<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. 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>As a current Carlson student(who also debated attending UW) i can tell you that in terms of job placement, Carlson has an overwhelming edge. Carlson has amazing connections with the surrounding business community. Carlson reports 98% job placement but id say its 100% for students who actually want jobs. There are far fewer businesses in Madison in which to find jobs/internships. Carlson is making amazing changes to the program and i wouldnt be surprised to see it shoot up in the rankings in the coming years. Personally, i dont trust the businessweek rankings to begin with (they give Carlson a "B" grade for facilities, which make absolutely no sense seeing as the building is amazing). The new addition to the school will be opening up in Fall 2008 aswell. Carlson gives it students everything they need to get a job and/or find interships, its just up to the stuents to step up to the plate and take advantage of the opportunities.
In terms of the business education i would imagine they would be very similar. I have never regretted the decision to attend Carlson instead of UW and i dont think you're son would either. I dont know a whole lot about the Carlson honors program other than that it is extremely hard to get into. I had very good credentials coming out of high school (3.9gpa, act-31, varsity athlete) and was still not accepted to the program (congrates to your son!) Hope this helps a little.</p>
<p>Your reply was very helpful. Are there summer internship and/or job opportunities for CSOM students? Also, are students paid for research done with CSOM professors?</p>
<p>There are tons of internships available to Carlson students through the CARS(Carlson Automated Recruiting System) program. Its difficult to get internships as a freshman but once you get some business courses under your belt, you'll be much more competitive for internships with great companies. </p>
<p>Im dont really know much about the undergraduate research program so unfortunantly i wont be able to help you there. sorry</p>
<p>D1 chose UW-Madison over U of M (we are MN residents). Since the Madison business community is relatively small, most internships and jobs are outside Madison. She had two internships on the east coast. My daughter believes there is more national recruitment done at UW-Madison than at U of M. If you want to stay in the Twin Cities than U of M is an excellent choice. If you want explore opportunities around the country, than UW-Madison is a great choice.</p>