These are my top two schools and I have a hard time choosing between the two. I live in Suburban Minnesota. I’m Asian. I really love sports, especially college football and basketball. I love food. I know the Twin Cities offer great affordable food but I don’t know if Madison does. Im very social. I need a quiet place to study and I love to go out with friends. Both schools I can afford and the education is both great. What are your guys thought about the two schools?
Some basic Pros
UMN Pros-
Close to Home
Metropolitan feel
Food
Diverse
UW Madison Pros-
Meet new people
Amazing at Football and Basketball
Traditions on a whole new level
I think you would be a better fit at UW-Madison. It would seem to fit your personality and interests better. Also, getting out of State and getting new experiences is never a bad thing for an 18 year old.
London- Yea, Madison sounds like a great university. I also wanted that “college experience” and Madison definitely has that, but on a new level. It’s Out of state, Football and basketball is top notch, traditions are great, and the schooling is great.
JB- University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Into the college of education. I believe Madison has a better Education department.
By the way, I am helping a British friend look at some options for a year abroad in the US. He is looking for a strong combination of top academics, typical US college experience and sophisticated, diverse student body. We ended up choosing UW over some more higher ranked public and private universities. If you can afford the OOS costs, you probably can’t go wrong with UW. Good luck.
You’ll be admitted to CEHD w/o issues, most likely, given your in-state residency and stats you posted on another thread. (UMN admits to the specific college, whereas UW has a general admission so applying to the School of Ed. is something you need to do down the road). You are correct that the graduate ed. school is ranked higher at UW - it’s probably the top-ranked public program. So the instructors will be top of their field and grad students will be working on high-level research. That will impact the kind of research, clinical, and other opportunities, not to mention level of instructional quality, you experience at the undergraduate level. Still, it’s a very good idea to check out the two places because within your area of interest there might be distinctions that could impact your decision.
If you have a specific major or majors in mind - or even if you wish to minor in a related field - you may want to check out the specific programs of study within and between the two institutions. For instance, if your goal is to become an elementary school teacher, what is the specific path offered by each institution? Both will culminate in a teaching license; however, there may be differences in exactly when you are admitted to the professional component, admission standards for that (may be different from admission to the college or university), and number of years of study. UMN, for instance, offers the teaching license for early/elementary ed. only after a one year full-year master’s program (does UW require five years of study?). UW admits its ed majors to a pre-professional status and you apply to the professional component in your sophomore year (how competitive is that admission?). Those sorts of questions. Ed. schools are professional schools culminating, in many cases, in a professional degree. Therefore, you want to make sure that particular professional program meets your needs and expectations.
Hopefully you will be admitted to both and will get to make a choice between two fine institutions with an excellent reputation for educating the educators (both have similar rates of admission to their graduate ed. programs so are roughly the same level of selectivity/quality there). Would guess that a certificate from either would qualify you to teach in the Midwest (at the very least!).
If you are planning on teaching it may depend on which state you want to teach in and whether the U of MN or Madison will prepare you for meeting the state’s requirements for the state you want to teach in. Licensure in teaching is state specific and each state has their own requirements.