University of Madison, Wisconsin

[Agent Orange]

can anybody give me some input about the quality of the university and especially the economics department?

i am a graduate student at a german university and contemplating pursuing an academic career. i have the possibility to go there for a year. i am freed of any tuition fees whatsoever. even if its not the premium university, its probably still lengths better than here where some class sizes are in the range of several hundred people.

also, how is the town / area? ive never been to the us.

i did some online research so far, and i know this is probably not the best place to ask, but i thought i might give it a shot, i remember a thread where someone mentioned he was teaching micro.

[RBales]

i grew up in madison, very close to campus, and though i didn't go to school there, the academics are solid. i can't speak directly to the economics dept. (i did undergrad at uchicago, so we basically only discussed our own people), but the graduate divisions are pretty much excellent across the board, and the programs are real small (at least, according to my mother who got her phD there).

the town itself is awesome. it gets cold as fuck in the winter and hot/humid as fuck in the summer, but there's a definite scene. hundreds of bars, cheap beer, sports if you're into that at all (i'm not), and one of the most aestheticaly pleasing campus's i've seen. the summer especially is amazing with the lakes and shit.

there's context there if that's your swag, otherwise shopping is limited. food is awesome. quality of life is very high in general and cost of living is dirt cheap. go for it i've never met anyone who'd been to madison and didn't love it.

if you need to know any other shit feel free to pm me.

[Leeacto]

I went to UW-Madison for 4.5 yrs. I had a great time as an Undergrad. I'm not sure exactly how the grad students like it, but the MBAs seemed to have fun. I got my degree in finance, so I took a few Econ classes, but not a ton. The Intermediate/Advanced one (Macro theory) was quite good, though and I liked my professor.

As for the life, I liked it a lot there. Madison is generally more about bars (sitting and getting drunk w/ friends) as opposed to dance clubs. There's a few popular hipster dance party places (Majestic, some dives) that are common.

Living is pretty solid, since all the buildings you'll need are a generally short walk. But as stated above, it's cold as balls in the winter. Rent for a single runs from 500-1000 (median probably about mid 500s)

Context is your only option for clothes, but it's a good one.

Any other questions, just ask

[colin]

it's one of the better schools and cities in wisconsin... but its in wisconsin. it will be cold and you will be stuck in the midwest. if you aren't concerned about going to a "premium" university I would definitely look elsewhere.

[Agent Orange]

sounds good so far, thanks alot!

more academic info would be appreciated but that is probably scarce. i heard quite often that graduate programs in the us are supposed to be alot better. decades of free education have kind of eroded the quality of our university system here, but also broadened the access to higher education. i couldnt have afforded to study in the us or uk without being massively indebted.

if the city is not completely populated by rednecks, its fine. shopping and going out are not my first priorities. ive had quite a share of the good life already, im more concerned with academic quality and cost of living, as im financing myself here atm.

i do not have many other choices at hand, as they all would involve alot more seperate paperwork. also i already have a scholarship pretty much secure when i go there, its part of a faculty cooperation program.

its not really a must for me, im just considering it. im looking into the possibility of getting a master there before i finish my diploma here.

also, are 500$+ rents for single room apps really considered cheap in the us? i thought i was paying alot here, but thats quite a surprise to me. how large are the appartments?