I just found out last night that I was deferred from UW Madison. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how I can improve my chances of getting in/standing out. At school I am involved in NHS, Gender Equality Club, Math Honor Society, and Social Studies Honor Society. Outside of school I am involved in dance, volunteer on a weekly basis, and I am also a dance teacher. For my application, I sent in four letters of rec. On my ACT I received a 23 (I am not a good test taker). I have an unweighted GPA of 3.65 and weighted GPA of 3.8. Throughout high school I have been enrolled in several AP/IB courses (AP calc, AP stats, AP psych, IB English, IB Theatre, IB TOK). UW Madison is one of my top choices and I would love to get in. It is so hard seeing everyone get accepted and still having to a wait for a decision yet. If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it!
Be sure to report your 1st semester senior grades. Also, contact your admissions counselor to express your interest personally - if it’s your #1 and you will attend if admitted, be sure they know that.
Are you in-state or out?
@JBStillFlying I am in-state!
Yeah I think your best bet is to get working with your counselor and UW-Madison admissions person. It’s a really competitive school. I’m OOS so not sure what’s in store for me yet. Good luck!
@Seacoast Thank you! It is very nerve-wrecking! I feel so impatient, especially since I have to wait until March. Best of luck to you! According to UW Madison’s twitter, an admission decision should be on its way within a few days!
Consider retaking the ACT in February.
I was also deferred, would someone let me know my chances of being admitted later?
OOS MN
ACT 29
GPA 3.9 uw
Heavily involved in orchestra and theater with many leadership positions in both and other EC’s. I spent a lot of time on my essays and had them all reviewed/ edited by my English teacher. I thought they were well done, but apparently admissions didn’t. I had two different recommendations which I also thought were very flattering and reflected well on me. I think my biggest fault was I didn’t take a fourth year of math, however, I did take three years of advanced math courses and emailed admissions last fall and they said that that was fine (maybe they lied).
I’m really disappointed that I was deferred, as Madison has been my top choice since tenth grade, and I’m wondering what my shots are at being accepted later; I’m afraid there are none.
just found out I’ve been deferred too. I’m a Minnesota student and a triplet, all 3 of us applied and both our parents went to Madison. My sister got accepted (3.85 u/w GPA, 4.7 weighted, 30 ACT, second percentile in our class), my brother was also deferred (but we expected that for him- 3.3 unweighted GPA, 26 ACT).
I have:
3.71 u/w GPA and a 4.56 weighted
a 33 ACT composite,
7th percentile in my class.
Full schedule of AP and IB courses, even my music classes are honors ensembles.
I have a long list of extracurriculars in arts and music–singing, orchestra, private lessons, all-state choir, choral directing, musical theatre, tech crew, ballet, have my own photography business, been accepted to some unique art workshops and have high scores on national French exam, etc. I have a feeling they admit early action people on GPA alone. So anyway I’m not sure what my point is other than I’m pretty shook too. At least I’m in solidarity with ya. I’m just confused more than anything that they’d accept my sister with a 4.7 and a 30 ACT and not me with a 4.5 and a 33. Ugh.
Nah definitely not just GPA, I got in with a 3.37 gpa.
Based on this information, last year they admitted 17,304, but only enrolled 6,430, indicating that a lot of those got offer declined eventually. So I think you all still have a great chance to be admitted in RD
https://apir.wisc.edu/admissions/New_Freshmen_Applicants.pdf
Thank you everyone! I’m really glad that everyone is in solidarity. It helps knowing we are all in the same place. The worst part of senior year is having to wait to hear back from colleges, especially since I have to wait for another two months.
It’s not too late to retake the ACT. Honestly, a 23 is very low for UW.
@lilybeebadger I think you have a good shot. Average ACT for non resident is right above 30. Your GPA is fine and hopefully was strong through first semester.
The triplet with the higher GPA has a good shot as well but that first semester GPA is going to be crucial there. The one with the lower GPA might get waitlisted or rejected barring some hook.
@zdadlez for that 2nd part- sorry!
Also UW only looks at unweighted GPA.
@JBStillFlying thank you for the response! I got all A’s this semester except one A-. I’m having two more letters of recommendation done (one from my AP Gov teacher who is a Madison alum and one from the theater teacher) and I also luckily happened to just receive an email from the mom of an 8th grader I give cello lessons to thanking me ten times over so I’m planning on sending those in as well. I’m actually going to be on campus this weekend for another tour so I emailed admissions asking if I could maybe sit down with a counselor to discuss my application and go over any flaws they see.
@lilybeebdger I’d be shocked if those things didn’t mean a slam-dunk admissions in the spring. Your expressed interest, additional evidence of talent and strong GPA all point to that. Good luck to you!
I just checked and it would be too late for me to retake the ACT! The deadline for the February ACT was the 20th. The next ACT date after that is in April. I will find out if I am accepted or not by the end of March. I can add Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society and Math Honor Society to my resume. I might try to get a letter of rec from my IB Theatre teacher, who was a Madison alumni. I have four recommendations, so I do not want to have too many! I thought my essay was very creative and well written. I’m just very uneasy about my ACT score, especially since I won’t be able to retake it due to the time frame. I think that if anything is holding me back, it would be my ACT. My senior class is very competitive. I am in the top 30% of my class being ranked 102/381. I just really want to be accepted to Madison. It has been one of my top choices since 8th grade.
I agree I think it’s just a matter of time and you’ll get in! Also reach out to your local person…don’t be sad!
My friend got in with a 23 ACT and a 4.0 GPA. She’s in the top 10 of my school and involved in several clubs and such. You definitely do have a shot, believe me. Just keep your grades up and maybe do retake the ACTs.
I was deferred and I have a 30 on the ACT and a 3.43 Gpa. Top 25% percent of class and all of my essays and letters of recommendation were really strong. My senior year grades and gpa haven’t gone up or down they’ve stayed the same and Even if I get new letters of recommendation I still probably won’t get in right? Thoughts?