Hey guys, I’m having a really hard time deciding on which college to go to. Tuition isn’t a problem at all for me. It has more to do with location and academics.
Facts about me:
-I want to go into Pre-Med with a major in biochem or psychology
-I’m a Minnesota resident
-I’m of another ethnicity
-I plan to focus on mainly academics in college.
-I’m admitted into L&S Honors Program at UW-Madison.
-I didn’t get into the honors program at the U of M surprisingly.
I know going to the U of M will be like staying close to home because I live pretty close by which is a downside. But I also know they have great academics. UW-Madison will be a new experience for me but I heard they party a lot and determined to be focused on my academics. QUESTION: I heard UW-Madison is losing funding? Is that going to affect anything tremendously? Is it going to decrease in rank possibly in the future because of this?
I want to also be somewhere that’s diverse and has many people of different origins/backgrounds.
Which school do you think is right for me? I need to decide real soon so please help me out
The funding isn’t going to affect you. UW-Madison is very strong academically – a little bit stronger than Minnesota, probably.
UW has a bit of an edge there.
There is plenty of partying at both schools, though the scenes are different. But both schools are huge, so you can find plenty of people who aren’t into partying if that’s what you desire. There are all sorts of clubs at both schools.
You would have to look at the ranking variables to see if UW will drop, but UW’s academic rep is above its overall ranking anyway – and being #3 in research expenditures and all the faculty awards and Nobels will keep it there. People who know about academic quality know that UW is far better academically than its ranking would indicate. Minnesota is too, for that matter.
UW is the setting for Grand Lakes University in the Rodney Dangerfield classic “Back to School”–that alone should merit your matriculation there.
@BooBooBear I haven’t seen that movie… is this a good thing or a bad thing?
I would give UW the edge in many academic rankings, but it is not a deeply diverse institution. A quick look at the Common Data Sets shows UMN Twin Cities is about 65% white and UW is about 74% white. My kid has been at UW through the past few years of Walker’s budget cuts, and it has not affected his experience. And as a parent, I have found that the administration – bursar, registrar, advising – is all extremely well run and effective. Pre-med is all about minimizing/avoiding debt for undergrad, and about getting best gpa and MCAT score. Both schools will be highly competitive in pre-med requirements.
@skyflower17 You must remedy your omission as soon as possible.