<p>There are so many dorms with so many unique characteristics & locations that the question is hard to answer. VERY generally, the Lakeshore dorms–which include Cole, Kronshage, Tripp, Liz Waters & others–are prettier (near Lake Mendota) than the ‘Southeast’ hi-rises, which include Witte & Sellery. But everyone’s version of pretty is different–for some it’s a lake; for some it’s 20 bars & the Kohl Center within walking distance.</p>
<p>And as a parent, I wouldn’t consider ANY of them as very clean, but it doesn’t seem to bother the kids…:)</p>
<p>I think Wis answered this well. Liz is nice because it’s basically in the center of campus, is near Southeast, and is still in Lakeshore. I know numerous Freshmen in there so if you want it I say go for it. I put my first choice Sellery and got it so I thought they were great with choices haha.</p>
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<p>Again, Jnm is right about what he said on this question. I can’t really answer this question because frankly beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Lakeshore is definitely prettier in my opinion and most of those dorms are right smack dab on the Lakshore path which goes out to picnic point. Can’t beat the jog out there and the subsequent views you get; they are breath-taking. As far as clean goes, my dorm bathroom is pretty much trashed every morning on the weekend, but I am will to assume that’s true of most bathrooms in the dorms. Cleaning service is in every day so it’s not a big deal at all. jnm mentioned they are not that clean, but I think they are just fine for what I need and it hasn’t been an issue.</p>
<p>I am willing to assume you know the stereotypes of both clusters of dorms. The thing is stereotypes are founded on truth and I would tend to agree based on people I know from both areas. There are aberrations of course, and thus I wouldn’t let the stereotypes sway you too much; just keep em’ in mind.</p>
<p>This is kind of a loaded question and it differs for everyone, but I’ll give you my point of view…</p>
<p>Madison is a truly great place to be for numerous reasons. First I’ll start off with academics. As I’m sure you know we are a top forty school based on US News and ranked much higher in many departments. I would say I agree with this sentiment as for the most part most of my profs have been really engaging and interesting. Course load isn’t easy by any means, but certainly manageable. I like the challenge so I enjoy this aspect.</p>
<p>Next up is the campus; with the mix of urban setting as well as scenic/rural type Madison has something for everyone. I love taking lakeshore path out to Picnic Point on a run during the day, then having State Street and all the houses around here to enjoy at night. A nice mix. Some buildings are downright awful looking around here like Humanities, Van Vleck and the like, but there is some very cool architecture around here which I appreciate.</p>
<p>Next up is school spirit/sports. This might be my favorite part of the school. Ya ya ya it’s not why I’m at school, I’m here to study… But the sports and atmosphere are so awesome! I enjoyed sports in High School, but really didn’t give a **** about my school or being spirited about it. That took a 180 here as everyone loves the school and the badgers. Everywhere I look there are people repping their Wisconsin gear and wearing the Cardinal and White with pride. Just something great about a common love Also sporting events are unbeatable. From football, basketball, and hockey, there is always a competitive team to enjoy watching. Unfortunately all the seasons just ended But at least there are playoffs. Along with sports, there is a robust intramural system here. I have done flag football and played in a 70 team dodge ball tournament so far which has all been great. Lots of good athletes around here haha. </p>
<p>Lastly is just the culture of Madison as a whole. I love that the people (stereotypically) are just so nice. Coming from California I felt like people didn’t give a crap about you, but here it seems people really care and don’t judge others right off the bat. Plus the four seasons is great. I loved having fall with the leaves, winter with the snow, and now snow with oncoming flowers. Something I haven’e experienced much in the home state.</p>
<p>So ya, that’s why I love being a Badger. There is other stuff to love of course, but that’s just off the top of my head.</p>
<p>This is a very helpful thread. Thank you CRYTO.<br>
Do you have any “lessons learned” that you could share that might help incoming Freshmen and save them some stress or headaches? What do you know now that you didn’t know then that would have been helpful? Thank you.</p>
<p>Thank you Cryto for all of the time you are putting into this thread. My S and I just got back from a three day visit to Madison. He talked to a few department heads to get a better idea of which major he will pursue. He is still not sure, but English is the front runner. We also looked at various dorms. Unfortunately, we did not have time to check out some of the extracurricular activities. He is a member of an improv comedy group at home and he wanted to find a group at the university. We couldn’t find one, but I am sure that they exist. </p>
<p>He was very quiet during this trip. On the way home he confided that he is a little taken back by the prospect of leaving all of his friends and family. Madison is a long way from Fort Lauderdale. I am sure that a lot of oos kids share the same feelings when they start. Do you have any advice that I can pass along to him to make him feel better about the drastic change? </p>
<p>His top choice for dorms is Barnard. He really wants a single room. There are health reasons for this, but I won’t get into it right now. From what you have heard, is Barnard a tough dorm to get for a freshman? He wants to be involved with the residential community of Chadbourne, so Barnard seems like the best fit.</p>
<p>Honestly, ether, if you want a single room and want a guaranteed single room, you may want to consider some of the options in private residence halls. I’ve heard they’ve come a long way in recent years and that the experiences students are having are quite positive. Just throwing in 2cents worth since it seems that a single is important to you and your son.</p>
<p>Also, there are TONS of options with regard to improv comedy. I’ll find the student org websites and update this post later this evening. I have friends who absolutely loved their improv experience on campus and the groups really do get involved with gigs all over madison and in all the dorms.</p>
<p>^Barnard is not a tough dorm to get in to as a freshman, because it’s part of the Chadbourne Residential College. If you list one of the communities, such as CRC, ILC, MLC, Bradley, etc., as one of your top three choices, you are given the opportunity before all other incoming residents are assigned rooms to actually pick your room in the dorm. When it comes time to list your preferences, make sure you list Barnard as number 1, 2 or 3, and if he still wants to, he can choose to be placed in Barnard in a single. </p>
<p>He’ll get more information on this in an email sent to his wiscmail if he goes this route, after the preference listing deadline has passed. </p>
<p>And in general, Barnard isn’t a very popular choice for incoming freshman, I don’t think, so I’d say that even if he didn’t list it and choose a room, he could very well likely still end up there. </p>
<p>He could also do the ILC in Adams as most of the rooms there are single and he could feasibly choose a single, but if he’s not interested in the community, I wouldn’t go that way.</p>
<p>Barnard is a very nice dorm, though. Quite pretty, and the location is great.</p>
<p>^^^thanks to Pathetique and MNBadger. I neglected to mention that he has already committed to the Public Dorm system. His deposit is in, he just has not yet made a request. </p>
<p>MNBadger, that improv link would go a long way to make him feel better about leaving home. Thank you, in advance. </p>
<p>BTW, why isn’t Barnard in high demand? We visited the dorm and it looked good to us.</p>
<p>Barnard is the oldest dorm on campus- 1913 I think. It was old when I was at UW and some friends lived there- eons ago. They will have kept up maintenance/bathroom updates but the basic architecture remains. Some rooms have dormers for windows. You can do tours via the Res Halls site- check the lofting guide as well. Personal preference for buildings, one reason UW dorms variety is great.</p>
<p>Well etherdome it appears your question concerning Barnard has been answered so I’ll leave that alone.</p>
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<p>That can certainly be an intimidating thing about going far from home and is quite understandable. Should he choose to come to UW, I think SOAR will be a great experience for him. Staying in the dorms for a night or two with peers really ought to calm any fears he may have. I live over 2000 miles away, and was a little concerned about coming into a “new culture” of sorts and how the transition would be. I found students to be extremely open during the first week and it’s really easy to make friends if you are open to others. As far as leaving friends/family behind: Ya it can be tough for a couple weeks perhaps, but with the tech we have these days you can always be connected if you need support. Be it Skype, phone, text whatever. I think it’s a great opportunity to gain one’s independence and learn how to do daily tasks on your own with out mommy or daddy holding your hand the entire way. Plus, he could look at it like a challenge. Overall, my experience was that the transition was easier than expected and there is no reason to psyche yourself out about it.</p>
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<p>Umm, one thing I would mention is kind of like I mentioned above, don’t be intimidated by the student population and how hard it will be to find friends. Should you choose to live in the dorms, there are literally thousands of other students within walking distance in your little community to make friends with. There’s a group for everyone. Obviously friends can take time, but if you’re patient you can find your niche.</p>
<p>Second I would do some work over the summer researching classes before you go to SOAR. Grades first year can be very important if you are applying to one of the various schools and need a good resume. Try not to take more than one “weeder” class each semester. For those who don’t know, weeder classes are basically classes that have really tough bell curves where for example only 30% of students get higher than a B and 10% have to fail. Obviously it can be hard to know what class is a weeder or not, so it would be good to ask here maybe or look at ratemyprofessors.com to see what people think of the teacher. Along the same line as classes, try not to take too many reading classes each semester as it can overload you. Typically literature and history classes will be heavy in reading so spread em’ out.</p>
<p>Lastly, I would recommend you get season tickets to at least one sport. Even if you really hate football or basketball it is such a great experience to go to the games. Just go for the social experience if anything; I know half the student section at football games do haha. It is a bonding experience of sorts with your fellow Badgers cheering on the team and will give you something to talk about with your peers. Plus there cheap so why not give it a shot?</p>
<p>Post #33. Consider any classes open to freshmen for your breadth requirements. Some may be numbered in the 300’s. Think outside the box. Why take Psych/Sociology 101 type courses when you can take a much smaller class in so many different things to get social science credits? Or try a Lit in Tranlation course for Humanities/Lit credits. There are many different science courses without prerequisites if you don’t need a specific course as well. If you intend to apply to medical school go for the courses that best suit you- if you get “weeded out” by a bad grade you weren’t competitive anyhow. Go for the education and make use of the vast assortment of classes available. Also look at classes only offered to freshmen/sophomores- some more advanced courses may require one. Philosophy is one area like this- you could want a more advanced class for the fun of it later but need a course not open to upperclassmen.</p>
<p>Hey Cryto -
I’ll be an incoming mechanical engineering grad student come fall. I’m a little curious about the campus as well as the culture of the student body.
First of all I own like 4 bikes, so would you say UW is a year round bike friendly place?
Second, I have heard madison described as a midwestern Berkeley. My undergraduate degree comes from a school in utah (ever heard of mormons??? my school is where they all went if they didn’t choose BYU) so its an understandably conservative environment. I hate to throw around words like hippies and liberals but thats how I’ve heard the student body of UW described as. Whats your take on it? Knowing my background, would you say i’d get some culture shock at first?</p>
<p>Not a student, but a UW employee who lived in the DC area for 30 years. Make no mistake, it is cold in Madison. It gets cold early and stays cold late. This year wasn’t as bad as the previous two years. Last year there were many, many days when 15 degrees felt balmy. The year before we had 101 inches of snow. OTOH, one year Lake Mendota didn’t freeze until late in January.</p>
<p>So, the weather varies from year to year, but the constant is the cold. Sometimes it is really bad. Other times, not so bad. You get used to it. If you child is an outdoors type they may in fact enjoy it.</p>
<p>TT- It is not 1968 in Madison. Most of the student institutions are controlled by moderate to conservative students.</p>
<p>I think you glanced off something people don’t know until they spend some time there. Cold is relative and humans adapt to it fairly well over time. After a few months in the 10s and 20s a day in the mid 40s will feel balmy and you’ll be taking off your jacket to enjoy the warmth. Also cross-country skiing can make 10 degrees feel hot after a mile or so. So you do adapt to an extent. A day like today for example will feel comfortable to most.</p>
Also sporting events are unbeatable. From football, basketball, and hockey, there is always a competitive team to enjoy watching. Unfortunately all the seasons just ended 
But at least there are playoffs. Along with sports, there is a robust intramural system here. I have done flag football and played in a 70 team dodge ball tournament so far which has all been great. Lots of good athletes around here haha. </p>