Hey there, I already posted this on the U Mich and UW-Madison boards but I wanted to get a neutral opinion.
I got accepted into UW-Madison and U Mich for chemical engineering as a transfer from Miami Dade College in Florida. I have not heard back from either school in terms of financial aid, though Wisconsin offered me in-state tuition with the acceptance. I really like both schools and I can’t decide on one over the other. I do favor Wisconsin at the moment because it’s ranked higher for chemical engineering and the in-state tuition is a huge help, but Michigan has a larger research budget (and that gap is likely to widen with the recent cuts from the Wisconsin state government) and I hear that in general U Mich just has more prestige with employers in general.
Assuming financial aid is not an issue, which of the two schools is a better deal? I don’t really care about partying or sports, I’m there for the academics and the research opportunities. I’d also want the school that offers the smoothest transition for transfers as I know very little about the Midwest.
So far the people from the other boards have said great things about their respective schools, which I expected. One thing to UW-Madison’s favor that I didn’t know from my research is that they have an intensive summer lab with the possibility to study abroad, either in Spain or Austria. However, both schools are fantastic and the more I hear about them the harder the choice gets.
Just as a sidenote, I’m still waiting to hear back from Cornell and UF.