My Chances at some Midwestern schools..especially UW Madison

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hello everyone! This is my first post here, and there probably won't be too many to follow as I've already applied for all of my schools and probably won't be concerned with admission much longer. However, I'm anxiously awating my acceptance/denial letters and want a little input about how you all think I will do at the schools I applied to in order to ease the tension a bit.</p>

<p>My top choice is UW-Madison. I realize that most of the posts here are about Ivy Leagues or more well known schools (though for a state school, Madison ranks very high especiall for my major) so I'm not sure how much help you will all be able to offer, but any is appreciated. </p>

<p>These are the schools I applied to in order from top choice to last:</p>

<p>-UW Madison
-University of Minnesota Twin Cities
-Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI)
-University of Missouri at Columbia
-UW Eau Claire (Big safety- really don't want to go there)</p>

<p>My stats...</p>

<p>ACT: highest composite of 28 and 11/12 on writing
GPA: 3.76 unweighted (my school does not weight GPAs)
Class rank: 61/261 (which is just about 23%)
Course load: I was in the honors english program at my high school all four years, which was just basically accelerated english and let me take a few extracurriculars, my junior year my advanced classes included AP US History (I got an A in the class and a 4 on the test), and CP/Honors Chemistry. This year, I am a College Credit Expository writing/english class throgh a local college (it's a CEP) and Honors Government and Econ. For my school, this is a pretty heavy courseload. We don't have many APs or honors classes available. I have also taken all four years of standard academic classes plus foreign language (normal level math, spanish, etc.) and about two years of fine arts, along with several electives. My Bs have come from math and I believe 2 semester Bs in spanish. I can provide more coursework info if necessary.
ECs: President of school's DECA (marketing) and regional/state DECA Award winner, NHS member, Student Council Member, Spanish Club Member, Pay-It-Forward (commuinty service) member, Junior Class committee chairperson, art club member...there may be a few more minor ones I'm forgetting.
Volunteering: I'm a big sister through Big Brothers Big sisters of Norheast Wisconsin and estimate I've logged at least 200 hours of service through that. I have also worked as a spanish speaking volunteer for Toys For Tots and a childcare volunteer at my local YMCA. I also put in tons of hours on the junior class committee planning and fundraising for prom, and will put in more hours this year on student council and NHS
Work Experience: I previously worked at OfficeMax for about a year and now work as an assistant at a dental office through my school co-op.
Essay:I think it was pretty decent, but could have been better.
Letters of Rec: I got one from an english teacher, one from a science teacher, and one from my Marketing teacher/DECA advisor, and they were good to average.</p>

<p>**I applied the first day applications opened (but missed a few minor spelling errors on my app-woops), and am from a medium-sized competitive public school De Pere (Green Bay suburb in Wisconsin).</p>

<p>Whew!! That was alot of info. If you took the time to read it and especially to rate my schools I can't thank you enough. I feel like I'm right on the border for Madison, and it's driving me insane!!</p>

<p>I can provide more details if needed. Thanks again!</p>

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<p>Sorry to post again. I forgot to add that I have legacy at Madison (Dad, grandfather) and that I am white/nonhispanic.</p>

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<p>public schools weigh less on legacy. There are 30000undergraduate in UW Wisc., so guess how many graduates are from UW in the world</p>

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<p>I realize this, I just thought I should include it since I provided all my other app. information, and the application asks about legacy. Thanks.</p>

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<p>you have about the same stats as mine and I'm also applying to UW Madison. So I can't really tell your chance. I guess you have a pretty good shot. Good Luck!</p>

<p>BTW did you hand in the app?</p>

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<p>Yep, I handed in my app last friday (the first day they opened admissions, I believe) Good luck, where are you from?</p>

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<p>apply early may help? I'd say 50/50.... your ACT + GPA are on the 50% mark... low rank.</p>

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<p>UW Madison--match
University of Minnesota Twin Cities--match to safe match
Marquette University--safe match
University of Missouri at Columbia--safe match
UW Eau Claire--safety </p>

<p>I'd relax if I were you. An ACT score of 28 is at the 75% level. And a UW 3.76 is above Wisconsin's average UW GPA of 3.68 also.</p>

<p>Your ECs appear stronger than most candidates for Wisconsin. As long as you wrote a halfway decent essay and had good recommendations, you are as good as in.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>You're in. I got in OOS with a 3.7 GPA and a 29 ACT. Was actually postponed because I didn't include a teacher recommendation initially (they care about that a lot). Make sure you get your rec. Don't look for financial aid from them, it will be all loans.</p>

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<p>Calc- 28 is the average, not the 75% level. And a 3.76 is .6 above their average of 3.7 ... splitting some hairs.</p>

<p>When you're from the state of Wisconsin and outside the top 15%, it is increasingly difficult.</p>

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<p>Well that kind of confirms my maybe, maybe not feelings. Hopefully applying early (1st day) will help me out, and I did include letters of rec. and everything else they wanted. Anyone else get in with stats similar to mine?</p>

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<p>Now I'm sort of (just sort of) thinking of applying to UNC Chapel Hill as well just because it's a great journalism school, and that's what I'm interested in. Would this be a huge reach for me? Madison is still my number one by far.</p>

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<p>Don't waste your time with UNC. If you want to go there, transfer, where it is much easier for OOS students to get in. They have established quotas and only designate a certain amount of spots for OOS students, the credentials for OOS students is comparable to ivy league credentials.</p>

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<p>Wisconsin's j-school is also considered to be one of the top 10 (at grad/ug level) so I don't think it even matters, fabalyss21</p>

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<p>True IF I get in! A friend of mine applied a few days later than I did and already found out last friday that she's in, while I've still heard nothing other than the fact that my application is being reviewed. Is this a bad sign?</p>

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<p>??????????</p>

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<p>hey did you get in? you should get your result by now. </p>

<p>Wisconsin lost my SAT score so I have to send them another one... urg...</p>

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<p>I got postponed/waitlisted. :( But I'm not giving up, and am going to work very hard to get off the waitlist. Anyone have experience with this?</p>

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<p>Do not frown. I was postponed as well. Just do the supplement and they will admit you. This is just Wisconsin's way of them making sure you want to go there. Did you send in a teacher recommendation initially? Many times, that's the reason so many kids get postponed. Send it in, and you should be admitted later on. It's actually good news, on this site, everyone who was postponed was later admitted.</p>

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<p>Really!? wow that makes me feel great. Is there a thread about being postponed at Madison? </p>

<p>I did send in teacher recs (3 of them) and I think all my other stats were well in their 50% range except my class rank which is top 23%, or above 77% whichever way you look at it. I think their site states that the middle 50% of admitted students fall between the 86th and 95th so that's my weakest area. My school is pretty competitive. </p>

<p>If there is a thread about being postponed at UW, let me know I'd love to check it out.</p>