The following reviews are the views of students or alumni at this school and are unrelated to the school data and other editorial content on usnews.com. These reviews neither reflect nor impact a school's position within the Best Colleges rankings.
The best thing about wisconsins is the college town atmosphere, and the tight knit atmosphere on campus. At many universities i visited, i felt as if students were there simply to get an education and then leave. Not so at the university of madison. Students feel a strong sense of community through activities such as homecoming, badger sports and all campus activities such as mifflin street block party. The college town atmosphere is something that many of wisconsin's peer public universities lack. Madison is the seat of government in the state of wisconsin, but much of the activity and entertainment comes from the university and our students. The tight knit community of students thus produces the tight knit community of madison around it.
Jon Sophomore
wisconsin is the most amazing place in the world. i haven't talked to anyone who can imagine going anywhere else for their college career. we legit do feel so privileged and it's hard to understand other people's college careers that aren't quite.. as exciting. the school is huge.. but like i said.. it's impossible to not see someone you know. after about the second year it just seems normal to walk down the street and see 6 people you know in a stretch of 3 blocks.. even though there are like 41,000 people at the school! the more you become involved with.. the smaller it becomes. i spend most of my time at the library..surprisingly. the remainder of my time is spend on the terrace, on bascom hill (in the spring and fall), and bouncing from bar to bar or eating place on state street. it's indescribable. plus.. the student body seems to have a pretty similar mindset on school/party balance.. so people wil WANT to go study w/you by the lake before you go out.. or they'll want to go tan on bascom hill just to be worthless. the town is 100% a college town. it's interesting though.. because the futher down state street and closer to the capital you get.. the older the crowd gets. that's where the upperclassmen and graduate students often get internships.. and where a lot of the jobs after graduation are centered. it's a college town.. but there's opportunity for "adult sprawl " WI admimistration is.. there? i think they're about as good as i'd want them to be.. but i'm a pretty independent person. you can always talk to an adviser and they'll tell you what you want to know. there are a ton of resources on campus.. almost so many that if you just look up what you want on the wisc website.. you might find a club/student org directly related to your question and bypass the administration completely. school pride is rediculous. alumni school pride is even more rediculous. i haven't even graduated yet and i'm already a member of the wisconsin alumni group just so i can easily be informed as soon as i do gradutate!!
Heidi Junior
Wisconsin is a big university housed in a very small world. The college is like its own town inside of madison and you are always running into people you know. It is a party school but there are many more relaxed and easy going places and people on campus like by the lakeshore area dorms. I love spending my free time roaming from free seminars, cheap concerts, free movies, clubs, events, the ratheskeller, and the all too affordable mini-courses. Opportunities are endless. Its awkward going from a small high school with zero school pride and no athletic teams to Madison where school pride is in your face and football games are mini-holidays but it is an experience worth being part of. Wisconsin will make you feel proud of your school and your fellow students will make you feel proud to be there. The advisors aren't always pleasant to students, especially underclassmen so don't be discouraged by their uninterest, the professors however, have been, on the whole, unusually approachable for help despite the heavy use of TA's and large class sizes in introductory courses at madison, which can really make your experience easier if you make the effort to ask.
Andrew Sophomore
Its a great school, a beautiful campus, a great bar scene and fantastic sports teams. Everyone goes nuts on game day and everyone here knows how to drink. We live by the motto "Work Hard, Play Hard"
Ben Sophomore
The best thing about Wisconsin is harder to decide than picking what college to go to. State Street is one of the cutest, most interesting places I have ever walked around. Coming from New York, the quaint area that the city of Madison is is a great break from the intense, rushed lifestyle we live on the east coast. One think that I might change is more availability to the several shopping areas that may be found about 10 minutes driving away from campus in all directions. We often find ourselves visiting the same 5 places up and down State Street relentlessly, although there is plenty available. UW-Madison is huge. There is no denying it! Almost every lecture of mine has at least 300 people in it, but those classes feature discussion sections which I have never had more than 15 people in. I love that the school is big enough to be constantly, throughout 4 years, keep meeting new people, but my dorm hallway is small enough to feel like you have a home within this huge school. People react differently each time I tell someone I go to Wisconsin. Anyone who knows the school with itÕs fabulous and only rising positive reputation is thrilled for me, and half of the time says Ògo badgers!Ó (one of my favorite phrases of all time.) That reaction is normally when meeting people throughout the mid-west. However, back home, the reaction is Òoh, thatÕs nice.Ó In my prestigious town, non-Ivy is somewhat frowned upon, and public schools are even more discouraged. However, again, the popularity of Wisconsin has been only steadily increasing, with 6 people of my 400-person graduating class migrating here this past year. I spend most of my time on State Street Ð whether grabbing a bite to eat with friends, shopping, or studying in a coffee shop. School pride is not even a question. If you donÕt have school pride, DO NOT COME HERE. I would say that I wear a Wisconsin item of clothing at least 2 times a week. On State Street, within 2 blocks of each other are about 5 different novelty stores featuring our red and white coloring. In every lecture hall, about 3 football jerseys can be found, a dozen ÔBuckyÕ hats, and about 70 t-shirts featuring something about our school being the amazing place that it is. Again, it is SO hard to pick out a single favorite moment here, but something that really stands out in my mind was my first football game here. Walking out on state street, there is not a color to seen other than red and white. Even people not going to the game sport our school colors. Then the walk down to Camp Randall, our football stadium, is a continuous flood of both students and alumni rushing to watch their beloved Badgers. It is easily the most amazing, exciting experience of my life. And not to mention the wave done at each game, with several rounds including double-time, slow motion, and criss-crossing arms. Most frequently I hear complains about the weather. It is clearly a cold place, but there are freak days that the wind chill is almost unbearable. But honestly, just stay inside as much as you can on these days Ð get to class, get home, and deal with it! And maybe invest in some long underwear.
Roz Freshman
The best thing about Wisconsin is the school environment/structure of the campus, with a small school feel at a big school. I would change the excessive amount of binge drinking or curtail it a bit. I like the size. Other people know UW is kind of a wild, fun place but also where lots of smart, academically-oriented people go. This is definitely a "college town"; the campus is right downtown but very contained so there is a definite campus feel. The biggest recent controversy was probably being named #1 drinking school by Princeton Review in 2005. There is tons of school pride, especially at football and other sporting events. Although they are "plagued with alcohol", I really like events like Halloween and Mifflin St. Block Party. It's great to see lots of people coming together to have a good time.
Ruth Junior
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