So first, I got accepted (yay again) 30 ACT, 3.72 uw gpa, solid ecs, average essay i’d say, white male, etc. Now i’ll give a list of postponed vs accepted. This is all in state by the way. Also, these are the results of many people I know who have told me.
Accepted: These people all have pretty solid extra curriculars
(35 ACT, 4.0 uw) (30 ACT, 3.85 uw) (28 ACT, 3.9 uw) (33 ACT, 3.88 uw) (29 ACT, 3.85 uw) (31 ACT, 3.7 uw)
(27 ACT, 3.73 uw) (30 ACT, 3.9 uw) (27 ACT, 3.9 uw)
Postponed: I was very surprised at the first 2 due to very good ecs and course rigor. Seems they are focusing a lot on gpa this year.
(32 ACT, 3.5 uw) (32 ACT, 3.5 uw) (30 ACT, 3.45 uw) (28 ACT, 3.65 uw) (27 ACT, 3.6 uw)
As for denied, I have not heard anyone tell me that they’ve been denied. Thanks guys, hope this helps
@3hsmke this happens with students who have really high grades at state schools. Same thing happened wifh some friends at u mich. they think this is a safety for u do they keep u around longer to make sure ur committed
@thehairyrussian , that may be be true regarding some students with really high grades, but not the case with my son. My son got postponed and while had a competitive ACT score and great ECs, his grades are not as good as others that have posted here. Not as good as any of the examples posted by @Badgermania in post #520. However, he had a really good Junior year and perhaps one of the things they are looking for is that he is continuing on an upward trend this semester. He is doing that (although would be nice if he could bump his AP Calc grade up a bit before the end of the semester in a couple of weeks!).
One scary thought is that looking at threads from last year, there were some postponed students you were “waitlisted” at the end of March and then had to wait until May 8th or 9th to get a final decision!
At any rate, while UW Madison is my son’s first choice, he has already been accepted at UW-LaCrosse, UW-Eau Claire, and Iowa State and I think he would be happy going to any of those “back-ups”.
@thehairyrussian That’s a pretty dumb “system” especially considering my stats are in the bottom 25% for pretty much every top-ranked school ahead of Madison. Madison IS my top choice and I really did not want to go anywhere else
@BrewCrew82 It seems kinda unfair that they would wait till after May to give an updated decision because there are a few schools I have also been accepted to that have housing deadlines on May 1!
Students- UW is not playing games with your “commitment” when deciding admissions. Some students with very high ACT scores and lower gpa’s may not get in because UW is concerned they do not have the study habits to succeed. A student with a bit lower test score who works hard to get stellar grades shows a good chance of handling UW. There are still some weeks for students to do an application by the deadline- they have the same admissions chance as the early bird applicants.
Remember- those middle 50% (25-75%) students are only one half- there will be 1/4 above and 1/4 below those numbers. Also remember there are more students who can do well at UW than there is room for.
@wis75 How about when it comes to weighted vs. unweighted? I personally do not have a great unweighted due to a rigorous course schedule at a top high school, but I have a solid weighted gpa. Is that preferable, the same, or worse than taking easier classed with a higher unweighted?
If you believe the various websites that collect information and statistics on colleges, then the 3 things that UW considers very important are: unweighted GPA, course rigor, and class rank. Looking at entering freshmen stats from 2014 I believe (75% had unweighted GPA >= 3.75, average unweighted GPA > 3.8 … which was actually slightly higher than the ave GPA for Michigan) AND considering stats of in-state students who have said they have been accepted this year (some had ACT = 26 but all had unweighted GPA > 3.7), I think it is safe to say that UW is looking for students who take and excel in challenging classes (I.e., students who take hard courses and have unweighted 3.8 preferred to those who take hard courses and have a 3.4 AND those who take easy courses and have 4.0). This is not base upon an official statement on a UW website, but is my interpretation of the available information as well as comments from alumni/parents of students such as wis75 and Madison85
@pepper1700 According to what some users are saying yes. However, you never know. I have similar stats (A bit higher weighted GPA) and according to my school’s naviance page, the greater majority of people with my stats have been admitted. However, that may be influenced by the high school that I attend, as well as the course rigor. Best of luck!
@pepper1700 I think the best one could say is that if your unweighted GPA was >= 3.75 & your ACT >= 26 then you would at least be within the vast middle pool of entering freshmen. This does not guarantee acceptance. If your GPA was < 3.5 and your ACT was < 24, one could also say that it would be difficult but not impossible to get accepted (I.e. you’d be in the bottom 5% or so). Other in state students with 32 ACT and GPA’s in the 3.5 range said they were deferred NOT denied. IMO it would be difficult to ‘chance’ anyone since one doesn’t know all the details (how rigorous were courses, how good were recommendations, etc). The stats from the 2014 class can be used to provide guidance (I.e., likelihood of acceptance, whether you should have backup schools, etc), but they cannot be used to determine whether or not a specific student will be accepted.
I am an OOS anxiously waiting for my decision. I would like to know how Madison defines rigor in terms of the Honors/AP classes a student takes. I do understand that admissions looks at it in terms of what a high school offers. My high school offers a lot of AP and not all classes have a Honors section. I have taken at least one honors and one AP class in all subject areas along with regular level classes. I did not take mostly Honors and AP. it was a balanced academic record. My UW is a 3.9 and Honors classes are not weighted. Some classmates may have taken more rigorous classes with the same GPA, however they would be applying to more selective colleges. I am wondering if my record would be considered rigorous enough. I would like a response from anyone who would have enough info to respond to this. Possibly the senior member @Madison85.
I believe you need to take UW Madison at its word when they say they review the applications holistically and that they look at UNWEIGHTED GPAs. My oldest daughter who is now a senior at Madison, got in with a 3.87 uw GPA and a 26 ACT. She had stellar recommendations and extracurriculars. Now my younger daughter was admitted in the first wave of acceptances Dec. 18 and she had a 3.9 uw GPA and a 27 ACT. Again, great letters of recommendation and even better extras. I say all this because both my girls had relatively low ACT scores for Madison but were admitted quickly and I think that’s due to their high GPAs and the rest of their application taken as a whole. Compare this to the ONE person in younger daughter’s class that applied on or before Nov. 2 and was postponed–same ACT, 3.7 uw GPA but for some reason submitted NO letters of recommendation. His extracurriculars are also excellent. By the way, the other nine kids in her class that were admitted on Dec.18 all had uw GPAs above 3.8 and ACTs above 29.
I do understand the holistic approach and I do have good extracurricular activities and letters of recommendation. However, that can be relative. What one person describes as great, good, or wonderful is all relative. I do believe that the admitted students have been involved in many activities.I just want a better idea of “rigor”. Thanks
Smilie1 I was typing my post when you posted your question so it wasn’t a response to it per se. As to rigor maybe the “senior” members may have better info but if your school offers a regular level course and an honors level and you choose the regular one, then it’s not going to be looked on favorably. The only regular course my kids took was gym and one daughter took personal finance because they made it a graduation requirement. Everything else was honors or AP.
@luvsgelato thanks again and I do appreciate that you shared the info regarding your daughter’s classes. @Madison85 or @wis75 I was wondering if you folks have any additional answers pertaining to my post #533.
Hey guys. I was postponed Friday and I was just wondering how many people are usually postponed and how many actually end up getting admitted? Is there still hope for me?
Hey guys. I was postponed Friday and I was just wondering how many people are usually postponed and how many actually end up getting admitted? Is there still hope for me?
