Urban dictionary has been wittily describing some of our favorite places and things since 1999, although most kids discover it while searching for inappropriate words. In the case of UW Madison, they have it wrong. Enter UW Madison in the search bar of urbandictionary.com, and the first three entries accurately describe the wonder of the university. But by the fourth definition, the wonder disappears.
“A "public ivy league" school for douche bags, who think that admittance to this school automatically means they are the most brilliant people to walk the planet. Really the only admission standard is arrogance. If you have a near Kanye West arrogance level, welcome to UW-Madison!
Overly hyped with not much to back it up, there are better schools than this one; unless of course you are looking to develop alcoholism. Then you are in the right place.
The campus is poorly laid out, with buildings scattered all over downtown Madison. The class sizes are ridiculous, and forget about having professors that actually give a damn. Madison itself is a very pretentious city. Filled with "arty" wannabe's and liberals. Really Madison, let's get over our fascination with State Street- which is just a bunch of overpriced stores and overpriced "ethnic" restaurants; and let's not forget the endless number of homeless people that line the streets. It's a hippies dream!”
For starters, the students of Madison are nothing but pleasant and helpful. I have yet to encounter a single person that could be described as a “douche bag.” Also, we know we’re no Harvard, but come on, it’s not like the admittance standards were developed for slackers. The students of UW Madison are humble, but intelligent, and should be proud to attend this prestigious public university. Kanye wishes he could have obtained his degree from UW.
UW is “overly hyped with not much to back it up”? Last time I checked, we were having killer pre- and post-game celebrations due to the top-notch performance of our Big 10 football team. Our basketball team made it to the final four last year—so there’s good reason for “hype” at UW. Aside from our sports, we hold our own with our well-renowned academics, student organizations, and study abroad programs. Contrary to popular belief, we don’t only drink at this university—but we can out-drink you while maintaining our stellar GPA’s.
Our campus is “poorly laid out,” you say? To the contrary, our library overlooks Lake Mendota, the view from Bascom Hill is nothing less than extraordinary, and the Lakeshore path boasts lake views and trees in amazing hues of red and orange come fall. We may have to walk a bit farther to get places than at other universities, but that’s just part of attending a large university—the expansiveness makes it interesting and entertaining.
The class sizes are “ridiculous” and our professors don’t “give a damn?” Many classes are small in size, but, even in larger classes, professors go out of their way to accommodate students. They extend office hours, are flexible on meeting times and are willing to thoroughly review grades on exams and other assignments—they truly want to see students thrive.
“Arty wannabe’s?” No, much more like talented individuals that choose to pursue their passions, and are damn proud of it. And State Street “overrated?” State Street offers endless restaurants, stores and coffee shops for strolling though, student or not. As the hub of Madison, there is always something new and different to try—what is bad about ethnic food? Having ethnic options says a lot about the diverse culture in Madison. Yes, there are homeless people, but homeless people exist everywhere, unfortunately, and they don’t devalue our university or community.
You’ve failed us Urban Dictionary. Clearly, the douche bag who created this definition of UW has never been to Madison.
