<p>informative: I’ve always liked the Southern charm, and I like North Carolina. While doing some research both Wisconsin and NC both stood out amongst the others. And to me each of their pros and cons are balanced. </p>
<p>warblers: I’ve heard that UWM is stronger in their academics than NC State. One reason I want to go to UWM is because I want to take Swedish for an elective.</p>
<p>Raleigh vs. Madison: Interestingly, they’re both state capitols so they’re both kept in relatively good shape and are appealing. But while Raleigh is an otherwise pretty typical smaller city, Madison is special. It’s built around two enormous lakes with a isthmus down the middle on which the Capitol building sits. UW is lakefront, with a huge student center on the lakeside. Students are out sailing or socializing on the patio whenever the weather’s nice. I went to Wake Forest and used to visit Raleigh whenever we played State. My impression was that Raleigh was OK - nice, though unexciting. The one time I visited Madison I was wowed. It’s one of the great college towns in America.</p>
<p>Also, UW-Madison is the pinnacle of higher education in the state of Wisconsin. The whole state regards it with reverence. In NC, NC State comes in no better than fifth (behind UNC-CH, Duke, Davidson and Wake Forest).</p>
<p>I could go into detail, but the most effective way of stating this is that UW is not a university located in Madison; Madison is a city built around UW</p>
<p>The Research Triangle is better than Madison but I could say great things about both.</p>
<p>For jobs, yes, for college UW>>>NCSU</p>
<p>I’ve lived in NC for nearly 25 years though i didn’t grow up here so I’ll throw in my few cents. NC St actually has a nice science/engineering UG program though significantly less strong in other areas. It’s prestige level is definitely not in the same class as UW-M nationally though if you are planning on staying in the SE after graduation you may find the opposite to be the case particularly in the Animal Sciences area.</p>
<p>Duke and UNC are nicer on-campus than NC St, but Raleigh is a very nice city with a lot of the benefits of being centrally located within the state and the advantages of being the Capital (lots of money, surprisingly good Museums, excellent dining and shopping opportunities, worldclass airport centrally located). Chapel Hill is a village with a large beautiful very respected academic public university with major Basketball success. Durham is an old southern tobacco town in all senses of the word which just happens to be the home to a world class Duke University and Hospital (plus a legendary AAA Baseball team). Though Durham/CH/Raleigh constitute a triangle of sorts, there is absolutely no confusing which place you are in when you are there – they are on different planets. Cary acts like a housing magnet for all the professors, scientists, PHD/MD associated with the Med School/Hospitals, Research parks, and Universities – the % of post grad degrees is almost laughable at times. Raleigh is a great place to live and work after graduating, but it most definitely doesn’t feel like a college town.</p>
<p>My biggest issues with NC ST and from my experience is the almost pathologic inferiority complex they project from being overshadowed from UNC/Duke/Wake and now even Davidson. The Duke/UNC rivalry is sort of on equal footing on so many levels, but NCSt sometimes act like the adopted 3rd sibling who wasn’t very good at sports with the funny cowlick and lisp. This has honestly worsened over the last few years with Davidson’s basketball success and App St Three-peat in Football. The David Thompson and Jim Valvano successes are becoming way to distant memories for the alums. College Sports dominates the talk and academics are just something to do between games on all 3 campuses particularly during Basketball season. I have many friends who are affiliated with Nc St, but the truth sometimes has to be spoken even if it hurts some feelings.</p>
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<p>Glad other people are realizing this as well. Great post, prospect.</p>
<p>I probably should have said ‘feeling overshadowed’ since I don’t think NC St is a bad school at all. I know several very smart/very nice people who got a wonderful education there, but invariably the conversation with the majority of the Alums will end up with them badmouthing every other university program – how much more money the school gets, how nobody respects NCSt, how arrogant every UNC grad is, how over-rated UNC/Duke is, how every referee call in XXX sport goes against the Wolfpack b/c …</p>
<p>And I come from the perspective of growing up and participating in the Alabama/Auburn battles, but most of the worst/hateful badmouthing I heard far more often came from people who never attended either University. Most of the students and alumni seem to have fun with it rather than malice and I actually have more friends now who attended the other school.</p>
<p>In the meantime…Wisconsin>>>NCState</p>
<p>I thought that had already been established, but that didn’t answer all of the questions and by itself doesn’t make Wisconsin the only option. </p>
<p>If I was choosing and all other factors being equal then I’d probably choose Madison (and I’d be able to pay Instate tuition at NcSt), BUT… </p>
<p>NC State does have some nice departments, but overall UW is a better and more prestigious school with a much more rounded program. Even NCSt’s strongest programs --Engineering (Top 30 in this years USNWR) are topped by Wisconsin (Top 15). </p>
<p>Animal Sciences and Zoology NC St will rank in the Top 15 nationally where UW will be Top 3 for Zoology (Gourman had them #1 in 2006) and well inside Top 10 for Animal Science.</p>
<p>All things aren’t always equal though:
In this instance – OP isn’t NC resident so the $100K tuition savings isn’t an issue.<br>
OP apparently doesn’t mind cold weather/snow so that’s not a problem. </p>
<p>Raleigh and Madison are both nice places to live, but with a completely different feeling as others have said – Madison would seem to be a great place to go to school, Raleigh would be a great place to get a job and raise a family.</p>
<p>Both programs would likely prepare him pretty well for Vet School very well though I can’t for the life of me find that stated. UG degrees alone in either field I would think would be pretty meaningless so the Graduate education would be where the really important work comes. If you are going into a PhD program I’d lean even more strongly to Madison than if Vet School is the goal.</p>
<p>Don’t know a thing about UW-Madison. From all I’ve read on CC, it’s an excellent school.</p>
<p>I will say that DH and S1 are NCSU grads and loved their experiences at NCSU.</p>
<p>Bleh. It seems like UWM is the college I should go to, and want to go to, but I’m still hanging onto NCSU… I’ll figure this out when I go visit both of the campuses. Thankyou everyone! Additional information/opinions are welcomed but overall I got some good information.</p>
<p>This was millenia ago in forum time but to answer somebody’s question from page 1, Durham and Raleigh are quite different. </p>
<p>As I mentioned before, Raleigh is a real city with millions of inhabitants, a sophisticated public transit system, museums, concert venues, professional sports teams, incredible numbers of small, medium and large businesses, multiple universities and so on. </p>
<p>Durham is effectively a suburb with a pretty well known university in it. The property values in Durham are terrific (even grad students can afford houses) and it is a pretty great place if one spouse works in Chapel Hill and the other works at Duke.</p>
<p>It’s moot, I don’t think that the original poster was considering Duke or NC Central.</p>