UW-Madison vs Cornell

Nestled in the heart of the Midwest, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Cornell University, an Ivy League institution in upstate New York, stand as two prominent beacons of higher education. While both universities share a commitment to academic excellence, they offer distinct experiences shaped by their unique identities. With acceptance rates of 52% and 10%, respectively, they cater to different levels of selectivity. UW-Madison boasts a larger student body, with over 40,000 undergraduates, while Cornell maintains a more intimate community of around 15,000 undergraduates. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to delve into further details, including popular majors, student demographics, graduation rates, and more, to help you make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Cornell University	University of Wisconsin-Madison
Overview
Location	Ithaca, New York	Madison, Wisconsin
Campus setting	City: Small	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	97.0%	95.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	8.7%	60.4%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $80 Graduate: $105	Undergraduate: $60 Graduate: $75
SAT range	1450 - 1560	1320 - 1500
ACT range	33 - 35	26 - 32
Students submitting SAT score	41.0%	15.0%
Students submitting ACT score	20.0%	55.0%
Total number of applicants	67,380	53,781
Total number of admissions given out	5,852	32,459
Admitted students who chose to enroll	3,718	8,465
Yield rate	63.5%	26.1%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$80,287	In state: $27,418 Out of state: $55,306
Average net price	$24,262	$13,484
Tuition	$60,286	In state: $9,273 Out of state: $37,161
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $9,962 Meal plan: $6,434	Room/dormitory: $7,367 Meal plan: $4,100
Available payment plans		Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	50.0% Average amount $52,674	54.0% Average amount $10,932
Students receiving federal student loan	26.0% Average amount $3,924	26.0% Average amount $5,175
Students taking out private loans	16.0% Average amount $8,357	6.0% Average amount $16,550

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	15,503 Men 46.1% Women 53.9%	34,561 Men 47.5% Women 52.5%
Graduate students	10,079 Men 51.0% Women 49.0%	12,455 Men 46.6% Women 53.4%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	64.3%	50.6%
International students	24.4%	13.8%
Campus local/setting	City: Small	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	7,422	9,226
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	New York California New Jersey Florida Pennsylvania	Wisconsin Illinois Minnesota California New York

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Engineering Agriculture Computer and Information Science Legal Profession	Health Professions Business Social Sciences Engineering Computer and Information Science
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	17:1
Institutional accreditation	Middle States Commission on Higher Education	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	94.1%	89.2%
Dropout rate	5.2%	10.0%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Law (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $185,154 Year 2: $172,867 Year 3: $207,272 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $150,786 Year 2: $145,332 Year 3: $167,695 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $127,764 Year 2: $122,485 Year 3: $158,076 Computer Science (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $147,241 Year 2: $127,397 Year 3: $155,653 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $114,311 Year 2: $111,926 Year 3: $126,082 Operations Research (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $101,067 Year 2: $109,763 Year 3: $124,590 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $88,459 Year 2: $92,277 Year 3: $109,597 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $105,672 Year 2: $97,071 Year 3: $109,553 Systems Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $95,847 Year 2: $94,408 Year 3: $107,658 Human Resources Management and Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $101,072 Year 3: $106,693	Finance and Financial Management Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $107,256 Year 3: $131,458 Marketing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $113,083 Year 2: $111,992 Year 3: $130,357 Business/Commerce, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $112,390 Year 2: $113,091 Year 3: $124,360 Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $96,320 Year 2: $117,042 Year 3: $123,777 Engineering, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $110,338 Year 2: $106,421 Year 3: $111,424 Real Estate (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $115,339 Year 3: $104,219 Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $115,387 Year 2: $100,213 Year 3: $103,937 Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $78,839 Year 2: $81,997 Year 3: $97,306 Mechanical Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $85,538 Year 3: $94,093 Real Estate (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $69,730 Year 2: $73,949 Year 3: $91,306

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