Hey guys, I’m a sophomore who is looking to transfer in for Spring 2017. I currently go to a prestigious, highly ranked, very rigorous and well-regarded private school in the midwest. After this semester I will have 45 credits done, and my GPA is a 3.37. I am from Minnesota, and went to a highly competitive, college prep school, and my GPA was a 3.45 (school didn’t weight grades) and this was about top 35% of my class. My ACT is a 34, my letters of rec are pretty strong, and my extracurriculars are strong as well. The school I currently attend is definitely harder to get into than Madison, but I am nervous due to my good, not great GPA, and the fact that I am from Minnesota. I applied to the college of arts and sciences open major. How are my chances looking?
It’s called College of Letters & Science.
My bad, used to calling it College of Arts and Sciences from my current school. My apologies! I’m applying for College of Letters and Science.
Did you apply to UW-Madison originally as a senior in school?
I did but I withdrew my application when I got into my current school, so I never received a decision.
@badger81 check out page three of the following for transfer admit rates from MN:
https://apir.wisc.edu/admissions/New_Transfer_Applicants.pdf
@JBStillFlying Well that is interesting. Being from Minnesota, I hear all the time about it being harder to get in from Minnesota than anywhere else, but obviously that’s not true. Still nervous though, my GPA in college and high school is alright, but looking around I see most applicants have higher GPAs which makes me uneasy about my chances.
It might be harder to get in from MN if you are from one particular high school or another, although I might be incorrect about that so don’t quote me! A friend was worried about her son (at one of the top publics in the TC) because “UW only takes x number of XYZ kids”. There could be something to that - UW might want to see a more diverse representation from MN schools so they limit the numbers from the top schools. Still, that info is anecdotal and, anyway, she was referring strictly to a freshman admit situation. Since you are a transfer they will look primarily at your college grades and may not even consider your high school GPA, test scores, or what HS you attended. You’ll have to double check with them to make sure of that.
Why the switch, if I may ask?
Let me take a guess, you are a wildcat?
@JBStillFlying That is true, I hear that a lot from kids in the public school in my city. My school is smaller so it isn’t quite the same obviously. The reason for the switch is I just feel I would thrive better at a bigger school, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Madison when I visited. I am not struggling at my current school, but I feel as though UW would better push me out of my comfort zone in a way I need, plus it is obviously cheaper which is an added bonus. I would almost hope though that at least my test scores would still help a bit, although that is unlikely. Hope my GPA gets at least a bit of a boost for being from a school well known to be rigorous.
@Zpower99 Good guess, my school is pretty similar but a little southeast of NU.
My second guess is Notre Dame!
Good luck to you @badger81. Hope you get in! (We know another MN family whose kid transferred to UW from Penn after freshman year. Just liked the kids better at Wisconsin).
@Zpower99 My bad, guess I had a mind blank, I meant southwest of Illinois, just over the border. My apologies for that!
@JBStillFlying That is how I feel, thank you!
(@Zpower99: it’s WashU)
@JBStillFlying Bingo! I’ve heard back from all my other schools, but looking through seems like I might not hear from UW for a couple weeks even.