<p>It's been about 5 or 6 weeks and on myweb page it stilt says</p>
<p>My Applications
UW-Madison General Course - BS Degree 2010 Fall We have received your application and are reviewing your file to ensure we have all materials necessary to make a decision. Check back here for updates on your application status. </p>
<p>I don't even know if I am missing something and need to send again..Or wht
I already got an acceptance from another school that I applied at the same time ..what is going on??? they should at least let me know if I am missing anything</p>
<p>They invented phones and admissions receptionists a long time ago. You should take advantage of that. Now you’re going have problems because of the holidays, but expecting an answer on CC to the apparently very application-specific issues you have is not going to elicit any definitive answers.</p>
<p>Life is not ALL about your instant gratification. </p>
<p>What exactly about this do you not understand?:</p>
<p>This online system enables you to: </p>
<p>Check to make sure we’ve received all of your application materials, and if we haven’t, see a list of exactly what we do not have (e.g., application fee, test scores, etc.)
View your admission decision
Check the details we have on file about you, including residency status and term of entry
Update your mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address
Monitor the status of your financial aid application and accept your award</p>
<p>I’m beginning to wonder if there is something about being educated at UW-Madison that has contributed to the pomposity, snideness, sarcasm and condescension toward 17 or 18 year olds that I see on this board. I’ll throw in Pathetic and WIS75 to the posts in this thread. These are young kids, many not wise in the ways of the world, perhaps from very small rural schools where the bureaucracy is minimal. They are going through this for the first time, not veterans of the process like those replying, and are naturally concerned and anxious about decisions that are important to their future. The attitudes are totally unwarranted and speak volumes about those replying. Fortunately I only know you through a message board and don’t have to deal with you in person. A little too full of yourselves.</p>
<p>I visit a couple of other individual college boards and don’t see the same thing.</p>
<p>Please call the Office of Admissions at 608-262-3961 during regular business hours. My son found them helpful and responsive last year when he was anxiously awaiting his acceptance.</p>
There’s quite a bit of intolerance on display in this UW forum. I got absolutly crucified here for complaining about the extra $7,500 Madison Initiative surcharge, enacted AFTER the May 1st enrollment deadline last year, that our family could not afford. My daughter had to scramble to enroll in UIUC last year after the deadline, instead, as did a few of her friends, and the reaction from many of the regulars here was absolutely brutal.
<p>So I wanst the only one who thought this board was harsh…
One time I posted to see if anyone could read my essay and all I got for reply was a really bitter reply saying I should stop spending time online and ask my teachers… and that I shouldnt ask for help here or something…a couple of regulars on this forum kinda teamed up against me and gave me all the bitter replies…that was rather disappointing and I didnt reply after that… I knew that one of them was an adult and seriously, I am an applicant who is interested in this school and wants to be accepted,I am not trying to bring the school down or anything…Why so bitter? then why does College essays forum even exist? Obviously, people Can Help each other online…
I already had all my friends/teachers read my essay but they always say my essay is good…I was afraid they just couldnt tell me in my face that my essay sucked…</p>
<p>And I really hope they realize that the way they behave on this forum really turns off some applicants. I lost significant interest in this school after getting unnecessarily bitter replies for my essay thread.</p>
<p>I think some of the older intolerant posters on this forum need to find a new hobby other than chastising young students over the internet. You guys are winners.</p>
<p>Yeah, better slap Barrons, Balthezar, Wis75, Pathetique with a wet noodle. Maybe I should slap myself too…</p>
<p>For those of us, UW-Madison alums and/or parents of Badger students with first-hand experience of the sometimes-maddening bureaucracy of this truly great institution, are simply trying to impart a little reality to 17-18 year olds that look to this board as their one-stop shop for all the answers.</p>
<p>For the occasional half-snippy answer, there have been tens of times that Barrons or Wis75 have taken time to FIND solutions for Madison hopefuls, while attempting to tell them between the lines that, “hey man, you gotta learn to do this yourself 'cause if & when you’re admitted, you MUST be a self-starter.”</p>
<p>I don’t think the straight forward approach takes any more effort and is more effective in passing along the message. I think the snippy, between-the-lines approach is more to meet some immature emotional need of the responder. </p>
<p>JiffsMom, being an adult, responses and debate concerning your crusade is a whole different matter.</p>
<p>Kids- learn to navigate the websites of colleges you are interested in. The UW one is easy to do so on- a lot easier than many I have attempted. Those who prefer CC- read the previous threads and responses. We, like your parents, get tired of answering the same questions over and over, thus get annoyed and respond accordingly. Some posters push the wrong button one too many times, just like with real life parents. </p>
<p>I don’t find the bureaucracy difficult to manage- just ignore it and go to the source you have a question for. Call Res Halls, Admissions, e-mail a professor/dept chair… Regardless of the size of the institution it is made up of real people. It takes courage the first time, but practice helps. Act like the adult you are truly becoming with them and you will be treated like one. Scary at first, but you DO have the power to navigate the system yourself. Be assertive- practice those adult skills and you will become better at them. Remember how the handholding lessened with each transition from school to school? HS still requires some parental input- but colleges expect to deal with only the student- you’re the entire interface between your parents and the college/university. A taste of the privelege/responsibility of being an adult.</p>
<p>Annoyingdad- thanks for the final line of your post, expresses the feelings of many of us. Thanks jnm123, it is nice to hear more than criticism for our efforts.</p>
<p>No sale, annoyingdad. Don’t for a minute believe that I’m the only parent being shoved up against the wall when it comes to trying to figure out how the combined efforts of the student, their college-aged siblings, and their parents can afford a college education for more than one student at a time.</p>
<p>Crusade? Hardly. It was a legitimate complaint about a costly unfair surcharge enacted AFTER the May 1st enrollment deadline - which was met by harsh, intolerant, and bitter remarks by UW forum regulars. Maybe you and the other regulars are used to people rolling over and submitting to your UW thuggery, but I fought back. I know… how dare I stick up for myself and my family, right? I should just shut up and take the UW-style abuse… on Wisconsin :(. </p>
<p>To say that certain UW forum members’ actions represent UW very poorly would be an extreme understatement. Even collegechristine logged on to call them out on their boorish behavior. Consider that and the perennial ‘Coasties are insufferable’ threads you see on this board (yeah, UW wants their OOS money but then UW forum members complain bitterly when the OOSers have the ‘audacity’ to spend their money in Madison), and you have a pretty clear picture of how UW comes across as intolerant here on CC. </p>
<p>Sorry, but there are two things that drive me crazy–people who expect instant replies from places that have to process over 25,000 applications and the response date has not yet even passed, and people too lazy to use the UW website to find the simplest answer. You’ll never make it in real life so this can be your first little real world awakening. </p>
<p>Being 17-18 and the least bit tech savvy as the average HS student today, there is no reason for either.</p>
<p>It was not bitterness or being mean concerning reading or not reading essays. You are applying to UW on your own merit, and you are going to a very large school that encourages students to be on their own. You have a support system around you to help you in this task, and you should look there for guidance to write essays that are your own.</p>
<p>Actually, I think my response to lifegr was a bit snide. I do apologize for that. But this was a situation, and there have been other posts by lifegr, that border on the edge of incoherent panic, and her questions deal with issues that are specific to her particular application. This one, for example, cannot possibly be answered by anyone on CC, and it seemed fairly obvious that the correct move would be to contact admissions to get the correct answer. Calling and explaining that you’re confused by the lack of a response, and by the puzzling application status would clear things up in a minute or two. I still think that is the correct course of action at this point, but you’ll need to wait until January to call most likely, since the holiday season is upon us.</p>
<p>Having said that, I think annoyingDad was right, and I’ll try to clean up my act here on CC. It is annoying when someone points out something that turns out to be correct, so he’s got an appropriate sceen name…maybe I sould change mine to Scrooge. Hey! He might even be the ghost of christmas past! Woot! I’m saved!</p>
<p>PS–sarcastic and snide are two elements that have worked very well for UW grads. What do the founders of The Onion and the producers of those snidefests–David Letterman Show, Jon Stewart Show, and The Colbert Report all have in common–UW alums were either the founders or producers.<br>
If you decide not to go to UW because you think I’m sarcastic or snide (which I may be) sometimes, well, that’s your loss. And a very dumb decision matrix. If you want to be hugged and told you are great all the time you need another school. UW is like real life.</p>
<p>Here’s a thought on the after admissions additional costs last spring. Some schools have chosen to meet the revenue shortfalls by suddenly cutting class sections and admitting/hiring fewer grad school students to save money- UW preserved both. The economy did brutal, sudden, unexpected things to many people last year in all walks of life. UW chose to maintain, and even improve, quality- something worth it ten years down the line. Some schools may lose ground they won’t recover from long after this recession is over.</p>