<p>I'm seeing on the NY Times on line that UW admissions were easier this year than last year:</p>
<p>U. of Wisconsin, Madison </p>
<p>2012: 29,008 applied 15,737 admitted 54.25%</p>
<p>2011: 29,983 applied 14,627 admitted 48.78% </p>
<p>Are these numbers accurate? I was under the impression that it was getting harder and harder to be admitted.</p>
<p>Dunno. Why don’t you contact someone in admissions.</p>
<p>There are a number of reasons you can consider, as this is very incomplete data. The gpa and test score averages for the two years are not included; they may have gone up in 2012 resulting in a higher number of acceptances. The trend in yield rate may have changed necessitating a higher number of acceptances to get the enrollment number UW is targeting. In order to reach any kind of empirical conclusion as to whether it is “harder” to get into UW you need a lot more statistical information. It will be interesting to see the class of 2016 enrollment profile to compare to the class of 2015. Based on the students admitted from our HS (41 enrolled), the academic performance is every bit as good if not better than last year.</p>
<p>Actually, the NYT numbers are inaccurate, probably due to a transcription error. The actual number of applicants in 2011 was 28983, not 29983, for an admission rate of 50.47%. [UW-Madison</a> Academic Planning & Analysis](<a href=“http://apa.wisc.edu/home_common_data.html]UW-Madison”>http://apa.wisc.edu/home_common_data.html)</p>
<p>I have not yet seen any news release with 2012 numbers, but assuming the numbers posted are accurate (and the above error suggests caution) then applications did increase very slightly in this past cycle. For whatever reason there were more than 1100 additional admits allocated which should yield a very large class size in the fall – unless there is some factor which reduces yield to a historically unprecedented low. While not monotonic, admission rates have fallen steadily from 72.15% in 2000.</p>
<p>It is interesting to speculate about what these numbers would look like were UW to use the Common Application. Michigan, for example, experienced a 26% boost in applicants when it switched to the Common App last year. A similar boost to UW applications might drive the admission rate down to 40%.</p>
<p>rsdad is correct. In addition to the reasons you suggest, at some schools such a change could indicate a conscious effort to grow the freshman class, although this is something I have not heard with regard to UW (and would be surprised if that were the case).</p>
<p>The kids from my son’s HS (large, public, competitive) who will be there in the fall are all students who had many options. A number of them were NMS/4.0 students and/or had won national awards for art, music and so on. The ones who didn’t get in were also very bright, capable kids and a number of families were surprised at the rejection (including several children of UW faculty).</p>
<p>What does the admissions rate have to do with whether it is “getting harder and harder to be admitted” ?</p>
<p>novaparent, why does it bother you so much that some people from UW-Madison may be overly confident in their university? honest question.</p>
<p>Lets say you are completely 100% right about everything. Hell, you probably are. UW-Madison is not an elite tier educational university like Michigan or Virginia. It is much closer to Minnesota/Iowa. I went there and will admit it. Well why do you care so much what a select few people that come on here feel? Why do you have a downright obsession with finding factoids to bring them down? I’m just trying to get you to trace back your thoughts and feelings t a source here. It’s been going on for years and is downright frightening.</p>
<p>All over the world people are overconfident. All over the world people think they’ve achieved something when they’ve achieved nothing. Inflated egos, too, are everywhere. Why UW-Madison? What about it? Honest question, not judging you, just trying to get you to free up the tangle in your mind that is clearly causing you great suffering.</p>
<p>I am closing this thread. Please refrain from bickering on future threads. The “Ignore” feature is a useful tool to keep in mind.</p>