Hi everyone I’m an Indian Male in TN and I would like to know how competitive I am at UWM
My stats are :
3.45 UW GPA (this can become a 3.55 at the end of 1st semester senior year).
4.04 W GPA (this can become a 4.13 at the end of 1st semester senior year).
35 ACT (36 Superscore)
1420 PSAT
SAT 2’s Scores Pending (Math 2 & Physics)
Full IB Diploma Curriculum (5 HL classes and 1 SL)
EC’s (simplified list):
3 years varsity soccer
3 years MUN
2 years Robotics
2 years Knowledge Bowl
1 year History Bowl
2 years Badminton Club
Attended Advanced Space Academy for 1 week, earned one undergrad credit.
Attended Harvard Summer School for 7 weeks, earned eight undergrad credits.
10 Week Research with a College Professor
2 year Intern at an IT firm
Secretary Badminton Club
Co-President Astronomy Club
Co-President of ACT/SAT Tutoring group
Trend: Very Good 9th grade, OK 10th Grade, Bad 11th Grade, Hopefully Very Good 12th Grade
School doesn’t have class rank.
Thank you!
btw- it’s just UW for the flagship in Madison. UWM refers to the system school in Milwaukee.
UW will see a problem with your grades trending downward, especially when you have demonstrated abilities with your ACT score. Huge question about your study habits. Regardless of your native ability/IQ you need to learn how to study successfully- ie how to master material/learn skills to get top grades. All of the extracurriculars in the world do not replace the academics. UW only looks at unweighted grades. You are expected to do many of the most rigorous classes offered by your HS. This way students are not penalized if their school doesn’t offer as many APs, IB et al. Students are expected to do well in the most rigorous classes taken, hence no weighting.
No superscoring of test results either.
By Indian I assume you mean from India or ancestors from there, not Native American. Not an underrepresented minority then.
Hopefully you have good reasons for the grade slide- perhaps it finally dawned on you that you needed to do the work and matured. It may be too late to show a stellar senior year. Could be better for you to finish your application after senior grades are known if possible and still meet deadlines. You are a student who doesn’t want the snapshot of your grades to end with those junior year “bad” grades (btw- some think B’s are bad, others good).
I will apply after 1st semester ends (December 17th) and try to get all A’s, which would give me a 3.55 @wis75
If you’re a Wisco resident, then probably, if not, I have no clue. I’m a Wisconsin resident, and I got in with a 3.48 (after being postponed), a 30, and significantly less extracurrics. HOWEVER, just browsing on this website, people who are OoS tend to get rejected with better stats. Good luck!
GabGirl- did you show a DECLINE in grades every year like the OP? Many students are postponed, it just means they fall into that vast middle pool that needs to wait until all applications have been reviewed to see if there is room for them. Improving grades for the same gpa means better grades as a junior and probably learned how to study/apply oneself…
Would it impact my competitiveness dramatically if I finish 1st semester of 12th will all A’s and submit the applicaiton then? @wis75
@wis75 -I had a 3.74 freshman year, really low GPA sophomore year (A’s and B’s, but also a D, C, and B-…it was a rough year), medium-low GPA junior year (I had a C+ in accelerated precalculus, but other than that I got good grades), and a 3.6ish first semester senior year. My grades really were all over the place.
@guccigarlic If you think you can get postponed/accepted, apply in the fall and then submit your stellar grades. If you think you’ll get flat-out rejected, wait until second semester to apply. If you get postponed, I know several people who got better senior grades, built up extracurriculars, and even wrote letters of Continued Interest to the admissions department. Apply early if you think you won’t get flat-out rejected (which they usually don’t do too much of in the fall–they wait until they see who else is going to apply before doing that).
@guccigarlic here are the admission rates for the past 10 years (2016 data not yet available but hopefully will be soon). Check out page three to compare in-state to out-of-state rates:
https://apir.wisc.edu/admissions/New_Freshmen_Applicants.pdf
Your ACT is fantastic and should make up for the lower GPA; however, concerns about the direction of your grades are spot on and that will 100% be something brought up by the admissions committee. High likelihood you will need to send in your mid-year senior grades in order to get an admission. However, it’s not clear that you should skip the EA deadline and apply RD. First of all, space is going to be limited for the second deadline and you will be up against a whole lot of people who already specified an interest in UW but were deferred from EA. Second, very few schools would reject a 35 ACT outright. More likely they will give you a chance to turn it around.
Check out last year’s admission thread to get an idea of the stats of those accepted and postponed from first-round admission. Starting around Comment #1192: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-wisconsin-madison/1813608-uw-madison-fall-2016-decisions-p80.html
There are lots of examples of postponements and even accepted with stats similar to yours, or even a bit lower. Therefore, you are probably OK to apply first round (11/1 deadline) but make sure your essay knocks it out of the park and that you have a strong rec. letter from a teacher who can verify your academic strength. And there is no room for error senior year: you must turn around the direction of your grades or you will not be perceived as able to handle the workload at a UW or comparable school. Talk to an adult who can help you make this happen (a teacher, a parent, a doctor, someone appropriate for whatever the issue is).
Good luck to you!
Thank you so much for the feedback! @Mamelot
Also, as far as the “interest in UW” goes, I just visited last month, spoke with an admissions counselor 1 on 1 (she told me I should be “fine” but I don’t know of how much value that is), and exchanged emails with her since then. @Mamelot
Also, one more question…wouldn’t my class rigor be a good boost? I would say if I had to rank class difficult, I would be in the top 5% of my school. Have always taken the hardest classes offered as well as doubled up in science/math my 9th/10th grade years. Also, I am currently taking 5 Higher Level Classes in the IB (almost everyone takes 3 or at a max 4- only 2 other people in my school take 5) @Mamelot
If the admissions counselor told you that you are “fine” you probably are - especially if you showed him/her your transcript. Yet another reason to consider EA IMHO. And yes course rigor is one of the primary factors considered. But they want you to do well in your courses. If you do five AP’s or IB’s and get B’s and C’s where taking three would have given you mostly A’s (and maybe a B) then the latter is a smarter decision. It shows that you know how to plan your time and select challenges appropriately. Low grades can give the impression either that you were overwhelmed or blowing off your schoolwork. Obviously you don’t want to give the adcom either impression. That’s why it’s so important to do well in your schoolwork, ESPECIALLY during that tough junior year.
If your school is very rigorous - i.e., everyone does 5 HL’s during Junior year - then that will be a factor in your favor. Obviously the adcom is going to account for differences like that. Make sure your recommender (teacher or counselor) can speak to that.
You sound very smart so I wouldn’t be surprised if you got into UW or a school of comparable quality. Just make sure you have a great senior year!!! (tip: finish those college ap’s early on so you can get back to your studies. Most applications go live by early Aug. and the Common Ap. essay questions are available now, in case you were planning to apply to schools using that application).
Oh - another tip: if you took the IB tests (not sure how that works but assuming it’s similar to AP . . . ) and scored well in them be sure to send in those scores!!! they can also speak to your academic strength. Talk to your admissions counselor about that.
Good luck!