<p>hi im a mass resident choosing between UT austin and UW madison
need some help... i'll most likely be studying sociology and a language
i wanted warm weather, but now that im so torn between the schools im trying to put it aside
any thoughts?
i have 24 hours to decide</p>
<p>Great options. What are your out-of-pocket costs going to be? </p>
<p>All things being equal, Madison has stronger sociology and language programs than UT.</p>
<p>Oh wow, two really great schools. What is the cost difference?</p>
<p>i think UT comes to about 38k a year and Madison 33k a year roughly
but i dont want to make the decision based on cost because my parents said either is ok</p>
<p>Jeez… well these are two really good schools. I guess preference can also be judge by Austin or Madison, seasons or mediterranean? What are your other preference in a school besides academics?</p>
<p>i guess my worry about ut is the instate/oos ratio… (90/10) cmpared to 64/36 in madison
i want a school that has a balance between social life and academics
with a lot of school spirit
and one that is well regarded nationally
i also want to live in the northeast after college, and i want some sort of alumni network that sets up events</p>
<p>Well both schools can offer you all those things. Anything more specific?</p>
<p>If in-state out of state ratio is a big concern that yes, UW-Madison would seem more preferable. Though do remember, as with California that the state of Texas is large/ vast. It’s not the same as 90% in-state for a school in ( example) Virginia.
If California and Texas was divided to be the size of an average state, each state would probably be split three times.</p>
<p>ahah see thats the thing idk how much more specific i can get… thats whats making my decision difficult
i bounce back and forth between the schools… ive made a pros/cons list and whatnot. im just trying to find the special reason that i would like one over another</p>
<p>Scenery, a lot of times students are attracted to one campus more than the other. Many like UW-Madison right off the lakes, as for architecture both are similar. Again another special reason, if you want seasons than Madison… more hot weather than Austin. Thats one of the biggest differences besides city size.</p>
<p>Both are excellent state universities. You cannot go wrong with either. </p>
<p>That being said, Texas is a much better football school. Shouldn’t that count for something?</p>
<p>Is the language you’re thinking about a classical language? UT has an excellent classics department. There is certainly a lot of school spirit at UT, though I don’t know if it’s more so than Wisconsin. Austin itself has a lot of events, especially for live music, so you won’t lack for entertainment if you want to get off campus. If you still can’t decide and really think both schools would be a better fit, Austin has better weather. The heat is only uncomfortable for a few weeks while school is still in session and it’s not nearly as cold as Wisconsin in the winter. (I’m biased towards Texas in general though, so take what I say with a grain of salt.)</p>
<p>I can’t help too much, I haven’t been to either yet. But my daughter is from Calif, went to Brown for undergrad and is now finishing her first year of grad school at Madison. She is very enthusiastic about living there and says it is a great college town. She is pretty active, hadn’t mentioned being bothered by the winter much, just saying she is thrilled to get her bike out again, as she rides most everywhere when weather is right. She is pretty sporty and plays tennis and joined the gym, which she says is great. She lives off campus and attends a great deal of music performances mostly clubs, punk bluegrass bands and symphony too. I wish I could get her to articulate why she loves it so much, but she tells people to pick it all the time. She’s made good friends and even some undergrad friends from the ski club. She’s a TA in Computer Science and says the students are smart.</p>
<p>I think Madison has a lot more mix of OOS students (35%?) than UT (very small) which makes for obvious plus to me. Perhaps stronger student body then, and more general diversity.</p>
<p>I went to UW and then moved to Austin for work. You have heard some good opinions here. I give UW a slight edge for undergrad , especially for sociology. Sports wise both are great with UW having hockey and UT baseball in addition to football/basketball .I’d say UW is a bit more college town focused while Austin is getting pretty big. I could be happy at either I think.</p>
<p>Madison is one of the top Sociology programs in the nation, it’s cheaper and overall a bit better academically if you change your major. BOTH are great, but Wisconsin gets the edge IMO.</p>