The University of Wisconsin - Madison

I'm an engineering student at UW Madison and when i got here it wasn't quite what i imagined. I thought i wouldn't have to deal with the idiotic kids from high school (although they do help in keeping the curves low). A vast majority of the people here can't wait for thursday, friday, and saturday night to get some alcohol in them. Despite this, i was amazed at how hard these students studied during the week. There are a lot of kids here and there are many that don't follow the party crowd, it just takes some time to find them and when you do, you could have a great time. Early on in your undergraduate studies, you'll have classes with non science/math majors and it will surprise you how they were even allowed into the university, which is contrary to the prestige i imagined when applying to the school. This review may sound mostly negative, but i believe the school is great once you get settled into the right place, with plenty of people to share your interests. There are plenty of clubs and opportunities for those that are serious about their education. The teachers: mixed bag; i've had some great teachers who really are excited about their subjects and teach out of their authored textbooks, and then i've had a few lazy ones that could care less and shouldn't have been paid a cent. Another point is that about half of your teaching comes from teaching assistants (graduate students), who are usually helpful but not really inspiring. If you're into sports, there are plenty events here for you; i particularly enjoy the hockey and football games, although they can get quite expensive if you go to them a lot. This brings up another point: cost. I chose this school because i thought it was better than most other in-state schools but not as expensive as better, more prestigious schools on the coasts. I don't have the experiences to tell you whether or not it is better than other schools in the UW systems, but even if you sacrifice a supposed education advantage to go to another UW, you'll save a boatload in living expenses. In conclusion: Whatever your type, you'll be able to find your niche, even if you have to put up with some jerks. If you're a preppy business jock, you'll feel at home right away (if you can get into the school of business), and if you're somewhat a nerd (like me) you'll have to do some sorting, but you can find your place.

1st Year Male -- Class 2012

Surrounding City: A, Individual Value: D+

I don't want to badmouth UW-Madison, but my experience as a math major has been unpleasant. I applied as I've heard that there was more emphasis on individual attention and less emphasis on competition than U.C. Berkeley (which I was admitted to, but didn't go). I have to say that this wasn't the case. The physics and math classes were ridiculously difficult and cutthroat (I guess to keep their reputation as a great engineering school). The majority of the math and physics professors I had were just not capable of explaining things clearly and when approached for help, they were either very condescending or just plain confusing. Some have good intentions, but are very out of touch with their students' abilities. I can tell you that I've literally studied my butt off to no avail, so in the end, I dropped out and transferred to UW-Milwaukee instead. On the flipside, I heard that it's easy for humanities and social science students...

As for the students, I think it's about the same anywhere you go; some are nice and some are just plain rude or arrogant. There's pretentious moronic people and there's fun people, you choose who you like. It's fairly easy to make friends if you live in the co-ops or do some extra curricular activities and there's various hobby/activity/religious/political groups to join outside of campus as well. There's also a lot of beer pong, drinking, bratwurst, and cheese curds too. Yes, and there's plenty of eye candy and uh... private and personal stuff.

While the city and the campus are beautiful, safe, clean and well-maintained, there's not much to it if you're not a student or graduated. Yes, there's a couple of highly overpriced pseudo-ethnic restaurants, bars, parties, football games, the capitol building, farmers' market, and the lakes, but it mostly feels like a holiday resort town. During summer and Christmas, Madison empties out to a ghost town as many of the students come home for the holidays.

Also, most people after graduation leave to bigger cities as there aren't very many jobs available in the area. Let me mention that it took me four months before I could get a part-time job.

Oh, and the city is surrounded by cow farms on that note.

1st Year Female -- Class 2013

Campus Aesthetics: A, Useful Schoolwork: D