Ogg Residence Hall: My First Year Experience

Coming into UW Madison as an international student having not visited the campus even once, I was apprehensive as to what to expect from my freshman dorm. However, I was very pleasantly surprised as I entered the doors of Ogg Residence Hall, right in the heart of downtown Madison.

Ogg Residence Hall

Ogg Residence Hall is one of the 21 residence halls at UW-Madison and is extremely popular among freshmen. With a gym (The Nicholas Recreational Center), dining hall (Gordon Avenue Market) and bus stop being in extremely close proximity, it is amongst the most popular dorms in the Southeast neighbourhood of UW-Madison. The location and convenience of Ogg was definitely my favourite part of living there in my first-year. It played a major role in making my transition into college smoother.

I lived on the second floor of this 6 story building, in a triple (A majority of Ogg rooms are triples) with a shared bathroom among a cluster of 4 rooms. Each floor is divided into coed clusters featuring study rooms, lounges and a kitchen. Being freshly renovated, all the appliances and the infrastructure of the building as a whole is newer and refined as compared to older dorms.

Ogg Residence Hall Learning Communities

An interesting feature of Ogg Residence Hall is that it was home to 2 learning communities: Business Connect and the Studio. These communities provide residents with multiple opportunities to get more involved in academics and extracurricular activities. I was part of Business Connect which is designed specifically for first-year direct admits to the School of Business. Being a part of this community made it easier for me to meet new, like-minded people with similar interests.

The Studio, on the other hand, is a creative arts community that fosters an environment where students can explore dance, theatre, art, literature, film, fashion, music, and design and collaborate on projects they are passionate about through the dance and recording studio available in Ogg's Basement.

Ogg Residence Hall Features

The first floor in Ogg also has a mail room, making collecting packages and sending out mail extremely easy, as compared to dorms in Lakeshore where there are communal mail rooms. The first floor also features a larger lounge called Phillips for students to socialise or study in as well as additional classrooms to foster a better learning environment. There is also a CCAS ( Cross College Advising Services) office for students to discuss class schedules and any worries they are facing in their academic career.

Overall, I could not have asked for a better experience living in Ogg Residence Hall in my first year. It was the perfect blend of being social and fostering an environment to pursue academic and extracurricular interests. Living in the dorm, with all that it offers, made it significantly easy for me to navigate my freshman year!