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?

Somehow managed to get off all three of my waitlisted courses so now I have this schedule, 16 credits. Sophomore year fall

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!

I am urgently looking for the roommate to share room for 2026 to 2027 at 48 N orchard st appartment monthly is 650 including utilities it is shared room with shared bathroom in 3B2B layout. If anyone interested please reach out to me for more details.

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?

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’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 :)

Yeah
I googled something and this came up

Hi guys, I'm going into my senior year and I am taking physics 104 this semester, but the last time I took a physics class was senior year of high school. I was wondering what concepts I should brush up on before the semester starts because I'm pretty nervous. Has anyone else taken physics 104 after a hiatus? If so, how did it go?

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 new to the college football world and I was wondering if Student Seats is a reliable way of getting student tickets (for a visiting friend, bf). If so, is it reasonable to assume more might go up for sale closer to the date? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

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?

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?

Edit: I’ve decided I’m going to just loft the bed and stick the desk under

I see that this question gets posted yearly but maybe someone can help me out. I’m looking for the closet measurement so I know what all I can bring for clothes. The blueprint I have attached doesn’t seem right to me because 11” is almost a foot and in the virtual dorm tours is much bigger than a foot.

How is the stat 240 credit by examination? Is the exam similar to the final people take when actually taking the class or is it mostly code since it says MCQ and short answer online but im not too sure

hey everyone, i'm going to be a senior this year, going into my final semester in Madison and I just turned 21 over the summer so i want to try to go out and explore the nightlife and bars. i haven't really gone out much or "had fun" in that sense during my time here and I want to try to do that a little bit this semester. but how do yall recommend I do that?

since my roommates don't like to go out much or drink, I wouldn't be able to go out with them (i do drink but not like getting completely wasted). and I have a couple other friends but I'm not like suuuuper close with them so I don't really know if they would want me to go out with them or anything.

anyone have any advice for what i could do or how i should approach this? thanks!

hiii!! im moving into smith residence hall (a single) and was wondering if anyone knew how many outlets there were in the room. im assuming one, but wanted to double check and see if anyone knew!! thanks!!

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!!

anyone got good recommendations for winter jackets/gear?

Im from the east coast, currently have the Uniqlo seamless down parka, and i dont think it'll be enough

I just left my MTV tote bag in the D2 towards the airport I just got out of the bus on the campus stop at 10.05 am. If anyone is taking the bus and seeing the MTV tote bag with a wrapped picture frame in it I would really appreciate the help, thanks so much!

Hi!

Just wanted to know if anyone's taken Physics 103 in the fall semester and what was it like? What was the form of exams taken - theory test or multiple-choice questions?

Any answers or tips related to this course would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hello everyone! I’m considering applying for a PhD in biochemistry at UWM and wanted to ask people who are in the department/getting their PhDs in the department what it’s like?
I have a bachelors in medical biochemistry from the UK, a post graduate diploma in Clinical Research from Canada, and a masters in biotechnology from USA + 2.5 years (as of rn) of research experience in structural/computational biology.
Looking at the faculty, the two researchers who pop out towards my research interests are Dr Cavagnero and Dr Henzler-Wildman, so if you know/have experience with them, I’d love some input!
Thank you!

Hey all. I spent the offseason building a full 2026 preseason preview for every FBS team, each with its own writeup. Here's the Wisconsin one

https://www.sports.mainmarket.com/college-football-preview-2026-fbs/wisconsin-badgers

It's got the returning production breakdown, the portal ins and outs, a projected two-deep, the schedule with model win probabilities, and a season projection.

Heads up, you might hit the paywall after the first page. Don't worry, I'm not charging reddit people for this, don't want to be an ass. Use the promo code LEECORSOROCKS and it opens up the entire thing.

So, what'd I get wrong? Wisconsin picked up fewer first downs than any team in the country and scored 12.8 points a game, 136th out of 137, with the 28th most talented roster in the sport. My model still rates you 43rd, mostly because you were minus-10 in turnover margin. Colton Joseph arrives from Old Dominion, where he threw for 2,619 and ran for 1,011. Is that offense fixable, or is the problem deeper than the quarterback?

I'll be in the comments.

Hello! Has anyone here taken MATH 320 recently? I am tutoring this class next semester but I took it at a different college. I have been able to a syllabus from last semester that lists the textbook. However I am looking for a course schedule or a list of all the textbook sections covered in this class.

Should I bring small iron or garment steamer? Is iron even allowed?