<p>Hello all. I was recently taken off the wait-list at GW, and am now undecided between GW and Unviersity of Wisconsin-Madison. Here is what I consider good about each school:</p>
<p>GW:
The city (more social opportunities since I am gay)
Distance away from home (I am from Chicago)
Better reputation in the programs I am looking at: International Affairs, International Business (?), and Economics (?).
More diverse than Madison (I am Indian)
Relatively small, compared to Madison.
In the heart of DC, more internship and connections opportunities</p>
<p>Madison:
Closer to home
Beautiful campus (nicer than GW in my opinion)
More opportunities if I decide to change my major (a possible liklehood)
More people = more social opportunities
Smaller city, but plenty to do (State Street).
Crowd is more down to earth, especially when it comes to dressing. (unlike GW)</p>
<p>Can anyone shed some light on my situation?</p>
<p>UW is much better in econ and good in international business. You are pretty much correct on the rest although there are plenty of gays in Madison..</p>
<p>If you're looking to really get into international affairs, gw is definitely better (both with internship opportunities and with the actual school of international relations, but it's not like you won't get good internships opportunities in at wisconsin). do consider that wisconsin is a FAR better deal than gw (which is expensive as hell), and as far as diversity, gw is your best bet both internationally and nationally (wisconsin is primarily people from WI, IL, MN)...as far as social opportunities, wisconsin is bigger, but GW is big enough that I don't think you'd really feel a difference as far as meeting people, joining clubs, etc. I think alot of it is also about location, so if you care a lot about whether you're on the east coast or in the midwest, don't dismiss that as unimportant. and lastly, a lot of it is about feel: which campus do you like better, where did you feel more at home, where did the people seem friendlier, etc. I think that's really the most important thing, is where you feel most comfortable.</p>
<p>wisconsin is not "very liberal"; it's a swing state, after all. but madison is definitely known as being a liberal, open-minded city. I went to a great kerry rally there. and I think the university has plenty of gay/bi/transgender associations and is generally accepting in that respect.</p>
<p>Wisconsin probably has a better reputation than GW, and is a lot cheaper. It is also open minded and accepting. As far as internships, I think Wisconsin would be just as helpful, if you end up doing honors in your department and create a relationship with a professor you can almost guarantee a good inernship.</p>
<p>"Wisconsin probably has a better reputation than GW"</p>
<p>FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS!?!? Yeah, right... </p>
<p>If you're really serious and committed to an IA degree, GW will help you and put you in a much, much better position than UW. However, you said you might switch... think about that a bit.. GW has some other really great programs, many of which are also internationally or politically motivated.. and UW has some really great programs simply because there are sooo many. </p>
<p>I was attracted to this thread cause I'm a rising senior applying to both GW and UW (both in a tie for top choice) From what I have seen, GWU will help you ten times more if you want to enter politics, international work in Washington, etc.. but UW is still a great school with a ton of opportunities.</p>
<p>UW probably has more good programs in international studies which provide language training and in depth study of the countries. This is slightly different than internatonal affairs which focus on the politics.</p>
<p>Wisconsin is highly regarded by the government (CIA and domestic politics) and is the 10th ranked political science school in the nation. GW doesnt make the top 20. Just because GW is located in D.C. does not mean it has a better international affairs program. All the rankings and people I have talked to rank Madison much higher. Academically GW is average and has deminished in the recent past as their admission standards have lowered and tuition has increased.</p>
<p>With all due respect Wisconsin is not a liberal state despite its two senators. Southern Wisconsin tends to be liberal, but there is a lot of north in Wisconsin.</p>
<p>My understanding is that Dane and Kenosha counties are pretty liberal... then there is the milwaukee are which is pretty mixed but leans democratic.</p>
<p>This is strange. I am a foreigner applying to American grad schools for economics. University of Wisconsin - Madison is a school that I know is very well regarded, (especially for econ) and I'm applying there. </p>
<p>George Washington University, however, I thought was a decent above average school, but really nothing special. I'm applying to Georgetown as well, a university I thought would be more on par with the level of brand recognition of UW. (perhaps even better known than UW)</p>
<p>UW-Madison isn't thought of in the same way as the Ivy Leagues and other elite schools. MIT, Caltech, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford... that tier of colleges is definitely more recognized and respected.</p>
<p>Most state schools don't get much respect. Even at Madison, a large percentage of applicants and attendees are from the state of Wisconsin. Many are from Minnesota also, because students from Madison and Minnesota are charged much less for tuition. That said, Madison is recognized as an academically strong school. It's one of the best state schools.</p>
<p>In fact, one of my high school teachers had two or three students who went to UW and then went on to MIT. He said that UW prepared them well for it.</p>
<p>I get the feeling that you're applying to UW because you heard it was good, which is true, and are panicking because it might not be. Don't worry. It'll be worth it. There are a lot of great students there.</p>
<p>While the UG at Madison may not be thought of with the elite schools, many of the graduate programs and the research programs are at an elite level. The reputation of UW within academia is higher than with the general public.</p>
<p>Cool. I know UW isn't on par with Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and that's fine by me. Those are the top schools in the world. But here's the issue:</p>
<p>Anyone can walk down the street and ask random people what universities they have heard are good, but I'm not interested in whether Joe Shmoe on the street thinks my university is good or not.</p>
<p>It's easy enough to look at academic subject rankings to see where schools stand, but I'm not interested in whether some leading professors and researchers think my school is good or not either. </p>
<p>What I DO care about is whether professionals and major employers in the field of international economics and business think my uni is good or. And this is the type of information that seems hardest to get, especially being outside the US and having to rely mainly on the internet.</p>
<p>So UW or GW? That's a good question. Any opinions, especially regarding the three categories I mentioned above?</p>
<p>I am also troubled between GWU and UWM. I only have a week left to decide but still have no answer. And most of all, I am an Econ major preparing for law school (corporate practice internationally). For that reason GWU is strongly appealing even though UW tops the ranking in Econ. I would definately say that GWU has welcomed many government officials and CEOs around the world. And that is one of the reasons I can not let go of GW so easily.<br>
Also, GWU's 40% acceptance rate vs. UW's 60% gives me an impression that GWU's acceptance letter is somewhat more valuable.
GW is giving me very good fin. aid and I will choose to go to GW unless UW impresses me more.</p>