<p>I read on the Princeton Review rankings that UW-Madison has major beer and marijuana problems...</p>
<p>Can anyone refute or verify it?</p>
<p>I though it was a really prestigious school, but now I heard about their partying and how it's no. 1 in the rankings... it scares me.</p>
<p>Okay, um...</p>
<p>There's no need to be 'scared'...you can choose to go out and party or not. Most schools have more than their fair share of parties...it really doesn't matter where you go. Don't pay attention to rankings...they're pointless.</p>
<p>Yeah, there is no scientific process to these rankings. They take a bunch of students and give them rather open ended questions. PR makes a lot of money off worried parents and students. Ethical? Not sure. Even the UW administration called it, "junk science"</p>
<p>Every school, from Harvard to Chico State, has parties, drinking, and drug use. Large state schools are no exception and of course have more of this. Even at the highly ranked academic state schools.</p>
<p>As for UW specifically, yes there is a lot of drinking (pretty easy to avoid pot) and the state of Wisconsin has a drinking culture (miller park is their baseball stadium, cmon, the Brewers) <em>but</em> UW-Madison is so freaking large, you can find your niche in whatever you want. I'd really recommend some of the learning communities. It is a highly distorted view of the university to go only off PR rankings.</p>
<p>Study hard--party hard. It's an ideal world. At least you have the choice to party or not. Most people love it. If you want a quiet navel gazing kind of school UW is not really for you. UW is about action in all ways--studying, protesting, saving the world, sports, partying.</p>
<p>that sounds good... i guess but at the same time, i heard from my friend at University of Maryland... that he can barely study. so he has a whitenoise machine in his room...</p>
<p>is it like that in UW Madison?</p>
<p>
[quote]
UW is about action in all ways--studying, protesting, saving the world, sports, partying.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>HAHAHA, thats funny</p>
<p>stuckinnj-- There are specific dorms which are louder and more of a "party" than others. I'd highly, highly, recommend you ask around on the UW forum for the quiter dorms because there are quite a few!</p>
<p>The new Smith dorm should be great. Also Chadbourne.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.housing.wisc.edu/halls/smith/%5B/url%5D">http://www.housing.wisc.edu/halls/smith/</a></p>
<p>UW is definitely known for its party scene. Although there are definitely other things to do in Madison, the party scene there is pretty in your face and you will definitely notice it. At the same time, UW students study like crazy. It's a very intense work-hard, play-hard environment, and that's the mindset 90 percent of the students are in. There are definite alternatives to not partying in Madison, but it can be pretty hard to get away from, and you definitely have to look harder for people who don't party opposed to people who do. Madison was my heaven freshman year when I partied a lot, but after I settled down, I'll admit the party scene got a bit annoying. Going for a walk on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night typically includes bumping into quite the abundance of drunk kids roaming the streets, thinking they're really cool for being drunk, and screaming "woooo!" Basically, to sum up what I'm saying, there are other things to do besides the party-scene, but it's definitely out there and in your face. It's hard to ignore.</p>