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!!