<p>UW, UMich, UIUC, and IU are all colleges in the midwest region and I have a high interest in these schools. Ignoring the fact that I can get in or not, which of these four colleges are bit "better" than the other? If you want to know the majors I'm interested in, they are:</p>
<p>Business
Sports Management
Sociology/Psychology
Education</p>
<p>Thanks! I would love the feedback!</p>
<p>BUSINESS
All four universities have strong Business schools. Michigan’s Ross and Indiana’s Kelley have strong national reputations.</p>
<p>Michigan #3
Indiana #11
UIUC #14
Wisconsin #17</p>
<p>PSYCHOLOGY
Again, all four universities have strong Psychology departments. Michigan, UIUC and Wisconsin are world-class. </p>
<p>Michigan #3
UIUC #7
Wisconsin #8
Indiana #23</p>
<p>SOCIOLOGY
Michigan and Wisconsin have very strong Sociology departments. Indiana is also very good.</p>
<p>Wisconsin #2
Michigan #3
Indiana #11
UIUC Not ranked in the top 30</p>
<p>EDUCATION
Again, all four universities have respected programs in Education. </p>
<p>Wisconsin #9
Michigan #12
Indiana #21
UIUC #22</p>
<p>I am not sure about sports management. You will have to wait for other posters to weigh in. But when it comes to the other fields, all four universities will provide you with excellent opportunities. For this reason, choosing between those four universities should come down to cost of attendance and “fit”. The only program exception would be Michigan’s business program, but only for a minority of students who wish to pursue careers on Wall Street or at major consulting firms.</p>
<p>I’ll say it; Michigan is a bit better than the other three. :-)</p>
<p>Thank you Alexandre! Those rankings made things more clear. Do you or anyone know what the campuses are like? Social life? Etc?</p>
<p>Social Life in order.
UW
IU
UM
Illinois</p>
<p>My son applied to all 4 and visited all but Michigan. </p>
<p>His impressions:</p>
<p>UW – heaven on earth. State St shopping is great (though my 14 year old wondered what a hookah shop was and why were there 4 of them on State St). Politically active community, great music scene, small (10%) but active Greek life. As the State capital, lots of opportunities for student internships. Dorms are either more secluded by the lake or right “in town” with city buses and traffic. Something for everyone. Wisconsin and Minnesota residents make up about 60%, and others are 40%. </p>
<p>IU – people rave about what a great college town it is and how pretty campus it is. It is, but after he had been to Madison, he didn’t think about IU, even though that we are instate. Weather sure beats Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan because Bloomington it is pretty far south in Indiana (45 minutes from Indianapolis) and you don’t get as much snow or just soul-numbing cold. Much smaller college town than Madison – about 8 blocks of great restaurants etc. Fraternties and sororities are about 25% ish of students (I could be wrong on that, could be closer to 20%). Bigger out of state population – about 60% instate, 40% out of state. </p>
<p>Illinois – people talk about it not being an attractive campus, but the quad is beautiful. Admissions people talked about “micro urban” community-- lots to offer, in small area. He did not like micro urban – kind of 8 blocks of University town and then agriculture. Fraternities and sororities much bigger deal – either highest in terms of numbers, or highest in terms of percentage, involvement in fraternities and sororities. Incredible reputation in STEM fields, humanities very strong. Historically, was 90% instate and 10% out of state though I heard that is changing dramatically. </p>
<p>Michigan – he did not visit, but Ann Arbor and Madison are often compared, with people passionate about which is really the better college town. I think Michigan is about 60% instate/40% out of state, though someone else might know for sure. As Michigan out of state tuition is comparable to privates ($40K plus for tuition) and does not give much financial aid to out of state students (as a state institution), unless your family can afford full-pay without blinking, for many people it can become a hard question whether the top reputation is worth the $20K more per year than UW or Illinois. Indiana does give automatic merit aid to high stat out of state kids so can become more affordable quickly.</p>
<p>Perhaps is obvious that my son is at UW.</p>
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<p>Actually, OOS COA at Michigan is still cheaper than at elite privates by a non-trivial margin. We’re full-pay everywhere, and my D2 has been accepted at Michigan (where she’s a double legacy) and is still waiting to hear from bunch of top LACs. Michigan’s OOS COA comes in $5,000 to $9,000 cheaper than the privates on her list, depending on the school you’re comparing it to; that’s roughly a 10-15% savings off the full sticker price of an elite private. Plus, Michigan does give some merit aid which we’re waiting to hear about; most of the the privates on her list don’t, period.</p>
<p>As for the cost difference between Michigan and Wisconsin, it’s nowhere near $20,000. Wisconsin lists OOS COA at $41,094. Michigan lists OOS COA at $51,951. That’s a difference of $10,857, which doesn’t round to $20,000. </p>
<p>Illinois lists OOS COA at $43,144 to $48,064, depending on the major. So that’s $3,884 to $8,807 less than Michigan, not trivial, but not nearly as much as the quoted comment would have you believe.</p>
<p>I think these are all fine schools. The edge Michigan has is that it’s strong in everything and outstanding in many fields, with numerous top 5 or top 10 programs and almost no programs that aren’t at least in the top 25. I would rate Wisconsin next for all-around strength, with UIUC especially strong in engineering and physical sciences and a little spottier in the humanities and social sciences, excellent in some fields, not so much in others. Indiana is a bit more of a humanities and social sciences-oriented school, but to be candid it’s not as strong as Michigan or Wisconsin in most of those fields. As to the specific fields the OP asked about, I have nothing to add to the rankings Alexandre presented except to say that at Michigan it doesn’t matter so much if you change your major (as most college students do at least once), as you’ll almost certainly end up in a very strong program whichever way you turn.</p>
<p>My personal ranking of the college towns:
<p>[Unigo:</a> Top 10 Colleges with the Happiest Students](<a href=“Top 10 Colleges with the Happiest Students | HuffPost College”>Top 10 Colleges with the Happiest Students | HuffPost College)</p>
<p>barron, no offense, but any ranking that has BU and GWU students among the happiest is highly suspect. That is not to say that students at Wisconsin are not happy. In fact, Wisconsin is definitely a great place to go to college. When it comes to overall experience and atmosphere, Michigan and Wisconsin are interchangeable and undistinguishable. Indiana is up there too, although Bloomington is not as lively and fun as Ann Arbor or Madison.</p>
<p>On the tuition costs, this year , OOS at UW tuition is $26.5k, Illinois about the same. Michigan was $39.1 for freshman and sophomores and $41.8 for juniors and seniors. Room and board at UW is about $8000 vs. $9700 at Michigan. To my mind, that is about a $15k difference. Sorry to make it dramatic by calling it close to $20. Personally, I don’t look at projected expenses other than tuition and room and board because books, travel etc. are all very individual. </p>
<p>For random comparison with privates we know, tuition at Princeton is $38.5k but room and board is about $12k. Oberlin tuition is $44k and room and board $12k. Grinnell, tuition is $41.4k and room and board $9.6k. I know from some shocked parents that Northwestern is much higher. </p>
<p>Most top state schools are notoriously stingy on financial aid for OOS students because their mission is instate education. Publics that are a step down, such as IU etc, will give automatic merit money to high stat kids. Neither Michigan nor Wisconsin does that as they have plenty of smart kids willing to pay full price to go there. Sure, they all have competitive scholarships to apply for, but chances for any single student getting it (or any family counting on that to bring down cost of attendance) is low. </p>
<p>Does Michigan have more “wow” factor everywhere in the country? Absolutely. But if you are looking at a difference of $15k per year (and $17k once they are juniors), it can be a rational decision to look hard at UW as a school that can get you where you want to go. Of course, I am biased, I have a student there so it was the right choice for our family – your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>Midwestmomofboys, I researched cost of attendance at several private universities. Most of them cost ±$5,000/year more than Michigan when you factor in all expenses. </p>
<p>The difference in cost of attendance between Michigan and Wisconsin is ±$12,000/year for underclassmen and ±$14,000/year for upperclassmen. That’s $13,000/year on average. </p>
<p>I agree that if the difference in cost of attendance manifests itself mainly in loans, Wisconsin makes better sense than Michigan. If cost of attendance is not that much of a concern, I think Michigan may be worth the extra cost, particularly for Business majors.</p>
<p>If you are a pre-admit to Ross and can afford it, Michigan is hands down the best option.</p>
<p>
Illinois lists non-resident tuition and fees from $29,102-$34,022. The lower range is the base rate but you will have to pay more if you major in the following:</p>
<p>Chem/Life Science/Business - $34,022
Fine and Applied Arts - $30,706
Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Science - $30,376 to $31,646</p>
<p>Room and board is also a bit higher at $10,332, compared to $9,752 at Michigan.</p>
<p>I like your description of the Illinois campus “8 blocks of University town and then agriculture”, and I completely agree with your description of UW.</p>
<p>Wisconsin also charges a $1,000 tuition surcharge for business majors and a $1,400 surcharge for engineering majors, and in addition charges freshmen a $200 “new student fee” that is not included in its basic “tuition and fees” figure.</p>
<p>I also find it interesting that Wisconsin shows $3,241 in “miscellaneous expenses” for students living on-campus, but only $2,415 for those living off-campus, suggesting there’s something about the way the meal plan is structured at Wisconsin that causes a lot of on-campus students to buy more out-of-pocket meals to supplement what they’re getting on the meal plan. Which is why you can’t just do a straight-up comparison of sticker prices on room & board: there may be hidden costs in the way the meal plan is structured.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! These feedbacks are SUPER helpful! I was wondering…what about University of Maryland College Park? It IS near Washington D.C…I dont know much…but I feel like being close to the capital of US would be beneficial? Internships? Internships at UW, UMich, UIUC, IU?</p>
<p>bclintok – the meal plan at UW is a l carte, not a fixed meal per week, so the range among students can be significant. They say the average food cost is about $1200 per year, and I would say that is consistent with my son. But because students have not already paid for their meals in advance, they may well eat at the Union South or somewhere else that is not a dining hall. On campus students pay a discounted amount for dining hall meals, about 60% of what an off-campus person would pay for the same food.</p>
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If COA is not a concern, then the OP could have better options than both Michigan or Wisconsin if elite banking/consulting is a goal. A lot of the private target schools are very generous with financial aid anyhow.</p>
<p>
Looking at Wisconsin over Michigan is a very rational decision but ignoring both and going to your flagship state school is possibly the most rational decision, especially with flagships like Minnesota and Florida.</p>
<p>OP never said anything about an interest in “elite banking/consulting”. Believe it or not many people have no interest in that life.
Most UW students (and UM for that matter) only spend 1 year in a dorm. So the cost of that is not very important. Better to look at local rent levels and COL.</p>
<p>The OP asked about Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and very recently Maryland. When did he/she bring up Minnesota or Florida?</p>
<p>I would say going to North Carolina over Duke would be a very rational decision.</p>