University of Wisconsin-Madison Top Questions

If UW-Madison has its faults, academics are not one of them. I can't imagine many improvements that could be made to the system. It does require some effort on the student's part to seek out opportunities such as research jobs and internships, but there are many readily available. In the intro-level classes, the professor will likely not know your name unless you frequent their office hours. However, there is a great remedy to this problem, teaching assistants! The TAs at Madison are top-notch. My British Lit professor said that 4 people were chosen out of 200 applicants to be the TAs for our class. TAs are always on your side and often do everything they can to help you succeed, including offering advice for the future. Students at Madison have a reputations for "work hard, play hard", so studying is often intensive. Class curves make competition necessary, but I have found many study groups that ensure my success in college. In addition, the university hires tutors in various subjects for free. Well, free is a relative term. Let's face it, you're still paying tuition. Being a Zoology and English major, I've had a variety of classes from Physics to Ecology to Native American Literature. My favorite class so far has probably been Intro to Psychology. The professor, a practicing psychologist, was extremely personable and approachable. The class, though not in my primary field of interest, taught me a lot about the human psyche and even took a look at what happens every year on State Street during Halloween! Both of my major departments have been great. My advisors have helped me choose great classes, and I will be graduating a year early due the classes being very easy to organize. The school also accepting many of my AP and high school/community college credits. I have found both my departments to be more geared towards learning for its own sake than job preparation, but that is predominately what I came to school for. Madison's School of Business and engineering departments are more for the ambitious, go-getter types. Overall, I couldn't ask for two better departments to be involved in.

At the University of Wisconsin, every student has the chance to get a first-class education. There is an incredible range of schools and departments, all of which aspire to achieve national prominence. The faculty is among the best in the world and the resources are phenomenal. The Helen C. White and Memorial Libraries are two major hot spots on campus which are frequented on a consistent basis throughout course of the year. Students use these libraries to rent books for research assignments, read between classes, discuss ideas with classmates, and to access online resources. The student attendance at the libraries is telling of the academic culture at the university, as students have passionate investment in their coursework. My classes have mostly been in the humanities, as I am a History and English major. During my first and second year at the school, the courses I took in these departments were mostly surveys. English surveys tend to cover about a century of literature in a given country or region, and aim to explicate the thematic progression of these works over time. In History, each survey would also cover about a century and focus on how the social and political context of different countries affected and related to one another. These classes were crucial in providing me with a fundamental basis of knowledge in each major. Additionally, they helped to direct my interests towards more specific course topics in later years. As I entered my junior year, the classes in each major became smaller and had more distinct topics. These classes provided a more intimate basis for interacting with my professors and provided a class atmosphere of freer discussion. Overall, at the University of Wisconsin, academically the sky is the limit.

At the University of Wisconsin, every student has the chance to get a first-class education. There is an incredible range of schools and departments, all of which aspire to achieve national prominence. The faculty is among the best in the world and the resources are phenomenal. The Helen C. White and Memorial Libraries are two major hot spots on campus which are frequented on a consistent basis throughout course of the year. Students use these libraries to rent books for research assignments, read between classes, discuss ideas with classmates, and to access online resources. The student attendance at the libraries is telling of the academic culture at the university, as students have passionate investment in their coursework. My classes have mostly been in the humanities, as I am a History and English major. During my first and second year at the school, the courses I took in these departments were mostly surveys. English surveys tend to cover about a century of literature in a given country or region, and aim to explicate the thematic progression of these works over time. In History, each survey would also cover about a century and focus on how the social and political context of different countries affected and related to one another. These classes were crucial in providing me with a fundamental basis of knowledge in each major. Additionally, they helped to direct my interests towards more specific course topics in later years. As I entered my junior year, the classes in each major became smaller and had more distinct topics. These classes provided a more intimate basis for interacting with my professors and provided a class atmosphere of freer discussion. Overall, at the University of Wisconsin, academically the sky is the limit.

Academics are rigorous here. My experience in the English Department has been a difficult but rewarding one. Sometimes classes are small, but even when they are too big for the professor to know everybody, their Teaching Assistants always do. They have been a great help to me in honing my writing style and argument skills. I liked how they would prompt us with questions in discussion and then sit back for a while and let us discuss. Some of the most insightful discussions I have had are the ones where the TA says the least. In lecture, the Professors always incorporated a wide range of knowledge and resources, giving us background and history of authors and their works, as well as presenting different interpretations. Nothing was ever set in stone, but we were encouraged to make our own observations and question the validity of what we were taught based on what we learned in lecture as well as what we saw in the text ourselves. I elaborate here because I feel that it is demonstrative of the learning environment of the whole campus- we are not told what to think, but how to think and judge for ourselves, which is pertinent to both getting a job after school as well as pursuing learning for its own sake. UW Madison encourages learning for its own sake but doesn't leave students to pursue whatever willy-nilly. There are many resources for helping students find a career path and keep on track with it. There are advisers and resource centers and aptitude tests, whatever you need to plan out your academic career.

Depending on your major, some of the classrooms may be very large in size, over 100 people even. Although it seems very impersonal, many classes have an added discussion class that runs during the week after lecture by a teaching assistant who is majority of the time a grad student. They help to go over key points and students are able to ask questions and get that intimate classroom feeling. Being an English major myself, many of my classes are small and intimate and we always sit in a circle so we can have a great open discussion. Teachers are always helpful to facilitate discussions and never pressure you to participate or answer if you do not want to. I have found many teachers to be extremely helpful and open to meeting outside of class, to discuss grades, essays, etc. Students all over campus take pride in their school not only because of the football team but also because of how great of a school it is academically. We are all fortunate enough to get into this school and it seems that students all try to study and work hard. Yes we like to party and celebrate, but we also study and do what we have to do, you can see that throughout state street in the coffee shops, at the union and of course at the library.

The academics at UW Madison are challenging and competitive, but also entertaining and relaxed in many aspects. Large lecture halls for general classes focus less on each student individually and more on teaching the information accurately and concisely. Professors are treated with respect, and will not learn individual students' names unless they show up to office hours routinely. Smaller discussions contrast this atmosphere with a more relaxed, personal feel. Almost all TA's are friendly and run informal discussions. They request to be called by their first names and encourage all comments, no matter how outlandish your ideas may seem. Speaking with TA's out of class is just as rewarding. They are always keen on discussing your thoughts and never refuse to offer their help and guidance. Students at Madison are generally very passionate about their studies. Conversations on campus are often focused around concepts learned in class, politics, or environmental concerns. However, intellectual conversations usually end up as discussions about weekend parties and sporting events. As an English major, I have been content with every class I have taken in the English realm. Professors offer an equal emphasis on the content in literature covered in class and your writing needs individually. Over all, I am very pleased with the challenging academic feel on campus and the classes I have taken.

The coolest thing about Madison is it truly has an academic culture. I'm sure it's not quite like, say, Amherst, but for a public university of its size, it really is impressive. In my favorite classes, it was easy to forget that you were taking a class for a grade, ostensibly to help you get a job in the future, etc. etc.-- in short, I often felt that the classes were fulfilling in themselves. Individual professors are probably the biggest factor in this-- I think simply by virtue of truly caring about what they study, this sort of culture kind of comes about organically. And the students play a huge part in it too. I can't help but laugh, very empathetically, when I see a tentattive freshman who clearly wants to say something but is nervous about how to say it. It's a natural self-consciousness that everyone seems to get over very quickly. This extends beyond the classrooom as well. I've gone so far as to get drinks with TAs and professors (always after the class had ended, of course), along with fellow classmates. Scholastic pursuits aren't really considered separate, it's just part of life. I suspect it has something to do with the water (of which there is plenty-- seriously though, it is a very picturesque campus, and I think that just does something to your brain). This is definitely one of Madison's strengths.

The academics at UW Madison are of the highest quality. You have to be dedicated to working hard in order to do well at this prestigious university.

Classes are tough. And that's understating the matter. It falls on you to get stuff done. You have to take responsibility for getting your homework and your reading done, and for asking the professor or the TA for help. They won't baby you. There's a lot of reading to do. At least for me, anyways. I'm an English & Classical Humanities major. Science/Math majors will probably read less, but have more homework. A lot of the classes work like this: There's the professor, who teaches a large lecture two or three times a week. Then, you have a discussion section with a TA once a week. In lecture, you take notes and listen to what the professor has to tell you. Sometimes they'll take questions, but it depends on the professor. Then, in section you go over readings in more detail and you can ask your TA questions. TA's are also the ones who grade exams and papers, so a lot of your grade is dependent on them. That's usually how the lower level classes, in the 100s or 200s work. As you get to more advanced classes, the professor will teach smaller classes of 20-40 students, and there won't be a TA. I think this system works pretty well, but it sucks when you get a TA who is a really harsh grader - your grade is really dependent on them.

Wisconsin is a big school so it is to be expected that at least your introductory courses will be big lectures. In these big classes, the professors will only learn your name if you make an effort to ensure that they do. They want to know the students and love when you come visit them in office hours. The more advanced level classes get smaller and the classes start to not have teaching assistants. In these classes the professors always know your name and they are usually very approachable and often fun to talk to. Class participation is fairly common but it depends on the type of class. In lectures, participation usually only involves clarifying questions. In small classes participation is often required and included in the structure of the class. Classes are usually either twice a week for 75 minutes or three times a week for 50 minutes. Many classes also have discussion sections that meet for 50 minutes once a week. My favorite class I ever took was History 345, Europe from 1945-Present. I should say that I am a History major and I am obsessed with the cold war but the professor (Professor Boswell) was an incredible lecturer and the made the time go fast. My least favorite class was Calculus mostly because the math classes move quickly and expect you to apply the examples they teach with little or no further explanation. This is not necessarily true with the lower level maths and even the lower level calc classes but it is true for 221 and 222 (first and second semester calc). Students are not generally competitive but some of the specialized schools have stronger competitive atmospheres. The business and journalism schools are competitive for admission and probably have the highest reputation for being competitive. While the specialized schools are targeted towards certain careers and openings for specific job opportunities, most of the liberal arts majors are targeted towards focusing in on your interests more than preparing you for a specific job. We do, however, have a career services center that will help students figure out good career options for them based on their interests and skills. The general "breath" or core graduation requirements are well balanced and require you to take an appropriate number of science and liberal arts classes in order to balance out each student's education. individual major requirements vary based upon the major but generally they are well planned out and easy to complete in a 4 year period. Wisconsin students are smart and learning occurs both in and outside of the classroom. Many students study in the library (we have about 42 on campus and 3-5 major libraries that students study at) and many others go to one of the various coffee shops located all around campus and the surrounding area. No matter how you like to study, there are many options to fit your style and location around campus.