<p>Just curious which of the two is more popular among cc'ers.</p>
<p>UIUC cuz Wisconsin seems unfamiliar to me :|</p>
<p>Illinois 10char</p>
<p>Wisconsin-Madison</p>
<p>UIUC has more name recognition due to its engineering rep. UW-Madison is just an all-round decent Big Ten school with nothing outstanding on the national level (correct me if I'm wrong, but that at least is my perception from the NE).</p>
<p>Wisconsin has the better rep. At least in the midwest, but I would still rather go to Illinois.</p>
<p>I think UW-Madison is more popular because I think most people would rather spend 4 years in Madison versus 4 in Urbana-Cham....</p>
<p>From what I've read here, Madison is supposed to be a pretty cool place to live. Cold (weather), but still cool (fun)</p>
<p>I'd rather go to Wisconsin plus it has a better reputation for everything not just engineering and business</p>
<p>Madison is WAY more fun that Urbana-Champagne.</p>
<p>Both are great public Universities. Wisconsin has historically had a somewhat higher reputation nationally and internationally. If you are interested in both, however, visit both. There is a huge difference between Madison and C-U. Madison is to C-U as San Francisco is to Fresno or as Mount Rushmore is to Graceland.</p>
<p>I'm not inclined toward huge megaversities, but I'd make an exception for a few of them, including Wisconsin. Madison and the lakes are great, and the campus has a fun, active vibe to it.</p>
<p>I completely disagree with the rankings of USNWR. I think U of I should be ahead of W-Madison. I would take U of I personally.</p>
<p>Madison, hands down, for anything except engineering. It's one of the all-time great college towns. Shampoo-Banana is a small town---well, two small towns---stuck off in the middle of a cornfield.</p>
<p>UW-Madison</p>
<p>"UW-Madison is just an all-round decent Big Ten school with nothing outstanding on the national level (correct me if I'm wrong, but that at least is my perception from the NE)."</p>
<p>You're wrong. Biochemistry, chemistry, microbiology. These are some of the very best departments in the world and they call Madison home.</p>
<p>I think of U of I, I think internationally recognized engineering. When I think of UW Madison, I think beer pong and cheese in America's Dairyland.</p>
<p>You are very wrong. UW is the #1 public in total research funding, one of the tops in many science areas and tops in many areas of liberal arts including history, econ, psychology, sociology, foreign languages and several others. It has more NAS members in the sciences and liberal arts than Michigan and all other state schools outside California. It has one of the best patent and tech transfer operations of all the publics and most privates. And it's way cooler than Illinois.</p>
<p>What's wrong with white people?</p>
<p>barrons why do you seem to always mention Michigan whenever you want to compare other schools to Wisconsin? Michigan is a better overall university and more prestigious. It is ranked higher in more areas than Wisky including most if not all of the departments you mentioned above. The only areas I can see where Michigan lags behind Wisconsin are in the natural sciences. Nevetheless, I personally would definitely go to Wisconsin over UIUC if I weren't looking at engineering. I just like Madison way better than downstate Illinois.</p>
<p>UW is ranked higher in most foreign languages and sociology. UM is ranked higher in the others but both are ranked in the Top 10-15 for all those subjects which means they are both excellent. The fact on NAS members is just that, a fact. So is the research budget. UM may have a better rep whatever exactly that's worth but in factual areas of quality they are closer than most might think. In addition UW offers many areas of study not even available at UM, especially in life sciences. I will certainly grant that UM has a more effective public relations department. That was the first major change the new UW chancellor made after taking over.</p>
<p>Alignment</a>, communication are key goals of chancellor’s organizational changes (Nov. 7, 2008)</p>