<p>I was lurking around the College Visits section and surprised not to find any trip report for Wisconsin. I like to call upon any admitted students (and parents) who recently visited Madison to volunteer a few minutes to post their trip impression for the benefits of other OOS and international students. </p>
<p>Go Badgers!</p>
<p>I would appreciate something like this myself :) </p>
<p>I plan on visiting but I'm in AZ so it'll be hard to get out there ><</p>
<p>I'm going on Wednesday for a Thursday tour and will be home Monday (I know, more information than you wanted..) but if you can wait until then I'd be happy to do it assuming I have the time if no one else does it before then</p>
<p>Thank you hakunamatata838. I hope you have a good time in Madison. Anyone else willing to post a report too?</p>
<p>We are going the 28th of March and I hope it isn't freezing. I'll send a report from a parent's perspective but UW is my daughter's #1 choice. If only they had reciprocity with their flatland neighbors to the south!</p>
<p>We visited UW after my daughter was admitted last year. We are from the West Coast so found the weather a bit extreme, but that was the only negative. The school is HUGE, so the tour took over two hours. We also toured the hospital since she was interested in pre-med. After the tours we walked up and down State street, then drove around town.<br>
Definitely an urban environment, but impressive.</p>
<p>I attended UW for a semester as an undergrad and again as a professional student many years ago, and make my way to campus fairly regularly during the year. Despite that familiarity, suffice it to say that every time I visit I always find myself thinking "wow."</p>
<p>Here's a link with some very nice photos:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.uc.wisc.edu/slideshow/%5B/url%5D">http://www.uc.wisc.edu/slideshow/</a></p>
<p>These were taken early on Sunday morning in May 2005. </p>
<p>I just came back from a visit. It was cold, and you may not think this, ( i didn't at first) but the weather makes a huuuge difference. It wasn't HORRIBLE, but like 30-40s with wind. </p>
<p>I went to an honors academic session and it was pretty pointless, all the information could be found on the website. and the advisor wasn't very knowledgable, or didn't provide unique information that couldn't be found elsewhere. it was in a small conference room and there were like 5 students with their parents. </p>
<p>we ate a gordon's commons. pretty good food.
we ate the memorial union. nicer than gordon's. nice view of lake. cool/chill place.</p>
<p>our tour guide was awesome. he was way funny and really knew everything about uw-madison. </p>
<p>the campus is NICE. would have looked muchhhhhh more pleasant if it was sunny and warmer. </p>
<p>campus is much more urban than I imagined. tall, big, buildings, city city, buses, people walking everywhere. all that. there was a lot of construction going on, which made the city look a bit 'dirty', and unappealing.</p>
<p>it was extremely crowded when i went, partly because Boys State bball was going on. </p>
<p>overall, it was a really nice visit. I enjoyed it. I was def. exhausted by the end of the day. </p>
<p>the visit made my college decision harder, not easier. :/</p>
<p>Though I agree with a lot of the things the poster above me said.. I was more fortunate and had, what I felt to be, AMAZING weather while I was there (though I am from Maine.. so ) It was mid 40s, sunny, and perfect for March in Madison. I spent two full days on campus (one for the regular prospective students tour and one for the admitted students day which they so kindly let me in for!) Found the tour guides to be great! People were very nice, fun and friendly and after two days, despite how HUGE the campus is, I feel I am quite comfortable with it. </p>
<p>The poster above mentions how urban the campus it, but doesn't really mention the lakeshore side of it at all. Yes, Southeast is quite urban (big streets, lots of people walking, noise, construction, typical city hustle and bustle- which I tend to love!) But the lakeshore is surprisingly quiet. You get down near the dorms down there by the lake and it seems as if all noise vanishes, people traffic is much less, and the trees, the lake, and the rolling hills make for a very nice, natural feeling. So it's really up to you to decide what kind of atmosphere you like best (since they SAY both settings have comparable amenities, dining, recreation facilities, etc)</p>
<p>Food, to me, was a little dissappointing. I have found some of my other schools to have much bigger selections and I expected for a University the size of Wisconsin, it would be a bit more impressive. It was good and all... but I saw myself getting real sick of it after no more than a week.</p>
<p>And finally, I strongly feel that no visit to the UW-Madison cmapus is complete without a walk down State Street, the 4? block pedestrian shopping mall FILLED with ethnic and American restaurants, shopping boutiques and chain stores, University merchandise shops, and some of the most popular student hangouts on campus (while we were there, the t's a very cool, very chill, very exciting place to visit and it definitely helped my impression of the campus a lot. </p>
<p>It probly helped me that I have literally generations of UW alumnia in my family pushing me to go there.. but I think, honestly, that I really liked the campus on my own. It definitely fit my tastes, but I believe it is large enough and diverse enough to fit the needs of just about anyone else if they are willing to identify the spot that's best for them.</p>
<p>Other schools I applied to just to give you a look at where I find appealing: BU, NYU, GWU, Columbia, American, and four schools in Scotland.</p>
<p>Any questions about the campus and I can try and answer from either my visit, previous-family based- knowledge... or ya know.. maybe a current student will be lurking somewhere</p>
<p>My sister attends, so I have been there several times in the past two years moving her in and out. To be honest, I am totally turned off by the campus (which is terrible because I will probably end up going there). It is probably a comparison issue, for I have stared at Uchicago's gothic architecture for wayyyyy to long. I find that nothing you are looking for is ever very close (unless you live in Chadbourne; the downside is the rooms are TINY). The food is decent, but very expensive in the good places, even with the student discount. State street is nice, though around ever corner there is one more bike shop that I don't really care to see.<br>
The overall atmosphere of the college feels very safe, save for the way southeast (by Smith Residence Hall) where they are erecting new buildings and stuff. Lakeshore is nice if you don't mind freezing to death in the winter, plus its pretty far away from classes depending on your concentration (I hope no one is planning on majoring in engineering, your dorm will be at least .75 mile from your classes).<br>
Classes at Mad Town are supposed to be world class, though your lectures will be massive (several hundred people). Don't expect attention, or to be able to understand the words coming out of the ubiquitous TAs mouthes.<br>
To be sure, Madison is a fine institution of higher education. I just believe that before you matriculate that you should definately weigh all of your options and make sure that a place like madison is the right place for you.</p>
<p>Those large lectures are only in the intro level classes and will disappear for most students pretty quickly. That might mean 5-10 out of 40+ classes over the years. If you take honors you can avoid most of those big lectures.<br>
If you think Madison rstaurants are expensive you have led a very sheltered life. Coming from most larger towns they seem very cheap. Also many find the endless grey gothic of Chicago very depressing after a few weeks. In Madison, when the weather warms up, you can sit on the lakefront behind the Union and enjoy a great view that is nicer than nay building. If you want peace and quiet you can just ride a bike out to Picnic Point and enjoy a great view of the city/campus.</p>
<p>It's a compliment to the website to hear the on campus Honors info session had nothing new. Remember to search the UW website for all sorts of info. Read the food service menues... The buildings are not that far from the dorms, you do get daily exercise though. Definitely two campuses for style- urban and lakeshore, you can have them both just by walking a few blocks. This is why I emphasize picking one or the other for dorm location, don't worry about the distances if one or the other atmosphere will recharge you. </p>
<p>The blind men and the elephant- impressions vary based on which part of the campus you see so be sure to take the time to see many parts.</p>
<p>i hope you guys dont have any classes in bascom hall, walking there is pure hell! i would know i have to walk up and down 6 times a week.</p>
<p>i love it here though :D</p>
<p>"Also many find the endless grey gothic of Chicago very depressing after a few weeks."</p>
<p>That architecture nears orgasm inducing.</p>
<p>It gets old, trust me. Much better to sit on the union Terrace listening to good live music and watch the sailboats while the sun sets. That is true bliss. Nothing like that at UC.</p>
<p>I found myself climbing the stairs to get to Van Vleck for 3 semesters of calculus eons ago...Wisconsin is not one hill, it is many was a saying back when.</p>
<p>"It is probably a comparison issue, for I have stared at Uchicago's gothic architecture for wayyyyy to long"</p>
<p>The architecture might be nice but you better be looking over your shoulder at all times. U of Chicago is in one of the worst neighborhoods in Chicago. Due to that fact the campus has one of the biggest campus police forces in the nation.Being a lifelong resident of Chicago, I find Madison to be very refreshing every time I visit my son there.I have even thought of moving there but can't get my wife and other two kids to agree.</p>
<p>Lol Hyde Park is pretty safe, it's the rest of the South Side that's suspect</p>
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i hope you guys dont have any classes in bascom hall, walking there is pure hell! i would know i have to walk up and down 6 times a week.
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<p>I no longer can bring myself to walk up Bascom Hill or the stairs off of Charter to get to my office in Bascom. That's what the 80 and 85 buses are for. But I'm an old guy. </p>
<p>As to the comment about it being dirty--that happens because the snow stays so long during the winter. The snow turns black with street dirt. The snow is 98% melted now and the university has street cleaning machines out. Take a look above at my pictures of what the campus looks like in May.</p>