University of Wisconsin-Madison Top Questions

I would love to see more people of different backgrounds here. I feel like you either see white people or Asian americans. Though that may be a big generalization, it's what you see in classrooms and dorms most often. I have close friends who come here and don't always feel comfortable because there are so few people of their race here. Most of the time, different kinds of people interact with others but most commonly, people stick to people who are most like them and don't explore differences enough.

VERY LIBERAL CAMPUS - I LOVE IT --- no one is out of place.

There seems to be a lot of coasties. And most people are pretty liberal. And I haven't met anyone who is actually against smoking weed. Smokers and non-smokers seem to respect each others choices and let them make up their own minds about what to do.

Not very diverse, although there are a lot of groups.

we need diversity. anyone who is a minority would feel out of place here, everyone is white. most wisconsin students are from wisco.

UW is diverse in it’s own way. There is definitely a gay community at school, which is only to be expected at such a liberal university in the liberal city of Madison. My sorority is actually close friends with the gay fraternity on campus, which is a really fun experience. Racially, there is not a lot of diversity. One of my friends, every time she sees a large African American male, points and screams, “look it’s a football player!” which is blunt, but unfortunately, often true. In my women’s studies class last semester we learned that the average family income of undergrad students is around $35,000. I don’t really know what that means in life overall, but I know that this kids from the coast’s parents make a lot more than that on average, which I guess is understood by our out-of-state tuition that is nearly 4 times the price of what in-state students pay to come here. That being said, there are a surprising amount of out-of-state students here, which does give the university its somewhat diverse feel. I have met people from almost all of the 50 United States, plus several international students from places like Sweden, Australia, and even Iraq. Pretty much, if you are very conservative, you would feel out of place here. Most students, myself included, wear jeans and a sweatshirt to class, if not an entire sweat suit. Comfort is key here. However, there are of course girls that get up and put makeup on every morning. I don’t really get it, they are not the majority, but they do exist. There is a huge in-state vs. out-of-state divide, which I will get to later, but it is interesting because I tend to find that most in-state students are here to major in whatever they plan to do in life, and to graduate into a job at the end of their 4 years here. However, most out-of-state kids are here for 4 years of fun, majoring in something they enjoy, only to go to grad school after their time here.

students wear everything from boy's grey sweat pants to burburry rainboats and earmuffs

Wisconsin is not very diverse. There are not a lot of people of color. I do not know why there is not a lot of diversity but a lot of the time it does seem that you see the same type of person walking down the street...white.

The University of Wisconsin, like the state of Wisconsin, is a primarily white state. There is very little diversity on campus with regards to ethnicity and race. The LGBT campus is represented, and Madison is very tolerant. The University has positive social and economic policies for employees who have gay partners. The LGBT groups are very active, and present throughout campus. The university has a very large Jewish population, and in a couple years a new state of the art Hillel will be constructed. Hillel constantly provides activities and events, and brings in speakers such as Bud Selig and the writers from LOST. The difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition prices are great, so most of the out-of-state students come from fairly affluent homes.

Honestly, no student would feel out of place here. The university, and city of Madison as well, is extremely liberal. Most students wear sweats to class. It's freezing here for most of the year...you do anything to keep warm. The school is mainly divided between Wisconsin/midwest kids and kids from the coasts/chicago. Most people hang out with other people that are from their area. The dorms are even segregated by where you are from. Out of state kids from the coast, live in private housing.