@WImom94 The admissions standards for OOS students are higher and, from a purely qualitative point of view, merit scholarships seem to be harder to come by for OOS students. Because of this higher standard for admission (Madison doesn’t need to accept as many OOS students so they can be more picky), OOS students have higher stats on average. This isn’t exactly a controversial statement, it’s well known that OOS standards for admission are higher than in state at every state school in the US. Do I think that this is because WI does very little to entice them to stay? Maybe, but Madison is no Berkley, UCLA, Princeton, GATech, Harvard, Penn, Cornell, Dartmouth, Stanford, etc. so WI is going to lose lots anyways to states with schools with better reputations. Sure they wouldn’t need to rely on bringing in OOS if they could keep the best in state students in state, but there’s not much you can do for a kid getting full financial aid at Madison vs Brown.
Keep in mind, Madison is a very strong program with low in state tuition so there is already very little incentive for a student to leave the state system unless they get an offer from an OOS school with an even better reputation, at which point they’re pretty much gone because many of the schools worth leaving the UW system for already meet full demonstrated need because they’re private and have larger endowments for smaller numbers of students (the lowest Ivies have 2-3 times the money of UW with 1/8th of the students.
Example: Purdue and Madison engineering are pretty much the same (Purdue is a tad higher but it’s not much). A WI student admitted to both isn’t going to be stolen away by Purdue even with the max OOS merit scholarship because the tuition is still lower at Madison.
@Watrs Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I guess what our family and others often wrestle with is that the decision isn’t simply UW vs OOS with full met need. There are many, many flagship universities that offer significant merit for high-achieving students that result in a lower cost than in-state UW. Rankings aren’t exclusively tied to post-college outcomes. Much of a student’s success both during and post-college lies within the student themselves and in making the most of the opportunities of wherever they land. As a result, the decision also isn’t simply UW before everywhere else considered “lower ranked”. For those families without need, admittedly a fortunate position to be in, it may be hard to justify not accepting generous merit offers elsewhere.
@WImom94 I see where you’re coming from. I still believe that it is beneficial for WI to offer merit scholarships to highly performing OOS students, but the opposing viewpoint is perhaps more nuanced than I originally perceived it to be.
I completely understand why UW Madison would want to give priority admission and money to in state students. It should be that way. But as the parent of a child who has applied to many out of state schools, I am wondering how Madison is able to get any of the OOS they admit to attend the university at all. I guess the only ones who attend are those who can afford to pay over $50,000 per year. Doesn’t make for a very balanced student population though. It’s just interesting to see how Madison works compared to other flagship state universities.
May be mistaken but thought UW-Madison was one of the better schools in terms of OOS representation, especially when you consider it’s overall ranking and reputation as a major research uni. WI is facing a problem with shrinking college-age populations and that might be a factor there.
Disagree with UW losing to the above mentioned schools. I know that the Honors program education will be on par with them and offer some things they don’t. It does not matter what the average student population is like at a flagship as these schools are really two tiered with the elite (think perfect test scores, plenty of 5’s on AP’s et al) comparable to those at elite schools. Most students tend to stay in their area- they don’t want to go to the east coast or California as undergrads. I can think of so many negatives for each of the post # 1160 schools. Every campus has its own flavor and Midwesterners have a different mindset than east or west coasters.
There has been no need to entice top OOS students with merit money. There are only so many spots open at any school and UW seems to be doing fine. btw- reciprocity with Minn has top students getting more than just one choice. I don’t see instate elite students forgoing an excellent UW education for some place with lesser academics, they are smarter than that.
There's some recognition at UW that they are losing some top students to OOS elite private schools. They launched a program called Wisconsin Prime
“UW-Madison is reaching out particularly to star high school students through a new
program called the PRIME campaign, which targets high-scoring Wisconsin high school
students. The program is currently being rolled out to seniors, and will include juniors in its next
year. Chancellor Blank suggested that it is very important to reach students at a younger age
before they are actually at the point of application.
The PRIME campaign includes some high-touch recruiting, specialty study abroad
programs, and full funding for everyone who qualifies for Pell Grants. Special activities are also
held on campus just for this group of students. Chancellor Blank reiterated that the hope is keep
in Wisconsin students who might otherwise leave the state.”
"Blank said UW-Madison is focused on attracting the best Wisconsin high school students. To recruit those students, the university has launched the PRIME program, which targets Wisconsin high school students with top grades and an ACT score of 30 or higher. The goal is to reach 800 students with high-touch recruiting to communicate why a top student would want to attend Madison.
“We’ve just started the program, but I think we’re on the right track,” said Blank. “The more of these excellent students we attract to UW-Madison and keep in Wisconsin for college, the easier it’s going to be for Wisconsin’s businesses to recruit those students into jobs.”
I’d never heard of this till my D got invited to a “Prime Luncheon” with Chancellor Blank. My D’s first choice is Northwestern (applied RD) but it’s a crap shoot like every other tippy top school. My D is going into engineering and was a direct admit EA at UW. But we live here in Madison and she’s thinking UW is too familiar and close to home.
@Wolfbit Our D received the luncheon invite, too. Are you going? UW is not our D’s first choice either. I am not sure this program will have the impact UW is hoping for, but I can appreciate the effort. It might be interesting to UW for them to follow up with identified “PRIME” students who don’t end up choosing UW to find out where they went and why.
OOS (International student currently attending a high school in California)
intended major: Plant Science
Weighted GPA: 3.917
Class rank: 50% (right at the middle, but my counselor said that our school doesn’t report class rank)
ACT: didn’t take
SAT: 1490 (M=800; R&W=690)
SAT II: took Math II and Biology-E, both below 700 (accidentally sent these to colleges)
Chinese, Female
5 APs in total, 4-year varsity xc runner + 1-year captain; award from a species search&identification contest; awards from an international photography contest, volunteered in various botanical gardens
@erionoire Were you just accepted today or on 12/21 with all EA applicants? Just wondering the chances of them admitting deferred EA applicants along the way before the end of March.
@Madison85 I think it should be determined by the size of the school budget before the inclusion of state funding. It wouldn’t really affect the amount available by much since the money received from the state is relatively small anyways but it would at least mean that OOS merit scholarships aren’t paid for by the taxpayer in order to pacify everyone.
If I understand correctly, you suggest that merit money for OOS students should come from the budget before state funding (so that it’s not coming from WI taxpayers). So exactly where should the money come from?
That leaves federal money (which is awarded to UW for research salaries and costs, and for Pell grants, other grants), donor money (generally donors have already specified who is eligible for their money), tuition (charge everyone more to give merit discounts to OOS students?), auxiliary enterprises money (overcharge for housing, dining, student union food, etc. to give merit money to OOS students?)?
Hey! I was accepted Early Action to UW Madison but it looks like I am going to get a C in physics first semester and possibly one or two Bs. How likely is it that my admission will be rescinded?
Hi everyone I am a CA student who got admitted EA class of 2023. If I remember correctly I was told that my admissions packet would arrive via mail a few days (or about a week) after I originally got my letter. It has now been over a month, and I was wondering if there are any other CA students who have gotten their packet or if they’re still waiting too.
@leroyjenkins My D was admitted EA on Dec. 21 and received an envelope in the mail a couple weeks ago. We live in the North Bay. I think that’s the packet you are referring to.