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

<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>

<p>Wisconsin has more prestige in liberal arts and a more national student population. Outside engineering UI is not well known comparatively and nowhere near as fun.</p>

<p>Biased much? Illinois is plenty fun too, but that’s beside the point. In today’s economy, why pay OOS tuition at Wisconsin when you can get an equal or better education at Illinois? Honors Programs are nice, but lots of kids don’t even stay in them, and there are plenty more opportunities for similar programs once you get on campus. That’s just my 2 cents.</p>

<p>barrons…stick to the WI blog…how many days have to spent on the IL campus to know how fun it is? I think Illinois has just as much to do, has just as much school spirit…that seems to equal fun. I think IL has a pretty good Business school that you forgot to mention as well. Go Illini!</p>

<p>One of my bets friends at UW went to UI undergrad- He said there was NO comparison. I have spent a few days at UI while doing interviews and work for my firm–no comparison.</p>

<p>Wisconsin is indeed little better than Illinois in liberal arts, but I’d say the difference is negligible, especially at undergrad level. Also I wouldn’t say UI is only known for engineering as UI business is quite good also, with brand new facilities and top notch career fair.</p>

<p>I say, if you have a gut feeling, why fight it? Ignore the stats, which are very similar anyway. You don’t want to wind up in WI and have a nagging feeling that you should have gone the other way.</p>

<p>I’ve recruited for multiple disciplines (engineering, business, LAS) at many schools across the country including most Big Ten for both undergraduate and graduate positions. You’ll find stellar students at both schools. And you’ll find very, very strong majors in the liberal arts at UIUC. Also, you’ll find strong engineering students at WI. Just make sure to visit both schools. You may decide that you love the school so much that you won’t want to transfer after a couple years.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>UW madison is a crazy party school.
hahaha u can check out the new show they hav on MTv about UW students and their college lives
[School</a> Starts | Ep. 101 | College Life | Full Episode Video | MTV](<a href=“http://www.mtv.com/videos/college-life-ep-1-welcome-to-college/1608663/playlist.jhtml]School”>http://www.mtv.com/videos/college-life-ep-1-welcome-to-college/1608663/playlist.jhtml)</p>

<p>I have to say UW’s liberal arts majors might have a slight edge against UI’s. This comes from someone who currently goes to UI.</p>

<p>Chayze, don’t judge a school you don’t go to. That show was scripted, and MTV even self-admitted so.
No one I’ve seen at UW thus far acts like that.</p>

<p>OP: I’d pick UI.</p>

<p>haha alright…
but chill dude, I was just trying to shed some light on college life at UW madison lol.
'sides, there must at least SOME truth in that show</p>