Hello, I am currently a junior in high school with a 3.49 unweighted gpa and a 3.75 weighted gpa with a 26 on the ACT (trying to get a 28 on retake) I have not done many extracurricular activities, 3 years of soccer and tennis and working a part time job. I’m ok with transferring in my second year but am still worried I won’t get in if I go to UWM for a year. Any ideas/answers?
Are you in-state or out-of-state? OOS you would have a very low chance of admission. In state you would have a low chance of admission. You should try to max out your ACT because there is not much you can do about your grades at this point. Apply EA and have backups in mind. Consider Minnesota as well due to reciprocity. Write good essays.
UW uses unweighted gpa’s- yours is rather low as is your current ACT score. Extracurriculars are not as important as academics. It is worth your while to apply- but have back up schools. You could be a stronger transfer than freshman applicant for UW-Madison IF you get stellar grades at UWM or another school. If you can handle it financially also consider going away to school- UW-La Crosse gets many of the better students who don’t get into UW-Madison. Consider U of MInn with tuition reciprocity as well- you could get in there perhaps.
The bottom line. You can’t change your junior year gpa but you can try to do a lot better on the ACT (a28 is not a huge jumpfrom a 26). You need to apply to several schools. See where you get in. Also pay attention to family finances and affordability. The freshman experience going away to college (ie living in the dorm instead of commuting) is an irreplaceable experience- do it if you can afford to.
Apply. Remember that 50% of the admitted students are below means, 25% are below that 25-75% range for stats.
Go where you can and if you still want UW-Madison and have a high college gpa you can transfer without problems most likely.
Thanks I ended up being Accepted probably because of my essays and extracurriculars.
Congrats on the acceptance! Are you attending? If not, where are you going? In any case, good luck!
@BigWillie333 you got accepted to UW Madison? Or Milwaukee? My son, who LIVES in Madison, didn’t get in with a 3.41 UW GPA and a 29 ACT with tons of EC’s. And a father who is an alum and a grandfather who was a professor at UW Madison for 30+ years. Can not figure this school out.
Appeal! @gopheralum94
Very hard to get into uw with a 3.4. The avg entering gpa will be close to 3.9 unweighted this year. Even with a much higher act likely a tough pull even in state.