University of Wisconsin-Madison Top Questions

Being in the Big Ten Conference, athletic events are extremely important to students at UW, especially Badger Football Games at Camp Randall, our stadium. Home games are usually packed and extremely energetic. Students are very involved in traditional cheers and songs while in the stands, and there is even a day at the beginning of the school year for all Freshmen and new students to head to Camp Randall to learn these songs and the possible hand motions that go with them. UW students, drunk and sober alike, completely animate when the band plays these songs. The amount of school spirit here is extremely refreshing. Every year, there are two major drinking holidays: Halloween and Mifflin. Halloween attracts thousands of people from other campuses for its infamous reputation and its street music festival, Freakfest, which takes place on State Street, a pedestrian-friendly commerical mall. Mifflin, or "Mifflin Street Days", is a weekend-long party that takes place in almost every house on Mifflin Street. It originated in the 70's as a protest to the war in Vietnam and has evolved into one of the sloppiest and craziest weekends on any college campus. The police try to get involved as much as possible each year, to little avail. It lasts from early morning until...well, early morning again. There are few hours that people are NOT partying this weekend. It's the last weekend that people are in Madison before finals in the Spring, so people see it as their last chance to really party before going home for the summer. The most popular organizations would have to be our ballroom dance club or PubCom, the Publications Committee. PubCom has several branches to it, two of which I belong to myself. I'm part of Working Title, our creative writing club, and Souvenirs, one of our several student-run magazines that we produce annually. PubCom is generally more for those interested in a literary field, but it also includes branches like theatre, which is responsible for putting together and hosting free screenings of movies in one of our two unions a few times a month. Yup, that's right, we have TWO unions! Union South was just rebuilt and finished this past spring, and is incredible, to say the least. There is a rockwall, a bowling alley, movie theater, concert hall, bar, restaurants, cafes, and several study areas and meeting spaces inside. Our other union, Memorial Union, is on the other side of campus, right on Lake Mendota with it's own Terrace and swimming dock in the summer. There is tons of windsurfing, sailing, and boating in in the summer and spring months, and, when the weather is nice, the Terrace is filled with people of all ages, sharing pitchers of beer. Although there are many activites for drinkers, there are also lots of things available for underagers or non-drinkers. Aside from the numerous activites in Union South, there are many free events like ballroom dancing lessons or various workshops that take place weekly. We have an amazing acapella group, The Madhatters, that have performances throughout the year. This group actually just performed at the White House recently! You can also get tickets as cheap as $10 for the Madison Symphony Orchestra with your student ID. My favorite event would have to be the annual Yule Ball that PubCom hosts in December (which they just started in 2010). As a Harry Potter lover, it was amazing.

I don't see how this is a relevant question.

Greek life is pretty big at Madison, but because of the sheer size of the student body, it does not play nearly as large of a role on campus as it does in other schools. Due to the school's D1 status, becoming a Badger athlete is usually difficult if you haven't been recruited and is very time-consuming if you are in a sport. If you still want to be an athlete, though, don't worry- there are endless intramurals going on throughout the year and multiple club teams that you can try out for. Football games are huge social events, as well as (to a lesser extent) men's basketball and hockey games. Madison has earned its status as a party school, and Fridays and Saturdays are generally filled with social activities that may or may not include booze (some students like to include Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in their weekends too...). Opportunities for free activities are everywhere, so if there's something you're even remotely interested in there's probably a way you can learn it. I've learned how to ballroom dance, make perfect mac and cheese in Cheese Club, break dance, become a certified phlebotomist (blood-drawer), do yoga, and a whole lot more...and that's just outside of my pre-professional and school-related activities.

This semester at UW Madison there are 763 different student organizations, covering a wide variety of interests. I would say that the most popular organizations are those that are the interest groups that are particular to your major and long-term academic goals (ex. Kinesiology Club, Pre-Veterinary Club) because joining clubs like these is a really good way to meet people that are probably going to be in the same classes as you or will have already taken those classes and can give you some pointers. Also very popular is the Greek scene. We have a ton of really great club sports here as well as intramural sports that are less competitive. There are many different groups for international, minority, and LGBT students as well. At the beginning of each semester we have a Student Org Fair, with each club setting up a booth and handing out a little bit of information about what they do so look out for that and shop around for whatever interests you. You are not necessarily committed to anything because you pick up a pamphlet or put your name on an e-mail list!

Of course, football and basketball games are a pretty common/necessary to attend. On game day, the whole city of Madison is either at the game or watching it in a bar. Game days in Madison are so much fun and totally worth your Saturday. I lived in the Lakeshore dorms, which are situated by a Lake Monona. It was such a great experience and I recommend the dorms to all incoming freshmen. I live with my dorm mates now, as a Sophomore, and have made life long friends. We go out most weekends but, with so much going on in Madison, students do not need to drink to have fun. There are always movies and live entertainment at the Unions and many more alcohol-free activities. I am involved at a student run newspaper on campus and really enjoy it. Off campus, I work as an intern at the Capitol.

One of the most popular student activities is cheering on the sports teams. UW Madison is known for its BIG TEN basketball and exceptional football teams. The road next to Camp Randall, Breeze Terrace is always buzzing on a game day. That being said, while the sports teams are often of interest to students here, there are so many other organizations to get involved in, you will find it hard to pick just one! Balancing these extra activities with schoolwork is perhaps the most challenging part of the whole situation as finding something you will enjoy being a part of is simply that easy.

Student orgs is where I met most of my friends. The Wisconsin Union Directorate is a great start. There are nine committees within WUD including Film, Music, Art, Society and Politics, Hoofers (horseriding, mountaineering, SCUBA, etc). I'm on WUD Film and we program free movies on campus 6 days a week ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to experimental avant-garde shorts. I'm on a long-form improv team called The Titanic Players that I auditioned for freshman year. I now live with 5 of my teammates and they're the best friends I could ever imagine. There's a big Greek life on campus, but I've avoided it completely. Madison is in Wisconsin, so of course that's a huge bar scene. There are dozens of cool pubs and bars of all types of styles, classy, typical college bar, gay bar, everything. Some even have 18+ dance nights if you're not of age. State Street is the main shopping and club street and it's got many restaurants open until 4 am, so even if you're out late there's something to do. The Henry Vilas Zoo, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Chazen Museum of Art, and Veterans Museum are all located on or near campus. There are many traditions in Madison including Mifflin Street Block Party every April where one can drink outside, Freakfest every Halloween (bands have included OK Go, Third Eye Blind, and Neon Indian), Badger football games, and the weekly Farmer's Market around the capitol every Saturday morning.

Student Orgs are very open to everyone, including freshmen. Before I even located the Student Union on campus I trained at WSUM, Student radio. I was one of the only freshmen in the first group of trainees, but still managed to become an integral member of the station. I now have my own show that I produce every week. It is a fun hands-on activity that is what you make it, much like this university. By my second year being a DJ, I was training a new batch of future WSUM members. My proudest moment arrived when this young man, who was adamant about not talking on air, introduced a song with confidence. WSUM helped me to become involved and meet friends outside the dorms.

There are all kinds of things to get involved with on campus, and not one group is obviously most popular. Sports are a big deal, and everyone has pride in our excellent teams, even if not an athlete. Football especially is a big deal, and going to games is an important part of the fall semester for many students. Student organizations cover a wide variety of interests, from Model United Nations, to Sci-Fi club, to Cheese Club, to Classics Society. I personally am the secretary for the Ten Percent Society, a social group for queer and allied students on campus that has weekly meetings involving lots of board game playing, as well as trips for things such as apple picking and laser tagging. I also am involved with UW's Hillel, the Jewish student center. I attend Friday night services weekly, and eat dinner and socialize with other Jewish students afterward. There is a pretty active Greek Life on campus if that's what you're interested in getting into. It's also pretty easy to avoid Greek Life on campus if that's what you're into. UW is constantly bringing in speakers or holding special discussions or lectures. Last year we even had Barak Obama come to speak. These are great opportunities to learn about things that don't necessarily have anything to do with your major. Madison itself has lots to offer students. There's the (in?)famous FreakFest and other Halloween celebrations, which I love, since Halloween is my favorite holiday. Also popular is the Farmer's Market, which is the largest in the area and is great for people looking for fresh, local food on a budget.

There are all kinds of things to get involved with on campus, and not one group is obviously most popular. Sports are a big deal, and everyone has pride in our excellent teams, even if not an athlete. Football especially is a big deal, and going to games is an important part of the fall semester for many students. Student organizations cover a wide variety of interests, from Model United Nations, to Sci-Fi club, to Cheese Club, to Classics Society. I personally am the secretary for the Ten Percent Society, a social group for queer and allied students on campus that has weekly meetings involving lots of board game playing, as well as trips for things such as apple picking and laser tagging. I also am involved with UW's Hillel, the Jewish student center. I attend Friday night services weekly, and eat dinner and socialize with other Jewish students afterward. There is a pretty active Greek Life on campus if that's what you're interested in getting into. It's also pretty easy to avoid Greek Life on campus if that's what you're into.