Chances of Admission

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Wisconsin
1

I submitted my application at the end of October

I’m an African American Male (Somali)

I’m not a first generation. My father got his bachelors over 20 years ago but has been unemployed for the past 8 years. Low-income family. (If that matters)

Minnesota resident
ACT: 27
GPA: 3.28

I really struggled my freshman and sophomore years but I have a strong upward trend on my transcript.

I didn’t take any AP classes freshman year

Sophomore year: AP US History, Honors Chemistry, Honors Eng, Honors Geometry, Spanish Level 4, Intro to Tech and some other electives

Junior Year: AP European History, IB Biology, AP Language and Comp, IB SL Math Year 1, Computer Science and Software Eng, Guitar, IB Spanish Level 5, Intro to Business

Senior Year: Ap Government and Politics, IB Physics, IB Eng, IB SL Math Year 2, Men’s Choir, Digital Arts 2, Computing Core Cert IC3, School Aide

EC: Student Council (Exec Board Member 2 years), Math Team (3 years), Robotics (4 years), Ultimate Frisbee (2 years), Link Crew (2 years), Spanish Tutor (2 years)

I have also been involved in this program called BDPA for the past 5 years. This organization helps URMs get into the technology field. I’ve spent two hours (almost) every Saturday attending a class provided by this organization learning how to program. I’ve attended national programming competitions in DC and Indianapolis through this organization.

If I get accepted I would like to study computer engineering. I applied to the college of engineering which I heard is very hard to get into. My stats are nowhere near stellar. My second choice major was computer science. I did wrote great essays and I have two letters of rec. One from my math teacher and one from my english teacher.

I’ve also applied to UMN, U of Iowa, and Marquette.

(Anywhere else I should apply)

Very Interested in attending Madison

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

2

It doesn’t matter if you get admitted if you can’t afford it.

A Minnesota Resident with FAFSA EFC of zero would be offered the following aid package for 2015-2016:

Grants $8575
Loans $5500
Work Study $2300
Remaining cost (where will this money come from?) = $12,006

3

Where can you apply within commuting distance to your home?

4

I live in Minneapolis and the only places (that have engineering) that are commuting distances are UMN and University of St Thomas, both of which I’ve applied to.
I thought Minnesota and Wisconsin had a reciprocity thing. I looked up the tuition for Minnesota residents and I got $11,220 from this link: http://www.mbo.wisc.edu/documents/student_fee_table_FY16_final_revised_2015-07-27.pdf

I would also like to know what you think about me as an applicant to these schools, if I have a chance or not.
Sorry I’m ill-informed on this. Thanks for the input!

5

https://finaid.wisc.edu/award-estimator.php

For a Minnesota Resident the cost for 2015-2016 (including engineering surcharge) is
$28k.

6

Estimated Cost of Attendance (COA) for 2015-2016
Tuition: $13,722.00
Books & Supplies: $1,200.00
Room: $7,484.00
Board: $1,320.00
Miscellaneous: $3,286.00
Travel: $1,370.00
Total Cost: $28,382.00

7

Your link shows tuition and fees for College of Engineering per semester is $6691.20, which is $13382/year, not $11220.

8

Your 3.28 GPA is low for Madison and the 27 ACT is low as well at the 25th percentile of admitted students.

Apply for the Chancellor’s Scholarship. Note that the deadline for this scholarship might be before you learn your admission decision. Don’t wait to find out if you are admitted!

9

http://provost.wisc.edu/csp.htm

10

Income has no bearing on admissions. It makes a huge difference in where a student can afford to attend college. Reciprocity means more similar costs for you at UW and UofM- but you need to see which is financially a better deal if you are accepted.

You do count as an underrepresented minority (African American). However- it sounds like you have had all of the advantages of growing up in MN (family income does not prevent you from getting a good public education). Your gpa is low and UW would wonder if you could be successful in Madison. College is a lot harder than HS.

Please discuss your college choices with your HS guidance counselor. You need some better matches for your academic profile. Getting into college is one thing. Having the background foundation of knowledge and skills to succeed is also needed.

11

College data.com has a lot of information that agrees with what we were told during our campus tour, as well as the replies given above.

Here is the financial site (might not have MN numbers which will be slightly higher than in state … by tuition difference)

http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1703

Here is the admissions site

http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1703

GPA, class rank, and rigor (good grades in AP classes) are the most important factors, followed by residency and ACT/SAT scores. 94% of entering freshman have unweighted GPA > 3.5. Middle 50% ACT 26-31 with average of 29.

The website also has an admission tracker where students enter their stats as well as whether or not they were accepted

http://www.collegedata.com/cs/admissions/admissions_tracker_result.jhtml?schoolId=1703&classYear=2020

This is a VERY small subset of total admissions, but based upon this and entering freshman data it would appear to be difficult for an out of state student to get into Madison with less than a 26 ACT and a 3.5 unweighted GPA . That does not mean it is impossible OR that higher stats guarantee admission, just that the odds are against you. There are examples on this site of out of state applicants with < 3.5 GPA being accepted, but it is < 10% of the total (ie, 94% GPA stat mentioned above).

Both Madison85 and wis75 post accurate information and appear to be alumni. I would be inclined to listen to their advise.

12

“their advice” not “their advise”. Above information can also be found at “official” UW websites. The advantage of collegedata is that it is all in one spot with easy to navigate tabs. Data appears to be up to date but there is a risk that it could be data from last year

13

Iowa State is ranked higher in engineering than Iowa, although Iowa is ranked higher overall