madison ea chances? (please?)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Wisconsin
1

Minnesota resident hoping to study bio (specifically evolutionary bio, which they offer a minor in I think).

GPA: 3.69UW, 3.91W. (Upward trend/most of my Bs are in math bc I’m awful at it lmao)
ACT: 31 (34R, 28M, 33E, 30S, 12W)
AP’s: Human Geo (4), APUSH (5), Euro History (4), English Literature (4), English Language (4), Calc AB (3), took AP biology test w/o taking the class (3)
Senior Year AP courses: US Gov, Psych, Calc BC, Comp Sci A, Spanish, Physics 1, self studying AP Environmental Science. Also a dual enrollment writing class through the University of Minnesota.
Strong essays, one good letter of recommedation from a bio teacher (should I get another rec?)
National Honors Society
Academic letter x3
AP Scholar with Distinction
YMCA’s Youth in Government program (4 years)
I work at Target
Varsity tennis (1 year varsity, 3 jv) + club tennis year round.
Mentored incoming freshmen (1 year)
Started a Harry Potter club at my school (lol)
Volunteers weekly at local elementary school
Attended 4 separate week-long mission trips
Volunteered for the American Red Cross
My dad’s an alumni (idk if that matters for a school as big as madison though)

I go to a top 5 mn public school, and they take a bunch of kids every year, but I also know my class is super competitive and a lot of kids are applying that are probably way stronger than me. Madison is my top choice so I want to apply early action, but my stats aren’t amazing, so I’m worried I’ll be outright rejected. Should I wait and apply rd? (my gpa is likely going to look much better after this semester, but I might go crazy if I have to wait until march to hear if I got in).

2

For a MN student, I don’t think a 31 and a 3.69 runs significant risk of outright rejection in the early round, it is more likely a postpone. I don’t have a good sense of which way it could go in the spring – while I’m generally familiar with trends in in state and out of state (since my kid was OOS), I am less familiar with MN reciprocity admissions. Would IU Bloomington be affordable for your family? Applicants generally hear within 4-6 weeks of their application, and OOS students are eligible for automatic merit awards (for applications completed before Nov 1) and the Hutton Honors program, so that might be worth a look to have an acceptance in the fall in hand.