So I just want to hear from students who are really passionate about UW-Madison why you select UW? All thoughts and discussions would be highly appreciated : )
Beautiful campus, affordable instate tuition (with fin aid,) amazing academics (comp sci,) good school spirit, strong sports teams, BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS!!!
Speaking for my OOS kid – phenomenal academics, gorgeous campus with both lakes and urban culture, great sports and school spirit, State Street, and internships as the state capitol. As a parent, the administration side of the university works smoothly – things are organized, accessible, and people are responsive.
Couldn’t resist- “When you’ve said Wisconsin, you’ve said it all”. Sorry if I misquoted, that came after my time there. So many alumni all over the country (world?) will agree.
Every generation probably has its favorite State Street haunts. In my day, we were all about Bull Feathers, Big Mike’s Subs and La Bamba (burritos as big as your head).
Two of them have since closed and the other (La Bamba) moved off campus. I swear, all were awesome.
That I am semi-hung up over this tells you how much UW students and alumni care about the place.
UW students have to traverse campus through elements sometimes featuring below-zero temps and almost always with the ubiquitous wind; nobody would do that without love and reverence in their heart.
What are the sources of that love?
-State Street
-Parties and the hopping social scene
-The outstanding sports scene and school spirit
-Beloved songs like On, Wisconsin!, Varsity, and If You Want to Be a Badger
-Classes with great professors
-Dancing in the stands while the marching band – which is outstanding – plays during and after games
-The research/faculty successes of the school
-Verbal warfare between dorms, like the long-standing feud between Sellery and Ogg. (Ogg sucks, by the way…)
-The variety and beauty of the campus
-The view from the top of Bascom Hill, down Library Mall and State Street to the capitol
-A ginormous number of majors
and neat classes from which to choose (like The African Storyteller)
-Memorial Union and Union Terrace
-Hiking Picnic Point, renting and using a boat on Lake Mendota
-Snowball fights
-Mifflin Street Block Party (i hope that’s still a thing…)
…and so many more things that make UW great.
Again, speaking for my UW kid – part of what makes UW so amazing is that, there is something for everyone. Want an outdoorsy experience – join Hoofers, and sail, kayak, go running, hiking etc. Want to work in government – get involved in interning at the Capitol. Want a sports crazed experience – Camp Randall, basketball, hockey. Want to relax with craft beer and farm-to-table food – eat at all kinds of restaurants. Want to work with world class faculty – study just about anything at UW, and apply for funded research programs etc.
I went there because back in the day had no choices- finances (no need blind either). Loved it. Thank goodness there was no reciprocity or I would have missed out on state of the art Chemistry (a friend did MN for grad school and back in the day the facilities there were not so great). The campus is a world onto itself. Excellent academics. Are you familiar with the fable about the blind men and the elephant? Each touched a different part and came to different conclusions. Likewise with UW- ask different people and you will get different reasons to love it. Room for so many varieties of experiences.