Guest pistolwink Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I haven't made my final decision yet, but chances are good I'll be heading for Wisconsin in the fall. Anyone else seriously considering it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamay Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 very seriously. having trouble imagining myself in a city where my snot freezes. haven't been to visit, though i wish i had the funds to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mia Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Me too,,,I have a great chance of going there too..T-T...All my life I have been living in the city, can't imagine myself over there...and so cold as well.... Are you guys going to the Visit Day on the 31st?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pistolwink Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I went there last summer to do research at the university archives...I didn't do a tour or anything, but all the university people I interacted with were great and I got a pretty good "vibe," if you will. But that WAS August. My mother lived there for a few months in the 60s and warned that "spring" happens around June. When I mentioned that to an advisor who went there, he said something along the lines of, "hey now, sometimes it's as early as May." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sarah Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 I go to Madison 3 or 4 times a month (I go to a smaller school further south in Wisconsin) and I can tell y'all that snowed today, kind of blustery nasty stuff. I'd say that, like most places in Wisconsin, the weather is kind of schitzo in Madison... even in January you can have really nice, warm (40s) days and then the next day it's hailing. BUT, it stabilizes for the most part in late March to early April, around now. And you get used to it really quick. But I'm from Alaska, so maybe I'm a bad judge of cold weather. ANYWAY, you should all go to Madison anyway. Great city, beautiful lakes, bike paths, a lovely capital building. Not too diverse, though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennesy Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Yeah, the weather is crazy here. We just got about 5 in. of snow this week, and last weekend it was in the 60's...go figure. And yeah, Madison isn't too diverse (even though they say they are)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
air_supply_fan Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 OMG, is the weather really that bad? How can you work efficiently in such cold weather? Wasn't I told by someone that it was ranked the Best City to Live in the United States?! How about its career prospectives? Is it easy to find good internships there? One prof told me that a lot of students leave Minnesota when they graduate from UMinnesota, coz it's too cold there. Is it the same with UW-M? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennesy Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 The weather in the winter is pretty bad, but otherwise Madison is a really great city to live in (and don't worry, campus buildings are always overheated anyway!). Not sure about internships, it depends on your field. There are a few large corps. headquartered in Madison, and there are mental health facilities, government offices, law offices, arts, etc. I think it depends on your field. Overall Madison is great - don't let the weather scare you away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ophiolite Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 I'll be in Madison for my PhD in August Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest muse Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Im leaving Madison for NYC. I can say UW Madison is an excellent school for science and technical based programs. Think medicine, law, pharmacy, engineering, etc. You know, those kinds of things. Also the school of Education is ranked very high. BUT>>>> do not go here for any kind of humanities or art based programs. It is living hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
air_supply_fan Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Im leaving Madison for NYC. I can say UW Madison is an excellent school for science and technical based programs. Think medicine, law, pharmacy, engineering, etc. You know, those kinds of things. Also the school of Education is ranked very high. BUT>>>> do not go here for any kind of humanities or art based programs. It is living hell. really? i'm thinking of attending their journalism and mass communicaiton program. how is that one? it has a pretty good reputation in the field, but i find there are lots of new profs who just came to teach in the last five years and don't see any really "old" profs in that school. muse, do you know about that school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Muse-- that isn't totally true. There are some top-ranked humanities phd programs there that are quite nice. Example: The Film Studies program is excellent, and the faculty are wonderful. Air_supply_fan-- I know someone in the journalism school, and she likes it a lot. I can't really speak for the faculty, of course, but it's far from "a living hell" as far as I know. But, Muse, I'll have to agree with you if you're referring to the MFA program. Unless you're in prinkmaking, I wouldn't attend there, ever. Terrible studio spaces, some good faculty peppered in with awful ones... yeah. Not good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest muse Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Yeah, I mean, there are some good programs here and there but overall I just wouldn't recommend the city to anyone. Besides the freaking frigid coldness, the people are.... hmmm... wierd I guess? Its tough to explain. Many many many hidden agendi and watch your back for political academics. The place has been known to ruin more than a few careers and it goes unnoticed because its in the boonies. just a caveat... buyer be-ware! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistolwink Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Well, I visited last week and it was amazing. For the most part, the students in the program I'm considering seemed to really get along (and I don't think they were just putting on a show), and the faculty were incredible. The campus/downtown area is neither too gritty nor too glossy...the visit has just about convinced me to go there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Muse, maybe I'm just taking this personally, but I think people in Madison are generally very nice and friendly. There may be departments where careers are ruined, so on and so forth, but I never was privy to any of this. The departments I was involved in everyone got along great-- they even hung out together, even with the profs. I suppose we need to judge department by department... a visit and talking to graduate students would really give anyone a better picture of what goes on there. Yeah, the weather can be bad, I guess, but if you're a Midwesterner, it's just run of the mill. Minnesota is slightly worse. Chicago is just as bad. Again, maybe I'm taking this personally, but the weather isn't like it is in Siberia or anything. I saw someone post somthing about snot freezing, but whatever... the really, really cold days aren't all that common. And lately, since weather has been milder in general, Madison only saw one significant snowstorm. Oh, and it might be useful to mention here that Madison was once again ranked the #1 mid-sized city in the country to live in, despite its winters. And p.s.-- "boonies"? Madison is hardly the "boonies." It's ranked number one in a few disciplines, and top ten in many of the others. Many faculty are venerated in their fields. pistolwink-- Glad you liked it! State Street can get on anyone's nerves after awhile, but the restaurants and art scene are wonderful. And take advantage of the farmer's market! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guyberon Posted April 3, 2006 Share Posted April 3, 2006 Isnt madison where that human embryo scientist is that lied about cloning? Ive heard that often times school administrators will lurk on these forums pretending to be students and hype up thier school? is that true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
air_supply_fan Posted April 3, 2006 Share Posted April 3, 2006 i've decided to go to wisconsin-madison for my ph.d. in mass comm. anyone going too? do i need to put on layers of clothes in the winter? i'm in a cold state, but most of the time, i just put on an overcoat and a tee on the way and in the classroom i just wear tees. does that work in madison? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistolwink Posted April 3, 2006 Share Posted April 3, 2006 I'm about 95% sure I'm going to Madison (for Comm Arts - Film). The student I stayed with on my prospective weekend visit lived on Dayton Street a little over a mile from campus. It seemed pretty removed from the undergrad scene - it was an area full of older houses and apartments (most converted, I think) and a popular area for grad students (several others from the program lived there or on surrouding blocks). I was thinking I'd want to live a little further out, but seeing the kind of community they've developed makes me want to live closer. As for weather - my understanding is that it gets Pretty Bad only for a couple of months (an advisor who went there said that he rode his bicycle most of the year but that there were weeks in the winter when it just. wasn't. possible.). One of my parents lived there for awhile (albeit eons ago) and confirms that it gets "really, really cold." Comparable to Chicago, but maybe not quite so windy? I'd invest in some hats/gloves/scarves and a sturdy coat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nash Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 I'll prolly end up at Madison for an econ Phd. I'm looking for a good apartment. Any GOOD grad only apts within walking distance of the social sciences building? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
air_supply_fan Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 sweet, pistolwink, there is a lot of collaborative work between these two schools/depts. i just wanted to find a cheap, but not too shabby, place to live, b/c i like to study in my office most of the time and i wanted to save money. not quite sure about the bus system there. as along as the apt is on the bus route, i guess it also sound good. it seems like many people talk about bicycling around. is it a good way to go to school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest leaving Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 for those of you ending up at UW... I'm very sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistolwink Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Yeah, that doesn't faze me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 I'm about 95% sure I'm going to Madison (for Comm Arts - Film). The student I stayed with on my prospective weekend visit lived on Dayton Street a little over a mile from campus. It seemed pretty removed from the undergrad scene - it was an area full of older houses and apartments (most converted, I think) and a popular area for grad students (several others from the program lived there or on surrouding blocks). I was thinking I'd want to live a little further out, but seeing the kind of community they've developed makes me want to live closer. As for weather - my understanding is that it gets Pretty Bad only for a couple of months (an advisor who went there said that he rode his bicycle most of the year but that there were weeks in the winter when it just. wasn't. possible.). One of my parents lived there for awhile (albeit eons ago) and confirms that it gets "really, really cold." Comparable to Chicago, but maybe not quite so windy? I'd invest in some hats/gloves/scarves and a sturdy coat. Daton snt quite a mile from campus and it is easy to get there but... Its actually a huge party neighborhood. Most grads actually commute to campus or stay on old university which is quieter and pretty close to med school, engineering, etc. It gets cold for much much longer than a few months here, be prepared. It just started warming up last week. Take a look at the average temperatures to get a better idea. It is really really nice (pleasent) weather but only for one month at the beginning and end of the school years and summers are muggy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistolwink Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Thanks! Oh, I wasn't meaning to suggest that I'd heard it was only cold for a couple months; what I'd heard was that it's only for a couple months that it's so brutally cold one can't really ride a bicycle. And Dayton Street is really long, no? Where I stayed was about 1.5 miles from Vilas Hall and well, it was pretty quiet the weekend I was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 No, Dayto isnt very long. It runs parralell to Mifflin and well, maybe youve heard of Mifflin street block party? Anyways, Vilas is a large utilitarian looking building on east campus, fairly easy to get to from most quadrants. Perhaps your cold tolerance is different than mine but, I could only ride my bike for a total of 2 months this school year. Buses come every half hour though, so its not too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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