U of Minnesota TC vs. UW-Madison

College Search & Selection
1

Hello! I’m a senior high school student living in Wisconsin and two of my top choices for college are the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My GPA and ACT scores are well within the range of both schools so I’m not concerned about getting into either of them, but I am wondering (a bit early) which one might be a better fit for me.

I’ve grown up in a suburb of Madison, so I’ve been around UW my entire life; shopping on State Street, boating on Mendota and Monona, attending Badger sports games, you name it. I am very much a Wisconsinite in this sense. Growing up so close to the University has instilled a lot of Badger pride into me, however, being that the university is literally a fifteen minute drive from my house, going their wouldn’t be an entirely different experience for me. Don’t get me wrong–I know college life is much different than high school and all that, but the scenery would be all the same. However, I love how much culture is here and I definitely identify with it. I love Madison and always will.

I am considering Minnesota because it would be a change, which I want for college. It is more metropolitan than Madison is, and the campus is more self contained than UW’s. The music scene and the culture there is also great. I think it would be great to experience something new.

As for academics, I know both of them are ranked pretty similarly. I feel like UW may be a bit better than Minn., but barely. Major and minor choices are also (in my opinion) much better at Minn., mostly because they offer many more minors. I want to major in psychology and double major/minor with sociology, neuroscience and/or Spanish. UW only offers all of these disciplines in the form of a major. So, if I wanted to study a mix of them (which I definitely do), I would have to double/triple major, which sounds pretty awful. Is the academic prestigiousness of Madison worth it to take on multiple majors? If it helps, if I were to double major with Spanish, I already have a ton of credits from HS and could likely graduate only taking a class a semester. Minnesota, however, offers all of the above disciplines in majors and minors, which is excellent. I feel like I could make my experience a bit more personalized in this way.

Also, I know both Madison and Minn’s psych departments are highly rated, but does anyone know if one is truly better than the other?

If anyone could offer any insight I’d be so greatful!

2

Do you have any ideas yet about what you’d like to major in? Minnesota is probably better than Wisconsin in some areas, and vice versa.

3

@rosered55 I just added more to my post to answer your question!

4

Have you been on a visit to UMN yet? I’m pretty familiar with both. UMN is in a larger metropolitan area. It might be more fun to explore that.

5

I have visited UMN twice and I really do like it. Really interesting city and a cool campus. Once in the summer and once in the winter. It was absolutely brutal in the winter but I can’t say I’m not use to it being from Wisconsin where the winters are pretty much just as bad.

6

I also have a sister at Madison right now who absolutely loves it. She’s studying biology though and had no interest in double-majoring.

7

@intparent responded to you above :slight_smile:

8

I also live in a suburb of Madison, and my two daughters and two of my nieces grew up here. None of them went to Madison, but I don’t think it was because they felt too familiar with the campus. Three of them wanted to go to smaller schools, and one went to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities because she preferred a specific program there. (She started out planning to get an engineering degree and ended up with a computer science major.) The UMTC alum really liked Minneapolis and the university.

9

If you like a subject, you can just take several classes in it without needing to have a minor. So I would not make the choice on whether one school offers minors or not.

10

@CheddarcheeseMN i do know this, but if i’m spending money on college courses i’d like to get some sort of qualification for it

11

There isn’t much if any evidence that this qualification you seek has any monetary value.

12

Minors usually do not have employment or monetary value. Second majors usually do not either for a specific job, but may allow you to be a reasonable applicant to a wider range of major-specific jobs (i.e. those looking for major A and those looking for major B). But neither psychology nor sociology has that many major-specific jobs at the BA/BS level, although knowledge of both subjects can be generally useful in various ways.

Why not major in one and take interesting courses in the other without worrying about checking all of the boxes for a second major or minor?

13

I think you ought to apply to both and apply to Honors college at both. Honors college can make a big difference and you may not get into both.
On your resume, you’ll list your major but most importantly ‘relevant coursework’ which will be scanned for key words (statistics, etc).
Are both within budget?

14

Yes, specific electives (not necessarily a minor or second major) may be generally helpful to someone of any major, such as statistics (may be required for social science majors, though some take more in-depth courses), economics, and computer science.