<p>As I plan on attending UW Madison in the fall I recognize the great quality a Madison eduation has to offer. It is the best school in Wisconsin, my home state, and only a few hours away from where I live. I know many other students from Wisconsin and neighboring states will be attening Madison as well. </p>
<p>So if you do not live in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, ect. and you are a "coastie" or even an international student, what's the draw to Madison? Why is Madison a better school than universities closer to home?</p>
<p>Well I’m from Pittsburgh,PA. So i could have gone to Pitt or PSU like most students from my school. However, Madison is known throughout the nation as one of the best college towns. That’s something i really considered for my future college. Also, Wisconsin is known for advancements in regenerative medicine, molecular biology, and stem cells… etc. As of now, some career in molecular biology, especially regenerative medicine, is my calling. Furthermore, Wisconsin has a great business school if i decide to do Business instead of medicine. Other factors: Wisconsin has an amazing ultimate frisbee team, pretty campus, ice cream, and far from home.</p>
<p>Interpreting my son’s response to Madison – though we live in the Midwest, we are OOS. </p>
<p>Incredible college town, beautiful campus, excellent academics. He is a humanities, not science kid, and UW has very strong French, Poli Sci, English, History and Econ departments. Some big Midwest publics are strong in sciences but not as many (other than Michigan) are equally strong in humanities. Madison is the state capital so lots of opportunities for political involvement, volunteering, internships etc. Politically liberal and active community. </p>
<p>He turned to me in the middle of the Admissions program back in December and said this was his school. We are delighted that we paid the deposit yesterday and he is confirmed at UW.</p>
<p>“The city of Madison is unbelievable.
The facilities are obviously great and the whole surrounding area is great. It’s a great college atmosphere and just a great place to be"</p>
<p>Dan O’Brien–future UW QB after his recent visit. Obviously at a loss for words.</p>
<p>I will answer for my son who is from California. Why Wisconsin? Well, lots of reasons. He felt it has the best balance of good academics and good social scene. Also, his major will be genetics and Wisconsin has the oldest genetics department in the country. Plus, Wisconsin is only second behind Johns Hopkins in research expenditures, and he intends to be able to do undergraduate research which will help him get into graduate school. He loved the school when he visited it, and plus, he is a Posse Scholar and gets free tuition for all four years! That’s why Wisconsin!</p>
<p>Our D says “it is the greatest university in the world”, she went from New Jersey. It’s about how NICE the people are and the sense of community, world class chemistry and chemical engineering, great sports to watch and cheer for that do not overshadow academics, campus, farmer’s market. You can strive to excel while working with others not competing, not feel like your success has to come at the expense of someone else.</p>
<p>@anu1995 I don’t know how many people from the south go there, but even if it is kind of random, who cares. It would be a fantastic new environment for you to experience. Although I am from the midwest, I wanted to go to one of the coasts or the south, but my heart just keeps going back to madison. They have excellent academics, a gorgeous campus, quality facilities, and an overall great sense of community. I am so glad I will be attending in the fall.</p>
<p>^Plus, college is the perfect time to experience new things. If not in college, when else would you be able to just experience a totally new lifestyle? For all you know, you could fall in love with the midwest and want to stay there. It certainly has a certain charm to it.</p>
<p>UW is a great school for most kids attended. It is also a tough school for those who party too much. So far, My S is happy there. He is doing well and enjoying his experiences there as a freshman.</p>
<p>I will second what kxc1961 has stated, except to say that it can also be a tough school for those who spread themselves too thin. </p>
<p>My D–who is a junior–is not into partying at all but the work, research & club opportunities related to almost every degreed major (including her two) have been a ‘siren song’ of sorts at the expense of her classwork at times. She is holding her own but has had to drop the occasional class when she inevitably falls too far behind. I give her periodic advice from afar because dang it, I’m paying for it ( ) but she is 21 & should know how to manage her priorities by now. UW-Madison is like the greatest buffet in the world–‘oh, that looks good, THAT looks good too, even THAT looks good, even though I’m not hungry anymore!’ Maybe all the ice cream flavors at the Babcock Dairy would be a more appropriate example…</p>
<p>She will have one heck of an experiential resume when all is said & done, with a pretty good GPA. And hopefully that will mean something in the job market.</p>
<p>Back in the '70’s my ultimate college experience included having as much fun as possible without getting run over by a bus. So…if UW-Madison is the ultimate college experience circa 2012–learning above all else to prioritize–I guess I’ll buy that.</p>
<p>OP, enjoy and keep your head on straight. Good luck to you!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Fantastic balance of humanities vs. sciences. A lot of people go in as prospective STEM majors, but want to have a good fallback in case they decide to switch. The business school is great as well. This is also appealing to people who want to double major in radically different things (I know math/english majors, statistics/psychology majors, art history/economics majors) and the benefit is that you get two majors from a school that’s highly ranked in both the departments. Also good for people who want to minor in something different but also want to ensure that the school has a decent program in it. </p></li>
<li><p>UW-Madison’s “public ivy” image. It’s a great deal for in-state students, and not a horrendously overpriced ripoff for OOS students. Almost everyone gets what they pay for, which is why they stay. An ivy-league education at an affordable price.</p></li>
<li><p>Social scene and sports. The school is knowing for its partying levels and its great sports teams; the Badgers are great all around. The remarkable thing is, all this happens while maintaining its high academic prestige. Some of your most memorable moments will not be cramming long nights in the library; they will be cafeteria-sledding down Bascom Hill during blizzards, massive campus-wide snowball fights, the Farmer’s Market, Halloween in the fall, Mifflin in the spring and the terrace in the summer.</p></li>
<li><p>Research opportunities. The school ranks extremely high in research expenditures and breakthroughs, and is one hell of a destination (especially for graduate students) who are frustrated with the lack of research opportunities at other universities. </p></li>
<li><p>“College town” image. Madison is awesome - the campus is sandwiched between two lakes and is a very refreshing place to be. There’s no “urban crowded city” image (like NYU) and there’s no “college-in-the-middle-of-nowhere” image (a lot of good schools have this image). Also, [Madison</a> was ranked the most educated city in America recently](<a href=“http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/14/us-cities-usa-educated-idUSTRE78D4PS20110914"]Madison”>http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/14/us-cities-usa-educated-idUSTRE78D4PS20110914). More degrees per capita than any other city!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>However, it’s no ideal utopia either. It has its flaws as well, but the cons don’t even come close to the benefits of going to school here. It’s a great educational institution for a great price, given you have the right attitude and mindset about yourself and your life goals.</p>
) but she is 21 & should know how to manage her priorities by now. UW-Madison is like the greatest buffet in the world–‘oh, that looks good, THAT looks good too, even THAT looks good, even though I’m not hungry anymore!’ Maybe all the ice cream flavors at the Babcock Dairy would be a more appropriate example…</p>