So…I am an international applicant, and I only got offers from my two safety schools. UC Davis is in California and the weather is absolutely much better than the weather in Madison (I am freaking afraid of cold weathers). However, the major I am admitted by UCD is International Relations, but I do not know if UCD’s IR program is good enough. Madison is definitely a well-balanced school with a wide coverage of majors, but I did not do any research about it and just know the city is super cold. Honestly, because these two are my safety so I just applied them without any research… I probably will choose a double major of Accounting or Economics, and I just want to know more about UCD and UWMadison from you guys. Please tell me everything you know and help me to choose one! Thank you soooooo much!!!
Yes, Madison, Wisconsin is cold, but there are plenty of kids from CA who adapt, it’s is not the tundra, and students unite weathering the cold. Students are gone for a month, over winter break, so miss the mid/late Dec- mid/late Jan period.
At UW, International Relations is a subject matter area within the Poli Sci department at UW, though there is also a separate interdisiplinary major known as “International Studies.” Both UW’s Poli Sci and Econ departments are ranked around top 15 departments in the country.
http://pubs.wisc.edu/ug/ls_intlstudies.htm
for info on IS major at UW
At UW, Accounting is in the College of Business, so a double major with Accounting would require meeting the requirements for both the College of Business (for Accounting major) and the College of Letters & Science (for a Poli Sci or International Studies major). If you have no deep seated desire to do accounting major, it would be more manageable to do a double major within a single College at UW, Letters & Science, such as Poli Sci and Econ. My kid is a Poli Sci and History major, and the other common Poli Sci pairing is Poli Sci and Econ.
Good luck to you, great options.
First, unless the weather dissuaded you from “non-safety” schools, I would not let that prevent you from choosing the best school for academics, and perhaps experience. In other words, would you turn down Harvard or University of Chicago because they too are cold in the winter?
As far as academics, UC Davis does not compare to the strengths in economics and accounting that Wisconsin represents. Davis is a good school, but does not have the academic strengths that some other UC campuses do.
I think instead of me listing Wisconsin’s qualities, it would be better if you actually did the research – you state you didn’t bother in the initial post – and discover for yourself. Perhaps that would open your eyes, and you wouldn’t then deem Wisconsin a “safety” for your proposed disciplines.
Really helpful! Thank you so much!
They are both good schools. IMO they’re probably comparable. Size, quality of education, etc. are about the same. It’s down to personal preference. You haven’t visited but you can do some research and get an idea of what the campuses look like. UW Madison WILL be cold so if you really can’t handle that, then go to UCD. However, I don’t know how difficult it would be for you to possibly switch majors — do you want to do IR? IF you don’t, you might want to go to UW alone because you’ll be able to major in what you want.
4 Oh, yes, I think I may switch major. Do you mean UCD is not so flexible for students to make changes?
I do not think they are that comparable for your proposed majors. Madison is ranked considerably higher in accounting, economics, political science, public policy (I am using those as proxies for IR, because UW has several programs).
I do think you will receive a solid education at Davis, and I am not knocking it. But the academic departments at the two institutions are not equivalent. You could begin by look up individual departmental rankings in U.S. News; not the best source, but at least it would give you a baseline.
UC Davis is in between the bay area and Sacramento. It is flat and in the middle of farm country.
If you are basing everything on weather, then you need to understand that Davis is not in Southern California. The weather varies from very cold, rainy weather to extremely hot weather. My daughter has to have 3 different sets of boots for the rain-one set just for biking.
The city of Davis is set up for the biking community. There are 40K bikes on campus and these tend to gravitate into town.
I don’t know too much about Wisconsin’s academics but I do know that you need to do some research on the differences between Davis and Wisconsin.
@aunt bea, I for one am glad you gave your opinion on UCSD on the other thread – it really resonated with me. And as full disclosure, I chose Wisconsin honors over UCSD and several other choices, way back in the last century.
I don’t know how difficult it is to switch majors at UCD. I just always thought that UCs admit by major.
@anhydrite thank you so much for you answer. I think I may probably choose Wisconsin.
You are welcome. I am being objectively honest as I can, as I do respect most of the UC campuses and their respective offerings. But Wisconsin in these disciplines has greater depth, more prominent faculty, and more extensive research. It makes sense when you consider that Madison is the flagship university of Wisconsin, and it has been there for over 150 years. Davis, in comparison, is much younger as a campus. The flagship equivalent to UW-Madison in California would be UC-Berkeley.
Thanks for the support @anhydrite.
(While I hate to sound as if I am discouraging students, I also believe in preparing students on what to REALLY expect.)
@susanlu, weather shouldn’t really be an issue since the “cold” schools accommodate well for that. My eldest dd went from Southern California to Buffalo NY into UB’s engineering program which was similar to EECS at Berkeley. She doesn’t like cold weather either but it was a full ride and she was curious. She wanted to see the seasons change and she wanted to explore a historical area of the country; yet, she still used her sandals in the snow! Its all how you look at it.
Point is, you need to look at both programs for what can give you the most “bang for your buck”. After all, you are paying full fees. Using the weather as an excuse does not bode well for your outlook. You should consider it as an adventure-making snow angels, watching the color changes in the plant life, etc. Neither school is going to have your version of “perfect weather” so you really need to look at what you want in the academics and life at the school.
@anhydrite Yes, I totally agree. I am waiting for the Waiting List result of UCB now TUT
Oh, BTW, if the major at Davis is impacted, you can apply with a form, but your grades and activities have to be stellar and there is no guarantee that you can get in. However, in a non-impacted major, it’s just getting a couple of signatures. Dd did this.
@“aunt bea” THX!!! I think Wisconsin may be more suitable for me on the academics front. Thank you so much for your answers!!! They are quite helpful to me because I used to think Davis is always warm and you introduced me the real Davis weather. Thank you!
I think you were speaking the truth about different campuses, aunt bea. And I don’t like to see people criticized for that, if the counter-arguments amount to little more than boasting about one’s affiliated institution. It is fine to present evidence, and even passion for your university, but you will also encounter some advocates who warp the alleged advantages of their chosen institutions out of proportion, and that isn’t fair to prospective students. No university, or choice, is perfect (nor am I), and the psychology behind the mechanisms of choice – and defenses thereof – often go unaccounted for. That is to say, there’s quite a bit of denial going on.
@susanlu, I’m glad you’ve had time to consider the academics at both schools, so now go and actually read about those departments that interest you. Base your decision on being informed. Yes, Wisconsin will be cold. How many times in your life, however, will you get to experience being cold with several thousand students having ice sculpture contests? etc.
@anhydrite, you should post this on the other post. THANKS! I agree that it was boasting by proud students and parents without regard for being truthful, being in denial, and answering the actual question.
Thank you, aunt bea. I may hold off posting that paragraph there, as I’m not looking to incite anything, even inadvertently. I didn’t perceive those students as being egregiously offensive, and they did apologize. I attempted to make my post in the UCSD thread balanced, to cite its respective strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes there’s an age and wisdom gap too, and on these types of forums, they don’t always triumph. But I appreciate that you understand, and that you were honest about the institutional culture.
To be honest, I have read aunt bea’s post multiple occasions on different subject and thought somebody has a really hard out look on life. Not meant to be insulting. For example, her husband graduated from UCSD but made no friends, he only made friends at Stanford. So I’m sorry if I made my post in that thread but I for many moments thought somebody was very unbalanced.