I was recently rejected from UW Madison and frankly, I’m shocked. I wouldn’t consider them a “safety school” for me but I definitely thought that it was a sure thing that I’d be accepted! Here are my stats:
30 ACT
3.77 unweighted GPA
I think I took a total of 10 AP classes in highschool, and everything that I took that wasn’t AP was at least an enriched(honors)/ advanced something
National Merit Commended scholar
AP Scholar with Distinction
Took and passed 9 AP tests
Did all of this while struggling with undiagnosed ADD (so I had a little adversity that I had to overcome) (Have now been diagnosed for about 2 months)
Solid, if not over the top extracurriculars while in high school. Was involved in like 7 clubs, held one leadership position.
Minnesota Native (which is practically in-state for Wisconsin)
Took a year off after my senior year to move to California and “find myself” and spent every day of that year volunteering 3-9 hours at an animal shelter. Was also completely financially independent and matured a lot while working to support myself.
and I was REJECTED.
I have no idea why this happened and I feel like I’ve been slapped in the face. I mean, they have a 67% acceptance rate or something! I was in the worst 1/3 of applicants?! Are you serious?!?! Does anyone have any idea why I was rejected?!?!
The ONE thing that I have to go on is that I applied at the last second… Most of my materials were received the day before the application deadline, but my “Official High School Transcript” didn’t arrive until 12 days after the deadline… Would that really affect the decision process so much?? I didn’t decide to apply until literally the day I did it, I basically changed my life plan in a day and decided to apply back in the midwest… If I wasn’t accepted just because my application was late than I sure am going to be frustrated with myself!!!
Also, my personal statement was too long, but I didn’t think that was a big deal… is it? I called the school and asked and the lady I talked to said that she didn’t think it would matter THAT much, that I should try to get it as close to the word limit as possible and that’s it, but I guess she wasn’t an admissions counselor…
Minnesota and Wisconsin have a special pact so that, yes, I am pretty much considered “in-state” coming from Minnesota. I would have gotten in state tuition if I had been accepted.
A couple of things spring to mind. One is that admissions and assessing tuition are two different matters. A reciprocity agreement for tuition exists between Wisconsin and Minnesota. I haven’t found any indication that this agreement applies to admission, too.
Furthermore, the existence of a tuition agreement should, if anything, provide the University of Wisconsin with an economic disincentive to admit Minnesotans. When public universities admit out-of-state students (and here I mean, students who aren’t going to play intercollegiate football or basketball), they usually have one of two motives. Either they want to enhance their own reputations by bringing in the most talented students (think U. of Alabama), or they want to fill their coffers with out-of-state tuition dollars. A 30 ACT and a 3.77 GPA make you a very good applicant, but not the academic 1%, to borrow a phrase from all those Occupy movements. That means that UW would have to offer a place in their entering class to you instead of a Wisconsin resident, but they’d get nothing of value to them for doing so. They couldn’t say they were “serving the residents of Wisconsin,” which is what most taxpayers in Wisconsin want it to do, because you’re a Minnesotan; they couldn’t say they’re attracting the very top out-of-state students, because they can find a lot of Wisconsin residents who are just as strong as you; and they can’t say you’re bringing in big dollars from out of state.
Moreover, that tuition agreement isn’t universal. It doesn’t apply automatically to all Minnesotans:
Thank you for your sincere and thorough reply! I was not aware of the details concerning the tuition-pact. Growing up in MN, however, there was always a mentality that the Wisconsin schools were just as in-state as the MN ones, which is why I mentioned that I was from MN in the first place. I see now, though, that it is not as universal as I assumed. I guess it doesn’t matter anyways though, ha, since I won’t be attending a Wisconsin school! But thank you for taking the time to write that thoughtful reply!
To anyone who cares to see this thread: after repeated phone calls, I found out that I was rejected because I had not met transfer eligibility requirements. I was classified as a transfer student due to 1 class that I had taken at a community college during my gap year. Still sucks that I was rejected but at least my feelings aren’t hurt anymore!
Colleges and universities have wildly different standards for how many college credits a person can accrue after finishing high school and still be eligible for freshman admission. Some institutions allow up to a semester’s worth of credits; others, none at all. I guess you found one of the strictest, which was surely unlucky for you.
OP, I think you contributed some good lessons learned to this forum, and they have to do with carefully researching rules that might apply to you. Many people might not even realize that a single community college course could transform them into a transfer student.
Yeah I know the feel. I was rejected from UW Honors college, I didn’t think it would be THAT hard to get in. But I guess it is, I underestimated them. What a punch in the gut
Yeah, I would have been shocked if it was because of your stats. A girl from my school got in with a 19 on the ACT! And her gpa was subpar too like 3.6 uw (w/ significant grade inflation)
is it? I called the school and asked and the lady I talked to said that she didn’t think it would matter THAT much, that I should try to get it as close to the word limit as possible and that’s it, but I guess she wasn’t an admissions counselor…