<p>I am going to be a freshman at Madison and plan on majoring in chemical engineering. I want to get good grades in college but I also want to be social, meet a lot of new people and for sure party on the weekends. However I am thinking about picking the women in science and engineering learning community as my first choice, which means I will probably get it. I am wondering if this learning community is really nerdy and will not fulfill my social needs. The only reason I am seriously considering this dorm is because I think I may be able to get an advantage on getting to know professors and getting research opportunities. This learning community is located in Sellery hall which as far as I understand is a very social freshman dorm.</p>
<p>My student was in Sellery, but not in a learning community. As he described dorm life, your hall is the center of your social life in the beginning, that is who you do dorm events with, wind up going to football games with, halloween etc. In a small learning community like women in science, that means the other students on your hall will be women who share your academic interests and there will be academic/career-related extra events. So, you will have the liveliness of Sellery plus a core of students with similar interests. </p>
<p>Plus, another advantage is that the learning community could reduce some of the “social” impact – in a good way – of living in Sellery. My son described that, even though he participated fully in the party life, he did get tired of the loud people crashing down his hall after he had finally gone to bed. With a hall populated by similarly-interested students, the chances of being awakened at whatever hour by other partiers is probably lower than on a “regular” hall. </p>
<p>Don’t worry. You will meet others from your dorm area in your dining hall and other places close to where you live. Your social life will not be limited to your Res Halls house. It will be very easy to find others if your floor doesn’t seem to have those with the same social interests. Also consider this- you are interested in the STEM fields and a social life, it is likely there are others with similar interests as yours in your house and classes. I was a Chemistry major eons ago, never lived near my friends as they wanted different ends of campus (and fewer women in the sciences back then).</p>
<p>UW has a fantastic Chemistry department. I still get my annual Badger Chemist and therefore know they still are good. Now several good women professors- wish they were there in my day. I ended up with an MD by choice instead of the PhD like my friends. You also favor engineering. Have fun and good luck. Always remember you are multifaceted.</p>