Why didn't I get accepted into Wisconsin- Madison?

Hey! If anyone can help me out, it would mean a lot. I am a senior and just got deferred from Wisconsin. I have a 4.1 weighted and a 32 composite on my ACT. Both those scores are above average at Wisconsin. If anyone knows something that I don’t, please comment!

What state do you live in?

California

Most of this increase is likely from OOS. In-state has been flat for years. My DS school went from 7(2016) to 9(2017) to 21(2018) according to naviance. It is out of state.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2017/12/07/if-your-studen-applied-uw-madison-and-academically-prepared-admission-chances-excellent-official-say/929020001/

I got deferred with 1540 sat and 4:3 weighted, out of state (illinois). Might’ve been my weak extracurriculars but idk, i didnt expect to get deferred

Yeah guys I’m pretty frustrated too. I thought my 31 act would’ve been enough. I’m stunned and quite frankly pissed about my deferral.

Yeah I’m furious about my deferral!

Anyone know the process now to get accepted after a deferral?

I think every year it gets more difficult to get into uw out of state especially. Folks that come in after deferrals I have heard submit further recs and further grades.

The OOS kids admitted in the early round are the very high stat kids --more like 33-34, 3.8+ unweighted, most rigorous curriculum.

UW doesn’t look at weighted grades, it “unweights” everyone, so that is the gpa that matters. I don’t know specifically what the acceptance rate for OOS students deferred is, but following results here for several years, it feels like it may be 50%.

Keep your grades strong so that when you submit first semester grades in January, they contribute to a strong case for admissions.

Bizarre. Son got in with 3.46 and 1380 sat out of state.

I was deferred as well. Which is weird that you were not accepted considering your stats are on a whole new level compared to mine. I have a 3.5W and a 28 Composite. I was also strong in extracurriculars and my essays are phenomenal. I am also an OOS student like you.

I heard the acceptance rate for OOS vary from year to year but most of the time it ends up to be around 20-30% acceptance rate.

Hmm. How did the UCLA/USC app go? Not giving you a hard time arbitrarily, but there are a lot of Wisconsin high school students applying to college as well. They tend to not be given the red carpet in California schools from what I can tell.

Wisconsin-Madison has holistic admissions. Assuming you would be admitted just because your scores are above average for them means you didn’t understand the process. Being disappointed is reasonable. Being angry is, frankly, kind of nervy and entitled. They didn’t owe you a thing except a fair read of your application.

Remember specialities will have a higher standard, engineering, CS, they might come out with a starting ACT of 31. Also did you apply assuming you would be full pay OOS? You didn’t ask for any FA (not that there would be any)

Remember that UW only uses UNWEIGHTED grades. You need to translate your gpa to this- no added points for honors, AP et al. That 4+ gpa may not be all that great. You are also expected to take the rigorous classes and do well in them.

Plus- being deferred just means you have to wait until all applications are received and reviewed. Students have the whole month of January to get around to applying- as some of the top students will do. Many students are in that vast middle pool of students.

I got deferred with a 30 ACT and a 3.66 and I have 3 varsity sports and 11 extra curriculars, why did so many people get deferred when it’s their target school?

Only the highest stat OOS students are admitted in the early round; a target school means 50/50 chance of acceptance so deferral means a student is in the mix. It’s not a waiting list, its just not early acceptance.

@usagirl1776 consider yourself blessed. My son had higher stats, is a legacy and got flat out rejected. We were hoping for at least a deferral. He’s in 2 other schools and waiting on 3 more, but UW was his first choice. In a weird twist, we got an email requesting a donation to the annual fund the same day they rejected our son. Ouch.

As someone else mentioned, UW owes us nothing. Maybe he applied to a program that required high stats - who knows. In any event, he’s moving on. Best of luck at Madison!