<p>I have a friend who is in the Posse Program, which is a scholarship for URMs and low-income students (I think? I just know she is the only white person in it, so I don’t know what’s up with that). As such, she knows a lot of people who are black and Hispanic, since that’s who is mostly in the program, and I’ve met a lot of them too and I see who they hang around, I go to their parties sometimes too. </p>
<p>I guess I sense a bit of a divide between minority and white students (OBVIOUSLY with lots of exceptions, don’t jump on me here). For example, I’ve been at a party with mostly minority people (they sort of tend to have their own parties - maybe it’s a music thing, I don’t know) and then we’d all be going to some other place and a lot of them have said they don’t want to go because it’s a “white party.” That sounds way more racist than I intend for it to - I’m just saying I think the minority students sometimes feel unwelcome when they don’t need to. I’m not saying white students don’t need to change their views, because I think they do in some ways, but I think it goes both ways. There’s definitely an aspect of self-segregation on both ends. Many minority students are also from big cities so I think that it’s easy to write off Madison as some hick place in Wisconsin…I mean, almost everyone who goes here absolutely loves it, but I think people from big cities can sometimes take a snobby view of some students here, and that goes for minority and white students alike.</p>
<p>The minority communities are very strong here at UW and very close-knit. I went to an event for one of the Hispanic frats where they presented their new members and it was really, really cool (all the different multicultural frats and sororities attended and they had all these chants and stuff, it seemed a lot more real and interesting than the normal Greek system here). There are lots of minority students who hang out with white/majority students, and lots who have a mix of friends. There are not many minorities here in general but there are lots of programs that really support them very well. </p>
<p>I do not mean to sound overly negative or racist here; I am just trying to present the most honest view I can. I think UW is a great school to go to if you are a minority. There may be negative parts of it, but I think you would find that anywhere, especially anywhere where there aren’t a whole lot of minorities. There are lots of scholarships you can get as well, and everyone I know who goes here just thinks it’s the best damn place in the entire world :)</p>
<p>" There are lots of scholarships you can get as well, and everyone I know who goes here just thinks it’s the best damn place in the entire world" Just because your are a minority doesn’t mean you need scholarships. Minority doesn’t equal poor in my area there are a lot of super rich minorities.</p>
<p>Hmmm… When I think of scholarship I don’t automatically think of poor. I think of merit, academics, talent, diversity, underrepresented etc. So I don’t think RoxSox was implying minorities who receive scholarships are poor.</p>
<p>why would you even apply to Wisconsin you are a shoe in for most ivy league schools and any private school under ivy will probably give you full tuition. If I were you I wouldn’t event waste my time with public schools. Good luck</p>
<p>Some public schools are so much better than many private schools- especially the midwest flagship U’s. Those on the east coast have a different perspective based on their public colleges.</p>
<p>Agreed. Even if I was a perfect student in high school, I still would have come to Madison. I would have turned down Harvard or any other school to come here. It just fits me better than any private school would. I literally think I go to the best school in the world and so do most people who go here. I don’t know how common such beliefs are at other schools, but they are definitely very prevalent here.</p>
<p>It is what you want out of it. “Ivy” gives you the “name” but that doesn’t equate to necessarily better education. In many sciences, UW Madison ranks stronger than many Ivy schools. I have looked at the textbooks used in courses my son is likely to take and the level of the course material is as high as any institution out there, often the UG course material is what is found at the graduate level elsewhere. UG research monies at UW Madison is 2nd highest in the nation only behind John Hopkins. In terms of general education, many Ivies are doing horrific jobs. " What will they learn" gives Yale and Harvard a “D” grade. Granted they give UW Madison a “C” grade but it still shows you Ivy doesn’t necessarily equate with great education.</p>