Ron
Great school, very big but you get used to it. People love to party and drink but you don't have too and people aren't stupid about it. Love being here, even from far away. On Wisconsin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vick
There is a lot of talk about the “Coastie”/”Sconnie” divide. I never heard these words before I actually came to school, but since I have gotten here, it is one of the most frequently joked about topics. Pretty much, “Coasties” are people who are from the East and West coasts, mostly from the suburbs of large cities such as LA, Washington D.C., New York, Boston, Miami, and Philadelphia. These people often life in ‘private dorms’, with a prime location on State Street. The main difference between the public and private dorms themselves is that the private dorm lifestyle features suites of 2-4 people sharing a bathroom, with larger bedrooms and conveniently located dining halls in the basements and gyms located in the building. This lifestyle, as opposed to the public life of shared bathrooms, dining halls, and gyms with the rest of the university, costs a great amount more money, which the private residents clearly have due to their greatly inflated tuition costs that are equal to the family incomes of many “Sconnie” families. As a result, the “Coastie” lifestyle is frequently subjected to gossip, both positive and negative. “Coasties” are often criticized as being extremely materialistic, and that they wish to have zero interaction with “Sconnies.” However, there are many flaws in this system of Sconnies vs. Coasties. Most distinctly, many of the residents of the private dorms are from Chicago, or Minneapolis suburbs, and even the occasional Milwaukee suburb, which are all very much part of the mid-west. Second, I have a large amount of friends that live in public dorms, refuting the opinion that we hate “Sconnies.” Let’s be real, why would anyone choose to go to school where they supposedly ‘hate’ the locals. Third, of the 6 people from my high school graduating class who came to UW-Madison, 4 live in private dorms, and 2 live in public. That’s right, 2 Scarsdale, New Yorkers in public dorms. Read it and weep! Us “Coasties” picked UW-Madison for a reason, and we love it just as much as you “Sconnies” do. Maybe we were not raised watching Badger football games, or eating cheese curds, but we love sipping on Spotted Cow (the local brew) just as much as you do, so get over it.
Aaron
When you enter the University of Wisconsin as a freshman, you must make a pivotal choice that will help shape the rest of your social life at school. You must decide whether to live in a private or public dorm. The private dorms are much more expensive, but provide incredible amenities and comfort, and are made up of a majority of out-of-state students. The public dorms mostly represent students from the state of Wisconsin, and many of the dorms are in decrepit condition. I am from Massachusetts, and I wanted to be part of the Wisconsin culture and lifestyle, but when I lived in the private dorms, I was placed in an environment that was eerily similar to the schools that I passed on attending back home. The segregation between in-state and out-of-state students is a major problem, and real stereotypes such as “Sconnie” and “Coastie” has emerged. This has created a fragmented campus, which is a real shame.