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<p>There’s no question that in the past—indeed until quite recently—Wisconsin was more selective than Minnesota. But Minnesota’s selectivity has rocketed upward over the past several admissions cycles and is now coming very close to Wisconsin’s. </p>
<p>I’m not even saying that overall Minnesota is as good as Wisconsin right now. I’d grant that in some areas Wisconsin has an edge, in other areas they’re about even, and in some areas Minnesota has the advantage, but overall Wisconsin’s still got a slight lead. You need to pick your spots, though, because Wisconsin isn’t stronger in all aspects.</p>
<p>But the point is, Minnesota’s been rapidly closing the gap in many, many areas, and they’re not nearly so far apart as they once were. There’s a kind of comfortable complacency to the Wisconsin attitude about all this; “Oh, we know we’re better, we’ve always been better, OUR competition is Michigan, not Minnesota.” When in fact Minnesota is poised to give them a real run for their money. Anybody notice that Minnesota jumped 11 places in the US News rankings in a single year, from 2008 to 2009? This is no accident; it reflects things like rapid advances in selectivity, to the point that the kid with the sub-3.5 GPA who just a few years ago was pretty much a shoo-in for admission to Minnesota is now more likely to get a deferral or a rejection letter. I hear this all the time from Minnesota alums: “Geez, back in my day anyone could go to the U. But now my kid can’t get in, and I don’t think I could have gotten in with these new more selective admissions standards.” </p>
<p>And in terms of value, Minnesota is going to be looking more and more attractive to OOS students who look at that $7K/year difference in the price tag between the two schools and wonder if any slight reputational advantage enjoyed by Wisconsin, arguably based more on the past than on present-day reality, is really worth $28K more in debt by the time s/he’s through urdergrad. I’m not knocking Wisconsin; it’s still an excellent school and I wish I could convince my own D to put it on her “safety” list (no luck so far). But my point is, the difference between Wisconsin and Minnesota is not nearly so great as in the past, and in my judgment the gap is shrinking rapidly, to the point that it can be a perfectly reasonable and sound choice, and for many people a highly cost-effective one, to choose Minnesota over Wisconsin.</p>