University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (UW)

University of Wisconsin���Milwaukee is ���a large, economical, urban, commuter school offering many good programs,��� including an architecture school that ���is probably the most prestigious at UWM��� and a ���very intense��� nursing school. Both ���are incredibly hard to get into,��� students warn, informing us that ���They are small but very powerful when it comes to recruiting students. We have to set our deadlines more than six months in advance for them. I���ve heard of a lot of people being turned away from the programs because they missed a deadline or they weren���t good enough to get into the program.��� Business, accounting, global studies, and pre-dental science programs all earn students��� praise. So, too, do a number of offerings in the creative arts; the theatre program is reportedly ���growing and developing into a very strong program��� while the film program is ���heavy on experimentation but still valuable for traditional film production.��� In short, ���UWM is not the slacker school it used to be; it���s definitely changing its standards for the better.��� Affordable and reasonable in its admissions standards, UWM ���provides a diverse setting where people of any background are able to study and take advantage of opportunities to earn a degree without being spoon fed.���

���There is a lot of everyone at UWM,��� ���the most diverse school in the state of Wisconsin.��� One student observes that ���You can find blacks talking to Chinese, whites with Indians. Everyone���s pretty cool with everyone else.��� In addition, UWM is home to ���a lot of nontraditional students,��� and ���students [who] have part-time jobs and can offer a wide range of experience.��� The result of all this diversity is that ���in the same room with someone straight out of high school you can find someone who went to the Middle East in the military, a single parent, and someone who was a result of the Baby Boom. Everyone has his or her own thing going on. The campus can simultaneously be littered with posters for a protest and signs for Bible study.��� Undergrads have to make an effort to make connections, though, as the typical student is ���a commuter who spends little time on campus, [making] it difficult to meet new people. Most students stay friends with their high school friends.���

The UWM campus ���has everything you need for a great time,��� including ���great food��地 bowling alley in the rec center,��� a ���movie theater in the dorms where movies are constantly playing,��� and a ���workout center that is great and just renovated, so it���s almost like brand new.��� In addition, ���because Milwaukee has lots of great venues,��� including not only a legendary bar scene���this is the city beer built, after all���but also ���the Milwaukee Public Museum, the beach, Brewers games, Bucks games, and parties.��� Of the last, students report that ���People like their weekend parties. House parties pretty much dominate the weekend atmosphere. But people who aren���t down with house partying can find their place in the downtown scene,��� because ���In the summer, spring and fall there are a million things to do in Milwaukee.��� How extensively students can enjoy these extracurricular options varies widely, as many here work and manage family obligations in addition to their school responsibilities, leaving little time for college fun.