This is the official thread for those applying EA to University of Wisconsin.
List your unweighted GPA, any SAT /ACT scores, and ECs. What majors are you going into?
Ask your questions, the CC community is here to help!
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Can someone in Madison please speak to the safety of the town after what happened over the weekend? I see they cut the police budget pretty deeply a couple of years ago.
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My daughter just submitted her Common App, so now we settle in for the long wait! She will be a business major, and here are her stats: OOS, GPA 4.3W/3.98UW, SAT 1480, 7APs. Fingers Crossed!
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My daughter has applied and this is considered a Target school for her. It is her top choice but we know it is super competitive.
She has 3.73W/3.69UW and applying TO. She has 1 AP but will have 8 dual enrollment/college courses throughout her junior and senior years. The two she took junior year she got As in. She is applying pre-med but is starting to second guess this and is thinking of Business as another option. We live in MN and she goes to a large, high-achieving high school.
She has already been accepted to three schools (U of Iowa, U of MN, and Drake University). Now waiting on Madison, Indiana, and U of MN Rochester. Keeping eyes and ears open to other options still as well. Best of luck to us all!
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How long does it take to get application confirmation? Son submitted Monday evening and so far nothing in email.
“Once we receive your application for admission, we will send you an application acknowledgment. The acknowledgement will include your campus ID number, which can then be used to activate your UW NetID and check your application status.”
Thanks
Question about housing issues. My kid is ready to apply EA but we keep hearing over and over about housing issues. Two in-state residents recently stated that their kids aren’t even applying b/c of housing issues. Can anyone speak to experiences with that?
Did you receive the portal? If so, how long did it take? My son is anxiously waiting. He applied on Friday.
Yes. It took 4 days.
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My son is a sophomore. Housing is not the easiest thing to come by but all depends on pricing that you are willing to pay. My son lives a little further out and pays less. He just signed for his second year in the apartment. He would say do not judge the school based on housing. He says in his wildest dreams he didn’t think he could be this happy at a school.
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I have a freshman there so just finished our first go-round with what people call the “Madison housing hunger games”. It was a minor hassle, but I would say that the frenzy is mostly just hype and parents having unrealistic expectations. There is plenty of housing still available at all price points. He just signed a lease for a mid-range apt with 3 friends for ~850s/month for his share for next year. It’s not fancy, but it’s clean, convenient, and from a well-respected management company.
Parents who want their precious snowflakes to be handed a luxury apartment mere steps away from campus (and for cheap!) without having to do any legwork shouldn’t send them to Madison in the first place. 
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I agree I’m just giving my kid a tent and a can of pork and beans and telling to toughen up… I also want him to live in a crappy area with low security, so no one can ever accuse him of being a snowflake
S24 OOS just applied EA for Data Science
3.9 UW/ 4.4 Weighted
1530 SAT single sitting (780M/750V)
3 Dual enrollment classes
6 APs, CalcAB(5), US History(5), EngLang(4), Gov, CompSciP and CalcBC
4 year Varsity basketball starter (but will just be rooting from the stands in college)
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I have a freshman at UW - Madison and dorms are only guaranteed for freshman. She just recently secured an apartment for her sophomore year, you definitely have to be on top of the housing information but it was not difficult. Happy to answer any questions that anyone on this forum has.
We love UW - Madison!
FWIW, I have a kid that just graduated from UW Madison and do a little college related counseling in the midwest so I follow closer than most. His class was record breaking in size when it started. Kid lived in a dorm first year and navigated 3 years of private housing. Did not sign a lease until February of Freshman year. He did sign a little bit earlier year 3 and 4 (same place year 2-3). It seems like UW is getting a better sense of their newer application and yield rates and are working to keep numbers reasonable (on that note, do not be surprised to be deferred for EA).
What happens is kids living in dorms start getting mailings from apartment buildings almost as soon as they are on campus for NEXT fall. Especially from high end places. This creates the rush and parents get swept along into it. Living near Union South vs. State Street area isn’t a tragedy even if an 18 year old deems it so and doesn’t equate to letting your student live in a tent. Even if that building doesn’t have a rooftop party room and a pool. There are always options and sublets available. I would say housing isn’t cheap though, I wouldn’t assume you are going to save money after moving out of the dorms. And most leases are 12 months.
On a side note, if your student is considering study abroad this gets tricky. My student didn’t at least partially due to covid. But I would have had kid apply to live a semester in the dorm or bide time to get a 1 semester sublet and be flexible (or maybe find a friend to double up a room for a semester). Because some people do end up paying for a full year of housing or subsidizing someone else’s sublet while their student is studying abroad.
My kid had an absoluetly amazing experience at UW Madison. Still living in Madison very happily from OOS. Exceeded expectations across the board for us. Good luck future badgers!
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Does Wisconsin ever release for EA in December? Any parents who have some experience here?
Looking at last year’s thread on this board, looks like there were no notifications until the last week (the last Friday maybe) of January. Seems like all EA was batched then.
We still have a bit of a wait 
A few years ago they did release some EA decisions early. I think maybe in state, maybe Minnesota, maybe Illinois applicants? Prior to that, I think they did try to get most out in December.
They have not for the last 2 years however and I’d be surprised to see any early. People complain and contact admissions if they are released in phases so it’s probably easier to just release all at once.