"College Life"

[Jimbo]

Anyone watching this MTV show about eight UW-Madison students documenting their freshman year?

 

Any opinions from any current students here? Spot on? Overly dramatic?

[Tailgat0r76]

I've only seen one episode of the show, but I did see Kevin at the Mifflin Block Party this weekend. He's basically a celebrity now; that's got to be pretty cool.

 

I also heard UW-Madison stopped associating with the show after the first episode aired. Now whenever MTV shows what appears to be a dorm, it's really an off-campus housing facility.

 

 

From the episode I saw, I wouldn't say it's too overly dramatic. They definitely got the different polarized sides of the spectrum as far as college attitudes go, but I don't think it's too far-fetched. I got to UW-La Crosse, so I can't say for sure; but it's not too far off from what goes on up here.

[crewcrazy]

I've got a couple friends at Madison, and they say it's not an accurate portrayal at all. They say it only represents the small part of the student body they call "coasties" -- the out-of-staters that only really applied because of the school's party reputation.

 

I've never seen the show myself, but I imagine it's produced in much the same way all of their other fake reality shows are.

[theavrock]

I have little sister who is a freshman and a brother who is a senior. They both don't like the show because "it makes them look like a bunch of idiots" and thats not the way they really are. Madison is much more than a party school, but it is pretty booze friendly as well. I think a school as large as UW is can be both a good academic school and one that likes to party as well. That being said I have no doubt MTV edits their footage quite a bit to get what they want out of it.

[gypcasino]

I've been watching it and it's not completely terrible. Kevin should have his own show. That guy cracks me up.
$2400 tattoo guy is a complete bore.

They say it only represents the small part of the student body they call "coasties" -- the out-of-staters that only really applied because of the school's party reputation.

I don't know why they'd say that since the two girls currently featured are both from Wisconsin.

[utdfan]

I've got a couple friends at Madison, and they say it's not an accurate portrayal at all. They say it only represents the small part of the student body they call "coasties" -- the out-of-staters that only really applied because of the school's party reputation.

 

I've never seen the show myself, but I imagine it's produced in much the same way all of their other fake reality shows are.

I am going to disagree with everything you said. I think it is a relatively accurate portrayal of life in Madison from Thursday night to Sunday Morning. Like the previous poster said, the "coasties" statement doesn't really make sense. And in terms of production it actually is different since there are no camera crews or anything. It's just the kids with the camera. I realize however that the producers will edit it to make it fit what they want to show.

 

With that said I don't really find the show all that interesting. Most of it is boring and there are times where you can't really hear what people are saying. Also figuring out a way to actually incorporate the University in a way that worked for UW and the producers of the show would probably have made it better.

[TooLiveBrew]

I couldn't be happier knowing that the UW distanced itself from this chaff.

[T B0NE 10]

Theres groups on Facebook with over 3,000 people in it against the show.

[owbc]

I only saw the first show, but...

 

1. When I was a freshman, I met at least one person with a personality like every single student on the show.

2. The University's decision to not only remove their endorsement from the show but also ban the cameras from showing anywhere on campus except dorm rooms was a self-fulfilling prophecy. While it still would have been an MTV show, at least it would have actually showed the campus and included shots of the students in classrooms and doing things on campus like going to sporting events, meeting people at the terrace, going to clubs and meetings, working on campus jobs, etc. When you are a freshman, your world revolves around the campus and there are only two places that you go off campus on a regular basis: State St. and house parties. Guess what the show ends up depicting...

3. Of course the students are going to rally against it. Almost every upperclassman at this school knows exactly what the real college life is: get up early, go to class, go to work, study, work out, maybe have a few minutes to eat, go to bed late.