Reputation of University of Wisconsin Campuses (Milwaukee, Madison: insurance, architecture, education)

[IcemanJB]

Originally Posted by MN55

Madison is leagues above any other school in the state.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities just came out a week ago: UW - Madison is the 17th most influential university in the WORLD! It is the fifth best public school and the second best public school not located in California.

ARWU 2009

Seriously, Milwaukee and Marquette are very good universities, but to begin to compare them to Madison is simply a joke. I don't think people in Wisconsin know how good UW is. They know it's good, but not how good.

You know, I'm just starting to realize this as I get some experience working. I never really grasped how well-known UW-Madison really is.

My dad's company was just bought by a large company from Australia. I don't remember the exact quote, but one of the Aussies apparently said to dad "What is it with you Wisconsin grads?" (referring to some recent UW grads that were hired stateside) in a good tone, of course. Badgers are admired world-wide, folks.

[mpls_ec77]

Originally Posted by IcemanJB

BACK ON TOPIC....

I got my degree from UW-Madison (Comp Sci/Comp Eng.) last May. Many of my old high school classmates are scattered throughout the UW system, and the general consensus is that UW-Madison is the most academically rigorous of the system schools. I can vouch for that as I dug myself into a hole a sophomore year grade-wise, and worked my ASS off to get my overall GPA UP to 2.8 by the time I graduated. I had basically no social life for a year or two while I salvaged my grades.

I've heard UWM is pretty tough as well, as is UW-La Crosse.

We've all heard "when in doubt, go to Stout." lol.
...and "can't get in there? Go to Eau Claire!"

Originally I was going to go to UW-Whitewater for business, but got my UW-Madison acceptance letter way late and immediately switched.

So for prestigious schools: UW, UWM would be at the top I'd say.

Let's not forget... "Want a joint, go to Point"

[TAB1452]

I'm completely confused (and this isn't a rip on UW-Milwaukee as much as it is a clarification from people) but I want to know if people seriously think Milwaukee is that "prestigious" of a school or if they assume it is because its a D1 school in the largest city in our state...I know 5 people just from WW that transferred from WW to Milwaukee because of grades and they went from sub 2 GPA's to over 3's at graduation and talked about how they really changed nothing about studying habits it was just the course work was so easy...this covered all majors from business to criminal justice...I'm not comparing it to WW but just other D3 schools in general...I have heard from many UW-Milwaukee graduates and current students that its a cake walk...I just think its sort of odd that people going to these schools talk about how its easy to get a degree here or the lack of tough course work...and people on here are saying its on par with Marquette and just behind Madison...it seems odd but I can't really judge it as I've never taken a single course there...I am just basing this off of what I've heard/seen

[Drover]

^^ Uhm, yeah... I'm calling BS the story above. Students with a sub-2 GPA aren't even eligible to transfer to UWM. Same probably goes for any other serious university. "Hey look -- these guys are flunking out of a second-tier state school. I bet they'd make fine additions to our student body!"

[BadgerGrl]

I went to Madison for my degree & took a few classes at UWM in the summer when I was back home living with my parents...the classes at UWM that qualified for credit transfer to UW were sooo much easier than what they would have been if I took them at UW during the regular school year. Business law comes to mind, as does some chem courses a friend took at the same time. The students at UW were a lot more committed to their education, which fosters a better learning environment overall as well. I got the transfer credits I wanted at UWM to graduate early, but I'm pretty sure I didn't learn as much as I could have had I taken the classes at Madison.

[MN55]

Madison>>>Marquette>>>Everything Else

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by MN55

Madison>>>Marquette>>>Everything Else

Madison
Marquette
MSOE




UWM











Then everyone else.

[Empidonax]

Originally Posted by BadgerGrl

I went to Madison for my degree & took a few classes at UWM in the summer when I was back home living with my parents...the classes at UWM that qualified for credit transfer to UW were sooo much easier than what they would have been if I took them at UW during the regular school year. Business law comes to mind, as does some chem courses a friend took at the same time. The students at UW were a lot more committed to their education, which fosters a better learning environment overall as well. I got the transfer credits I wanted at UWM to graduate early, but I'm pretty sure I didn't learn as much as I could have had I taken the classes at Madison.

Summer classes are usually less rigorous than regular classes at any university, be it UWM, UW-Madison, UC-Berkeley, or Harvard. This often has a lot to do with the compressed course schedule for summer courses; it also reflects the fact that summer teaching is generally not done by regular faculty members, but rather by lecturers and ad hocs. Similar disparities are found with a university's online vs. face-to-face education; the latter tends to be more rigorous.

About a year or so ago, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel compiled and published a database on the average grades assigned in academic departments and courses at UWM. Some departments, including Africology and Classics, turned out being very strict in this regard; other departments, including some areas of Business and Education, were not very strict. I tried looking for the database on the jsonline website, but no luck. It's there somewhere, though.

[Empidonax]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

Madison
Marquette
MSOE


UWM



Then everyone else.

Are you talking about reputation or perceived quality here? Marquette's all-around rep is fairly high, but take away the sports programs and some professional schools, and it's pretty much on par with UWM.

MSOE is a very good school, but obviously highly specialized. It seems to me, though, that UWM's engineering faculty and programs have a higher rep: more grant money, more research published, more patents, etc. Does MSOE even have a grad program? UWM does.

[Empidonax]

Originally Posted by MN55

Madison is leagues above any other school in the state.

The Academic Ranking of World Universities just came out a week ago: UW - Madison is the 17th most influential university in the WORLD! It is the fifth best public school and the second best public school not located in California.

ARWU 2009

Seriously, Milwaukee and Marquette are very good universities, but to begin to compare them to Madison is simply a joke. I don't think people in Wisconsin know how good UW is. They know it's good, but not how good.

Madison is the best overall in the state, but it isn't without problems. The ranking provided, as is the case with most such rankings, places emphasis on graduate programs and extrapolates from there to make a judgment about universities in general. In many ways this makes sense, as the presence of graduate programs tends to condition the undergrad programs toward a high degree of rigor and expectation. But all the same, the undergrad experience is very different from the grad experience; it's difficult, if not impossible, to "measure" teaching effectiveness and the impact of academic/extracurricular resources (libraries, tutoring, etc.) in undergraduate programs.

The fame of UW-Madison across the country and worldwide rests primarily on the grad programs and research/scholarship of faculty. This is good for the reputation of the school and its undergrads, but for those who see the distinction between undergrad and grad programs, the "trickle-down" theory isn't quite as convincing. Madison does still have a reputation as a party school, though I think that's been overblown and distorted a bit.