University of Wisconsin-Madison Top Questions

Since Wisconsin is such a big school the professors do not really get to know you during your first few years. All of the discussions are taught by TAs but they are very knowledgeable and I have not had any trouble; they are definitely less intimidating than the professors are. The classes are tough and the professors expect you to be prepared when you come to lectures. Students usually spend 25-40 hours a week studying outside of class.

Academics at WI mostly depend on who you are. Its a rigorous program, and you have to stay on top of things or you won't make it. (Well, to an extent. You can miss a few classes and be fine. Miss more than that and you're completely screwed, even with your notes.) I'm a Legal Studies and Journalism and Mass Comm major, and both of my programs require that you stay on top of things, especially in the law. You don't have much contact with Professors outside of class, other than through email, but your TA's are always available for contact both through office hours or email, and are always helpful. I've only had two semesters here, but I transferred in from a year at another college, and I haven't had any problems with TA's yet. Class sizes range from 400 students (then split into discussions with 16-18 students), to about 16-20 for a language class. Students aren't necessarily academically competitive, but good grades are an intrinsic part of UW, because the programs require a lot of effort. You are trained on how things would and will work in the real world, though, and classes are usually updated every semester so that you will know what's going on outside the college when you graduate. For me personally the academics haven't been a problem. You do need to study and work hard, but at the same time you can definitely go out on the weekends more often than you stay in and still get things done.

very hard school.. but do-able if you work hard. you can get a lot out of it.. i think my freshman year doubled my knowledge of the world. i had a 4.0 in high school (as did a ton of the people who go here) and getting an A in a class here was almost out of the picture. it's hard.. and i study a lot. to answer the "suggested topics"...: 1) professors will know you by name if you go to their office hours. in my classes of 20 or 30 they obviously did... and in discussion sections the TAs knew our names.. but as for the 300 person lectures--they couldn't pick you out of a crowd. I kind of liked this aspect of it.. but i know a lot of kids who did go to professor's office hours to be on a first name basis with them.. it all depends on what you want to get from it. 2) favorite class was BY FAR women's studies 103. grrrrrrrreat class and i'm not even a feminazi. plus.. it counts as a science credit! PLUS I'D RECOMMEND IT TO BOYS TOO. this is your chance to understand women.. ...plus if you can answer the question "T or F.. women have been oppressed throughout history" correctly... you've got an A. 3) lord. wisconsin students DO have intellectual conversations outside of class. it's kind of sickening how many really smart people there are here. but then.. at the same time they are balanced with the conversations of "DUUUUDE.. did you see the COORS girls promotion outside the grocery store?! lets go get some beer and pizza" 4) studnets are very very competative. almost every school within UW-Madison (school of business... school of journalism... school of education.. etc) is really hard to get into.. so the best of the best are competing once we're in still! 5) most unique classes i've taken? human sexuality, anthropology of religion, career strategies and development, eat for credit (food sciences/tasting), geography of the city.. or geography "power of place"... scandinavian studies- life and civilization 6) i'd say it's split down the middle on whether education at wisconsin is geared toward meeting requirements and getting a job.. or just learning for its own sake. for example.. you might have to write a paper that's 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of your grade... but you'll get to pick a topic that interests you and actually find the project somewhat beneficial. also a lot of people go to the academic speakers that aren't required for them. and stuff.

Whatever program you'd like to go into Wisconsin is most likely in the top ten, if not leading the nation. You'll be surrounded by the smartest people from all around the globe in an exciting atmosphere. Nothing rivals the beauty of this college campus.

My favorite class is Theatre 150. I'm far from being a good actress and I still got an A in the class. You just have to try your best and do the work. You also have to put yourself out there and take risks which in the long run really benefit you. The only downside of the class was that it was early in the morning, but getting up was so worth it because the class was su much fun!

Academics at wisconsin are first rate. to quote a friend of mine that transfered from UW Green Bay, man, i never had to study so much for a chemistry class there. Our national rankings speak for themselves, as we have very few programs come in below the top fifteen in their catagory. The classes are challenging and taught by capable professors. Much of our faculty is first rate, and offer much to students outside the class room. One of their best features is being available to students for office hours. Professors at Madison are always available to talk about class issues or otherwise, and do so readily. One thing i worry about with academics is the topic of professor salaries. Being a public university, we cannot offer salaries or increases comparable to smaller, better funded private universities. As a result, we are experiencing something of a brain drain, losing professors to universities such as princeton and chicago. An example of this would be when our poli sci department lost one fifth of its professors last year, many to other universities. There needs to be some comprehensive program in place to bring salaries up and target those professors who are at risk of being poached. Unless this gradual loss of quality educators is stopped, academic standards at wisconsins will not be able to be maintained at the high levels that we have become acustomed to.

From my experiences, many professors to try to know people's names. It's hard sometimes because 400 people can fit in a lecture hall, but TA's generally do a good job knowing their students by name. My favorite class so far would have to be Bio 152 with Prof. Abbott. He's so nice, funny, and he has a great Scottish accent. My least favorite classes have been organic chemistry, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has ever taken it. People here study a lot... I usually spend about 6-7 hours a day during the week studying, and it seems like other students do the same. Academics are important here, and its very competitive. The requirements are reasonable. A Wisconsin education ensures that a graduate will have had experience in MANY fields... we have requirements to complete ethnic studies courses, quantitative reasoning courses, literature courses, social sciences courses.... the list goes on. It's a very well-rounded education that's geared toward bettering students on more broad level than just job-readiness.

The professors are usually very involved, though you get a dud once in awhile. I used to hate the general education requirements (there are so many), but I honestly wouldn't have realized what I want to do with my life if I hadn't had to take classes outside of my comfort level.

Academics here are top notch, with many many many majors to choose from (some departments will even let you make up you own or do a hybrid major). Most classes are really challenging while remaining possible, but every now and then you run in to the piece of cake classes (What else would the athletes take?). On average people are really smart (the all campus GPA is something like a 3.15!) and everyone is really helpful and willing to collaborate, after all we are all in this together. With the large school comes large class sizes for the most part of the first 2 years. After that things will get smaller and the average junior/senior level course probably has 20-30 students in it. Most students do not get to know their professors (I admit, I am one of these students), but the few I have gotten to know have been great and they are always looking to meet their students. My only beef with this university is that advising basically sucks. If you know what you are doing from day 1 great, and even if you do not you have some time to experiment. To get out in four years though you basically have to make up your mind by the end of freshmen year (that's why the fifth year 'victory lap' has become more popular, among other things). Even after you decide on your major however, most advisers just refer you to the university's degree tracking system called DARS to figure out what you need to take, which is really lame.

I have been in a lot of large lectures, but many professors do encourage students to come in and talk to them because they do want to get to know you. Students do study a lot, but they also party a lot. No one is made fun of or looked down upon because they study. I'm actually a retailing major (it wasn't offered as an option above) in the School of Human Ecology.