Wisconsin vs. Michigan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your daughter truly wants to go to medical school, for undergrad she should go to the school where it will be easiest for her to get the highest grades. Med schools care about GPA, not necessarily rigor.

This is bad advice given how much one's peer group can help or hurt during application season.

It's one thing to avoid taking difficult majors like engineering as a pre-med, but to go to a school with an academically weaker population for a better GPA is going to backfire massively. MCAT's matter and that is standardized.

Wrong. This is absolutely the top advice given to pre-meds. Go to where you'll have the highest GPA. Where your undergrad degree comes from does not matter and you'll get no extra points on a med school application by going to a higher ranked undergrad. Its all about GPA and being at top of class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most in this situation just pick the highest ranked Michigan. But Madison is a prettier and cleaner college town. Ann Arbor is dreary.

I’ve spent time in both and they’re really pretty similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wisconin's 4 year graduation rate is much lower than Michigan's.

It’s baffling to me how so many kids at 4-year schools don’t graduate in 4 years. If you have even a couple AP 4s/5s it’s easy to finish most majors in under 4 years.

Yeah if every student is taking easy majors and living off their parent's money during college. State flagships tend to have a lot of lower/middle-income students that work a large number of hours part-time (vs. the wealthy kids that may work 5 hours a week for beer money) and have a lot of engineering students which is more demanding than other majors.

This is why schools with a liberal arts-focused and wealthier student population tend to have higher 4-year graduation rates than those with a lower/middle income and engineering-focused population. Compare the graduation rates of UVa vs. Berkeley or Georgia Tech. The students at Berkeley and Georgia Tech are not slackers by any definition.

Or some schools are bureaucratic nightmares. Worth looking into.

[Anonymous]

If you're a rich out of state applicant, you probably apply to both, plus maybe Indiana and George Washington, then go to the highest ranked one you get into. And/or the one you have family or friend ties to. Let's be honest, they're both gigantic rah-rah paint-your-face sportball degree mills, where rich out of state kids go to do a lot of tailgating, drinking, drugs and hooking up in Greek life. Then graduate and speed to the airport and never visit either flyover state again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're a rich out of state applicant, you probably apply to both, plus maybe Indiana and George Washington, then go to the highest ranked one you get into. And/or the one you have family or friend ties to. Let's be honest, they're both gigantic rah-rah paint-your-face sportball degree mills, where rich out of state kids go to do a lot of tailgating, drinking, drugs and hooking up in Greek life. Then graduate and speed to the airport and never visit either flyover state again.

GWU doesn't have a football team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived in and love both towns, and have some affiliation with both schools. She should go to the school where she feels the vibe. The lakes are worth it, especially if she’ll be out on the water a lot.

There are no shortage of lakes in Michigan. I have experience with both schools and would recommend MI by far.

Agree, but Madison's lakes are right there while there are no comparable size lakes (Barton Pond is not a lake) on/near Michigan's campus (and I know and love Michigan lakes!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're a rich out of state applicant, you probably apply to both, plus maybe Indiana and George Washington, then go to the highest ranked one you get into. And/or the one you have family or friend ties to. Let's be honest, they're both gigantic rah-rah paint-your-face sportball degree mills, where rich out of state kids go to do a lot of tailgating, drinking, drugs and hooking up in Greek life. Then graduate and speed to the airport and never visit either flyover state again.

They're back!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're a rich out of state applicant, you probably apply to both, plus maybe Indiana and George Washington, then go to the highest ranked one you get into. And/or the one you have family or friend ties to. Let's be honest, they're both gigantic rah-rah paint-your-face sportball degree mills, where rich out of state kids go to do a lot of tailgating, drinking, drugs and hooking up in Greek life. Then graduate and speed to the airport and never visit either flyover state again.

They're back!

Yes. Wow that pp has been around here for a long time, since at least 2018 on here. I am looking forward to more of their creative writing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived in and love both towns, and have some affiliation with both schools. She should go to the school where she feels the vibe. The lakes are worth it, especially if she’ll be out on the water a lot.

There are no shortage of lakes in Michigan. I have experience with both schools and would recommend MI by far.

Agree, but Madison's lakes are right there while there are no comparable size lakes (Barton Pond is not a lake) on/near Michigan's campus (and I know and love Michigan lakes!).

True, but if she's with a rowing team/club she will have ready access at both to amazing water bodies. And no one knows how they are really going to spend their time once in college. Better to go to the stronger academic school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most in this situation just pick the highest ranked Michigan. But Madison is a prettier and cleaner college town. Ann Arbor is dreary.

I’ve spent time in both and they’re really pretty similar.

They really are very similar towns, but Madison is west of Lake Michigan and Ann Arbor is east of it, and the result is more sunny winter days in Madison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most in this situation just pick the highest ranked Michigan. But Madison is a prettier and cleaner college town. Ann Arbor is dreary.

Yes, my kids didn't apply to any big state schools, but you summed up how I see the two. So, I can see why it is a difficult decision. In the end, she will most likely end up in the same Med school either way, so I'd go with the more pleasant atmosphere and experience.

[Anonymous]

Who are the weirdos talking up lakes? lol you sound like retired boomers. Lake Michigan is like 3 hours away to the west and Lake Huron / Saint Clair is like 90 minutes away to the east. And not that college kids care but there are no noteworthy inland lakes anywhere near Ann Arbor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your daughter truly wants to go to medical school, for undergrad she should go to the school where it will be easiest for her to get the highest grades. Med schools care about GPA, not necessarily rigor.

This is bad advice given how much one's peer group can help or hurt during application season.

It's one thing to avoid taking difficult majors like engineering as a pre-med, but to go to a school with an academically weaker population for a better GPA is going to backfire massively. MCAT's matter and that is standardized.

Wrong. This is absolutely the top advice given to pre-meds. Go to where you'll have the highest GPA. Where your undergrad degree comes from does not matter and you'll get no extra points on a med school application by going to a higher ranked undergrad. Its all about GPA and being at top of class.

This is terrible advice. The ranking of the school does not matter, but the opportunities and environment that the school provides does. Being in an environment where students are always drunk outside of class and half-drunk during class is terrible for both personal and academic growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most in this situation just pick the highest ranked Michigan. But Madison is a prettier and cleaner college town. Ann Arbor is dreary.

I’ve spent time in both and they’re really pretty similar.

+1
Both are lovely in spring, summer and fall and dreary in the winter. I think Madison is a little more fun for a wider range of ages, but for the 18-21 year olds, both are great places to go to college if you can handle it being cold at the end of fall semester and beginning of spring semester.

[Anonymous]

Wisconsin - go with her heart. Everyone I have known who went to Wisconsin loved it and is fiercely proud of the school.