<p>My son has been accepted at the UM Carlson School of Management and UW-Madison as a freshmen, for the fall, 2008. He also made it into the honors program at the U of M. We're Wisconsinites but live a little over an hour from the Twin Cities. We feel very much at home in the Twin Cities. Madison, on the other hand is is 4 1/2 hours away. We visited Carlson in the fall and were very impressed. Since then, we've also run into several families with children who attend or attended Carlson and everyone raved about the school. </p>
<p>Here's what we think we know. Carlson has a great campus and is making changes in its program which will be implemented in the fall of 2008 (freshman business course, sophomore year business core semester, mandatory international travel, etc.). Carlson also offers the advantage of its location in a prime business city and its strong connection with those businesses. Carlson admits freshmen into the business school.</p>
<p>We don't know much about UW Madison except that Business Week ranks their business school higher than Minnesota's and it's difficult to get in. Freshmen aren't admitted. The city is nice. We've visited before. </p>
<p>Even with reciprocity for Carlson, the cost of Wisconsin starts out a couple thousand lower and as a salutatorian, my son has earned a guaranteed $2200/year scholarship to any Wisonsin school. So he starts out with a $4000+/year cost advantage at Wisconsin.</p>
<p>We'd appreciate hearing from people who really know something about both schools, the advantages and disadvantages of both, and how they compare with each other in any and every way. Which school provides the better business education and which school's graduates might have the best opportunities?</p>
<p>Average_guy, my daughter got into both schools but recieved a better offer from UMN and attends UMN as a Jr. I am happy that it worked out that way mainly because of match. The city of Minneapolis is a better fit for her than Madison. There are many away-from -school diversions in downtown Minneapolis. On our visit to Madison, or talking to my niece who attended Wisc. there wasn't much more to it than State street bars. Madison was beautiful and seemed to have better sport-fan spirit than UMN. We are very happy with the intern and career oppotunities that come through UMN. The ability to start as a freshman in the Carlson program was a huge plus!Currently, she is studying a semester abroad in Milan, Italy through Carlson. She is able to take all classes that go towards her requirements , even her honors program requirement. She had only two APs to carry into UMN but will still graduate in four years (fingers crossed) with a double major in Mktng and supply chain mngmnt by taking 15 credits a semester or so. I'm sure the opportunities will be there for him if he pursues them at either Uni. Finding the best match away from the classroom might be the best determining factor. Hope I could help</p>
<p>Jazzy1, your daughter's situation is a lot like my son's, except that she's a few years ahead and has probably already made many of her most important college decisions. My son really favors CSOM and hopes his financial aid package will allow him to attend there. He's excited about studying overseas and has talked about Italy as his first choice. He's always wanted to visit there because of his interest in art. He'd like to see where some of the greats lived and worked (and their work, up close). He has no background in speaking Italian, only 4 years of high school Spanish. Did your daughter have any background in Italian before college? He's not sure about his specialization in business but is curious about marketing, from the standpoint of developing and marketing products or services, the creative aspect of it. Thanks for your reply. It's been encouraging and helpful.</p>
<p>AvgGuy, She didn't study Italian before hand, although she probably would have if had fit into her schedule better. The university she is at in Milan offers a three week italian class prior to either semester, and she said her few years of H.S. french was helpful because the conjugation is very similar. Spanish is also a romance language and probably even closer than french. This has been a great oppurtunity for her to gain independence and travel. She is leaving with a friend thursday to fly to Barcelona and then Paris before her real semester actually starts. My wife insisted that I deliver her there, and when I left my daughter I felt much better about her surviving in a foreign country. Plus with Skype she can call our computer from from her's and we can have live video conversations for free as long as we want!! A call to our telephone is 2 cents a minute. She also giggles each time I tell her the current temp in Minnesota. If you visit the Carlson website there is much more info on Carlson's study abroad programs along with the standard ones available through UMN. About your son, the business classes he will be taking early should apply broadly to most any major, mainly just econ style classes. He will still have the time to seek out a passion. Best of luck!</p>