Big Ten School atmosphere similar to U of WI

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Madison and have family that went to UW and Indiana - they are pretty similar in vibe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on what they like about the vibe of Wisconsin…if it’s the quintessential college town and campus, IU is great. If it’s more general academic reputation, I’d go Illinois or Purdue. IU has Kelley, but it isn’t really known for strength of programs outside of that. IU had an overwhelming party/Greek vibe that did not feel approachable to my child.

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My sister and best friend went to IU - lots of students don’t go Greek.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:





UIUC has plenty of programs that have a greater than 50% admit rate. Their General Studies major has a middle 50% SAT range of 1220-1410 and a GPA range of 3.46-3.88. Purdue's Exploratory Studies College admits over 75% of applicants with a middle 50% range of 1120-1360 and 3.47-3.95. College admissions is a crapshoot, but both of these schools could be options, depending on major. Both have incredibly competitive programs in CS, Engineering and Business, but they have lots of other options for students who want other majors. I think having strong STEM programs at a school can influence the "vibe" on campus and definitely seems to elevate the school's overall rankings if you are interested in that.

Stop calling it UIUC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Ohio State. Similar people. Similar city. Lots of school spirit. Football-centric.

Not even close.

Why not??

Taking them in your order:

Madison's population is much more friendly and progressive than that of Columbus, which isn't as far from Appalachia as you might think and gets more than its fair share of JD Vances.

Madison has a lovely location between two lakes. Columbus...doesn't. The Wisconsin campus also flows directly into the most fun and interesting part of Madison whereas OSU inhabits its own student ghetto north of Columbus proper (to the extent there is such a thing in such a sprawling town).

Wisconsin's spirit is Wisconsin-focused. Its rivalries with Michigan and Minnesota are spirited but friendly. OSU has an inferiority complex about not being Michigan. They riot and burn cars after every Michigan football game, win or lose.

Buckeye football is all. anybody. talks. about. for most of the summer and winter and all of the fall in Columbus. It's truly obsessive. Wisconsin isn't close to that level about its football team. Nowhere else other than Bama is, really.

Columbus is progressive. It was always super gay-friendly, way before other cities. It had the second biggest gay pride parade after SF for something like 30 years.

I've lived in Columbus. It's decidedly mixed.

I’m glad Woody Hayes isn’t alive to see Buckeyes trying to sell their school based on the size of their gay pride parade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:





UIUC has plenty of programs that have a greater than 50% admit rate. Their General Studies major has a middle 50% SAT range of 1220-1410 and a GPA range of 3.46-3.88. Purdue's Exploratory Studies College admits over 75% of applicants with a middle 50% range of 1120-1360 and 3.47-3.95. College admissions is a crapshoot, but both of these schools could be options, depending on major. Both have incredibly competitive programs in CS, Engineering and Business, but they have lots of other options for students who want other majors. I think having strong STEM programs at a school can influence the "vibe" on campus and definitely seems to elevate the school's overall rankings if you are interested in that.

Stop calling it UIUC.

DP: Why? That's what it's called. Helps differentiate it from Iowa on this thread. If you live in Chicago, it helps differentiate from UI-Chicago.