USC v. UW Madison v. UMichigan

College Search & Selection
1

I am having trouble choosing between these three schools.

I was accepted into USC (annenberg), UW Madison (College of LS), UMich (College of LSA). I am a Wisconsin resident (money is not a concern).

I 100% sure I want to go into business, and am fairly confident the field of finance is where I want to be because that is what I enjoy learning about the most.

This means I will need to transfer into the business school at the school I attend.

From what I have found, the hardest bschool for me to transfer into is Michigan, then USC, then Wisconsin.

But while UW has the easiest BSchool to get into out of the 3 schools, it seems that the prestige and opportunities of the school is less than that of USC Marshall and UMich Ross.

If I choose not to do a business degree, at USC I would stay in Annenberg (the top Public Relations school in country), at UMich I would apply for Organizational Studies (but it has a 25% acceptance rate), and at UW I would only want to do something in the business school.

Are the opportunities for UW business students (and internship and job opps in big cities accessible)?

UW is where I feel most comfortable, but it’s also the closest to home and a lot of people from my school are going there. I know it’s important to get away for college if possible, but UW gives me the best chance of getting into the business school.

It would be really cool to be in LA, but USC’s finance major is actually finance and business economics. I’m not sure how this would be because economics is not really as interesting to me.

I’m stuck in a circle, and can’t decide which school I should go to. Any advice? Thoughts?

2

Since you are not guaranteed admission to the business school for any of them, I wouldn’t choose UW because it’s the easiest to get into. There are not a lot of people who would choose UW over UM or USC- some, but not a lot. Still, if you really prefer it, I don’t have a problem with it. It’s still a good school with a good rep and can get you where you want to go. But if the plan is to get a job out of college, the alumni networks and recruitment will be stronger at the other 2.

3

With UW being the most affordable and with the greatest likelihood of admission to B school, take UW! UW is an amazing undergrad experience (my kid was double major/Honors program student) – Camp Randall, Lake Mendota, the Terrace, the farmers’ market, State St etc. Plus, with Epic just outside Madison, and a lot of start up activity in the area (UW has one of the premier tech transfer programs in the country-- taking university professor inventions/ideas and commercializing them), there is plenty going on. If you want to make sure you branch out from your high school friends, find a roommate on FB admitted student group rather than room with a high school friend. Look for someone from east coast/west coast, or at least Twin Cities. UW is amazing, and Wisconsin residents are fortunate to have such an amazing flagship.