University of Wisconsin-Madison Top Questions

Before coming to this school i wish i had known how much more independent students need to be in order to do well in school. The instruction for what assignments to do and what studying is necessary is really vague and students are expected to be on their own for the most part. This is much different than high school so it was a bit of a suprise.

Although I am fortunate enough to live with a very diverse group of people in a learning community in the dorms, I wish I knew more about the struggles the Univeristy seems to be having with diversity on campus. Living with such a diverse group of people has opened my eyes to many prominent issues regarding racial identity and cultural awareness within the student body. I am fortunate to be apart of a learning community that is very proactive about promoting racial equality and diversity throughout campus. It has been a truly eye opening experience.

I wish I would've known more about the professions I was interested in. For example, how important social work certification is in career that is established in direct service with helping individuals. Nobody told me that until after I graduated... and it was then that I saw the difference in pay as well as job opportunities.

I wish I had known about the challenges that came with time management in college and about how truly free I could be.

UW-Madison has a very large student body. This obviously has advantages--there are so many different people to meet!--but it can also be intimidating at first. Thankfully, there are an incredible variety of clubs and organizations on campus that allow students to meet like-minded individuals while getting involved in things they care about. When I didn't really get to know many new people in my classes, I turned to campus clubs, where I met some really interesting people I can now call my friends.

I wish I would have had more opportunities to explore careers. When I began school, I was not sure of a major and felt like I floundered for a semester. I was focused on athletics and knew I wanted to attend the University of Wisconsin but didn't really give enough thought to what I wanted to do after graduation. During Thanksgiving break my mom put it to me like this, "What do you want to be doing when you are 40?" I was able to answer that and that set me on the path for a career in education.

I wish I had known to look harder for a job earlier. It's been VERY difficult to find a worthwhile job on campus and I wish I would've started looking earlier. Finances at UW-Madison are difficult - I transferred and was given more aid by the small private university I previously attended.

I wish I would have known how the transition process into the start of college was going to be. I was stressing out about not knowing anyone or getting lost but the campus seemed to have a sense of familiarity to it so the transition was easier than expected.

I have switched majors three times, and upon entering college I was told that would not hurt a student?s path; college was supposed to be a time to explore and find what you loved and discover what you did not enjoy. Unfortunately for me, it has hurt me. I will end up going to school for at least an extra semester, possibly an extra year, and for someone who struggles to make ends meet, this is stressful and frustrating. I wish that during orientation someone had sat down and been straight with me about the different degree programs.

I wish I would have known about more of the great resources available at this university before coming. There are so many great resources available that I didn't know about until a couple of weeks into the first semester. I think that if I had known about these resources right away, my transition from high school to the rigorous coursework that college entails would have been a lot smoother.