<p>I am slightly biased towards Minnesota since I live in Minnesota and loved the campus/am familiar with the Twin Cities. I visted Madison (but not Marquette) and it was okay. I’ll try to do a fair comparison on here:</p>
<p>MN WI
the side with the < facing it is better in that category in my OPINION
Social Scene:
Gopher Pride < Badger Pride
Minnesota tradition < Wisconsin tradition
Dinkytown < State Street
more commuters < more living on campus</p>
<p>Dorms:
smaller Minnesota dorms < bigger Wisconsin dorms
Superblock of dorms (tons of kids together) > dual Southeast and Lakeshore dorms</p>
<p>Cost:
Minnesota instate < Wisconsin instate. For having such amazing out state tuition, Minnesota is quite expensive instate. Wisconsin is CHEAPER for a Minnesota resident to attend which is a huge plus. In fact, I think the rec. agreement favors Wisconsin for this very reason that instate cost is more.
Minnesota outstate > Wisconsin outstate</p>
<p>Trend of University:
Minnesota > Wisconsin. I don’t think Wisconsin is “falling.” But Minnesota feels like its “rising” more both in rankings and freshman admiting stats. The fact that Minnesota out of state is so cheap is really bringing up those stats and with that prestige. Minnesota’s rise has been outpacing many other schools rise in stats. Hence, the Minnesota admissions waited LONGER than most years to start reviewing. They don’t know what there next class will be, although they are undoubtably projecting a big jump in statistics.</p>
<p>Campus feel:
Minnesota Union > Wisconsin Union
Mississippi River < Lake Medota (terrace is pretty dang sweet)
Northrop Mall > Bascom Hill
Minnesota architecture < Wisconsin architecture
cohesive community > Downtown Madison
Scholars Walk and sidewalks > Wisconsin sidewalks
Minnesota serenity > Wisconsin serenity
Minnesota safety > Wisconsin safety
closeness of Minnesota buildings > Wisconsin spread out feeling
Minnesota cleanliness > Wisconsin cleanliness</p>
<p>City:
Minneapolis > Madison
- entertainment opportunities in city: Minneapolis
- job opportunites (interships): Minneapolis
- opportunites near college campus: Madison
- city vibe as a whole: Minneapolis
- city vive revolved around campus: Madison</p>
<p>Difficulty to get in to:
Wisconsin has slightly better stats for entering freshman. But, its tricky. Wisconsin admits to the university then you pick after your first year (so lesser kids dilute the stats). Wisconsin’s situation favors those who don’t know what they want to do (they have at least a year to think about it) or didn’t do as good in high school (if they can pull it off in college, they may be able to get into the Biz school or other tough ones, which is something they may not have been able to do off their high school stats at Minnesota). The con though is another application process for the students to sell themselves to a school.</p>
<p>Minnesota admits to individual colleges which makes at least 3 schools within the U of M much harder to get into then Wisconsin. This favors the kids that do good in high school and know what they want to do (however, if you don’t know what you want to do, its really hard to transfer since most people are already locked in). No second application to a school though which is a plus.</p>
<p>Education:
Minnesota = Wisconsin (yes perhaps a slight advantage to Wisconsin because of their noticably higher US News ranking but many of the rankings for each program have these two neck and neck… especially in business, engineering, and pre-med).</p>
<p>There are my comparisons. To sum it up, you feel a little more apart of something special when at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With the exception of the few Michigan rejects as I have heard of, everybody loves the tradition and history of the campus. At Minnesota, it seems like there is a lot less pride. The social scene lacks at Minnesota but having football back on campus will help.</p>
<p>Madison is the UW-Madison and UW-Madison is Madison. Minneapolis is the Twins, Vikings, Wild, Timberwolves, art scene, corporations, Mall of America etc. You get the point. The city doesn’t revolve around Minnesota at ALL except for the alums in the city who support the sports and academic. At UW-Madison, you feel important in being an integral part of its culture as a hub of education, art, and athletic pride. At Minnesota, you are just one of the many opportunites people can experience. That’s not to say that Minnesota is inferior or lacks as an academic instituion. It’s just that there are so many things to do in the Twin Cities that have nothing to do with the campus. However, being in Minneapolis offers so many more opportunites for students as far as job internships or entertainment opportunites, the former of which can be a good or bad. It’s great to have professional sports and a bigger art scene etc. but when the school has to compete with these for its OWN students, this can be a problem (in fact, the student at the U of M seem less connected since so many things can pull them apart). Long story short, you feel more like a contributor in Madison as oppose to Minneapolis. This is what turns people off to Minnesota: it’s not a “college town” although I never felt the abstract “college town” feeling in Madison (then again, I visited it in the summer).</p>
<p>The biggest arguement will be the campus. You either get UW-Madison right in the middle of a city (with some rural parts by the Lakeshore dorms) or Minnesota, which is close but serperate from the city. You are closer to a lot more in Madison, but it (buses, people unrelated with the campus, poverty) also is closer to you. I preferred Minnesota due to its feeling of a tight and quiet campus (nicer serenity) where all its buildings are close together. There’s not too many street intersections on this campus. I also think that the U of M campus is cleaner and has more green space. The counterarguement is that this abstract feeling of not being in a city with green space is not that important since you have a lot more RIGHT at your fingertips in the city (you’re right there). I also like Minnesota more since I lean conservatively and Madison felt VERY uncomfortable for a conservative. But who says Madison ever was conservative.</p>
<p>At Wisconsin, there is more of an openness and feeling of doing something random (liberalism!). I wouldn’t be shocked to see a person take their shirt off and swing it over their head as they ran through the campus. At Minnesota, its got a more keep to yourself/professional people in suits feeling, hence the reason some call it an impersonal campus. At Wisconsin, I wouldn’t be suprised to see what appears to be a hippie. At Minnesota, people walk down the street with Starbucks coffee in their hand. You get the point.</p>
<p>Everyone I ever talked to talked up Madison. I guess like anything in life, you can’t expect perfection and gold at the end of the tunnel. That was part of the reason I was turned off (everyone told me how amazing it would be). But, I also liked the feel of the Minnesota campus more. I felt like I fit in more. But, this is different for anyone. I am sure many Wisconsin cheerleaders will respond about what makes their school great. Because, to be honest, there is no perfect answer. It’s what school is right for YOU.</p>
They have basketball, and you can always get in on that!</p>