<p>I know both Wiscosin-Madison and University of Iowa are not among the top colleges in the United States, but I turn to you guys for help bc I received acceptance letters from them. Plus, I am an international students.
I am just wondering which one is the right choice for me. I want to learn actuarial science as an undergraduate student and UIowa offter scholarship of $3020 a year.
So, according to you guys preferrence, which to choose?</p>
<p>Plz
Help me!
I really need you guys help~</p>
<p>Wisconsin is the better school with the better reputation and the better students. It will be $23,000 more for 4 years to go to Wisconsin rather than Iowa. I am not sure if it is worth it, it really is your call.</p>
<p>Don't let their rankings bother you. Both schools are excellent, with a lot of brilliant professors and many of the top students in their states. Wisconsin has a bigger reputation overall, but it's also bigger and the weather is colder.</p>
<p>As an international student I would go to Wisconsin, if you can afford it. I think overall it has a better reputation than University of Iowa and may be a bit more "cosmipolitan" in outlook.</p>
<p>Are you saying that over the course of four years, Wisconsin will only cost about $12,000 more than Iowa?</p>
<p>I think it's worth it. In fact, I think it's an easy call. Wisconsin's location is so fantastic and it has a stronger student body and better academic reputation to boot. Go to Wisconsin.</p>
<p>Iowa and Wisconsin both cost roughly $32k/year (room and board, books, insurance etc... included). So, with your scholarship to Iowa, you would end up saving $12k over 4 years, which is roughly 10% of the total cost of your college education at Wisconsin. I don't think finances play a significant role in this decision. It would be Iowa for $117k vs Wisconsin for $130k. I would go with Wisconsin. Iowa is a good university, but Wisconsin is excellent.</p>
<p>But when it comes to actuarial science and if I have a plan to transfer to better colleges after one or two years, what do you guys think?
Since $12k means a lot to my family....</p>
<p>How are you affording $120,000+ if $12k means a lot to you? Are you borrowing all this money?</p>
<p>In my opinion, if you go to Wisconsin, there's no reason to transfer to a "better" college. I don't know how familiar you are with reputations in the U.S., but this school is nationally famous and very well thought of. Most of the schools ranked higher don't have actuarial science.</p>
<p>Sunny, you are totally uninformed. Maybe you need to do a little research about US colleges first. You could start with the International University rankings done in China.</p>
<p>U-Wisconsin Madison is definitely among the top colleges in the U.S. I always find it amusing that with some people if you don't go to HYPS you have failed to get a top notch education. Being accepted to Wisconsin is something to be proud of. Good luck to you. :-)</p>
<p>thank you for your useful suggestions, I think I should take some time to do some research and then combine the result with my plan to make a good choice.</p>
<p>I live in an area that sends many, many students to both schools. IMO, there is no comparison between the quality of out-of-state students at Madison and U of Iowa. Madison attracts strong students from top schools in the Chicago area, many of whom would not consider Iowa. </p>
<p>If the money makes a difference, then you do have a problem. What is your total cost of attendance at both schools?</p>
<p>Iowa is much cheaper than Wisconsin, it's not just cheaper by the amount of the scholarship the OP received, rather Iowa has lower tuition and lower room and board for an overall lower direct cost. </p>
<p>Direct costs for Iowa are $26150 and direct costs for Wisconsin are $28828 for a difference of $2678/year. Add it to the $3020/year scholarship and you have a savings of $5698/year. Four year savings is $22792. It is not merely a $12K difference, that statement is off by over $10,000.</p>
<p>Actually A2Wolves, the difference is $1,685, not $2,678. I did not realize there was a difference, but it is not that great. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.admissions.wisc.edu/costs.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.wisc.edu/costs.php</a></p>
<p>So overall, including the $3k scholarship, the OP will only have to pay an extra $19k over 4 years to attend Wisconsin. I still think it is worth it. It's not like he would get Iowa for free and have to pay $19k to attend Wisconsin. In the end, he will still have to pay over $110k to attend Iowa and Wisconsin will cost roughly $130k. Either way, we are talking a lot of money.</p>
<p>Iowa is an extremely underrated school. I'd throw its faculty and top students up against anybody's except Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton, Stanford. Ever hear of Van Allen? Ever hear of the Creative Writing program?</p>
<p>I agree Tourguide. And Iowa City is actually a very pleasant and underrated college town. But I think for less than $5k difference a year, Wisconsin is worth attending over Iowa.</p>
<p>Alexandre, your statement is going off the ESTIMATED cost of attendance published on the page. If you go to the same link and click OFFICIAL TUITION RATES, it will give you a tuition rate of $10719.20 per semester, the same number that is published on the College Board site.</p>
<p>Iowa is a very good school with some pockets of excellence but across the board it really is a tier below UW and the other top schools in the Big 10. I too think Iowa City makes a nice mini-Madison, but it's not Madison either. I think the cost is worth it and there is ample money for advanced level undergrads in the departments--much more than for freshman. It's weird but that's the way they do it. The departments raised the money and control it outside the regular fin aid office.</p>
<p>I like Iowa's black and yellow Hawkeyes uniforms/logo better than Wisconsin's. ;)</p>
<p>I agree though, if I was choosing as an international student, U Wisconsin will have a larger international student presence than U Iowa...I would choose Wisconsin.</p>