University of Wisconsin Madison c/o 2016 (2012-2013 Cycle) Forum

[ndel21]

I have a question that maybe someone can answer, for scholarship consideration did you have to fill out any additional forms?

[mkemmitt]

I think applicants are automatically considered for merit aid, but right after I went complete they sent a scholarship form that seemed to be for need-based aid. Not positive.

[westphiladelphia]

I have a question that maybe someone can answer, for scholarship consideration did you have to fill out any additional forms?

I think applicants are automatically considered for merit aid, but right after I went complete they sent a scholarship form that seemed to be for need-based aid. Not positive.

Yeah, that form was just for need-based aid consideration -- merit aid is decided on separately, and you won't need to fill anything out. just sit back and wait for the moolah to waltz your way.

[ndel21]

I have a question that maybe someone can answer, for scholarship consideration did you have to fill out any additional forms?

I think applicants are automatically considered for merit aid, but right after I went complete they sent a scholarship form that seemed to be for need-based aid. Not positive.

Yeah, that form was just for need-based aid consideration -- merit aid is decided on separately, and you won't need to fill anything out. just sit back and wait for the moolah to waltz your way.

Thank you guys!

[doglover0702]

Anyone else going to try and wait out the wait list? Last year it looks like people got off toward the end of May, and I might contact admissions this week to see if they can give more details.

[fbmelms]

Anyone want to guess where Wisconsin will be ranked tomorrow. I'm going to be optimistic and say 32.

[boris78]

Anyone else going to try and wait out the wait list? Last year it looks like people got off toward the end of May, and I might contact admissions this week to see if they can give more details.

waitlist? dude, I still don't have a decision!!

[annet]

Congrats to the acceptances!

How are we all holding up? I got a lovely mug from WI on Saturday but even through the food poisoning (thanks OH!) I was able to snark about how it wasn't goddamn scholly info.

[mkemmitt]

I received my cup as well. No finaid. Blast.

[bigfootseattle]

In as of today via email!

[ndel21]

Never been to Madison or Wisconsin, I got accepted a few weeks back. Could someone comment about the city and its atmosphere? i would really appreciate it! I will be at admitted student weekend :0

[fbmelms]

I haven't spent a ton of time in Madison, but I've lived in Wisconsin my whole life and there are really 2 things you need to know. The first is that winters are really cold and the second is that technically a significant portion of our adult population, myself included, are alcoholics (I don't mean to make light of addiction but the definition of alcoholism has really moved away from the addiction aspect of the problem and is now defined by the quantity of alcohol one consumes). On top of this we consistently are number 1 in binge drinking and our binge drinkers consume more alcohol while binge drinking than binge drinkers from any other state in the country, as Lewis Black states while discussing drinking in Wisconsin "you are not alcoholics. You, and, my hat is off to you, you....are professionals". So I would suggest to anyone coming from out of state that you do 2 things to prepare for life in Wisconsin buy a coat and learn to drink. Now I'm sure many of you out of staters think you know how to drink, but in all likelihood you're wrong, essentially if you can't put down a case of beer or the equivalent amount of another alcoholic beverage by yourself and still be more or less functional you aren't yet ready to drink in Wisconsin. Women certainly don't have to meet that same level of excellence but I go to school with plenty of girls that hold their own me and I've knocked back nearly all of a 1.75 of Jack Daniels by myself over about a 10 hour period. Below I have included some some links which contain educational materials with which you can use to become further acquainted with drinking in Wisconsin.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WlwumGkSec
http://www.floatingsheep.org/2010/02/be ... erica.html
--LinkRemoved--

[nba101790]

I haven't spent a ton of time in Madison, but I've lived in Wisconsin my whole life and there are really 2 things you need to know. The first is that winters are really cold and the second is that technically a significant portion of our adult population, myself included, are alcoholics (I don't mean to make light of addiction but the definition of alcoholism has really moved away from the addiction aspect of the problem and is now defined by the quantity of alcohol one consumes). On top of this we consistently are number 1 in binge drinking and our binge drinkers consume more alcohol while binge drinking than binge drinkers from any other state in the country, as Lewis Black states while discussing drinking in Wisconsin "you are not alcoholics. You, and, my hat is off to you, you....are professionals". So I would suggest to anyone coming from out of state that you do 2 things to prepare for life in Wisconsin buy a coat and learn to drink. Now I'm sure many of you out of staters think you know how to drink, but in all likelihood you're wrong, essentially if you can't put down a case of beer or the equivalent amount of another alcoholic beverage by yourself and still be more or less functional you aren't yet ready to drink in Wisconsin. Women certainly don't have to meet that same level of excellence but I go to school with plenty of girls that hold their own me and I've knocked back nearly all of a 1.75 of Jack Daniels by myself over about a 10 hour period. Below I have included some some links which contain educational materials with which you can use to become further acquainted with drinking in Wisconsin.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WlwumGkSec
http://www.floatingsheep.org/2010/02/be ... erica.html
--LinkRemoved--

....This isn't a good thing, by the way.

[fbmelms]

Its only bad when combined with driving.

[illiniguy1551]

I haven't spent a ton of time in Madison, but I've lived in Wisconsin my whole life and there are really 2 things you need to know. The first is that winters are really cold and the second is that technically a significant portion of our adult population, myself included, are alcoholics (I don't mean to make light of addiction but the definition of alcoholism has really moved away from the addiction aspect of the problem and is now defined by the quantity of alcohol one consumes). On top of this we consistently are number 1 in binge drinking and our binge drinkers consume more alcohol while binge drinking than binge drinkers from any other state in the country, as Lewis Black states while discussing drinking in Wisconsin "you are not alcoholics. You, and, my hat is off to you, you....are professionals". So I would suggest to anyone coming from out of state that you do 2 things to prepare for life in Wisconsin buy a coat and learn to drink. Now I'm sure many of you out of staters think you know how to drink, but in all likelihood you're wrong, essentially if you can't put down a case of beer or the equivalent amount of another alcoholic beverage by yourself and still be more or less functional you aren't yet ready to drink in Wisconsin. Women certainly don't have to meet that same level of excellence but I go to school with plenty of girls that hold their own me and I've knocked back nearly all of a 1.75 of Jack Daniels by myself over about a 10 hour period. Below I have included some some links which contain educational materials with which you can use to become further acquainted with drinking in Wisconsin.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WlwumGkSec
http://www.floatingsheep.org/2010/02/be ... erica.html
--LinkRemoved--

Isn't there some statistic that Wisconsin has the most bars per capita or highest ratio of bars to grocery stores? Whatever it was, it was alcohol-related and impressive lol.

[fbmelms]

Its bars to grocery stores and is displayed as a map of the United States available at the second link. The first link is Lewis Black.

[ariadne328]

Having grown up in Madison I just want to weigh in here.

A. Yes, the winters are freezing. It's gotten a little better in the past 5 or 10 years, but you will have whole weeks where the high doesn't get above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, let along freezing. 25 degrees and sunny will start to seem warm. Once you get used to it, and you will, it really isn't so bad, but do prepare yourself for the cold. It only gets colder the farther north you go.

B. In regards to the drinking, it is true that people in Wisconsin, in general, drink a lot. But that is not to say we are always "drunk." It is more just something that people just do. There is a different mindset around drinking that you find many other places. For example, if you are by yourself, you do still need to be 21 to legally drink, but if you are with your parents or legal guardian, you actually just need their permission to order a drink as long as the bartender will serve you. I often ordered glasses of wine with meals during high school and this was never an issue. The UW in particular does have more binge drinking, especially during undergrad and particular parties, like Halloween. But you can also find people who don't drink that much or at all, especially in Madison.
Tl;dr: While you will find serious drinkers, that will by no means be everyone you meet in Wisconsin, especially in Madison. Just be aware that there is a different culture around drinking than in many parts of the country.

Madison is a wonderful city. When the weather is nice (and I don't just mean warm), there are a ton of great outdoor activities and bike paths. The food scene is Madison is also pretty good, check out the farmers market down on the square during the summer. The populace is, in general, well educated and much more liberal than the rest of the state, which has both pros and cons.

[mkemmitt]

In Madison this weekend visiting. If anyone is wondering, the Old Fashioned in Capitol Square is a great place for a bite and a beer. Can't wait for next fall.

[reyals]

On the subject of drinking, I believe a large amount of this is due to the German heritage found in the state.

[illiniguy1551]

Accepted via email this morning! Does scholarship money come with email or via snail mail?

[boris78]

Anyone else going to try and wait out the wait list? Last year it looks like people got off toward the end of May, and I might contact admissions this week to see if they can give more details.

waitlist? dude, I still don't have a decision!!

Just found out i'm in. Sweet!!!

[luxurylawyer]

Anyone else going to try and wait out the wait list? Last year it looks like people got off toward the end of May, and I might contact admissions this week to see if they can give more details.

waitlist? dude, I still don't have a decision!!

Just found out i'm in. Sweet!!!

Congrats!

[boris78]

Anyone else going to try and wait out the wait list? Last year it looks like people got off toward the end of May, and I might contact admissions this week to see if they can give more details.

waitlist? dude, I still don't have a decision!!

Just found out i'm in. Sweet!!!

Congrats!

Excited about Madison. Closest I've ever been is Chicago, but hoping to come check it out for the ASW.

[annet]

Having grown up in Madison I just want to weigh in here.

A. Yes, the winters are freezing. It's gotten a little better in the past 5 or 10 years, but you will have whole weeks where the high doesn't get above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, let along freezing. 25 degrees and sunny will start to seem warm. Once you get used to it, and you will, it really isn't so bad, but do prepare yourself for the cold. It only gets colder the farther north you go.

B. In regards to the drinking, it is true that people in Wisconsin, in general, drink a lot. But that is not to say we are always "drunk." It is more just something that people just do. There is a different mindset around drinking that you find many other places. For example, if you are by yourself, you do still need to be 21 to legally drink, but if you are with your parents or legal guardian, you actually just need their permission to order a drink as long as the bartender will serve you. I often ordered glasses of wine with meals during high school and this was never an issue. The UW in particular does have more binge drinking, especially during undergrad and particular parties, like Halloween. But you can also find people who don't drink that much or at all, especially in Madison.
Tl;dr: While you will find serious drinkers, that will by no means be everyone you meet in Wisconsin, especially in Madison. Just be aware that there is a different culture around drinking than in many parts of the country.

Madison is a wonderful city. When the weather is nice (and I don't just mean warm), there are a ton of great outdoor activities and bike paths. The food scene is Madison is also pretty good, check out the farmers market down on the square during the summer. The populace is, in general, well educated and much more liberal than the rest of the state, which has both pros and cons.

I also grew up in Madison and I live here now. This is a little more accurate. I actually tend to associate binge drinking and perpetual drunkenness with areas outside of Madison and Milwaukee where you get that "well, there's nothing better to do, let's get drunk again" attitude. This is, in part, because in the middle of winter when it's cold and dark and boring, getting drunk sometimes is the only thing to do. UW Oshkosh and UW La Crosse can both drink UW Madison under the table and then still be ok the next morning for bloody Marys.

The other thing to keep in mind is that Madison is a very VERY liberal city. Our local races generally have no republican candidates, just different flavors of democrats. The last big mayoral race was between two democrats and a green party candidate. If you want to be involved in republican politics you can absolutely do that, just at the state, rather than local level.

The restaurant scene has gotten much better in the past 5 years or so. You can really get your foodie on. The farmer's market is awesome and the winter markets are pretty solid too. Grocery is improving steadily - there's finally a good supermarket on campus and Hy-Vee is moving in to Madison. As mentioned up-thread there is also a Trader Joe's pretty close to campus and a Whole Foods a bit beyond that. If you want to get even crunchier the Willy St. Co-Op is awesome and pretty much the only place I shop now that they have a west side location.

The east/west thing is also notable. Madison is built on an isthmus so it's a pain in the ass to get across the city. This results in there being two of everything - one on the west side, one on the east side. It won't matter much if you live downtown or in one of the cool near-west or near-east neighborhoods but the father out you go the more you notice the split. If you're coming from Chicago you generally scratch your head and wonder where the "traffic" we complain about is

Also, sorry I missed your post mekmmit - I hope you did get to the Old Fashioned as it is a very good choice if you don't mind hanging out and waiting for a table.

[chris1350]

Just got in this morning. Good to finally have a decision after being in review since 12/27