It does not matter if a school is your target/first choice, none need to take that into consideration. You get admitted to UW as a whole- perhaps not the direct admit to a specific program you wanted (no gaming the system by choosing a major you think will get you in).
Ouch on the legacy/rejection. I guess you just have to consider he will have his own school that family did not attend.
I got admitted with a 31 ACT 1280 SAT and a 3.8 GPA. OOS and no legacy
I was denied with a 3.6 and a 1210 SAT. My SAT is weak but I have tons of extracurriculars. Disappointed.
S accepted. OOS, 33, 3.6 unweighted, rigorous curriculum. no legacy or connection to school.
Above average gets your app in the consider pile. It’s not a guarantee of admission.
I would really like to see how being OOS and not applying for FA plays into a state where funding is an issue.
Almost all schools are need blind in admissions. Wisconsin is. The admissions office doesn’t really care if you need FA, and the committee is just looking at stats, essays, and ECs. Instate or OOS does matter, but need doesn’t.
deferred with a 31, 4.1, and varsity captain for three years, plus many other CS activities and extra curriculars
OOS IS full pay through. There won’t be state or school aid for OOS kids.
I disagree. Some schools give aid to OOS students. California doesn’t, but others do. Admissions may consider instate v OOS if they have quotas to meet, and if they want the big tuition money from OOS, but admissions doesn’t know if the kid from Texas is full pay or the one from Iowa. Colorado basically takes 55% instate and 45% OOS, but the admissions group only knows the merit awards, not the financial needs.
Referring to UW, not other schools regarding OOS.
No amount of EC’s will replace the academic profile- low stats and a ton of ECs not as good as fantastic stats with fewer ECs. A message for HS students thinking about UW in the future- keep those grades up, no allowance for being too busy to study.
It all comes down to your EC’s and Essays, I got in with a 2.9 GPA and 1530 SAT score. I’m also OOS
Your essays may be phenomenal to you but the admissions officers may think they’re cheesy or corny.
Just be keep it real and be 100
@thatstuffff I don’t know about that. With a 2.9 you had something on your app that they needed to fill an admissions bucket. That’s how it works: gender, ethnicity, regional dviersity, first gen, etc. They don’t want an entire class of the same kind of kids.
@thatstuffff has slightly different personal stats on a different post. Might not be a sincere contributor.
Yeah. No way is that stuff legit.
yes @thatstuffff had this on another UW Madison post, Both GPA and SAT are points off within few mins, how can you trust?
“I got in with a 1510 SAT and 3.0 GPA (Unweighted), Out of state too. In the end, it all comes down to you’re essays and extracurriculars”
How do you know your essays were phenomenal?
What school within the University did you apply too? I got into UW Madison’s L&S this December with a 31 ACT composite, 32 superscored, and a 4.05 weighted GPA(3.93 UW). I go to a top school in Michigan. I will have 6 AP courses after this year is complete. I do a lot of extracurriculars involving my church, The Salvation Army, which also leads to volunteer work in the community. I’m in Key club and NHS. I’d say that you should look at what you do outside of school. Are you involved with any sports? Any church or community activities? Any volunteering? These are all things I made sure I emphasized in my app. I also tried to be genuine in my essays. I talked about what my ambitions were and what I loved about the school without being a kiss up. I think it can be easy to go on a website like PrepScholar or CollegeData and see that your test scores are above average by multiple points so you must be a shoe in. Also since you’re out of state those test Averages are inaccurate as Wisconsin’s average for OOS are multiple points higher than in state applicants.
Edit: I also have no legacy
I’m also from California and got deferred! I’ve been trying to find out if UW has an admissions representative for my region. Wisconsin is my top choice and I want to express my interest. Please let me know what you end up doing!
Remember UW does not superscore. A low overall gpa must have a high junior year gpa that shows vast improvement. Many, many applicants are deferred until all applications have been received and reviewed. They need to leave room for those students before making final decisions. Liking a school doesn’t matter, credentials do. Have great senior grades.
The why is simple. Supply and demand. Too many good students to be accommodated.