<p>The only problem with choosing Liz is that it is one of the most popular dorms so be prepared to love your next choices. Living closer to the snack bar has its merits...</p>
<p>wis75 wrote
[quote]
Do remember to pay attention to rankings, if the most popular dorm is first choice obviously the chances of getting it go down (but rank it first anyhow, many will get their first choice).
[/quote]
Is there a list of rankings of the most-to-least popular dorms?</p>
<p>Not aware of any- you could call Res Halls and ask (I have found them nice to talk with in the past). Don't worry about rankings, go with the dorms you like best. The year Smith opened and Liz went coed ('06) we were told at SOAR that 1/3 of the new students had ranked each of those two dorms first- 2/3 of the students wanted two dorms, so obviously most people did not get their first choice that year. You may get your first choice, it won't matter if it isn't everyone else's top pick, you may prefer different things. The trouble lies in there being too many choices. Make a list, submit it and feel free to revise it next spring when they double check with you on your rankings.</p>
<p>Bumping thread.</p>
<p>bump-to-top</p>
<p>Oregonianmon: You seem to want some more dorm input, so I'll relate my son's (current sophomore) situation. He's a Jewish kid from the Chicago suburbs. Nearly all the kids from his high school went to the private dorms their first year. My son wanted to get away from that and chose the Lakeshore dorms. I can't remember which one he got, but they are all pretty similar. He loves the group of friends he developed. About half the kids are from Wisconsin, then a bunch from Minnesota and then a sprinkling from all around the country. Sophomore year he moved into a five bedroom apartment all with friends from his dorm, and next year he'll be in a seven bedroom place with eight people and two bathrooms (possibly just to amaze his mom). </p>
<p>I can't quite put my finger on exactly what goes on, but there is clearly a different kind of kid that goes to the private dorms versus the public dorms. Try to get a feel for that, as that seems more important than the particular dorms. As for the public dorms, my kid really liked the lakefront location. It's got lovely large lawns and a beautiful location and is a quieter area. By quieter, though, don't be fooled. I think my kid does more than his fair share of partying. </p>
<p>Hope this helps a bit.</p>
<p>With all the comments on the fact that most of the private dorms are filled with OOS students, I'm getting a clear picture, but I do have to ask ... Do the private dorms have ANY in state students at all? And as far as the public dorms...could anyone give an estimate or percentage of how many OOS students are actually in the public dorms? I'm just curious.</p>
<p>Actually, I was bumping for someone else who was asking about the dorms in another thread. But thanks for your input! My son is thinking lakeshore dorms, too. :)</p>
<p>I actually sound a lot like your son, oregonianmom, from what you've described and I'm definitely also thinking Lakeshore. It sounds more my style.</p>
<p>It's so hard to make a choice though between the Lakeshores, it feels like they're all similar but different at the same time!</p>
<p>Matterbug, have you visited?</p>
<p>Yeah, I have, all though at the time I wasn't paying super specific attention to the individual dorms, more just the general area. I remember really liking Liz Waters, but apparently that's the most popular, so the chances look slim for me getting in there.</p>
<p>By law, I think, in-state kids have first crack at the dorms.</p>
<p>Another unfortunate case of government meddling in the running of the UW.</p>
<p>There is entirely too much of that in this state. Whole parts of the Wisconsin Department of Administration would go out of business of if they didn't have the UW campuses to bother.</p>
<p>Excuse me- why the rants about a state supported institution meeting the needs of the state's residents/taxpayers first? The state and school are intertwined- part of the mission is to educate the state- through many extension, etc. programs. Public is not private, don't try to make them function alike. The parents have the right to expect dorms to be available for their instate children in preference to OOSers. BTW, that preference extends only to March 15th applications, not latecomers and plenty of OOS students do live in the most popular dorms.</p>
<p>I'm a freshman living in Witte from Minnesota. To answer an earlier question, the lucky apartments are some of the most expensive (although very nice from the leaflets we get in our mailboxes) apartments in madison that are brand new and opening this fall. $700+ per month though (plus util i think)-- i have have an apt next year with my own room for $300 so you can do much better price wise.
Just based primarily on the first impressions of people i know who live in "private" dorms-- statesider,towers, the regent, (they are really are just overpriced apartments). The people I know from these places are primarily east or west coast people who carry themselves on with a rather strong air of entitlement. Again i only know a dozen or so people in these various places, not to say that they aren't nice people, because the ones I have met are, but speaking strictly from my experiences they all seem to have a lot of money and exist in their own little elitist communities in Statestider, or Towers, or the Regent.
I have a pair of good highschool friends who ended up in the new dorms-- one in smith and one in the new ogg. These buildings are palatial compared to witte. Everything is new, clean and airconditioned-- a fact that shouldn't be overlooked because 90+ degree days do (and did) happen during the first month of the fall semester and it was miserably hot. The new dorms also have 10 or 11 ft ceilings as opposed to the 8.5 or 9 ft ceilings in witte and celery and most of the lakeshore dorms-- something you done really think about until you lie on your side and can touch the ceiling with your elbow on your lofted bed or you hit your head on the ceiling because you cant sit up in bed.<br>
What seems to be lost in both smith and ogg is the sense of community, constituting far and away the biggest drawbacks for these dorms, and it is something that my friends always marvel about when they come over to witte. The new dorms don't have as many residents per floor, and each room is much more isolated. It is little things, for example in order to keep your door open in smith you physically have have to prop it open because they are designed to lock automatically behind you(something my friends both complained about, saying it really made it hard to meet and socialize with ppl) that hurt the sense of community.
Definitely avoid chadbourne, I have 3 friends there and they all hate it. Nothing wrong with the building, rooms are small but not unbearable, they just don't like the social scene. Typical chadbourne resident seems to study til 10 and then go to bed they say, very strict dorm. I guess this could be a plus for some, just not for them.<br>
I don't know much about liz waters, except i eat in its cafeteria once and a while when im in a hurry, it seems nice, we stayed there for orientation weekend, people seem to like it-- not really close to any off-campus houses or apartments-- not close to hockey/basketball, not particularly close to football, but is across the street from many classes though. Best view on campus.
I have friends living in Sullivan and Cole down on lakeshore and they like it. They are really small buildings, decent sized rooms, but really quiet overall. If i had to describe the feel in one word it would be quiet. At the semester break, one of the residents on my hall transfered to lakeshore dorms out of Witte dorms because he said Witte was too loud. I guess you really cant beat the tranquility of lake shore-- i just don't know if tranquility is generally what people expect of the college dorm experience.
Then that leaves Witte and Sellary, both buildings are identical, so what say for witte probably holds true for sellary. People are generally pretty down to earth-- these generally wisconsin, a few mn kids, but we have a couple from CA, NY, NJ, CT, on our floor. Witte rooms are big-- bigger than chadbourne or lakeshore-- i think liz water are bigger, and the building is huge. In our "tower" we have like 80+ people plus a house fellow that live on our floor, and its fairly diverse compared to the rest of the student body. It feels like there is always something to do, but it definitely gets loud and raucous Thursday-sat nights. People are loud, just as kind of a rule of thumb in a big dorm. But even in witte people took the 2 weeks around finals time very seriously. Hockey and basketball are right across the street-- 2 blocks from state street, adjacent to student neighborhoods, there is always stuff to do. Next year it will be right across the street from the new university square and activity center. 40 guys to 3 toilets, 3 showers can get gross, but it really isn't a big deal.
So when you make your decision, i hope this helps. Keep in mind that your rankings probably wont matter anyways. Witte was my 5th choice, but i love it.</p>
<p>buckybadger17, as a former resident from another decade, I am glad that the Witte's party spirit is still rocking. :)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Without OOS tuition the UW would not exist as it does. It would be the U of Nebraska. </p></li>
<li><p>The dorms are built with revenue bonds and not a cent of state taxpayer money. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>3.The federal support of the UW >>> than state support.</p>
<p>And a dorm geared to kids who actually want to study and sleep--the horror.</p>
<p>Thank you for your very helpful input, buckybadger17. I appreciate it.</p>
<p>Thanks, bucky- fits what I would have thought based on my eons ago experiences. My impression is that each dorm does have its pros and cons; enough diversity in Res Halls dorms to suit many different tastes yet enough attention paid to making sure no dorm is clearly inferior/superior to any other. That is why it is hard to choose- you have to figure out your priorities, as hard as deciding which colleges to apply to.</p>