up there loves it. The honors program is good. Go to Madison; you will not need to transfer.</p>

<p>Edit: Now I see you're in-state at Illinois. That's a complication.</p>

4

<p>We're in Illinois - D2 chose Madison over UIUC for both the academics and the overall campus environment/experience. We're thrilled and feel it's well worth what we've estimated will be about $5 to $6 thousand extra expense per year over in-state at UIUC. We'll just eat beans and rice and work a few extra years (we hope!). ;)</p>