Hi all, I just submitted my BBA direct admit application tonight and was just wondering about how many students are usually accepted into the program through direct admit?
@meghayes I believe I read it’s 10-15% of the applicants.
^^that’s correct - the website says about 10%. Overall fewer than 50% who apply to WSB are admitted. Most apply the spring of freshman year, and if you happen to be denied Direct Admit you can apply again at that time.
@JBStillFlying do you by any chance know of the extent of what they look for in an applicant? I read that bulleted checklist they have on their website of the ideal applicant, but I’m just curious what the average person who gets admitted through direct admit has for their background and experiences. I feel like my essays was pretty good and I have a pretty strong business background but I have no idea what to expect.
@meghayes no clue other than the checklist and the essay. Guessing they put a LOT of weight on that essay, given that they don’t look at your stats.
Good news for all early bba applicants, just got this email
"Dear Megan,
We have exciting news regarding a change to the Direct Admit process for the Wisconsin BBA (undergraduate business) Program at the Wisconsin School of Business of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Starting with the incoming Fall 2017 class, the Wisconsin BBA Program will significantly increase the number of students admitted directly from high school. This change will allow more direct admit students to take part in a transformational eight-semester experience at the Wisconsin School of Business, including earlier access to academic planning, career development and professionalism, and study abroad. To learn more about the BBA Program, visit our website.
We are eager to offer more students earlier admission into the Wisconsin BBA Program for those who are committed to pursuing a business career. If you are interested in applying for direct admission to the Wisconsin BBA Program but have not yet submitted an application, please click on the button below."
Yep - D17 got that last night as well. Wondering if they are planning to transition to 100% Direct Admit by next year’s admission cycle. In any case, we discussed and agreed that it might be very difficult to enter WSB from spring of freshman year. D17 is now definitely planning to apply DA.
Is anyone having trouble with the essay? Son worked on it for a good part of yesterday and only has 600 words. He’s tried to write about the business side of his leadership roles and participation in his extracurriculars/community service, as well as a bit about two part time jobs, but he’s having trouble thinking of anything else to say. Any suggestions?
Yikes - Not even sure D17 has started hers yet! She’s waiting to hear from UChicago EDII this week before she puts too much mental effort towards the UW b-school essay. The way things are sounding in terms of admission stats for Chicago this year, she’ll most likely be cranking that essay out this weekend 
Do you guys think they will be 100% direct admit for the freshmen class entering fall of 2018? U-Michigan Ross just went that way for this cycle and I’m not too surprised UW seems to be following suit. Not sure that any Big 10 Uni’s are admitting any other way at this point.
Now that they are letting in so many directly, wondering if they are still going primarily off that essay. Looks like the website hasn’t announced new admission criteria so perhaps so.
The essay is 1000-1500 words long. Much harder than it sounds, especially with limited actual business experience. 600 words would have been much more manageable. The rest of the application takes about five minutes. I do think they will be basing decisions primarily on the essay since the email didn’t indicate any change in criteria.
I wish we knew what “significant” increase in acceptance meant. Not sure they will go to 100% direct admit or not. Either way it would be too late for our kids.
@uwalummom 600 sounds about right, I agree. Not sure what my D is planning to do about this essay - will need to touch base with her. Not sure what “significant increase” means either; except that if they are continuing to use just the essay then they are somehow changing the way they view that part of the application, given that past years only resulted in about 10% - 15% of the admitted class. It’s odd that they decided to modify the admission policy mid-cycle, rather than implementing this last August (or waiting till next Aug). They must have seen some analysis linking direct admit to better outcomes and decided to act instantly.
My son got a direct admit into Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. They do it strictly on high school merit(ACT/ACT and class rank). If you meet their standards and are admitted to OSU, you will be offered direct admit status. If you are below their standards, but are admitted to OSU you will have to apply to Fisher spring of your freshman year. He is still trying to decide about writing the UW direct admit essay. I agree that 1000-1500 words is a long essay.
I just checked my son’s word count. He is up to 880 words. He still needs a conclusion, but that will not be enough. He’s going to have to think of more stuff to write…
I attended a Business School info sesh at Madison this past Friday, so I can answer this. Yes, Madison is planning to slowly(ish) transition to having most students enter the business school thru Direct Admit rather than applying their freshman year of college. For my class (HS 2018, college 2022) they said around 800 students will be admitted Direct Admit. So around 100%, should be. Students applying to Madison and planning to go into business this year are in a tough spot because the level of competition non-Direct Admit students from this particular year will face when they apply as freshmen in college is completely unknown–we only know that it will be higher than previous years, for sure.
@WiscoRunner Thanks for sharing your info from the business session.
Did they give any indication how much they would be increasing direct admit for this fall?
Did they say if direct admit will still be based almost completely on the BBA application essay or other criteria?
Thanks!
@uwalummom They didn’t mention any changes to criteria for Direct Admit. However, I’d have to assume that because they’re increasing the amount of students who are Direct Admit, eventually to 100%, they will have less strict criteria for this coming year (students who fit the current Direct Admit profile won’t just appear). For those who would be entering college this fall, they said somewhere around 325 students will be admitted thru Direct Admit, which is an increase of about 200 students from previous years.
@WiscoRunner Thank you for your reply 
I honestly was hoping for a larger increase for this fall. They sent an email to anyone who listed business as a major on their app, encouraging them to apply due to a significant increase. That will obviously generate a lot more apps, with only 200 extra students being admitted.
@uwalummom Certainly is frustrating, and just odd numbers – to be 100% for my class, they’ll have to make a nearly 500-student increase in one year. Strange.
Spoke to BBA admissions and they said notifications going out on April 3 via email. Online portal will not be updated.
@oldtown348 or anyone else? What happens if student has been waitlisted? Will the business school still review and consider the BBA application?