<p>Hey everyone. I'm currently a sophomore at UW-Madison. I lived in Lakeshore last year and I'm currently living in Sellery this year for a few reasons. First, it's mainly because the apartment thing didn't work out. Friends from back home that went here broke off into groups and kinda left me out of the talk, especially since I was one of the few not living in Southeast. I had a backup plan with a group of guys from Lakeshore, but they ended up signing the lease without so much as mentioning anything to me about touring or anything. I had nowhere else to go and since I'm a business student, I picked Sellery since I'm right across the street from Grainger, and I wanted to see the other side of the dorm life experience.</p>
<p>It's going alright so far, but I still feel worried and apprehensive at times. I don't feel like I really fit in (for obvious reasons) and I'm worried that I'll just be wandering around desperately looking for people that might be open to the idea of me living with them, since I'm having a hard time making any real close friends. I feel like trying to suddenly become super social or join student orgs isn't exactly a simple solution at this point, and I don't want to live in the dorms a 3rd year or end up living alone...I'd lose my mind. :( I have a great girlfriend here but other than that my social life is really weak since I rarely talk much with anyone I met last year, and I don't feel like I'm making many connections on my floor or...anywhere in general, really.</p>
<p>I could just really use some advice on finding a sense of belonging and connecting with people more so that I'm not left out...I'm in no rush to sign a lease by any means, I know better than to do that with people I've only known 3 months...but that's what I said last year and before I knew it, it was late February/early March and I had nobody to live with... :( Thanks in advance for any thoughts you'd be willing to provide on this issue.</p>
<p>If you are not making friends in your dorm, how about joining a business association through the Business school? At least people who join those organizations would have something in common with you. I do think at college one has to put one’s self out there and be pro-active and join some clubs to meet people. With over 800 clubs at UW, there must be a few you would find interesting. What do you like to do, what are your interests? Are you outdoorsy, or do you like inside pursuits? Sports? Intellectual pursuits, etc? What about joining intramural sports? </p>
<p>By the way, my son may end up at UW Madison next year as a freshman. He is considering Lakeshore area. Which Residence Hall did you live in and which ones would you recommend?</p>
<p>H…D… There is nothing wrong with having your own apartment, by yourself. It is too soon to look for apartments yet, even if the lisitngs are posted. The larger, multibedroom apartments go fastest- you can find close, reasonable places in late spring- especially unfurnished.</p>
<p>R…54 Lakeshore is wonderful in my opinion. Your son needs to look at the options. The oldest to the newest. He (and you) can check out rooms by looking at various subsites on the Res Halls one. The lofting guides show actual photos. The dorm sites will have room dimensions. Every dorm will have at least 50% freshmen (Res Halls reserves that %age so returning students don’t fill the most desireable ones). So many factors when ranking choices. Pros and cons to every dorm. No matter which dorm he chooses there will be students who thought like he did in preferences. He can revise his rankings next spring. Some may quote the (in)conveniences of some locations. Liz Waters may be closer, have a dining hall within it but… no horizontal elevators, no snack bar close by, a few rooms with ground level windows…</p>
<p>You can live by yourself if you want. There are LOTS of one-bedroom apartments around campus. Apartment season is just beginning, so I’d start looking now - don’t rush into a lease, but see what’s around, some buildings do go very fast so if you want one that might be in high demand, I’d start looking/touring places now instead of later. If you aren’t picky, then no rush at all.</p>
<p>Some apartment complexes do roommate matching, but they are often the expensive ones - I know Lucky does, as well as the Towers…the Regent does too I think, cheaper but kind of far if you aren’t an engineer. I know I looked at one apartment called the Saxony that offers roommate matching, it was extremely cheap but not very nice (old mostly, not too dirty) so look into that if you’re on a budget. The nice part about places like I just listed is that they offer individual leases, so if someone doesn’t pay, you aren’t accountable - nice when you might be living with people you don’t know at all.</p>
<p>Another option looking around Craigslist to see if anyone needs a roommate - a bit annoying, yes, but it’s worth a shot. The best plan of course would be to get yourself out there and try to find people you’d enjoy living with (or at the very least people who will pay what they owe and aren’t completely crazy), but if you find yourself in the same position in a few months, I suggest trying the above options.</p>