So what residence hall should i be in? Im especially into the social/ party scene and I hear that Sellerey and Witte are the 2 best places for that. Any suggestions?
I believe you heard right.
You are the only one who knows you. If your top priority is the social scene then list the ones above that have that reputation.
@Madison85 @wis75 do either of you know anything about statesider, dorm@lucky, or dorm@regent? I believe my daughter has already signed up for her dorm choices, but we are starting to receive brochures from what appears to be off campus dorms not affiliated with UW. Is this normal? Are these legit? I don’t recall ever seeing/receiving anything like this when my eldest applied to a college in Nashville. Way back when at Penn State, we just had apartments off campus. Maybe it’s just a marketing ploy
They are privately owned and operated dorms, not affiliated with UW. Lucky is very “swanky”, much nicer than my first apartments after college!
UW housing costs are surprisingly reasonable and perfectly appropriate for housing. My kid lived in Sellery/Witte and it had everything a kid needs, including that some discussion sections of popular freshman intro classes may meet In the classroom on the ground floor, very convenient.
Many students do move out of UW housing for sophomore or junior year, and some of those private buildings are popular among some kids for post-freshman year.
@Midwestmomofboys thanks for the reply. Good info to know.
The Regent is near the stadium and not near any UW residence halls or classroom buildings. It has been around since at least the late 1970s.
Statesider is off State Street and near Langdon where the fraternities and sororities are located.
Lucky is a very expensive high-rise and fairly new.
The stereotype is that rich OOS kids live in Lucky.
Frankly I wouldn’t suggest any of those places for a freshman student unless the UW residence halls were full.
@Madison85 thanks
Toured Lucky. Very nice but yes $$$$. 2 BR with 4 people will set you back about $900 per person a month. I’ll stay in the dorms for a year then live in a dump somewhere my new found friends.
The Regent was there by 1970, renovated since I believe. Statesider right on busy State St. Res Halls, the UW public dorms are good and the majority of freshmen do live in them. A great choice for an entering freshman. A wide variety of architecture and locations on campus, all well maintained.
Most sophomores will choose to live off campus although some will still choose Res Halls (like my kid whose parents wouldn’t let him, plus he couldn’t rent an apt since he was still under 18). Do not worry about next year, though- and do not let your kid pressure you about the following year until second semester. Times have changed since my UW days. Now it is common for students to live off campus after freshman year. NOT at all a reason to not choose UW, btw. My son’s first apt with a bunch of guys was next to the Computer Science building- he could have rolled out of bed and made it in time in five minutes. There is a lot of apartment housing close to different edges of the campus. Plus plenty of regulations by the city of Madison and management companies. Information available on the off campus living site of the UW site. There are many good options- not many “dumps”. Word of mouth will help once your child is on campus when it comes time to figure out the next year.
Current parent here, agreeing about value of living on campus, in UW dorms, freshman year. My kid moved “off campus” sophomore year and beyond, though his first apartment was across the street from UW dorms so he was no further to class than if he had stayed on campus.
@wis75 @Midwestmomofboys @Madison85 many thanks for the feedback. My daughter will definitely be on campus freshman year and possibly sophomore year. I had just never heard of privately owned apartments with floorplans that are essentially dorm rooms. Then throw in the “free” tutoring/gym/etc advertised and my skepticism increased.
Those amenities are offered to be competitive with Res Halls. Consider the clientele your child will be living with. Res Halls will get those from all student income levels. It can be a learning experience to interact with those from many different backgrounds. The expectations of most Wisconsin parents is for their kids to live in the dorms regardless of being able to afford more luxurious places. OOS students also fit in at Res Halls.
Does anyone know if the private dorms for freshmen attract financially elitist students? We figured the regular dorms were good enough for our son. By the time he was apartment hunting he had a lot of locally acquired knowledge. It never hurts to live with people on a strict budget and mix with the masses. Heck, they may be much wealthier than you someday (although in my case it doesn’t show). I’m an egalitarian for housing and an academic elitist.
@wis75 from my current student’s stereotype – when I asked him about living in Lucky as a sophomore (before I knew the rent!) he retorted that only rich kids live there and he wouldn’t consider it. He lived happily in the cluster of buildings down Park, across from Ott Residence Hall, as a sophomore.
As a freshman in Sellery/Witte, his hall mates included a WI student from a rural area who was the first one to attend college in his family as well as independently wealthy student whose family would fly in on a private plane – a good melting pot for everyone.
Yup- Res Halls for any income et al. I recall back when son had SOAR I overheard a couple of OOS parents from IL I believe (btw- it was excellent even for alumni parents from Dane County) talking about their Ds living in private housing then going the sorority route like they had- something like that. Very atypical since most OOS mingle with the masses and less than 10% of students go Greek. Have to wonder about priorities there. I also remember a family that came from Boston using SOAR as part of their family vacation (they had car trouble around Chicago and had to rent and get repairs but seemed pleased with their Midwest experience)- their son was in our dorm tour (they separated students from parents and we saw the actual building kid was to be in). UW also does not have any Honors housing- a good thing. Honors students are too diverse in major and housing preferences to isolate them or confine them to one dorm.
My son is thinking about Sellery or Witte. He was thinking of signing up for the multicultural learning community or the entrepreneur. Any feedback?
We had two of our three Badgers live in the ERLC as freshmen. It was a great experience and a plus that they got to choose their room. Their fellow students in the ERLC were from all over the country as well as international. Both of them made friends that they continue to live with. In addition, there were many activities to be involved with as well as guest speakers each month. I would highly recommend it!