UW Madison vs UIUC for Psych

College Search & Selection
,
1

Hi guys! I am a freshman-to-be entering the class of 2026 this fall, intending to major in Psychology. Among the branches of Psychology, I am more interested in positive, clinical, and industrial&organization (io) psych (in descending order).

I have received all of my decisions (except waitlists) and narrowed it down to uw madison and uiuc. And currently, I am extremely torn between these two. Both schools are pretty good in research I think, but of course, there are still differences. So here are some pros and cons for each school that I took into consideration:

UW MADISON - pros
much better student life than uiuc
kinda like the vibe of the students there for some reason?? i don’t even know why
located in a city
better ranking
more prestigious in general (?)
UW MADISON - cons
DOES NOT have courses related to industrial&organization psych!!

UIUC - pros
has both clinical and industrial&organization psych courses
has really good computer science program (MIGHT minor in)
cheaper tuition (but tbh its not that big of a difference)
UIUC - cons
kinda located in the middle of nowhere
psych program may not be as good as uw madison ?? (i have no idea)

Just by looking at the schools, I think I like uw madison more than uiuc. However, my biggest struggle is that uw madison does not have io psych courses. It’s not like I am certain that I will go in that direction in the future, but I do know that I am currently interested in it, hence I would like to at least have a chance to learn about it. So I’m not sure if it is worth it to give up io psych for madison.

P.S. I am planning to pursue a master’s degree, and I am currently looking at a master’s in positive psych. so io psych may not be that important, but still, it is possible that it will relate to my career aspirations, so I don’t know if I should just give it up for madison.

I AM JUST SO TORN AND MISERABLE RIGHT NOT. SO, IF ANYONE HAS LITERALLY ANY OPINIONS OR ADVICE TO GIVE, PLEASE FEEL FREE!! THANK YOU GUYS!!

2

UW has a whole industrial program as well as the business school. Check those course offerings to see if they have the specifics of what you are looking for. By every metric, your list is accurate that UW is the better opportunity.

3

You want to be in an environment you like or don’t like ? You will be there four years, day after day after day.

I’m sure Wisc has classes that interest you. Just maybe not in that area (psych). Maybe in org behavior in b school. I’m sure you can talk with a prof or advisor at Wisc in the next few weeks to see how they can help you meet your needs.

I’ve been to both. The vibe or appearance of Wisc is much better in my opinion. You read happier things on this website about it.

So ……given what you wrote, not sure how you could choose UIUC.