My son has taken the ACT test twice now and both times he received the same composite score - 31. We are uncertain which particular mix of subscores for the two exams would be best for his application to Wisconsin. If it matters, he is an OOS applicant who’d like to major in either history or philosophy, although I believe I learned on this forum that Wisconsin does not admit by major and/or college.
April ACT Test
Composite: 31
English: 34
Math: 27
Science: 31
Reading: 31
June ACT Test
Composite: 31
English: 36
Math: 24
Science: 28
Reading: 34
Wisconsin along with UT-Austin (where we are in-state residents) are the two most competitive schools that he will be applying to. Also, my son is going to to retake the ACT in September as he hopes to raise his score in one setting to 32. His superscore is currently 32 but none of the schools he’s applying to superscore the ACT. Any advice or insights is greatly appreciated.
You are correct that UW admits students to the university as a whole, regardless of intended major. Also about superscoring. A 31 is a very competitive score- raising one whole point doesn’t seem worth the effort. The other factors on his application will be just as important. Which test to report- I don’t know. Both?
@wis75, yes I know that it seems kind of silly to re-take the ACT to raise his composite score by 1 point to a 32. The reason he’s doing so has more to do with one of the other schools we are considering - the University of Alabama. Bama’s Presidential Scholarship awards 100% of the cost of tuition for applicants with ACT scores of 32+. Additionally, although my son has competitive ACT and SAT scores, (he has a 2070 on the SAT), his overall GPA and class rank are below the average for Wisconsin, so every incremental point might be the difference between being admitted or denied admission.
For the University of Texas, there are actual admission formulas that you can find on certain websites for the various UT colleges - (UT admits by college/major). UT doesn’t publicize this info however it is on the web as a result of the pending lawsuit respecting its admission process. As a result, I have an inkling as to which subscore mix will be the most competitive for my son’s UT application and I was curious if there was any such info or insights respecting Wisconsin.
As suggested above, I think we will just roll the dice and send all of the scores (including SAT and SAT Subject Scores) and hope that his essays are good enough to get him admitted to Wisconsin.
Or consider waiting until after the ACT retake in September before sending any scores to UW Madison?
Yeah, @Madison85, I guess there is no hurry to send the ACT scores since Wisconsin really does not do a rolling admissions process. We’ve already sent the SAT scores to Wisconsin and they’ll get the updated SAT Subject test scores when those are released at the end of the week.
The only concern I had was getting an app in so that we could get the housing application squared away. I don’t recall what the housing process is at Wisconsin; however, at UT-Austin there is no freshman housing guarantee and housing priority is determined by the date of an applicant’s application for admission. When I was a high school senior I submitted my application to UT late in the admission process and I could not get any on-campus housing. If my son were lucky enough to get admitted to Madison, I certainly would want for him to have housing and not have to re-live my freshmen year experience in Austin.
The 2070 SAT score appears to be the equivalent of a 31 ACT score, so I’ll hold off on sending any ACT scores until we get the results of the September test. If he gets a 31 again, we will send all three ACT scores, if he gets a lower score, just the first two scores…of course if he gets a higher score we will just send that in.
UW DOES have rolling admissions- but many are given a postponed status instead of a clear admit/reject until all applications are in.
Housing contracts are offered upon acceptance but there is a lottery for dorm choices after the May deadline for ranking choices. This means it doesn’t matter if you are accepted early on or by March as far as getting your dorm choice.
I assume finances are not an issue for you. UW is not known for merit money for incoming freshmen, unlike some other U’s.
Thanks @wis75 for that clarification. My son’s application probably would be given a postponed status. His SAT/ACT test scores should be near the top 25% range however his GPA is certainly on the low end with a 3.8w/3.4uw - poor freshman year performance but he has a rising grade trend and has taken a curriculum with several AP courses including a challenging senior-year schedule. His extracurriculars are solid, if not great, and as an African-American he’ll have the “hook” of being an under-represented minority, for whatever that’s worth. In short, I have no reason to believe that he’d be a clear admit, especially as an out of state applicant. If housing is based on acceptance then we will have to wait until the end of March to jump on that.
Yes, I do understand that UW will not be providing much, if any, merit aid. As I stated above, my son is an intended history major and UW along with UT-Austin are the top of his list. According to US News, both schools graduate history program are ranked #14 and #17 respectfully (US News doesnt rank undergraduate history programs). I wouldnt say finances are not an issue, more like I’m not expecting any merit aid if he gets accepted to either of the top two schools. In comparison his safety school (Alabama) history program is ranked by US News as #92 in the country, the benefit of a full-tuition scholarship makes that safety a much more palpable backup plan.
There is some data to suggest that the 1st two subtests (English Math) are most valid whereas the last two introduce so much error that the relationship of the composite to future grades is lowered by them. Given that, the April test is slightly better. Tiny difference.
That’s interesting @lostaccount, UT-Austin’s admissions formula for its College of Liberal Arts only uses the Math subscore and the combined English/Writing subscore, which is consistent with what you state above.
UW also looks at grade trends- some mature later than others so his freshman year won’t hurt him. Improving grades help. UW only uses unweighted grades as well.