University of Wisconsin-Madison Top Questions

Since there are so many diverse students on campus, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what a "typical" student" is like. There are some commonalities though. Many students are involved in some organizations. One of the most popular is the Hoofers, which invites students interested in all sorts of outdoor activities to get together. They scuba dive, sail, ski, snowboard, horseback ride, hike, kayak... basically any activity outdoors, you name it, they do it! Another uniting aspect of UW-Madison is the sports and leisure activities. The culture surrounding football in particular it is as much a part of the football season as the games themselves. When basketball season rolls around people go nuts and host parties around the games (they provide a great respite from studying too!). Union South has a great, contemporary theater that screens current movies every weekend--for free! There are many options such as the theater if you're not into drinking, as many clubs host activities during the weekend that don't involve alcohol consumption. If, however, you are fine with drinking, you'll find no shortage of ways to have fun doing so. Seeing as Wisconsin and beer go hand in hand, students here enjoy having a few brews while hanging out with friends and partying. Though sometimes it becomes excessive--think the Mifflin Street Block Party--people usually have a good handle on their drinking and don't act stupidly. Other traditions like Mifflin include the All Campus Party (which doesn't involve alcohol) and Go Big Read, which is a school-sponsored event where a renowned author comes and speaks.

Sports are very popular here but there are many other activities to participate in. There are plenty of political groups, religious groups, human rights clubs, and hobby meetings. Also, sororities and fraternities are popular. Nearly every weekend there seems to be a party, even some that do not include drinking. Dancing lessons (example: Salsa) are available and popular for a fun activity. Many residence halls hold gaming nights, either for video games or board games. There are plenty of options for everyone.

Partying is definitely a large part of the social scene on campus. Contrary to popular belief, however, it is not the only scene. There are many opportunities for students to get involved with other students and the community. The Associated Students of Madison is the popular student government group, committed to getting the student voices heard on campus. Another popular student group is the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board, run by the Alumni Association. WASB sponsors many of the larger campus activities and events, such as Homecoming week, welcome week activities, and the All-Campus party. During finals week, sometimes they even hand out breakfast on Bascom Hill! There are also many restaurants and theaters around town designed for every college student's budget. Theaters include the Orpheum and the Majestic, which house concerts and often movie screening parties. In a different cultural aspect, The Overture Center for the Arts on State Street is the main place to see musicals, some of the campus singing groups and orchestras, plays, and ballets. No matter your interests, there is something for everyone in the city and on campus, and you'll never be bored if you don't want to be.

Since the University is so big, there are a ton of groups to get involved with. I'm on the UW Cycling Team, which is the biggest club sport on campus. It's a very well organized and supportive club, and from what I've seen of other clubs, they seem to be the same way. Lots of emails get sent out from different clubs, and chances are you'll have an interest in one of them. Athletic events are very, very popular. Game days during the football season are a sight to behold, with the streets flood with red and white. Camp Randall has an incredible atmosphere, and the legendary student section always makes sure that they remain legendary by taking part in the strong traditions of the section. There are of course the two biggest party nights of the academic year, which are Halloween and Mifflin. Halloween/Freakfest isn't quite what it used to be in terms of intensity, but it has gotten much safer and calm over the past few years. The Mifflin Street Block Party is the big finals week kick off, and students are generally uncompromising with its taking place. Partying is a pretty big deal at UW but it isn't absolutely necessary. The bar scene is awesome though, and there are a ton of places to choose from.

Your social life will be great if you like drinking a lot. If you are very academic or otherwise not "normal" or "cool" you will likely have a hard time unless you can seek out people you can relate to. There is almost nothing to do on weekend nights but drinking in dive bars - there are a few more options on weeknights for alternative entertainment.

There are two locations for dorms, southeast and lakeshore. Southeast is stereotyped as the party dorms and located closer to State Street whereas lakeshore is the quieter location right off of Lake Mendota. I think you can find people who party and who are quieter in both locations, but the southeast dorms are definitely louder due to them being closer to downtown Madison. It's nice to come back to the lakeshore dorms and be able to sleep in the nice peace and quiet. Most of the partying is on Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights, but you can find someone to go out with you on any night of the week and there won't be that much judgement, lol. There is always something to do on campus, but mostly I enjoy just hanging out with my friends. One thing that UW doesn't have is a movie theater, so you have to go off campus, but every student gets a city bus pass for free. However, it's hard to work out the timing and a bus ride is usually 45 minutes.

I wouldn't know.

The social life is great. We have a pretty decent sized fraternity and sorority scene but if that isn't your thing then there are so many other places to party and go out. The bar scene is also amazing and State Street comes alive at night and on the weekends. Also, football game tailgates can get pretty crazy.

Some of the most popular groups include Greek Life, Sports, and WASB. Im on the UW water Polo team and I've established many friends through there. I am also involved in a sorority where I have met all my best friends and spend most of my time with them on the weekends. I lived in Southeast Dorms, Witte and absolutely loved it (minus the fire alarms) Most people kept their rooms open and our floor was really close. Athletic events are everything here! I haven't attended many guest speaker events or theater. The dating scene, at least for freshman year is about 25{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} 75{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}...25{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} go into long term relationships while most hook up. I met my closest friends in the dorm and through my sorority. If im awake on tuesday at 2am, I am either studying or procrastinating because Im with friends on the floor talking. Traditions includee Halloween on State street and Mifflin (the last weekend to party in spring). People party Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I usually pick one or two nights to drink so i'm not completely exhausted to study and catch up on homework for the week. Greek life is about 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}, if your in them many of your connections and associations and parties are within that community, but you can easily be in other communities such as sports or dorm friends. You can have an awesome social life without being involved, and if you are involved its your choice on how involved you want to be. Typical weekends we go out to fraternity parties or house parties with friends, then end the night with Ians pizza. Saturday nights without alcohol you can go on state street to dinner and a concert. I didnt really do much off campus, but you can take the bus to malls or downtowns.

There is always something going on on campus. Free concerts, sporting events, movies playing at the Union, political debates, charity events, and many more. And almost everything is contained on campus. Within a 20 minute walk, you can go to an art museum, attend a rock concert, find a house party, run a charity 5k, see a hockey game, and sail on Lake Mendota. A person with any hobbies or interests can find something they enjoy, and other people to enjoy it with.

My biggest advice for meeting people on campus is to live in the residence halls your freshman year, and make a point to introduce yourself to people and leave your dorm room door open when you're home. During the first week of school students love to pop into each other's rooms to say hi and get groups together to eat dinner or go to a Wisconsin Welcome Week event. This is the easiest time to meet people and make friends, and if you keep to yourself too much at the beginning of the year it can be harder to make friends later on. There are over 700 student organizations on campus, and it only takes 3 interested people to start a new one, so feel free to get as involved as you want to!

greek life is SO overated! (in the school, i mean for real.) Students in dorms do leave their door open. the footaball games are such a big deal in the school. If i were awake at 2 am, i would prob. be watching something on tv and eating pizza. kids party every night here. you CANNOT do anything on saturday night that does not involve drinking. PERIOD. this is a drinking school. forget about it.

There are so many people and a million different student organizations there's no reason you should ever feel alone or left out at a school like Wisco. Even better- if there isn't a student org for your interest you can easily start one! Different dorms have different reputations as far as sociability is concerned. Generally Southeast dorms are known to be the more social dorms whereas Lakeshore is more quiet and studious. Madison is famous for its annual Halloween party but my favorite tradition is the Mifflin Street Block Party that is held the weekend before finals begin every year. Its basically half of the student body having a great time and enjoying the last days of spring (and sanity) before finals begin. There are plenty of things going on around campus on a Saturday night that you can go to if you aren't drinking. The Union almost always has some sort of show going on and there are lots of art performances going on year round. Plus there's tons of great restaurants on State Street.

There's a million events every day, seriously. There's posters up everywhere - if you want to go to a play or an ethnic concert or make crafts on a Saturday night, you'll find something on campus. I met my closest friends by living in the dorms and being in a super small major. I really recommend living in the dorms at least for your first year - it's hard to make friends with people you don't live near. Also, beware that the city of Madison starts renting apartments super early - like, in November for the next school year. So, if you're planning on signing a lease, be sure that you know the people you'll be living with. They could turn out to be psychos and then you'll be screwed. =) One other thing: if you plan on coming to Madison with all your BFFs from High School and living with them, don't plan on making a lot of new friends. If you don't want to branch out, you probably shouldn't even go to college.

The weekends of the fall semester are completely centered around football season. The games are awesome and the tailgating before hand come in a close second in terms entertainment. For student involvement the outdoors clubs (Hoofers) are very popular and many students are active in one of the groups within this club. The winter gets a little tougher because the snow and the cold does keep people inside more but it just makes for more opportunities to meet people in the dorms and apartments.

there are like 700 student orgs. you're dumb if you can't find one you like... or 6 you like for that matter. yes.. students leave their dorm doors open for the first half of the year. after that everyone knows each other pretty well and doesn't feel insecure about knocking to come in. i found that the second part of the year i wanted a little more quiet time being i had already met a lot of people and had a pretty good idea of who i wanted to spend time with. so yes.. open doors are prevelent... i personally had mine open when i felt like it and closed when i napped. athletic events- deservingly popular. football games are unbelievable. guest speakers are really popular too.. but they happen more frequently so there's not as "dense" of a crowd. theater is popular too. probably similar to guest speakers. the union has a lot of free movies offered... like superbad and that recent one w/johnny depp. can't remember it's name. the dating scene. well... there are a lot of cuties on campus. the girls seem to be more concerned with dating than the boys... who tend to have the "college mindset" of only living once. they get more mature though eventually.. i met my closest friends the first year in the dorms (SELLERY ROCKS!!! SOUTHEAST DORMS ALL THE WAY!) and then also through my sorority! i didn't know a single person at WI when i came.. and now have over 500 wisconsin friends on facebook :) it really becomes a small place.. and you meet SOOOOOOOO MANY PEOPLE. if you're awake at 2 am on a tuesday.. you're most likely studying. however.. you might be watching a movie w/friends/boyfriend/girlfriend or stumbling back from the bar. it all depends what your preference is. frats and sororities are as important as you want them to be! i'm in delta gamma and love it ..even though i'd never thought of myself as a sorority girl to begin with. it basically quadruples your network of friends.. how often to people party? thursday, fri, sat are a given... sometime wed... or sometimes just once a week. for the most part you usually are so burned out from using your brain all week that thursday is perfect timing for a little breath of fresh air. there's a lot of stuff you can do besides drinking. like i said.. the union has free movies. the union south has bowling. someone's always in their room playing video games. shopping... ians pizza..

This school has everything that you could ever want. If you want to go out one night and get trashed there are probably 4 or 5 keggers on every street not to mention the rampant bar scene. If you want to stay in there are several libraries open 24/7 and always movies or other activities going on all around campus.

Living the dorms was so much fun. I met tons of people, many that I'll remain friends with forever. It's just a great experience.

One of the great things about the university of wisconsin madison is that there is so much to do any given evening. As i tell prospective students on my campus tours, if you are bored on a friday night, you're not looking hard enough. Our student union offers a plethora of activites. From nightly concerts at the rathskeller and on the terrace to movies shown throughout the week, there is always something to do. one of the best things about our student union as well, is that beer is sold to students of age. While very strict in enforcing the 21 and over rule, it is none the less something very fun to do with friends on a lazy saturday afternoon on the terrace, over looking lake mendota. Elsewhere, you will find year round badger sporting events to attend. Whether football in the fall or hockey and basketball in the spring, there is always some even to go and cheer on the badgers. The Kohl center is another endless source of entertainment, hosting regular concerts and speakers. Recent events include the blue man group, Barak Obama, billy joel, bon jovi, and, i am ashamed to admit, brittney spears. Off campus, the university offers two malls, one on either side of campus. Both are readily accessible to students through our free bus passes, and perfect places for girlfriends to drag their significant others for a torturous night of shopping. It would also be heinous if i did not mention state street. Running six blocks, from campus to the capital, state street is my favorite place in madison. It has sources of entertainment, from bars with local and semi local bands such as Youngblood Brass band and Zox, and our famous overture center, which plays host to traveling broadway musicals such as Spamalot and The Phantom of the Opera. All this aside, my favorite thing about state street is the endless supply of food it offers students to sample. with over sixty different resturaunts, you can get calzones the size of your head, or pizza topped with hamburger and french fries! who can say no to that? A friend and myself have made it a goal to eat at every resturaunt on state street by the time we graduate. In this past year, we've made it about 2 and a half of the 6 blocks, which shows you how much more we have to go!

Frats and sororities can be popular with certain groups of people. Sports are always really popular too. I'm in band and an honor society, I really enjoy both and I've met some great people. Two big tradtions are the annual Halloween party and the annual Mifflin Street Block Party, both are pretty well known (ask Wikipedia haha). Generally a lot of drinking occurs at those events, but people can have a good time without drinking too. The Terrace behind the Union is a popular place for live music. State street shopping and restaurants are amazing too!