Would UW Madison Admissions take into consideration someone that has struggled with a chronic illness
most of their life? My GPA is a 3.0 and ACT score is 22. I know this is low for their standard, but I
have been quite ill and missed a lot of school over the last three years. I am doing well now and attending
this school would be a dream come true. I could get many letters of recommendations from my
doctors, employers and educators.
The most convincing way to demonstrate that the main reason for your “low” GPA is past illness and missed school is a high ACT/SAT score. To a large extent these standard tests do not test deep knowledge in math and language but rather verbal and numeric sophistication and skills. Bring that ACT score way up and you may have the opportunity you seek.
Your story might well make a difference and you should tell it. Make special note of why it won’t stop you from being successful at their school. The more proof you have in the form of improving grades and teacher recommendations saying how you’ve overcome adversity the better.
Of course, it may not be enough as you are significantly under their medians but they will care about what you’ve gone through and if your story is compelling enough it might be enough.
Try Madison College.
Will this chronic illness continue to cause you to miss classes and exams in college?
^^ What Madison85 said. Also look into their guaranteed transfer program. I know someone this semester who is transferring through this program.
Make sure to set yourself up for success. I encourage attending another U or college and building your skills before bringing them to UW. (This is how one demonstrates a “college-level” maturity).
You might be successful if your last semester’s gpa is very high and a retake of the ACT is also much better. That would indicate you have the study skills and knowledge base to succeed at UW. NO sympathy admissions- and rightfully so. You need to be able to handle the workload at UW for it to be worth your while to attend it. Above posters have good suggestions. Ramp up to UW by attending a different school and transferring if all goes well there.
We all have to modify our dreams to match our reality.