Can Someone Please Clearly State the Academic Reputation of UW Madison

Hello, so I'm the guy considering a Umich/NW transfer this spring (made an old post if anyone can see). I still haven't really made up my mind. The answers to the OP were useful, but I noticed they essentially said that if you work hard enough, you can place from anywhere. I guess this left me with the glaring question of is UW Madison really that unknown/unheard of? Like, people responded to my comments saying they placed from some random directional school in Iowa. I think that's great, but does that really apply to my situation being in a Big 10 school?

Basically, I want to know what the academic reputation for UW Madison is specifically in the finance world. I've gotten totally mixed responses. If you ask an academic, they'll tell you it's among the Top 10 publics in the nation, and its US News academic peer reputation score of 4.2/5 (6th best of all publics) certainly reflects that. I don't think it has such a stellar reparation in the business world, in fact it couldn't because if it did MBB's would come and recruit but they don't (which causes my transfer anxiety in the first place). I tried to ask UW stem/business students the reputation and ofc they basically said we are Harvard which can't be true. They kept referencing the real estate program; I'm a math major so I don't really know anything about RE but I don't think that's important/gets recruitment? 

TLDR; if someone could just answer the title question and list some peer schools that would be very helpful!

2 Comments
 

ALSO: I got into Boston College during high school but chose not to go; that could be another transfer option. I do feel that UW Madison is better academically, I don't know if anyone disagrees?

 

Commodi aut nihil dolorum ex et doloremque voluptas. Rem quibusdam facilis totam. Consectetur harum dolorem libero inventore omnis ipsam.

Omnis reiciendis recusandae et id modi harum a. Qui et tenetur ullam molestiae qui. Quo eos reprehenderit nemo deleniti vero omnis illo. Enim minima optio minus et aut autem.

Eaque aliquam ratione doloremque est laborum asperiores reprehenderit. Soluta eum aut consequuntur minus corporis. Odit quo quis et veniam repellendus hic. Consectetur harum eum ad quibusdam. Quibusdam sint officia rerum et sint.

Et et rerum suscipit porro quo nemo fugit. Pariatur sed sit omnis reiciendis quia. Possimus sit doloremque sit alias. Exercitationem excepturi repudiandae voluptatem quis provident. Asperiores suscipit error voluptatem quia laudantium. Nostrum qui et quia ab quos reiciendis.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”