About Me

• More 

Intro

I'm the best of the Midwest, baby.

You may have heard the rumors, and it's true—I have a well-earned reputation as a party school. But trust me, that's not all I'm about. It might be cliché, but I live by the motto "work hard, party hard."

Oh, what's that you were saying? Just because I'm a public university and not on the East Coast, you think my academic record isn't stellar? Think again, homeslice. I'm a research university, which means I have some pretty major academic superstars all up in my labs.

I've got quite a few sports superstars, too. Big Ten, baby. I'm well-known for dominating, especially when it comes to football, basketball, and track.

Yeah, okay. I'm a big school. As an underclassman, you're going to be sitting in more than one 500-person lecture hall—unless you've chosen one of my smaller majors, like dairy science. Mmm…butter.

Oh, and speaking of dairy science, here's another fun fact: I have an actual dairy (yep, with actual cows) on campus that actually makes and sells its own ice cream. Because what's better than a nice double-scoop cone on a frigid and blustery winter day?

Yeah, I know. I've pretty much got everything. Cows and all.

Name

Bucky Badger, University of Wisconsin--Madison

Hometown

I'll be straight-up with you: Madison can get a bit cold and snowy during the winter. And by a bit cold, I mean wind chills below zero. Luckily, in the warm months you can't beat the city: it's got lakes, bike trails, and all the brats and cheese you can eat. Madison is also the state capital and the second-biggest city in Wisconsin, so things are pretty happening here.

Birthdate

1848

Body Type

Mostly hearty Midwestern stock (see the above note RE: brats and cheese, and add a beer gut in there for good measure)—a bit soft in the middle but totally loveable.

I'm part of the larger University of Wisconsin system, and as its flagship campus, I've got an impressively sized population: around 29,000 undergrads and 9,000 graduate students. That's a lot of Badgers.

With this kind of population, you can imagine the scene on campus during passing time: basically, it's pedestrian-city. I swarm with pedestrians. If you like to get around on bike or by scooter, prepare to become an expert at dodging and weaving.

Current Living Situation

I have nineteen residence halls and it seems like a new one goes up every other second, so most underclassmen live on campus. My advice about which dorm to choose? Pick the one that's closest to the part of campus you'll be spending the most time in, or else you'll be hiking a long way to class (often in snow, uphill…both ways).

Want to live in a frat or sorority? That means you'll be on Langdon Street, which is a block away from the lake. Not too shabby.

Upperclassmen tend to live off campus in one of Madison's downtown neighborhoods. Lots of off-campus housing is available on and very near State Street, the downtown hub. Downtown is mostly off-campus housing and fancy yuppie condos, so you can party it up loud and proud.

If your classes are going to be on the south side of campus, you'll probably want to live in the Vilas or Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood, which are close to the football stadium and the city zoo. One warning: living in one of these neighborhoods means mingling amongst families and older folks, so if you're into having loud parties every night, you might want to look elsewhere.

Relationship Status

Like I said, I'm the flagship university in a state-wide system, so I have a lot of really close friends—twenty-five, to be exact. No need to be jealous, though. Seriously. I don't even think about them that way. They're like siblings to me.

I have a love-hate relationship with the University of Minnesota. On the one hand, I totally dig Minnesotans. I dig them so much, I offer tuition reciprocity so Minnesota state residents can come here and pay in-state tuition. But here's the thing: I only love the Minnesotans that look at me and see how I'm far superior to their paltry U of M.

The ones that have the crazy notion that U of M is better? They're dead to me. Except during football season, when I only acknowledge them long enough to flaunt the fact that I won Paul Bunyan's axe once again. I mean, I've won the football trophy every year for the last eleven years straight, so it's not really even a contest anymore. Yawn.

Politics

Wisconsin is a fairly conservative state, but Madison is…well, not. That's definitely in large part because of me, thank you very much.

My student population tends to lean liberal and idealistic, and they have a reputation for political activism. The State Capitol building is close to campus, so grab your Sharpies and your poster boards and get ready to protest.

You should apply to me if...

you live in Wisconsin or Minnesota and want to get a top-notch education for in-state, public university prices, all in one of the best cities in the Midwest.

If you live elsewhere (on the coast, perhaps?), head over if you're looking for a top-notch education and you want to escape the snooty, holier-than-thou attitudes of East and West Coast colleges but don't want to get stuck in the boondocks…like Minnesota.

But no matter where you're coming from, if you can't handle a little snow or the occasional twenty-below-zero winter temperatures…maybe reconsider applying elsewhere.

Website

http://www.wisc.edu