The University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Date: Jan 11 2013
Major: Undecided (This Major's Salary over time)
I don't love UWGB but I wouldn't say I hate it. I am planning on transferring out for next year though. A lot of people who go here are from the Green Bay area and commute, so you may click with somebody in one of your classes but not really get to hang out with them on nights/weekends because they don't live on campus. Also, this school has a high transfer rate. One of my friends who is a junior said out of the 60 or so people from his freshman building, only 8 still go here.

The dorms are VERY nice, I am apparently in one of the oldest buildings but every room has their own bathroom and it feels like staying in a hotel. Socially, on the other hand, I'd give dorm life a D. Nobody really leaves their door open and on the first week I went around my floor and introduced myself and a lot of people seemed very unfriendly. There is no sense of community. I have a few friends who live on the same floor in a different building, and that one seems much more social, as they have game nights and movie nights and all kinda wander in and out of each other's rooms. I have been in some other buildings that feel like nobody even lives there! So I guess the social quality of dorm life just kinda depends on the hand you get dealt.

The area surrounding campus is VERY BORING! It takes about 15 minutes to drive into the city, and all we have within walking distance is a gas station and a subway. Weekends are torture and the party scene is non-exsistent, almost everybody goes home or to another school to party on weekends. During the week there is occasionally fun stuff to do, like UWGB nites which is like a big dance with games and chances to win prizes, but more often than not you will be very bored here unless you really make an effort and get involved in as many clubs as you possibly can.

Academically, UWGB is pretty good. Out of the 5 professors I had first semester, I only really didn't like one. From what I have experienced so far, classes will either be an easy A or you will have to work a little to get a B. On average, I probably had about 3 hours of homework a weekday, but got it all done in the library during the massive gap between 2 of my classes. The library is a nice place, I have always found that there are plenty of computers available and the internet never goes down or anything. Unfortunately, I did discover that I strongly dislike what I intended on majoring in (something my parents pushed me to do) and could not endure 3 1/2 more years of studying that topic.

In conclusion, the pros of UWGB include- your own bathrooms, surrounded by nature, manageable academics, and new facilities. The cons are low social life, boring weekends, and lack of school pride. If you are a very studious person, I would recommend going here because there will be no partying to distract you. Obviously I haven't met everyone here, but from what I have seen, the people who seem to really like it here are locals, religious (the Cru program is great), or on the geeky side. I have encountered many anime lovers and dungeons and dragons type of people here, some of them being the nicest and friendliest people I have met, but that's just not my cup of tea. UWGB is also very accepting of the LGBT community.

One final note- I was quite the "Band geek" in high school, but I didn't sign up for band first semester. I considered joining 2nd semester, but have heard from many people that the program isn't that great and that the music is easier than high school! At the time that I WAS signed up, there were only 30 students in band. That's less than what my high school of 500 kids had! Don't come here if you are really interested in concert band. Pep band, on the other hand, can be quite fun but still is somehow lacking when compared to my high school experience.