Im trying to decide between university of Washington and university of Wisconsin-Madison. I am trying to major in Computer Science. Also going into ROTC. I know both schools have good CS programs so academically they should be somewhat similar. They both have a nice Surrounding city. It’s hard to pick between the two. Any input on which one might be better? (Yes I posted about A&M vs UW-Madison, but A&M has been cut)
Students at Wisconsin are more into NCAA sports than at U.Washington.
Hard to beat the beauty of U.Washington campus, especially on days when you can see Mount Rainier.
I lived in Seattle for many years, and would choose its rainy weather over Wisconsin snow. But if you want snow, you can drive about an hour into the Cascade Mountains. No escaping snow in Wisconsin, without a plane ticket.
Seattle is a much bigger city than Madison. Downtown Seattle is as good as it gets, and is a short bus ride from the campus.
I have visited Udubs campus and it was extremely gorgeous. I love Seattle because it’s close to home and I love the city it’s such a nice place. Madison also looks really nice and has snow which is a plus
Yeah, it’s a hard choice. Two good schools.
But, Seattle gets it for the environment.
True. But for some reason when i look up the schools UW is usually ranked a bit under madison in social, city and a few other categories like that (according to student review and rate my professor)
Both have good CS programs, but a key difference is that unless you are among the small number directly admitted in to CS at UDub, you have to apply for CS after starting at UDub, and I hear that only a third of those applicants successfully get in to UDub’s CS program.
Meanwhile, so far, declaring for a CS major at UW-Madison is still ridiculously easy.
This would be a key factor in my decision-making if I was in your shoes.
Why didn’t you just post all your choices in one post. Now we have no reference to what already was said.
I agree with @PurpleTitan - if one school has direct admit and/or easy entrance to CS and the other school makes it difficult to get in the program you want that should be a huge factor in your decision. Both schools are pretty equivalent so if you are assured of getting into your major at UW- Madison and not at UDub, I’d go to UW. You should do some research about how difficult it is to get into the CS major at each school.
I’d rather attend Washington if purely based on location. The student body will be very different at a coastal school rather than one in the midwest. The weather will also be better in Washington if you aren’t particularly interested in cold upper-midwest winters.
Academically, both are good schools as far as state schools go.
I attended U-Dub some years back and also UW-Madison.
Agree with others, U-Dub and Seattle are great. Amazing campus and city. But there were a lot of commuter students at U-Dub and the campus was quite dead in the afternoons/evenings/weekends. There is plenty to do in Seattle, don’t get me wrong, but the campus really emptied out so the vibe was much different than in Madison were there seemed to be students walking around at all hours. In my experience of UW-Madison there were more events (speakers, performances, clubs, etc) and a lot more going on at the Student Unions in the after hours. Also very true about the very strong support for Badgers vs.milder interest/support for the Huskies.
I don’t know about the degree quality, it sounds like they’re fairly equivalent, but as a student my experiences were very different on those campuses. Both good, but very different.
I forgot to comment that its true about going for the direct admit to CS. I had lots of friends scrambling for a second choice major at U_Dub because they didn’t make the cut in their first choice.
Are you a direct admit for CS at UWashington?
How much would each cost you? (tuition+fees+room&board) - (grants&scholarships) =?
@MYOS1634 I am still waiting on a decision from the school. I would get instate tuition for U-dub but I would be paying OOS for Wisconsin. I don’t know what it will cost me to go to both schools as I have not finished applying to scholarships
That’s common for Seattle. It has to do more with the fact that Seattle folks are out doing their own things.
Weather is Seattle is hardly a plus. I just spent the last 23 years there and cool-cold rain dominating from October-July is not fun. Udub has more of a commuter feel and there is no concentrated student social life outside of frat row which is very popular. Moreso than at Madison because there is nothing else. Academics are a wash. Madison also has a more geo diverse student body for US students. .
I agree with barrons. Too many people just assume that warmer winter temperatures make for a better overall climate.
“That’s common for Seattle. It has to do more with the fact that Seattle folks are out doing their own things.”
That is also a common theme here on CC that hardly explains why the student body is so lackluster in its support of its home teams.
Well then why would you pay a big price premium for an out-of-state public university?
If you’d be full-pay at either school, you’d be paying about 50% more for Wisconsin
(~$24K/year for Washington in-state vs. ~$36K/year for Wisconsin OOS), right?
Why pay nearly $50K more for one good state flagship v. another good state flagship?
If money is no object, and you want assurance that you’ll be able to major in CS or whatever else you want, then consider private alternatives (which may even be cheaper after aid than an OOS public school).
Well, let me see if I can explain this in some detail to you.
During the same period of time, when athletic supporters are going to sit and watch the home team in the big stadium, Seattleites are more likely to be skiing, boating, mountain biking, climbing, kayaking, running, playing soccer, sailing or just otherwise engaged in a pursuit of something.
If you get into CS at UWashington and you’re in state, there’d really be no reason to go anywhere else. 
If you don’t get into CS at UWA, then UWisconsin makes sense, since its CS major isn’t selective but does “deliver”.
Personally I prefer super cold with blue skies to constant rain, but that’s just me.
@tk21769 I am not stressing about paying because I am trying to get an ROTC scholarship that will help pay for college.