<p>Stooge, it’s not pathological in the least. I think at this point, we’re relatively resigned to paying the shot but, damn it, we deserve some return on our investment. And not being able to even come close to getting into the classes a student wants in his/her major on a repeated basis shows some systemic problem.</p>
<p>You say, cavalierly, go to UIUC or UIC. Maybe (probably?) they have some of the same infrastructural problems, along with Ann Arbor, Columbus & Bloomington. I’d love to hear about them on a relative basis.</p>
<p>What it comes down to for incoming freshman is to do your homework before SOAR, handicap any major you’re relatively interested in for closed classes, staffing issues, etc., and have an open mind going into orientation. The course availability issue should definitely be factored into the equation.</p>
<p>Remember that the quoted survey is not neccesarily reperesentative of the student body nor scientific- consider the source. Students’ knowledge of the facts is also likely negligible and skewed. Also- the money needs to come from somewhere and the taxpayers have a lot more to pay for than colleges- people will not let the UW system take money from other programs just so those benefiting from it don’t have to pay more. The economy is in a big mess, there will be less money from income taxes as more people are laid off in the state- at least those people’s children won’t face the cost increase. More than enough complaining- we were all blindsided by the downturn in the economy. Years later everyone will have their stories to tell- hopefully students who should get a college education still will go and years later relate how they scraped by like I and many others did years ago. </p>
<p>Plan on taking those placement tests (remember the original thread topic?), have several courses in your wish list and ejoy Madison in the summer.</p>
<p>JMN, I think your advice re doing due diligence is excellent. </p>
<p>To clarify, I do think it’s a bit extreme to agrue the merits of the Initiative repeatedly on multiple threads, on a message board that has little impact on policy. That’s all I’m saying. </p>
<p>I was also just trying to say (too abruptly likely) that many make tough financial choices re college - I know I did. If UIUC isn’t taking students for Fall, maybe attending a Com College for a semester or year to save money then going in state is the best option. For most going out of state is an unavailable luxury.</p>
<p>After explaining the situation (UW’s undisclosed tuition surcharge) to her high school guidance counselor and UIUC admissions, D2, her GC, and four other classmates who had previously been headed for UW-Madison are working something out with UIUC (to which they had all also been admitted) for this fall. Thanks for the idea, Stooge!</p>