Welcome new grad students!
Congratulations on your admission to the University of Wisconsin–Madison! The Graduate School offers support and resources to help you transition to life as a graduate student.
Welcome messages
Starting in May, newly admitted graduate students for summer and fall receive a series of emails from the Graduate School. Students admitted for a spring term receive a welcome message in December.
Find a place to live
The University Apartments community serves UW–Madison graduate students, students with families, postdoctoral researchers, academic staff, and faculty. More information on housing in Madison is available in Graduate Student Life’s housing section.
Explore your new community
Find the vibrant student life in Madison!
Find funding
The Graduate School’s funding resources page is the place to start when looking for graduate assistantships or fellowship funding for your graduate education. The Office of Student Financial Aid can also help.
Utilize professional development
It’s never too early to start planning your path to success! Check out the Office of Professional Development’s online resources and mark your calendars for upcoming workshops.
Watch for GradConnections Weekly
This weekly e-newsletter is a valuable source for information related to fellowships/funding, professional development workshops and events, academic deadlines, and other timely information of interest to graduate students. New students for fall begin receiving GradConnections Weekly in September. New students for spring begin receiving the newsletter in late January.
Graduate Student Life
Graduate Student Life is a valuable resource throughout your time at UW–Madison. Find information on housing, transportation, what to do on a night out, and tips for staying healthy.
New Graduate Student Checklist
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For all new graduate students
- Activate your NetID and set up multi-factor authentication.
- Connect with your program, meet your graduate coordinator and faculty advisor, and plan to participate in program orientation activities.
- Submit your final official transcript showing your posted degree and conferral date to transcripts@grad.wisc.edu. Transcripts need to be submitted directly by the institution. If your institution does not offer electronic transcripts please send them to the address listed below.
Graduate Admissions
University of Wisconsin – Madison
232 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706 USA - Register for and plan to attend New Graduate Student Welcome on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. Admitted students received an email invitation to New Graduate Student Welcome on July 11; you may need to check your wisc.edu email for the invitation.
- Enroll in classes. New graduate student enrollment appointments for fall 2023 begin on June 26. You will receive an email about a week before with the date and time on which you can enroll.
- Use (or forward) your WiscMail account, the university’s official method of correspondence.
- Pay your tuition and segregated fees (even if you have tuition remission, you usually still have to pay segregated fees). Find tuition and fee rates here.
- Students with graduate assistantships (TAs, PAs, RAs, and LSAs) have until the first Friday in December for the fall term and the first Friday in April for the spring term to pay segregated fees. See the Bursar’s Office policy for more information.
- If you have a need related to a disability, contact the McBurney Disability Resource Center.
- Fill out the Medical Clearances information in your MyUHS account.
- If you have received a COVID-19 vaccination, upload your vaccine record to MyUHS. See a list of international COVID-19 vaccines accepted by UHS on the Medical Clearances page.
- Request your Wiscard (campus ID card). You must register for classes before you can get your Wiscard.
- Update your Profile information, such as your Name in Use, phone number, and address if you moved.
- Starting the week before classes begin, request your free Madison Metro bus pass for the semester.
- Complete the online sexual violence prevention program. Newly admitted graduate students will receive an email from University Health Services with instructions on accessing the online program, Graduate and Professional Students Preventing and Responding to Sexual and Relationship Violence, closer to the start of the semester. This program is required for all new graduate students.
For international graduate students
- Check out the Becoming a Global Badger page from International Student Services for steps to prepare for your time as a Badger.
For graduate students with funding
- If you received federal or state financial aid, update your mailing address in any systems listed in Profile and contact the Office of Student Financial Aid with questions.
- If you are a TA, PA, RA, Fellow, or Trainee, learn about the benefit plans you are eligible for from the Office of Human Resources. Generally, you must sign up for benefits within 30 days of the start of a new job appointment.
- If you are a TA, PA, RA, or LSA, familiarize yourself with the Graduate Assistant Payment of Segregated Fees Policy, which gives graduate assistants a deferred due date to pay segregated fees and other fees not covered by tuition remission.
New Graduate Student Welcome
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
11 am – 4:30 pm
Varsity Hall, Union South
The Graduate School invites all newly admitted graduate students to participate in the New Graduate Student Welcome event each year.
New Graduate Student Welcome is an opportunity to hear from the Graduate School and campus leaders, get advice from a panel of current students about grad student life, learn about the many campus and community resources available to you, and meet other new graduate students from across campus.
Welcome Sessions
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11 am - 1 pm: Resource Fair
Varsity Hall I & II
Meet representatives from campus and community services that support graduate students to succeed at UW–Madison. Learn about their resources and pick up some swag on your way through the fair.
See a list of the campus and community organizations at the 2023 Resource Fair.
11:45 am or 12:30 pm: Resource Flash Talks
The Marquee
Note: Both 35-minute sessions have the same content, so plan to attend either the 11:45 am session or the 12:30 pm session.
Hear directly from staff about the ways their offices can help you find and apply for funding, use databases and other tools to gather information related to your research, write better and smarter, and develop your professional and career-related plans and skills. Presenters include:
- Office of Professional Development, Graduate School
- Writing Center
- Libraries and Grants Information Collection
- Software Training for Students (STS)
- Dean of Students Office
- McBurney Disability Resource Center
- Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Funding, Graduate School
1:15 - 2:15 pm: Graduate Student Panels - Question & Answer Session
A panel of seasoned graduate students will answer the large and small questions you have about everything from what can make your graduate student life easier and less stressful to establishing and maintaining relationships with faculty and staff in your program.
Choose the panel that best fits your program of study:
- Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences PhD Students – Northwoods Room (3rd Floor)
- Biological and Physical Sciences PhD Students – The Marquee
- Master’s Students – Varsity Hall III
2:30 - 4:30 pm: Welcome Remarks & "Meet and Greet" Reception
Varsity Hall III
Campus leadership will welcome graduate students to the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
- Dean of the Graduate School William J. Karpus
- Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Charles Isbell
- Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor
- Deputy Vice Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer LaVar Charleston
The Welcome Remarks will be followed by a “Meet and Greet” Reception at 3 pm in Varsity Halls I & II. Refreshments will be served.
Graduate Student Welcome Week
August 28 – September 5, 2023
Each fall, the Graduate School offers a lineup of events during the week or so before classes begin to welcome and help acclimate new graduate students to campus and to welcome back current graduate students.
2023 Welcome Week Events
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Setting Up for Success in Your Mentoring Relationships: Aligning Expectations
The Delta Program in the Graduate School will offer an interactive online workshop on research mentorship, with a focus on aligning expectations. We will explore signs of misalignment, how it might occur, as well as strategies for preventing and realigning. At the conclusion of the interactive workshop, participants should be equipped to take a proactive approach to aligning mentor-mentee expectations.
Beyond the Grade: Professional to Possibility
What if alternative paths to personal and workplace advancement proved more beneficial over the long run? In this session learners will examine how they define success, understand how traditional expectations and established norms in graduate school and society can impose accidental barriers, and learn ways to navigate grad school and life “differently”. Let’s debunk the myth of being “self-made” and learn how to leverage MAPS (Mentors, Allies, Partners, and Sponsors) for strategic advancement. Break free from traditional measures of success and navigate graduate school with the support you need while building a powerful personal brand. Attend this session if you are ready to move beyond the grade!
Time Management for Graduate Students
In this interactive workshop, you will learn tips and techniques for staying on track and managing your time. We’ll cover goal-setting, minimizing distractions and staying focused, and overcoming some of the most common challenges to staying on task. Participants will leave with strategies that they can apply immediately. The strategies we’ll cover are appropriate for students in any discipline.
Flourishing in Graduate School: How to Manage Stress and Maintain Your Mental Health
Want to make graduate school a time to thrive and not just survive? This workshop will focus on promotion of psychological well-being in graduate school. Topics covered will arm graduate students with strategies to thrive through the challenges of graduate school, including managing the transition/adjustment process, coping with stress, promoting work/life balance, and establishing habits to maintain or improve mental health. This event is presented by the Graduate School Office of Professional Development in collaboration with University Health Services.
Cool Tools: Apps and More to Increase Productivity
Prepare to maximize your time and energy this semester by taking advantage of software available to UW–Madison graduate students that can help streamline your workflow. This workshop, presented by Pete Valeo from Software Training for Students (STS), will introduce you to both basic and advanced software tools, including cloud storage services, notetaking apps, mobile scanners, research tools, tasks managers, password managers, lifestyle apps, and more.
The Power of Inclusive Teams
The most successful teams are diverse, but diversity in the absence of intentional and inclusive practices is not enough. Evidence from the interdisciplinary study of teams reveals that diversity’s power depends upon purposeful inclusion. This interactive workshop will explain how diversity helps teams improve their productivity and generate more innovative ideas while exploring the concepts of psychological safety and the inclusion mindset.
Psychological safety allows team members to feel safe to engage in interpersonal risk-taking, which is essential for team performance and innovation. The inclusion mindset helps us reframe how we interpret situations, promoting acceptance and learning while preventing defensiveness and alienation. Psychological safety and purposeful inclusion are essential for leveraging the richness that diversity adds to the collaborative process. This workshop will provide practical insights and concrete, tangible applications for participants and their teams.
Graduate School Dash & Bash
The Graduate School invites you to celebrate the start of the academic year at the Graduate School Dash & Bash. Whether you plan to “Dash” to the finish line, handcycle the route, take a scholarly stroll, or join the “Bash” activities just for the fun of it, all are welcome and encouraged to participate in this free event – new and current graduate students, faculty, staff, and family members. Dash participants and the first 200 attendees at the Bash will receive a commemorative UW–Madison 175th anniversary t-shirt.
BIPOC Graduate Student Welcome Reception
Students are invited to engage in community with one another and with leadership across campus at the BIPOC Graduate Student Welcome Reception. Students will have an opportunity to network and socialize with peers, as well as connect with campus resources and leadership.
This event is co-hosted by the Graduate School Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Funding and the Graduate School Office of Professional Development.
Enhancing Your Graduate Degree with a Certificate
What are graduate certificates, and how can they add value to your graduate degree? In this virtual session, faculty and staff representing several graduate certificate programs (and their equivalent doctoral minors) discuss the multiple benefits that these programs provide to graduate students across campus—including fulfilling breadth requirements, expanding interdisciplinary knowledge, mastering new skills, creating community and networking opportunities, and building cultural competence. Attendees will also have the opportunity to speak with each certificate representative in smaller groups.
Donuts and DiscoverPD for Graduate Students
Come enjoy donuts and coffee or tea and meet other graduate students while learning about professional development. At this drop-in event, we will share exciting news about our professional development tool, DiscoverPD, and how it can be used to develop a wide variety of skills (such as career development, networking, leadership) and connect you with campus resources. Attendees will also receive a free tote bag and a copy of the book, A Field Guide to Grad School: Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum, by Dr. Jessica Calarco – an essential resource for grad students! (Giveaways are while supplies last.)
Anytime - Successful Online Learning
Explore strategies to prepare to learn remotely, engage in your courses, and maximize your time. This module, from the Graduate School, is for grad students taking their first online course or those looking for some new resources on online learning. Enroll in the Successful Online Learning Canvas course at any time.