r/UWMadison

Just wanted to find out more about people’s experience who lived at The Depot on Bedford street. The thing I wanted to know most was how bad is the noise issue. I saw some people complaining that the walls are too thin so you can hear everything going on in neighboring apartments. I’m a pretty light sleeper and need it to be pretty quiet to be able to sleep so that was my biggest concern.

Hi I'm incoming freshman and I'm trying to upload the photo for wiscard. I remember that I uploaded existing photo (not taking photo from my computer) as my wiscard photo, but at that time I have a problem with the photo so it was rejected. Now that I try to upload the photo again, I can't find where to upload the existing photo from my computer option (instead of taking photo from my computer!). Could you guys please help? thanks

I’m an incoming freshman and I just checked my financial account and it says I have a “Wisconsin Merit Scholarship” of 5k that wasn’t there last week. For context I’m in state and I had a 4.6 GPA and 36 ACT in hs so it’s not insanely surprising but I was never informed about this award. And UW already gave me 10k/yr of a different merit scholarship which I was informed about well before I enrolled.

I’m not sure if this is actually something new or if they’re mixing up the award I already have. My tuition balance and my “accepted awards” section show that the award will be applied with my other merit scholarship later this month. If this is legit, does anyone know what this award is for and if it’s for all four years or not? I’m paying for college on my own and an extra 5k per year (or even just this year) is insanely helpful but I don’t want to get my hopes up if this is a mistake. Thanks for any help

My son is entering his Sophomore year at UW Madison. He qualified for the Pell Pathway last year, which made Madison a realistic choice financially. Without it, he was going to settle for another UW system school which was offering a very attractive aid package. He loves Madison and is looking forward to his Sophomore year.

Here’s our problem, and I say “our” because my finances are complicating things. After 39 years as a public school teacher, I retired at the end of the 23/24 school year and began taking my pension. Unexpectedly, I returned to work 1/2 time for the 24/25 school year when they were unable to find someone to replace me. In addition, my financial advisor advised that I convert a chunk of my traditional IRA into a Roth IRA each of the last 2 years. This resulted in an inflated AGI (adjusted gross income) for 2024 and 2025 (Sophomore and Junior years). I’m now fully retired and living off my pension supplemented with cash savings which should carry us over until I claim social security in a few years. I had anticipated that our income after retirement would be low enough to continue making Madison an affordable choice for our family. The SAI result on our FAFSA this year was shockingly higher than last year, and I anticipate that it will be the same next year before this “high AGI bubble” passes by his Senior year. This puts quite a bit of strain on our finances. Being a novice to this whole process, I didn’t anticipate the impact my retirement/temporary unretirement would have on my son’s Pell Pathway. I was mistakenly under the impression that the “once you’re accepted into the Pathway you’re in for 4 years regardless of changing income” meant an affordable path through all 4 years, which gave us the confidence to believe we could afford a 4 year path at UW Madison. It’s now going to be a struggle.

Sorry for the very long post. Just wondering if anyone has had any similar experiences in the Pell Pathway? Do you think a ”special circumstances appeal” would have any chance of success since I am now fully retired and anticipate a much lower adjusted gross income here in 2026 and beyond?

Staying in Cole and will need one for my double. Thanks.

*buy

Let's hope it happens!

https://www.wmtv15news.com/video/2026/08/17/universities-wisconsin-announce-proposed-2027-2029-tuition-freeze/?outputType=amp

hi everyone! i’m an incoming freshmen at UW and i’m moving in early (august 19th) for an academic program. how should i make friends before other freshmen get here? i’m living in a small building in lakeshore so i don’t think making friends in my building is really an option, and i know the wisconsin welcome isn’t for a little bit. is there anything happening now i could attend to make some friends? thank you for your help!!

Hello, sorry if this is a stupid question. I want to bring my own desk to the dorm. It’s a standing desk because I get still joints and will fit fine as I have a single. The issue is, am I allowed to take out the smaller desk already in the room, store it somewhere, and put it back when I move out? Or do the RAs do dorm checks and need everything to remain where it is?

Hi

I am an incoming freshman and I was wondering how to find out about parties? I don’t see a lot of welcome week events. Are more of the activities in the dorm?

I would love some input.

Thank you!

hi all! im an incoming freshman and i was wondering about how long move in will take. my two sisters and parents will be there to help, and im on the fifth floor (if any of that makes a difference)!! i know it all depends on the person and family, but i do have a lot of decor and stuff as well. the reason im asking is because my best friend has her first day of classes at MATC on the day i move in, and she wants to come over and hang out after im done moving in. any estimates or whatever you guys think would be appreciated! i have an 8 am move in as well!

I already bank with community first, and I'm trying to be more financially literate/figure out what benefits some places offer, but don't have a credit card yet as I just turned 18 a couple weeks ago.

I hopeee I can get in to start one with CF this weekend, but I'm just wondering if the uw CU is worth opening one too? They have the $50 opening bonus and I would be open to starting one for my work study job to have a direct deposit there instead of my other account.

Is it worth it? Are they easy to work with? Is it okay to have even though I won't be in madison over winter and probably next summer?

I’m an incoming freshman this fall and I was wondering how people take notes at UW! In high school I preferred writing by hand in notebooks because I absorbed more of the information. However, I know lots of other college students take notes with laptops or tablets instead. I’ve also heard that professors talk very fast, since they know most of their students are typing and can keep up with a faster pace. If I take notes by hand, will I be able to keep up with the professor’s lecture? Thanks :)

I’m an incoming freshman who is currently on a cut. I’m in the dorms and have the go10 meal plan. My merit scholarship covers tuition but I pay for everything else myself and I can’t afford to be buying too much stuff to eat outside of my meal plan. So I want to make sure I still have access to healthy food from the dining halls. Nearly everyday I have a fish rice bowl (tuna or salmon) and it’s genuinely my favorite meal and I don’t want to give it up 😭 I plan on bringing some tuna and salmon packets with me and maybe also soy sauce and mayo for my fridge. Does four lakes always have plain white rice and basic veg like cucumber and carrots? What low cal meal options do they have? Do they have sauce packets of mayo and soy sauce? I have Asperger’s which might explain my hyper fixation lol. I appreciate any help!

I'm a CS Major with three semesters of CS classes left to take. However, I still need 15 more credits to meet the credit requirement for graduation. What are some 3-credit courses you've found interesting?

Im going into my senior year and want to try bartending to make some extra money and just because it sounds like a good opportunity. Does anyone have advice about how hard it would be to get a job with no bartending experience and what places might have openings? Thanks!!