UW parent here – I can certainly understand falling in love with Madison, it is hard not to. UW does not recruit hard, so students and families looking to “feel the love” are not going to get it from UW. Econ at UW is a superb program, ranked around 15 in the country, and would certainly prepare a student for Ph.D. program, if that is the goal. Honors at UW is not a school within a school but rather a program which allows students to go deeper into their coursework, there are no Honors dorms or other obvious differentiation between Honors and other students. My student is in Honors, and has enjoyed Honors sections of lecture courses, led by the prof rather than TAs, as well as smaller Honors only seminars. At both MN and UW, certainly intro and often intermediate level coursework will have TAs leading discussion sections.
I do have to quibble about one poster’s description of MN Honors as more selective than UW – they are different programs with different goals, so difficult to compare selectivity. MN, IU and Iowa and others, have specific requirements for gpa and test scores for admission to Honors. In contrast, At UW, every admitted student (at least in Letters and Science), is invited to apply for Honors – the idea is, every student is capable of Honors work, but only some are interested in pursuing subjects to a deeper degree. The essays for UW Honors app count a lot, as they reveal whether the student is interested in intellectual exploration or just looking to add a perk on their resume. So, while it is true that everyone is eligible for Honors at UW, the group which actually applies, writes the essays etc., is a self-selecting group. My kid fits this model of UW Honors wonderfully – he did not have the gpa or test scores for auto admission into other schools’ Honors programs, in part, because he was never the kind of kid to “play the game” in high school. But he loves to go deep into subjects and get lost in them. So Honors is great for a kid like him, he contributes to discussions in Honors classes and benefits from it.
For what it is worth, while Walker has proposed significant cuts in order to give UW greater financial flexibility, many do not think that deep a level of cuts will be ultimately be approved by the legislature. Will OOS tuition go up, and how much? No one can predict. I think my kid’s OOS tuition over three years has increased about a $1000 (that is in year 1, 2 and 3, the total difference between freshman year tuition and junior year tuition is $1000.). I would not expect to see UW OOS tuition go up by $10k as a result of Walker’s proposed budget.
If we were our family, it would all come down to finances. If your family is full pay, and has the resources to absorb the difference in cost between MN and UW, and you feel that UW just feels “right” – then it is a great choice. But if that difference is significant – as it would be for many families – then MN is a great school, with a lower sticker price than many OOS flagships, in a great city, and will afford you wonderful options after college.