I plan on majoring in mechanical engineering and am torn between these two schools. With a merit scholarship to case, the yearly cost is $33,500, and OOS tuition at Wisconsin averages to about $43,000 per year, making case 10K cheaper per year or 40K cheaper over four years. Both are great academically in engineering (Wisconsin has a slight edge). Extracurricularly, I like everything about Wisconsin better, the sports games, club sports, and outdoor clubs, while when I visited Case I found it to be somewhat dull and lifeless. However, because of the tuition difference, it is a close call. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
This depends on what you and your family can afford. The premium for Wisconsin is not huge, but also something you would not want to take an unreasonable amount of loans for. Case will offer a very solid engineering degree. Overall, Wisconsin will provide more depth in many areas, and one of the best all-around college experiences in the U.S. Especially as you advance in your major, if you excel, Wisconsin does offer smaller, departmental scholarships, honors thesis scholarships, etc. that you can apply for. Those may help defray the cost differential at least a little bit, and are something also to consider. You may also want to consider things like alumni networks, and even other departments you may take classes in – at Wisconsin, these could enhance both your career potential and your overall experience, compared to Case.
We used a private college counselor who kept steering us away from the University of Wisconsin. Primary cons were with regard to fit for S - that the student environment was quite competitive and you had to be a self-starter to succeed. Also kept referring to the environment as liberal (I am assuming in the political sense) and how that would not be a good fit. While is not sporty himself, he really enjoys being a sports spectator and participating in marching band. Socially, he’s probably on the tame side preferring low key events over parties. The counselor seemed to be a big fan of CWRU. There is a big difference in size between the two - subsequently class size will be a factor. Especially in freshman year, I would expect the Wisconsin classes to be quite large. Also editing to add that S was not looking at engineering but CS and economics.
As I said, I think Case is very solid for engineering. I’d also be a little suspicious of a counselor who intones against a school due to its political environment. Especially for a major state flagship the size of Wisconsin – and unlike a smaller, private and potentially more homogenous campus like Case – most large, public flagships of Wisconsin’s caliber will offer many diverse communities for all sorts of students. That suggestion could be a red flag for clear bias, which may be wholly inappropriate for the student in question, namely the OP above.
In any case, it seems finances are the main concern here. If the student can comfortably afford Wisconsin with his family, it seems he prefers it. If not, then Case offers a fine education as well.
@anhydrite - sorry - I forgot a very important word ‘NOT’ in the political sense - directed at lifestyle and social environment but I’m not really sure what that necessarily encompasses. Assumed it was not political as I was pretty clear to him if that was what he meant we were definitely not conservative! Also CWRU is quite diverse and considered to be very accepting. Wisconsin is actually relatively quite homogenous - mostly Wisconsin and Minnesota students due to tuition reciprocity (so, cost factor again).
Wisconsin is now roughly 30-35% OOS / international, and that does not account for graduate students / faculty, which may be more. Not sure on Minnesota, but it is probably increasing OOS as well. So appraisals ought to reflect the statistics; I don’t think “quite homogenous” obtains among today’s student population.
I also wasn’t under the impression that Case is necessarily conservative – not in the sense that, say, Washington and Lee may be considered so. Smaller, private campuses may be subject to more homogeneity in their SES / class-income sense, which can have a tendency to skew on the political spectrum. Your initial post wasn’t clear that you disagreed with this counselor’s recommendation re: political sensibility, whatever that “conservative” may have denoted. Without a clarification, the notion that a gigantic, reputed flagship would be politically incorrect for a student – even indirectly – could be construed as unduly influential, and thus inappropriate.
I don’t know in what sense you mean liberal, then. Most college environments tend liberal in all ways. Madison is a wonderful college town and city. It is more liberal than most of the state. They call Madison and Milwaukee and the strip in between the liberal ‘barbell’ in the state.
I think 10k is quite a lot of premium to pay to go to Madison and I agree you are likely to have smaller classes at Case. You would be turning down that sort of luxury of smaller classes and more access to professors that can be presumed at a private to pay more for someone else’s state school, why not your own state school? I don’t quite see it. Yes Madison is particularly vibrant but to pay 10k for that seems steep. Case will have a lot going on for students that you wouldn’t see as a visitor. Also a lot of time as a student is spend in the library and just hanging with friends.
I am not familiar with the opportunities at Wisconsin but many engineering students have the opportunity to co-op or intern and are well-paid. I would look I to those options. If you can cut the difference in half, go with the school you prefer.
Liberal in a social sense. We were looking at ‘fit’ and where would he be most comfortable. I never got a good handle on how the conservative/liberal fits in that sense. Hippie = liberal? At any rate, I’ve read many comments by CWRU students about how accepting the student body is towards everyone and though the workload is high and rigorous, everyone helps each other out. Wisconsin aside, I think it’s harder to find that element in a large university. I do understand your concerns about school spirit - big sports definitely helps to create more student spirit and that is not there at CWRU. That environment will be a part of your college experience so you need to decide how important that factor is to you. S loves watching sports but I think it could be a huge distracting factor for him too. We are also still juggling two large state schools against 3 smaller privates for the final decision.
While no one can be certain, because of the recent state funding cuts, Wisconsin is going to be cutting approximately 400 jobs and also plans to increase OOS tuition to $36,000 by the 2018-19 school year (of course, CWRU may also increase costs as well). I don’t know how the Wisconsin cuts will impact academics, but some courses will be closed according to news reports. So, while I believe that Wisconsin will continue to be a spirited school with great academics, it might be somewhat harder to get into all the classes you want.
And I’m assuming that when the OP said that OOS tuition was $43,000, he/she meant that total costs were $43,000. Currently, OOS tuition is $29,000+.
@BrownParent my own state school is the University of New Hampshire, and though it is cheap, it isn’t really in question because its academics do not hold up against CWRU and UW-Madison. And yes, the $43,000 for Wisconsin was all of the costs together, factoring in the tuition increases over the next 2-4 years. The 400 jobs cut and $300 million in budget cuts are killer though…
It is not $300 million for UW-Madison. That figure was the initial proposal for all of the UW System campuses, combined (e.g., also Milwaukee, Green Bay, Eau Claire, Superior, etc.) UW-Madison’s share would be approximately $90 million, part of which has already been offset (if the original proposals actually do go through – not at all clear, given the resistance, and wavering of the legislature at this point). The annual operating budget of UW-Madison is enormous. It receives over $1 billion per year from the federal government alone in research grants for starters, and the latest estimates are that UW-Madison generates approximately $15 billion per year for the state of Wisconsin through its various activities. This will not diminish overnight, if it diminishes much at all.
400 positions are for staff, not faculty. The proposed cuts are certainly something to think about, but also to keep in perspective – if you read the latest statement by Chancellor Blank, she seems resolute and positive towards the future for UW-Madison as a global academic leader. The respective cuts are not as large as UIUC will be facing, for example.
If you actually prefer Case, then that is a good reason to attend. If you prefer UW, I do not feel the undergraduate experience over the next ~four years will change significantly.
Disclaimer, Case BME grad (Class of 2013)
Look into both schools alumni associations. They often offer scholarships for upperclassmen based on both academic performance and need. Both schools should give you the opportunity to do Co-ops (Most start looking at end of sophomore year or fall of junior year). They are a great way to offset tuition costs and get great job experience.
Case’s sports atmosphere is definitely no comparison to Wisconsin (that true of any D3 school versus D1 school). However, Greek Life is very popular here and most have had great experiences in it. The social atmosphere definitely has a small school feel to it. Also, the student body is probably considerably more nerdy/geeky than Wisconsin.
One thing to definitely consider is the workload reputation is not exaggerated. It’s manageable with good time management and study skills and the student atmosphere is definitely collaborative. However, it can be trying at times (though not impossible to do very well academically).
Also, Cleveland is a much different city than Madison. The area around Case always felt safe to me (additionally, there’s safe ride that provides security transportation to students around campus and to dorms if you ever felt unsafe) and there were decent places to visit but there are definite areas that should be avoided at all costs (although I’ve never actually been to Madison).
Both schools will provide a great education and you decision comes down to which school is a better fit for you. If you have any questions feel free to ask.