<p>Dear Mary Celeste and Barrons: This cc site is just so wonderful; there are few other venues in which people are so altruistic and generous in sharing their insights and experiences. Thank you both. The Honors information was very interesting and makes Honors seem slightly less attractive than it did. I think my daughter would like ILS anyway--even apart from its attracting a community spirit. So, I guess fresh. and soph. classes are enormous? Also, how is the PHilosophy Department--daughter's intended major? Thanks again for all your careful thought.</p>
<p>Most classes are not that big. The big classes (100+) are nearly all intro level or very popular electives. Philosophy is a good dept. ranked in the Top 25. Not a huge number of majors so classes will not be that large after basic intro classes. There actually is a report showing the size of every class at UW. I'll track it down and look at Philosophy.
Honors is certainly not as structured as at some schools--part of the anti-elitist ethic at UW. It does provide some benefits, especially at the lower class level where honors classes are typically much smaller. After that MC is accurate--you are doing some extras in a regular class.</p>
<p>I found it--intro classes (5) had 137 to 227 students. All others for ugs had 10-76 with 15 classes in Spring 2005. Most (9) were 10-30 in a class.</p>
<p>Thanks you, Barrons, for supplying those helpful figures which make concrete and clear what often seems vague and inaccessible. You are great. Happy holidays.</p>
<p>In my haste to get you the info and catch my ride I neglected to check the number of sections of each class. Turns out the intro level classes all had more than one section--intro to philosophy had 5, so my numbers are way off. The 5 intro level classes ranged from 32 to 88 students plus a discussion section of 15-20. All but one were in the 50-88 students per section range. Not so bad for a big school. The upperclass(soph +) classes are all one section so my numbers were good. These are undergrad classes only and do not count senior seminar and thesis classes.</p>
<p>Happy Holidays to you.</p>
<p>Thank you Barrons. I will be in touch as to whether my daughter gets in and whether she chooses U. of Wisconsin. Your information has been so helpful. My presumption is that you love it. Did you do undergrad or just grad? Take care. Kinkosmom</p>
<p>Yeah i find madison to be a prestigious school. Of course, ive been hit with propoganda and advertising left and right by my guidence counslers. Still, i think a madison degree is pretty prestigious. I think madison ranks among the top state schools. I think its about the same as a UVA or a Michigan degree. Maybe a bit below a UCLA degree and a lot below a berkley degree (but berkley is up there with all the ivies) Overall madison (the city) is pretty nice. I think MSN once said it had one of the best campuses in the country. State street is nice, there is a lot of cool stuff. Plus the whole center of the city is university oriented. its a great place. Still, ive been there so many times, im kinda sick of it. oh well. i guess that will be the same no matter where i go.</p>
<p>Wow i sound like a stupid high school student! lol. (i dont sound educated or intelligent at all in this post, at least when compared to the rest of the posts in this thread. I used the words "kinda" and "pretty" a lot! i hope i dont sound like that in my interviews!)</p>
<p>Both ug and grad. Did a semester at Boulder for fun.</p>
<p>Hi, Barrons. So. . .you loved it (Madison)? What was your major? Did the frigid temps. ever get you down--psychologically?</p>
<p>Ug major was econ/finance. Grad was MBA. Yes I really enjoyed it--more for grad school because I was a lot smarter about school and had more spending $$$. There were a few days I cursed the wind but people really do go about things pretty much as normal. The last 10 years seem much warmer than when I was there--few of those -20 nights and high of -5 days. Now it's mostly 20's in the day and maybe 5 at night. Love global warming. Also winter break is LONG so you can go recharge in the sun for over a month. The Union has two great fireplaces so that's a good place to curl up with a book and stay warm.</p>
<p>Hi, Barrons. Thanks for all. That really should do it.</p>
<p>barrons, what did you think of Boulder?</p>
<p>I would say your friend is a complete tosser, Wisconsin is a first-rate school. Yes, like all state schools, you can get a degree with minimal effort, but that's not the point of getting a higher education. UW is on par with the top public and private schools in the country.</p>
<p>Boulder is a very nice town--a little more upscale than Madison was although that's changing too. The school is OK but not super from what I saw. Funding cuts were so severe the library pretty much had to stop buying new books. The students were more work a little play hard than work hard play hard. When I was there drugs were a huge problem--especially coke. That was in the late 70's. I think you can get a good education there if you want--especially in the better funded science/engineering programs.</p>
<p>I think I'd pick wisc over mich, I love the scandinavian studies department. More scandinavian chicks is a big plus, too!</p>
<p>Wisconsin is a great school...at least to a lot of the kids in the NYC area. They tend to always get a few from a lot of the top high schools in the northeast and the people I know who went to UWM are at least as successful as the Penn graduates I know. That being said, the alumni I have met are probably not representative of the whole student body but no less prove that if you are ambitious, a Wisconsin education can take you wherever you want to go.</p>
<p>I would like to hear from kids who are at Wisconsin now, if you have time to reply. How do serious students find the atmosphere? Is the bureaucracy of a big school counterproductive to learning? Are you overwhelmed in class or socially by the numbers. Is there the kind of seriousness of purpose that you may have hoped for. I know Madison has a beautiful spirit and is a fabulous town and the school is so rich in its offerings. But on a human level, does the scale make the learning experience less immediate and positive than a small or medium school might in terms of life style and class size? Thanks for taking the time to respond. Specifically my d. will major in philosophy and a social science minor probably. Does this department form its own community of learners? Where is the best place to live? Thanks. D has been accepted and these are some questions.</p>
<p>As a Wisconsin (but not Madison) resident, I feel I need to add my two cents in here. </p>
<p>Madison is an interesting college town. Period. Maybe not as big as NYC, but there is always something going on. Because of this, Madison is a HUGE party school. The reports don't lie-- drugs and alcohol are a big deal. however, Madison attracts many of the best students of WI, so the academics are decent-- outstanding in some areas.</p>
<p>Basically, if you haven't visited Madison and seen the campus, you will not be able to determine whether you want to go there. Madison will give any student an unique experience-- it is each students personality that will decide whether or not they like it.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input. It was helpful. Any other students like to add their insights?</p>
<p>Most students learn to identify with their school/dept. as each has its own building in most cases with a library and lounge. It makes the school seem smaller. The admin is generally nice and tries to help but there are rules and they are enforced, usually. Philo is a smaller major so I'd guess the kids get pretty tight.
The town has everything for everyone. It helps to get into the sports.</p>
<p>Kinkosmom-</p>
<p>I live about 20 minutes from downtown Madison and am very familiar with the university. I must warn you that Madison is very, very liberal and conservative folk are very much a minority. Madison is a great city. It has two beautiful lakes (but you can't swim in them b/c they have some nasty green bacteria growing in them...yuck!) and really terrific restaurants. One of my favorite things about Madison is the Summer Farmer's Market on the square. The University, including residence halls, have an urban feel and the campus is sprawling. Partying is huge at UW-Madison. Have you heard about Halloween on State Street? It is complete craziness and the Madison police use pepper spary to calm the crowds at around 3 a.m. Pretty crazy. Wisconsin athetics are great. The remodeled football stadium is beautiful and the Kohl Center, where they play basketball, is also first- rate. </p>
<p>I applied to UW-Madison and have been accepted but do not intend to matriculate. For starters anyone with decent grades from my school goes there and I kind of want to get away. The biggest drawback for me is that is is so big. There are over 40,000 students, the campus is huge, and introductory classes can have 600 students. It is certainly the best school in the state, but I would agree that the education at Berkeley, Michigan or Virginia might be better. Wisconisn is still great though. I would highly suggest visiting because Wisconsin has a certain feel that is not right for everyone. To make Wisconsin seem smaller, I would suggest living in one of the Lakeside dorms or the all-women's dorms. Hope this helps!</p>