Most students seem enamored of the University of Wisconsin-Madison undergraduate experience. With about 30,000 undergraduates, the state’s flagship university “has everything you'd want out of a college experience: good academics, strong programs with a diverse number of majors, beautiful campus, big-time athletics, and an outstanding party scene,” boasts one of many students who praise their school for offering the complete undergraduate package.

University of Wisconsin students are often pigeonholed as beer-guzzling party animals. As one sophomore explains, according to the popular stereotype, “we drink all the time. People come and visit me and then think that is all we are going to do,” says a sophomore. Of course, the school’s party-harder-than-thou contingent exists (there is a reason Playboy named Wisconsin the nation’s #1 party school), but there’s much more to the university than after-hours revelry. As one junior explains, “there is a lot of beer drinking and partying, but it is definitely avoidable and there is a good population of students who avoid the bar scene.” The school’s legendary college town, Madison, has its fair share of concert venues, museums, eateries, and cafes for alcohol-free activities. The university’s strong sports culture may be one of the factors that plays into its reputation for celebration. The University of Wisconsin is a Big Ten powerhouse and a top-25 fixture in men’s basketball and football.  Students come out en mass to route for their classmates. ESPN has even called Madison the #1 college sports town in the country. For better or worse, as one sophomore explains, “athletics… often go hand-in-hand with parties and alcohol, [though they] can also be a source of sober entertainment.”

In terms of academics, most agree with a junior biology major who finds that “[t]he requirements are reasonable” and not unduly onerous. For those in search of a rigorous academic path, those opportunities are available. “The caliber of student varies depending on your area of study and many programs are highly competitive,” explains a senior on the pre-med track. “There is no doubt that students work very hard and the library is always packed.” Still, many claim that an apathetic student can get by on academic cruise control, especially in some classes with over 500 students or with professors who seem more concerned with research than students. “Some of the classes seem really easy,” recalls one sophomore from in-state. “[L]ast semester I took Econ 101. Only went to 3 or 4 lectures at the beginning of the year, never did homework or went to discussions and just read through most of the readings the night before exams and still passed with a C.”

Even though a large percentage of undergrads are white, “UW is diverse in its own way,” explains a freshman. “There is definitely a gay community at [the] school, which is to be expected at such a liberal university in the liberal city of Madison.” Despite the student body’s general belief in tolerance, the largest source of contention on campus seems to be the social rift between in-state and out-of-state Badgers. Approximately one-third of the students hail from outside of the Cheese State, and these students have been dubbed “Coasties” (because most of them come from either the West or East coast). Students from Wisconsin are known as “Sconnies.” The locals characterize the out-of-staters as spoiled.  One in-state alumnus explains that the Coasties are not “the anti-Christ, but not very many of them have ever had to earn anything in their lives. It can be frustrating to work three jobs so you can pay tuition out of pocket, and then hear a Coastie bitch about how their mommy and daddy won't send them money to buy a new pair of Uggs.” On the other side of the equation, “Sconnie kids love to hunt, drink lots of beer, and are a little rough around the edges,” according to a sophomore from Tennessee. A lot of these perceptions seem to be born out of stereotypes and misconceptions, but they still perpetuate a degree of separation between the groups. As one junior from Massachusetts explains, “the segregation between in-state and out-of-state students is a major problem…This has created a fragmented campus, which is a real shame.”

Whether one comes from a far-off coast or nearby Milwaukee, Wisconsin students are typically a content bunch of Badgers. Even when it comes to the most obvious downside life in Madison – the frigid Wisconsin winter – students put an optimistic spin on the situation. “While it may be freezing cold for a good chunk of the school year, it is absolutely amazing to sit on the Terrace and look out onto Lake Mendota, or to just sit on Bascom Hill and read,” writes a junior. That’s just the sort of attitude you can expect a school to cultivate when it puts thousands of students together at a dynamic institution in one of the country’s liveliest college towns.