<p>Jwisgod:</p>
<p>I am an alum of UW-Madison and have never been on the U Washington campus, although I have visited Seattle many times.</p>
<p>These are two quite similar schools in size, mission, and reputation, and I won’t be able to compare the nuances of their EE nor wider engineering programs. However I would project that the three biggest differences you will find between them are (1) climate, (2) urban-ness, and (3) topography.</p>
<p>(1) Madison has a continental climate with wider swings in temperatures – warm-to-hot summers and very cold winters (July average high 82 F, Jan average low 9 F). Much of the winter is spent in sub-freezing temperatures. Seattle has a coastal climate which is more temperate (July average high 72 F, Jan average low 36 F). The two cities are surprisingly close in overall annual precipitation (about 33 inches) but Seattle is known for its constant intermittent rainfall whereas in Madison you are likely to get a good deal of the precipitation as thunderstorms in the summer and snow in the winter. Overall I’d wager you’d find the Seattle climate closer to what you know in the UK. You can decide if that is attractive or not.</p>
<p>(2) Seattle is a major metropolitan area. The city itself is about 620K in population and the wider metro area about 3500K. Madison is a medium sized city of about 230K with a wider metro area of 500K (but this is fairly widely dispersed). The Madison campus and population itself is big enough to be a distinguishing feature in the area but the Seattle campus, large though it is, is much less prominent. Seattle is fairly safe and clean for a city its size but I would say that Madison is less problematic in these ways, although not without fault. Assuming you are male, you will probably feel safe in most places at most times in Madison but there will be places in Seattle that might feel threatening.</p>
<p>(3) Seattle is situated on an ocean inlet and between two mountain ranges. The topography can justifiably be called dramatic. Madison is situated between two large lakes in the middle of farms built on rolling hills. I think of the scenery the sense of place here is more serene. In terms of extreme natural events, tornadoes are a sometimes occurrence in southern Wisconsin, although none have ever hit Madison that I can recall. Seattle has known earthquakes in past centuries but none of note in recent decades.</p>
<p>To me your decision is mostly a matter of personal taste. I hope you find this helpful.</p>