Hi everyone! I am an international student from China.
Please give me some advice! I am struggling between these two colleges. I plan to double major in sociology and business. Rhodes give me a lot scholarships(40k/year) but uwm(without scholarships) have much better fundamental courses as well as the great alumni network and reputation.
Thanks a lot!
Does the May 1 deadline to accept and offer of admission apply to international students? That is the deadline for U.S. students. Please make sure to check the deadline and contact the school if it has passed.
Both are terrific schools. Wisconsin is in Madison, a classic “college town.” The campus is a large traditional one and closely integrated into Madison. It is right adjacent to a beautiful lake. Madison will be very cold for much of the school year. It has outstanding programs, really world-class. it is a leading research university, and opportunities to participate in large, heavily funded projects would be greater, though grad students would be most deeply involved. The downside is that classes will be very large (intro classes with a few hundred students), especially the first year or two. A student will have less direct contact with professors the first couple of years.
Rhodes in Memphis is a very different school. Memphis is an old southern river port. It is best known for music and barbecue. Instead of tens of thousands of students, like Wisconsin, it has about 2000. You would have a much lower number of students in your classes (20-40 for most) and more contact with professors. The weather would be much nicer for most of the school year (though probably even hot at the very beginning and very end). You would find much fewer international students at Rhodes, though I can’t really say how many or how the culture is for the ones there.
Both schools have a great reputation in the U.S. Wisconsin has a stronger international reputation, largely because international rankings are more dependent on professor research.
So it probably just depends on your finances and which kind of place sounds most appealing to you.
Good luck with your decision!
The class size difference between these schools may be even greater than @TTG’s numbers suggest … although your own experience will depend to some extent on the courses you choose and on the levels we’re comparing. On either school’s site, you may be able to find enrollment numbers for specific courses that interest you.
According to the Rhodes College 2016-17 Common Data Set, over 70% of class sections have fewer than 20 students. Only 22 (of 499) have 30 or more. No class has 50 or more students.
According to the UWisconsin-Madison 2016-17 CDS, only about 44% of class sections have fewer than 20 students. About 21% of classes have 50 or more students. I don’t know about Wisconsin in particular, but at some large state universities, intro classes in popular subjects might enroll many hundreds (or even over 1000) students. Big, popular classes may be relatively few in number, yet account for a large percentage of classroom hours in the first 2 years. Universities usually manage such large classes by assigning teaching assistants (usually graduate students) to lead discussion sections (or labs), and to grade papers/exams. Graduate teaching assistants are nonexistent (or rare) at a small college like Rhodes.
Opinions vary about the significance of class size. In my opinion it’s important, but it may make a bigger difference to some students than others.
I agree with @tk21769 about class sizes and appreciate the greater precision of the response. I think small classes are important for many students, perhaps even more so for an international student making a transition to the U.S. classroom. Again, I can’t speak to the culture and atmosphere for international students at either school. I’m confident there would be more students from China at Wisconsin, but I think the intimacy of Rhodes might provide more robust opportunities to get to know U.S. students more quickly. This is just a guess though. I also wanted to add that Wisconsin can be extremely cold and icy and the walk from some of the student housing to academic buildings can be quite far, easily more than a kilometer.
Thanks for your advice! originally I’ve decided to attend UWM but I just got accepted off the waitlist by Rhodes yesterday.
Exactly! Nearly 170 Chinese students who decide to attend UW-Madison and about 4 attend Rhodes.
@TTG
Agree! Class size/student-faculty ratio is truly the huge difference between these two schools. @tk21769
UPDATE!
Connecticut College admission officer emailed me that they are willing to provide an offer with 35k scholarships/year and asked my intention now I prefer to choose between Rhodes and Concoll over UW-madison. The two liberal arts colleges both provide me a lot scholarships and both have small sized classes as well as close-knit atmosphere. Rhodes and Connecticut are two similar liberal arts colleges except the location(memphis vs New London)
So any advice? 
@TTG @tk21769
I was going to say…how will you pay for Wisconsin? If it would be debt, then it’s not worth it.
Rhodes and Connecticut Colleges have pretty similar student bodies and will probably offer you a similar education. I think the difference is going to be based a lot on location and atmosphere. If you are international, note that the Northeast is much better connected through commuter train and other transportation lines than the Southeast. So from New London, you could probably visit a lot of other cities on the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C. From Memphis…you could always hop a Greyhound, I suppose, but you’d have to be prepared for long uncomfortable bus rides.
On the other hand, Memphis is a large city - third-largest in the Southeast (9th largest in total metropolitan regions) and 23rd largest in the U.S. (41st in total metropolitan regions) - whereas New London is more of a large town/small city. Memphis is going to be warmer in the fall and winter than Conn College. It’ll get cold and snowy in CT, especially in December, January and February.
Rhodes has a business major. Connecticut does not.
thanks! Btw do you know how safe are these two colleges? Some of my relatives said Memphis is not a safe city(mostly stereotypes) and I also heard from some alumni of con coll that New London is not a safe town either.
@juillet
Sounds like you have several excellent choices! Congrats! Just popping in to tell you that UWM is not the abbreviation for UW-Madison. UWM is the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, a different university located about 1.5 hours east of UW Madison. Generally UW Madison is just abbreviated UW (which I know can be confused with University of Washington). If you do end up going to UW, it’s just a crucial bit of info for you to know! Again, congrats and good luck!
Congratulations on the scholarship to Conn Coll! I’m more familiar with the schools than the cities, although I know them a little. Hopefully somebody with more local knowledge can weigh in. I think, though, it is fair to say that in both cases, and for Madison too, the college campuses/environments are safe. Probably most of the areas where students go are safe, but some surrounding areas will have higher crime rates, and students, especially female students, need to be cautious in the evening and at night.
In general, the greatest concern for college students, again especially females, comes from alcohol-fueled sexual harassment/assault on campus or at off-campus student parties, not street crime. If you will be new to the U.S., I advise being cautious about alcohol and at events where it is served while you’re familiarizing yourself with the college environment (or even if you are not new to the U.S.). Of course, the overwhelming majority of your fellow students will be wonderful and helpful. But alcohol overconsumption, which is a reality at almost every school, negatively impacts judgment and creates an opportune environment for harassment and assault. It’s a great idea to avoid overconsumption, make sure you have friends around, keep an eye on your friends, avoid being in an isolated situation with those you don’t know well, especially if alcohol is being consumed, and make sure you have a safe means of returning to your dorm/housing. Either school you attend will have programs addressing these issues, and you can learn quickly from friends. It might also be helpful to research the issue to find other helpful tips to protect against harassment/assault.
I agree with the above comments about Memphis and New London. Memphis is larger and will offer more local opportunities. New London would offer more opportunities to visit NYC, Boston, and the beaches and towns along Long Island Sound and in Rhode Island. Train travel can be fairly expensive in the Northeast. So you can think about whether you would be interested in weekend trips, etc. into these cities, or short trips to the beach. That would be a plus for Conn Coll. I note, though, the comment that Rhodes has business and Conn Coll does not. Good luck!
Rhodes is kind of in the ghetto (i’m from the area), But the campus itself is beautiful. Both are great schools it just comes down to weather you want a large public university or a smaller private one
I’ve never been to either of these cities, so I can’t say firsthand. I will say that I’ve heard “the area’s not safe” about pretty much any college in an urban or semi-urban area. I have heard that Memphis is kind of hood-ish, but I’ve heard the same thing about most small cities in Connecticut.
Plenty has been said about the intro-level class size advantage of the LACs over UW (not UWM…), but I’m not sure anyone has mentioned these things:
UW-Madison offers a lot more majors, and more classes within those majors, than either Rhodes or CC. This greater academic breadth and depth is a typical advantage that universities have over LACs, to balance the class size disadvantage.
Also, UW has much more international name recognition and prestige than any LAC.
Finally, UW is known as a very fun campus: the party and sports scenes are fantastic, State Street and the Union (and Terrace) present great opportunities for fun, the campus is on an isthmus between two large lakes (that can be used for water sports), etc. UW presents a nice mix of city bustle and natural beauty.
I thought you should be aware of these things in case you were not.
Going back to your original post – Rhodes has a business major, Conn Coll does not. Conn Coll is on the “northeast corridor” so accessible to major metro areas such as Boston, NY and DC, though it is about 2+ hours from both NY and Boston by train. Memphis is the headquarters for FedEx, and we know Rhodes kids who have gotten excellent internships during the summers. From our Rhodes friends, we understand that there are parts of Memphis a student should be careful in, but it really is just standard city-smarts and the college is very vocal about educating students about safety when they hit the bars off campus etc. Campus itself is a gorgeous Gothic enclosed campus, separate from the surrounding area. Of course, Conn Coll is also a separate campus from the surrounding area, also lovely.
Another thing to consider, at UW, a student has to be admitted to the College of Business, and a student wanting to double major in both business and sociology is getting a double degree, not just a double major, from the College of Business and the College of Letters & Science, which means meeting the requirements for two different programs. I’m a huge fan of UW – the academics are superb and the student life unbelievable. At the same time, a student contemplating a double degree should investigate the requirements.
You can get a double major at UW in Business and any major in Letters and Science. Not a double degree and very common
“If you would like to gain skills in two fields of study, you can pursue a double major. You may choose from any additional major at the Wisconsin School of Business or the UW–Madison College of Letters and Science.”
Not to quibble with a UW pro like @barrons, but UW Business school undergrads get a B.B.A. and, if they were to add a major from L&S, I would have thought they get a B.A. so presumably would be double degree candidates. Maybe they don’t get a B.A. from their L&S major, they are just a BBA with a second major? The links I follow on wisc.edu suggest an L&S double major at Business school has to meet L&S BA requirements, but the devil is in the details. I just offer it as something to be aware of. UW is a phenomenal school, with endless opportunities.
Thanks for your suggestions! The thing is, I have narrowed down my choice between Rhodes and Con coll now. The main differences are locations and expenses. I love the clubs and social scenes in Con coll better-no Greek life, lots of musical performances, free music courses and better a cappella groups. And they also offer CELS(Carear Enhancing Life Skills) . As @Midwestmomofboys mentioned above, it’s closer to NY and Boston.
Rhodes’ business program is an edge and I really like their beautiful campus and rigor academic system. They also offer great internships as well. Memphis is a big city with a lot opportunities.
The most important thing is I need to pay 18k/year for rhodes vs 33k/year for Con coll. So I want to ask is it worth to pay extra 44k in total to attend Concoll with a bit better location and clubs&social scenes?
As a parent, I would not pay $15k a year for Conn Coll over Rhodes. The Rhodes kids we have known have done very well in business and grad school admissions, and loved their time at school, including being very active in music. They did not participate in greek life and described that it was not a big deal.