<p>I think it's more like 1 Billion but what's a Billion among friends. </p>
<p>UM was so taken with UW's WARF and the patent setup that they sent people to Madison to copy it as they had nothing like it a few years ago.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>OK, fair enough. But Minnesota's average ACT is clearly on the rise, and at the top end (75th percentile) is getting very close to Wisconsin's----30 Wisconsin v. 29 Minnesota. Where Minnesota lags is at the bottom of the class---25th percentile of 26 for Wisconsin v. 24 for Minnesota. But I'd expect Minnesota to move up there, too.</p>
<p>"Alternative assets values are shown as of June 30, 2008.
Alternative assets are valued on a quarterly basis. September 30, 2008, data is not available due
to the time involved with gathering the requisite information from the partnerships."</p>
<p>Quote from UM report</p>
<p>In other words we have no frikking idea what they are worth today.</p>
<p>"UW's is down too but not nearly as much."</p>
<p>Barrons, most major universities lost abt 20-30% off their endowments during this economic crisis. As of december 2008 Wisconsin's endowment was down abt 20% from January 2008 - Oct 2008 alone.
And yet you still said "UW's is down too but not nearly as much."? I don't really get you.</p>
<p>The</a> Badger Herald - Ailing economy affects university endowment funds</p>
<p>Down 25% is not = to down 50%. When the smoke and mirrors clear UM will be down about 40-50%</p>
<p>Wisconsin. If you don't like the weather, wait two more months. You go there for the quality of the faculty.</p>
<p>"Down 25% is not = to down 50%. When the smoke and mirrors clear UM will be down about 40-50%"</p>
<p>We'll see about that.</p>
<p>I would recommend Wisconsin over Minnesota. I have been to neither school, but I think Wisconsin's national reputation is definitely better.</p>
<p>I have been to both schools, and for engineering, I would go to the University of Minnesota.</p>
<p>Average ACT score in the IT school is 29.4 which is strong for a state school. Minnesota's low ranking comes from all the athletes/reaches who get shoved into the College of Education and the College of Liberal Arts. If you like the Minnesota campus more, than by all means go to Minnesota. Your education will undoubtedly be no different, if not better at UMN.</p>
<p>Don't listen to all these "prestige" whores here who have never been to either campus. They live by the USNWR rankings, and consider it sacrilege to go against them. There is no difference between having "Wisconsin" V "Minnesota" on your degree. Go to the place that YOU feel is better.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Average ACT score in the IT school is 29.4 which is strong for a state school. Minnesota's low ranking comes from all the athletes/reaches who get shoved into the College of Education and the College of Liberal Arts.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>In general, the College of Engineering has stronger students on the average. Here's a look at the leaders in the Big Ten:</p>
<p>University of Illinois
mid-50% of 2008 admitted freshmen:
ACT: 30-33
SAT: 1880-2140
Class Rank: 90%-98%
U</a> of I Admissions: Freshman Admission Requirements</p>
<p>University of Michigan
median for admitted freshmen:
ACT: 31
SAT: 1400
GPA: 3.9 UW
Michigan</a> Engineering | Student Profile</p>
<p>University of Minnesota
average profile for 2008 admitted freshmen:
ACT: 29.3 (enrolled: 28.9)
SAT: 1322
Class Rank: 91.3% (enrolled: 90% from top 25% in class)
Academic</a> Profile
IT</a> College Profile</p>
<p>Purdue
average profile for 2007 enrolled freshmen:
ACT: 28
SAT: 1260
Class Rank: 84.9%
<a href="https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/FactsFigures/data_digest_2008.pdf%5B/url%5D">https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/FactsFigures/data_digest_2008.pdf</a></p>
<p>*Couldn't find data for Wisconsin and Penn State.</p>
<p>Ever notice how barrons inserts Michigan into conversations that have nothing to do with the original intention of the thread? He really has Michigan envy. LOL. In the meantime Michigan will continue to be Michigan and Wisconsin will continue to try to keep up.</p>
<p>"Northwestern is the most prestigious university in the conference, no matter how you look at it."</p>
<p>I don't agree ProudWolverine. You make it sound like Northwestern is way more prestigious than all other Big 10 schools. That is definitely not the case. Depending on whom you ask, you will get different answers. Overall, on average, I think Michigan and Northwestern are pretty evenly matched where reputation is concerned. Wisconsin is not far behind either.</p>
<p>Northwestern is the most prestigious school in the conference. How does one measure reputation? I am not exactly sure. You could go by rankings, but as soon as someone's school is ranked below another I see them quickly send a "there's more to it than rankings" comment my way. Now, if their school ranks well, they are quick to use it. Anyway, not using the two rankings, I am going to go simply by the perceived name reputation of the schools. I guess it is my opinion of your school vs. the opinion you have of your school. I think people commonly put the conference as:</p>
<p>1:Northwestern
2:Michigan
3:Wisconsin</p>
<p>I am not going any lower, as I see no reason to hijack this poster's thread yet and send the thread on a 3 page tangent about the proper prestige order of the conference.</p>
<p>Michigan is the second school in the Big Ten in terms of undergraduate reputation. I don't think that is a slight towards Michigan, but I do think normally 9 out of 10 people would probably list Northwestern above Michigan. If anything, it's an apples to oranges comparison with Northwestern and the rest of the conference, as they are 1/4 the size of every other school in the conference and are the only private.</p>
<p>rjkonovi--you brought up the UM endowment not me. I was talking about state funding trends in general and mentioned UM, UVa and others in passing as having flat state funding which is quite factual. I rarely bring up UM in any negative way and often--very often defend it from some of the others on the board and you know who they are.</p>
<p>I was just teasing you a bit barrons. I know what you stated is correct. :-)</p>
<p>Alexandre, just like jec7483 has mentioned, most people would agree that Northwestern is the best school in the conference, with Michigan trailing behind it. The difference between Northwestern and Michigan in terms of their national reputation and prestige is clearly visible albeit arguably small.</p>
<p>I have to agree that UG Northwestern has a slight edge over Michigan. At the graduate level there really isn't much difference. Smaller top tier schools are almost always going to have a higher perceived prestige simply because they are more difficult to gain admittance.</p>
<p>ProudWolverine, I am not sure how either one of us can prove his point. My experience suggests that both schools are highly regarded.</p>
<p>Go with UMN-TC!! I've visited both schools and it's a ton better. UW-Madison seems strictly a party school and nothing else. I actually am taking some classes at the U right now as a dual enrollment student and, surprisingly, I like it here a lot more than I thought I would. When I visited Madison, I just got the feeling that studies definitely were not taken as seriously as I would have liked.</p>
<p>^^ Speaking as an academic, I think most people in the academic community would say that as an overall university Michigan > Northwestern, and by a considerable margin. Michigan has better faculties and more prestigious programs in almost every field. But for the quality of the undergrad experience, I'd say that as a smaller school with more of an undergrad focus, Northwestern probably has an edge overall. But that's going to vary tremendously. People in the Residential College, the honors program, or other residential-learning communities at Michigan, especially those who end up in smallish majors where the faculty resources and s/f ratios available to them can be extraordinary, may in fact have undergrad opportunities at Michigan that rival or surpass those at Northwestern. Bottom line: don't be suckered by mindless fealty to US News rankings and those CCers who feed off them.</p>