<p>Because of a mess up on my part, I didn't send my Son's test scores to UWM until they notified him they were missing (11/01!!!!!!!) I express mailed them that day.</p>
<p>I see that their admissions policy says something along the lines of 'as long as an item's post marked by 11/01 the app would be considered for EA'. They received it 11/2 and marked it as received 11/03. It an uber reach for S, and I think a deferral would be more than he can expect; but I see others have posted about required documents missing the 11/01 date. ANyone (even from previous years) have any insight?</p>
<p>UW does not have an official “EA”- early acceptance, it has rolling admissions. In recent years UW has decided that those who got all of their application materials in by Nov 1st would receive an answer by Jan 15th instead of possibly waiting until mid March. Since you indicate it is a reach school for him I hope he is applying to other schools as well. I would be patient and not expect any news for a couple of months. The timing of materials will not change the decision- February 1st is the application deadline.</p>
<p>Thanks Wis, In my mind an "apply by 11/01 and guarantee hear by 1/15 is EA-like. Although, from experience I know when the pressure is on there’s a whole lot of “defer decisions” rolled out to make that 1/15 date (Michigan is NOTORIOUS for cherry picking and almost blanket deferrals.) He’s already been accepted to 5 schools, and a safe for quite a few more. Wisconsin is really his “pie in the sky” and he has a nice attitude about it-he’s 95% sure he Won’t get in…and quite frankly, I’m not a huge fan of necessarily attending an uber-reach college just because you got in. The chance of failure is too high. That said; yah gotta throw a couple in, God forbid you get in every where else…</p>
<p>Just a clarification on the 1/15 date: it’s not a guaranteed ‘hear by’ date, it’s a guaranteed ‘decision made by’ date. It can take a number of days after 1/15 to receive the decision.</p>
<p>Also, from past years on CC it seems as though they have run behind schedule for that date as well. </p>
<p>One thing- if accepted UW has determined the student can be sucessful at UW. This may mean putting in more work than s/he is used to- deciding to take the challenge will depend on the student’s mindset. Some students may be put on hold for their decision while UW waits to see if other students “deserve” the spots available more. This is where not getting the highest grades despite high ACT/SAT scores may put a student on a “deferred decision” list (not the end of March waitlist, decision not final yet while they get the rest of the applications). There is possibly a question whether a student has the study skills to succeed even though they have the aptitude/ability when their grades are lower than their test scores would indicate factored into decision making. This is why it is important for students to keep up their grades junior and senior years. A student with lessser native talent can succeeed wth good work/study habits while a brilliant student can fail if they don’t know how to study or don’t bother to.</p>
<p>As long as I’m conjecturing it is also possible that there are so many students with similar “middle of the pack” credentials that UW is waiting to sort through them after all of the student applications are in. The deferral means they have evaluated the application and are giving an answer in the timely fashion, but not finalizing the decision. Remember, equal consideration is given as long as the application materials are in by the Feb 1st deadline. Frustrating to have to wait. Better, though, than waiting for any word about where one stands until mid March or later as is done with most private schools.</p>
<p>Good luck to all.</p>