I have had three children go through this process with Wisconsin and Minnesota. We always encouraged them to tell the school ASAP if they know they will not be attending. It put my daughters in control and gave the school more information on who they could accept! A lot of students are “on the bubble;” if you know you will not be attending, your early could communication help someone else. It’s the right thing to do! Good luck to all!
Good idea. Your acceptance/rejection of an offer will allow another student to get admitted sooner. You can only go to one school.
Sometimes it’s difficult to know right away. My DD has been accepted to UW-Madison. We’ll be visiting the school for the first time in April. We were very surprised/shocked when she was rejected at UW-Seattle. That was her first choice school. We spent a good deal of time there. And, we visited several other schools that didn’t pan out. It seems she was accepted to more schools that we didn’t visit! So, we’re running around the US during Spring Break in order to make a final decision. From what I’ve read, except for climate, UW-Madison is very similar (& even higher ranked) than UW-Seattle. I’m fairly certain she’s a Badger. We certainly won’t hem & haw about this process longer than necessary though.
@tad322 would you mind mentioning what state you are in and your DD’s scores and GPA? Thanks!
@tad322 I appreciate your comments. Everyone should have the opportunity to weigh their known options. Our oldest looked at UW-Seattle also, but never applied - she felt it was too far from home (Wisconsin). UW-Madison provides most students a wonderful experience like many large universities. Good luck to your daughter.
Son and his cousin, both raised in the same WI city, could argue which school is better as each went to a different UW. Both are now in Seattle. Your home state or college city are not where you need to stay. Every place has pros and cons- UW-Madison is great.
We’re on the the North East in the US. I don’t know her exact SAT score - but it wasn’t as high as a lot of her friends. She scored in the 90th percentile. I’ve got 3 kids all about the same age & I just can’t hover that much. She’s also at the top of her class - but not valedictorian. She takes a number of AP courses & 4 years of 2 languages (Japanese & Spanish - both Honors.) She’s neither Asian nor Hispanic. She intends to be an East Asian Studies major. She has a great love of Japanese art/manga & mentioned her desire to learn from noted Professor Kern - who specializes in that area. I think that helped her application. There were 5 other kids who applied to Seattle from her HS - which we thought was odd but it’s apparently a popular school. UW-Seattle only accepted one of them - the class president.
@tad332 The bar can be very high for OOS students seeking admission to public universities. While not an Ivy, Wisconsin is a very good school and is well regarded by people on the east coast. Going to a school in Wisconsin sounds exotic. 
My son has been accepted at both UWs…Washington and Wisconsin. The 2 schools seem to attract similar students. We visited WI in February and are heading to WA next week. We are from SoCal and either way, weather will be a big change for my son.
Cold or gloom. Each has a stay inside and study winter climate in my book. The WI one has the kind of campus area that the rest of the city doesn’t matter. Have visited Seattle in late November (H’s Indian friend was visiting there) but the weather then reminded me of why we did not retire there despite liking the city. Both are liberal. It will be interesting for you to find out which your son prefers.