“Your application will be reviewed by one of our admission counselors as a part of our first notification period. During the review we may request additional materials. You will be notified by email when a decision is made so that you can check back here for updates on your application status. Visit our web site to view decision notification dates.” this is what is written on my UW portal. when should i expect a decision?
@Rahulbarcafan Says the same thing for me.
@Rahulbarcafan As posted on the Wisconsin website, all applicants who applied by November 2nd will be notified by the end of January.
Letters were dated Dec 22 last year.
If you scroll through this thread from last year a lot of people had to wait until the last few days of January to get a reply and many of those replies were “postponed” The postponed replies then had to wait until mid to late March to get a final decision.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-wisconsin-madison/1722328-acceptances-p1.html
Based on the last two years, there could be a flood of news on either December 4th or 11th. Last year I believe it was the 5th. Happens after business hours at about 7-10 PM believe it or not. Check your student center. Letter come out later. Student center is the first source.
Does the status have to change to “Your application is being reviewed by one of our counselors” or can I get a decision straight from it saying it will be reviewed? My application status still says that it “will be reviewed by one of our counselors as part of our first notification period”. I applied October 16th.
Yes @joeyjiggs I’m in the same situation trying to figure out the same thing. I applied on 10/29 and I’d really like to hear before Christmas!!
To answer a few questions and make a comment or two:
- Your status does not change until you are either accepted, denied, waitlisted/deferred. There is nothing sneaky about this and no way to no before you know. Letters come weeks later. Watch your student center.
- First wave of decisions is likely December 4th or 11th - Friday night usually. Guessing the 4th.
- Second wave before Xmas...18-23rd ish
- Third wave is mid January. Obviously all early admissions folks will know by January 31st.
All of this can be tracked by going back on this site to prior years and connecting the dots. None of my comments are official at all. Just gleaned by looking at history.
Good luck.
Oh yeah and one last thing…there appears to be zero rhyme or reason for why one student gets notified in the first, second, or third wave. Tracking GPA’s, ACT’s, and date that all items were submitted did not result in any tangible pattern that would let anyone know. So all be patient and try not to worry :)…Good luck.
@Mowe11 in regards to comment #4…yes, all early decision applicants get notified by January 31st. However, looking at last years decision thread, it appears that many students get a “postponed” decision in mid-late January, which means they have to wait another 1-2 months to get a final decision. And that “final” decision may be in the form of waitlisted (which, from what I understand, rarely results in being accepted).
@mowe11 do you think that being an out of state applicant decreases your chances for being notified of your decision in the first wave (which you said would most likely be on December 4)? Have you noticed a pattern between out of state and in state applicants in terms of when they receive their decisions?
There is no such thing as an admit decision of “deferred” it is called “postponed”.
Being in or out of state also does NOT change your odds of getting a decision in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd wave. My student was out of state two years ago and was notified in the first wave - as an example.
@Mowe11 is it typically the kids with the highest gpa’s and test scores who get notified in the first wave?
@abligatoryname based on what I saw in last year’s admission thread, there were applicants that were postponed in the 1st and 2nd wave. So, I’m guessing that it’s not just the highest GPA’s and test scores that get notified first. As someone else mentioned, it may be somewhat random, or it may be based on how early you got your application in.
@obligatoryname … I agree with @BrewCrew82. Based on 2 years ago, it appeared there was no reason why a potential student would find out in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd wave. At least based on statistics. There were some HIGHLY ranked kids that found out in the 3rd wave in January. That said, i always had a suspicion that those were kids that had not visited campus nor shown much true interest. Rather they applied to apply and admissions thought they were safety school kids trying to get into Ivy’s. Just a guess though and it really did seem random. Particularly in 1st wave in early December and 2nd wave right before Xmas. Good luck all!
first wave out yet?
Browsing last years posts from around this same time period, it appears that the “first wave” could begin being released later today or this evening. The first post I noticed of someone stating they got a decision was on Dec 5th, 2014 at around 8pm or so. December 5th would have been a Friday last year. - Then there were several more posts from that same weekend regarding decisions.
This is on a rolling admission right? So people who applied the first week of September will find out in the first wave?