University of Wisconsin-Madison Top Questions

Some suggested topics: What are your experiences with racial, religious, LGBT, socio-economic, and/or other groups on campus? there's a good amount of diversity and acceptence. plus people can usually find a group to hang out with that shares the same preferences/lifestyles as them.. yet you still are friends with all types of people across the map. What do most students wear to class? sweats Do different types of students interact? YES. wide ranges. especially because we do a pretty good variety of group pairing for classes so you get to know the different courner's of madison's student body There are four tables of students in the dining hall. Describe them. they are all completely mixed freshman year. after that.. not a lot of people eat at the dining halls. ha. --you find your niche. Where are most Wisconsin students from? "suburbs of chicago" ...east coast... california.. minnesota. and of course wisconsin. those together make up probably 95{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the madison population. What financial backgrounds are most prevalent? those from the east coast and from chicago area don't get reciprocity and obviously have to pay the fairly pricey out of state tuition.. so they're generally a little more wealthy. it's a real steal if you're from MN or WI!! jump on that! Are students politically aware / active? yessssss. you can get by without knowing much about politics (me) but there is a huge presence. Are they predominantly left, right or center? madison is known for being pretty liberal.. but i think it's somewhat of a misconception. i think our generation is more liberal than our parent's generation overall.. but there is still a huge presence of conservative outlooks in the student body. i'd say that assuming everyone had to pick a distinct side--left or right--about 35-45{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} would be conservative. Do students talk about how much they'll earn one day? no.

Students are from all around the world. Madison, Wisconsin is an exciting place to be.

Wisconsin students have a reputation for being politically active. Students actively take part in protests on issues from political leaders to animal rights. However, one thing that students are very apathetic about is issues on their own campus, such as professor salaries, improving undergraduate facilities, and how the student body interacts with the administration in general. In our recent student government elections, we did not have even a 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} voter turn our. This is pathetic given our national recognition for our strong student government. Another example is our search for a new chancellor. We had open meet and greet sessions for the four finalists, and only a dozen or so students showed up at each. This is not only a fault of the students. It is a fault of the administration for giving the impression that students have little control over what happens at their university. The current administration has maintained a closed door policy for a time now, and students do not feel they have much contact with the administration. So the problem of student indifference cannot just be solved by getting students more active. The administration needs to take action, to let students know that they have a say in their university's policies.

People are SO accepting at Wisconsin. There are so many groups on campus, and they're very diverse. I really don't feel that anyone would feel out of place at Wisconsin... just about anyone can find a group to identify with and make their niche. Generally, I see a lot of sweatpants and sweatshirts being worn to class, but there has been a recent boom in the "tights and ugg boots" fad (which is usually worn by "coasties" -- people from the west/east coast... a name given by midwesterners and "sconnies" -- people from Wisconsin). The largest division of the student body has to do with that issue, between coasties and non-coasties. Students are incredibly politically aware and active. Remember back to the Vietnam War... the protests that happened here. We have a rich history of political action.

Racial and socio-economic diversity is a joke. LGBT students should feel pretty comfortable here.

The students are collectively pretty involved, whether in student orgs, in supporting athletics and other ways to occupy the non-class, non-boozing time. There are somthing like 700 registered student orgs on campus to get involved with. The prevailing division on campus falls along regional lines. The "Coasties" vs the "Sconnies". (Basically east/west coast vs Midwesterners). While we all poke fun at the opposite group, it all is for the most part in jest. Having gone Greek myself, there is a milder division on campus among Greeks and Non-Greeks. Our campus is only about 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} Greek, but even so the majority of students are not explicitly anti-greek, they just don't know what greek life is about or (probably more accurate) they just don't care. The populations is largely white with small minority populations. The groups seem to interact fine without tension or major incident, but is unfortunate that the minority populations are so small. Madison's student body is incredibly political, after all several campus buildings built in the 70's were designed to be riot-proof due to the history of activism on this campus. The one quote I always like is "Madison is ## square miles, surrounded by reality". This is sometimes true, in the fact that campus and the liberal-downtown culture can isolate one from the rest of the world, but with the internet these days, anything goes. Next year should be interesting as the Presidential Election nears.

It is a liberal campus and there are many types of people. Almost anyone can fit in. There are a lot of Jewish people, we have a strong LGBT Alliance organization, varying economic classes, a large population of Asians...There are not many black people, though.

I don't think anyone would feel out of place in Wisconsin. There are kids from all over, who are interested in all different things. You can walk into a classroom and see a kid in sweats and another in a suit. It makes no difference.. There aren't as many minorities as there could be, but I think Wisconsin is working to change that. Also, campus is incredibly liberal. I'm liberal too, but sometimes students can take their political beliefs too far.

It's a mostly liberal campus, with a pretty large contingent of "Coasties". They're not the anti-christ, but not very many of them have ever had to earn anything in their lives. It can be frustrating to work 3 jobs so you can pay tuition out of pocket, and then hear a coastie bitch about how their mommy and daddy won't send them money to buy a new pair of Uggs. Come on guys... There is seriously a group for EVERYTHING - get involved. Those connections you make will stick with you for a LONG time.

Fairly diverse. Some economic diversity, little racial diversity. In state students are more laid back and down to earth- throw on a pair of sweats and go. Students from the coast are visibly wealthier. many out of staters live in private dorms. Students are mostly liberal, though you can be a conservative and survive here. Mostly upper-middle class people, some very wealthy, some not so wealthy.