Every year the UW-System conducts a workshop during which representatives from all the UW-System schools provide

an update about their respective campus. I am sure you can imagine this day is loaded with critical information for those

who might be considering a future education at a UW-System school. Over the years we dispensed this information,

student by student, to the best of our ability. This year I thought I would try something new and share my notes from

the event. My notes follow, as you read them please keep in mind the following:

There may be terminology or concepts that you have not heard before that I do not explain in my notes. These

notes are extensive as it is, providing explanations for everything would not have been practical or useful. With

that said, if you want more detail on anything contained in these notes feel free to stop-in, call or email.

These are notes, therefore they are not written with any formal structure or organization; though I always do my

best to produce readable and organized work.

I hope this info is helpful.

Have a great day.

PS…While I was at the workshop I conducted a video interview with the Director of Admissions from UW-Parkside. Stay

tuned, clips of that interview will be posted in the near future.

Restructuring:

2-year universities joined 4-year schools and are now branches of the 4-year universities

An example is UW-Rock County is now UW-Whitewater at Rock County

Branch campus, still mission of access

Students can start at a branch campus and transfer to any four-year university, not just the school that is

affiliated with the branch school

Old names apply through Spring 2019

Beginning in fall 2019 application fees must go to affiliated school and applicants must use the financial aid code

for the affiliated campus

For more information visit UW Colleges and UW Extension Restructuring

Attachments:

Restructuring Map

2018-19 FAQ Chart

o Are ACT/SAT scores sent directly from the test agency required for admission?

o Is there a campus-wide foreign language requirement for admission or graduation?

o Is there a way to check application status online?

2018-19 Statistics/AP Statistics for Admissions

Junior/Senior Checklist

Tools:

UW-Help is offering a Student Application Webinar that walks seniors through the college application process on

Thursday September 27th at 6p. You can register at UW Help Student Application Webinar

If you are still in the process of finding your fit in the UW System consider downloading the UW Journey app. UW

Journey will help you find your way.

MajorMania (Tool for searching about what is available within the UW System)

UW-Whitewater

Now affiliated with UW Rock County

Strengths in the College of Business and Economics and College of Letters and Science

Accounting 4 + 1 program

Unique programs: Occupational Safety, Operations Management, Music Performance, and Social Work Master’s

Degree

Strong tradition of serving students with special needs, May 3rd Opening Horizons Conference

Virtual tour coming soon

UW-Superior

Smallest UW System school

14:1 student to faculty ratio

Diverse campus with regard to international students

Right on Lake Superior, close to Duluth, MN

New major: Environmental Science and Operations Management

Unique programs:

o Art Therapy

o Transportation and Logistics Management

Guaranteed paid internship

Access to all five modes of transportation

Strengths:

o Teacher education

o Completely online elementary education program

UW-Stout

New major: Applied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for Pre-med students

Bachelor of Fine Arts program application deadline is firm (not priority as in the past), due January 15th

“Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University”

UW-Stevens Point

Branch campus at UW-Marshfield/Wood County and UW-Marathon County

Scholarship deadline is November 15th

New programs: Master of Natural Resources, Master of Business Administration, Educational Doctorate of

Educational Sustainability, and Doctorate of Physical Therapy

Top programs: Education, Natural Resources

The Common App or UW System App

UW-River Falls

Small campus, individual attention from faculty, rich campus life

25 minutes from the Twin Cities

o Lots of industry looking for interns which can lead to full time work

o Great for entertainment

Strengths: Animal Science and Dairy Science, Business, Science, and Education

Excel in STEM

Undergraduate research opportunities as first year students

Education students placed in the classroom as early as first year, students build a diverse teaching portfolio

Unique/new majors: Neuroscience, Data-science, Marketing-Communication, and Agricultural Engineering

Every Monday throughout the recruitment cycle scholarships are being rewarded, $2.6 million awarded last year

UW-Platteville

Affiliated with UW-Baraboo/Sauk County and UW-Richland

#1 on Return on Investment by PayScale.com

83% of students are doing an internship, co-op, or some sort of experiential learning

Top majors: Engineering (several disciplines), Agricultural, Biology, Business, Criminal Justice (Corrections,

Forensics Investigation, and Criminalistics), Education, and Industrial Technology.

Sesquicentennial Hall, new STEM building

UW-Parkside

19:1 student to faculty ratio

60% of students are first generation students, “Be The First” event on November 10th to help these students

explore college, not just UW-Parkside

Division 2 athletics, scholarships

UW-Parkside partnering with Foxconn to turn Racine into a Smart City

Thinking ahead about the future needs of industry, there will be careers needs that don’t exist yet

2.5-million-dollar research lab with all state of the art equipment

New major, Medical Laboratory Science, five-year program taught by UW-Parkside professors and Medical

College of Wisconsin professors. Students will be prepared to work at the Medical College of Wisconsin, which

currently cannot fill all their research positions. ONLY school in the Midwest offering the program.

Pinnacle programs: Pre-med, Criminal Justice (#1 in Wisconsin), Computer Science (100% placement), and

Theatre Arts (92% placement).

UW-Oshkosh

Affiliated with UW-Fon Du Lac and UW-Fox Valley

Project Success serving students with Dyslexia and Language Disabilities

UW-Milwaukee

New Bachelor Degree in Public Health

o Lots of internships and community based learning opportunities

Students who are undecided are encouraged to pick one of six pathways to explore their options further,

students can still select a major at any time and change their pathway as needed

New innovation space for students who are interested in starting their own business

Affiliated with UW-Waukesha and UW-Washington County

Daily tours Mon-Saturday during the academic year

Bilingual open house Saturday January 26th

UW-Madison

Acceptance rate 51%, Wisconsin First (2/3 Wisconsin students who applied were admitted)

Early action decision will be out by the end of December

Supporting documents are required at the application deadline

Require a letter of recommendation from someone who can speak to a student’s academic abilities, Engineering

students should pick a math or science teacher

Direct admit to: Engineering, Business, Dance and Music

Bucky’s Promise tuition program, must submit FAFSA by December 1st

The Badger Promise tuition program, first generation transfer students

Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WSH), apply for and accept scholarships- DO NOT WAIT FOR AN ADMISSIONS

DECISION

UW-La Crosse

Known for: Biology, Psychology, and Exercise and Sport Science. These majors lead to advanced degrees in

Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Physician’s Assistant as well as Athletic Training.

Don’t forget about other strong majors: Radiation Therapy, Archeology, and Nuclear Medicine Technology

Stay focused senior year, last year had to rescind admission of seven students including one student who had a

35 on the ACT

86% retention rate

Athletes have the highest grade-point-average in the conference

Peace Corps prep program

UW-Green Bay

Affiliated with UW-Marinette County, Manitowac, and Sheboygan

Small environments but connected to large city opportunities

Division 1 athletics

Lowest average debt among all Wisconsin UW institutions according to lend.edu

New program: Mechanical Engineering

UWGB is going to have its own start to finish nursing program, sophomore entrance, 48 spots

Still continuing combined nursing program with Northeast Wisconsin Technical College

Higher education partner with the Green Bay Packers

UW-Eau Claire

#5 ranked campus in the Midwest by US News

87% of students will get two out of four high impact experiences

o High Impact Experiences

Internship

Service Learning

Study Abroad

Research

Agreement with Mayo clinic

o Five spots for the Mayo Clinic’s Prestigious Summer Research Program are reserved for UWEC students

o Mayo Clinic’s IMPACT competition will be hosted by UW-Eau Claire

o Practical partnerships

Great destination for students of any major who want to pursue a passion for music, largest marching band in

the Midwest

Top 30 campuses in the nation by CampusPride.edu

Strong transition support services

New major: Neuroscience

UW Independent Learning

Majority of students are current UW Students

Increasing amounts of high school students also enrolling

Over 75 online courses available

All general education courses come from partnerships inside the UW-System

Taught by UW-System professors

Key features:

o No application required, students are guaranteed a spot as long as they have prerequisites

o Self-paced, course planning module

o All courses offered through distance education

90% online, 10% print based

o All courses are transferrable within the UW-System

High school students can take courses through the Early College Credit Program

Q & A facts:

If you have a credit recovery course on your transcript, it is likely to be noted by an admissions counselor;

therefore, it is advisable to write about it in an essay. It doesn’t mean you won’t get in.

Accredited online coursework is viewed as equal to face to face coursework

ACT scores

o If you are concerned about your ACT score and you are planning to re-take the exam, still apply, and

then let the admissions office know a new ACT score is coming.

o The application includes an opportunity to indicate you are taking another test.

o If you received an admissions decision of “deny” and then you take a new ACT and score higher, student

can contact admissions office and ask for his/her application to be reviewed.

o UW-Madison, if a student asks to hold the application it could be subject to a different status. For

example, “early action” could be moved to “regular decision”

Foreign Language

o Reach out to each campus because they vary in requirements

o Heritage speakers

Test to assess a student’s proficiency in a given language and therefore meet the foreign

language requirements of a given institution

o Pay attention to “admission” requirements and “graduation” requirement

Admission = must take to get into a given school

Graduation = must take to graduate from a given school or in a given major

o Everybody looks favorably on foreign language, particularly those taking multiple years of the same

language

o American Sign Language counts as a foreign language at any UW-System school except UW-Stout

Admissions counselors are encouraging students to pick schools to send their ACT school BEFORE taking the

exam. “If you don’t like your score you can always send an updated one”.

Students who attend a branch campus with a plan to transfer to the affiliated campus will have to meet certain

requirements to ensure they can transition on time. It is important to work with a transfer advisor. There will

not be a separate application at the time of transfer for the affiliate campus. If a student wants to transfer to

another UW campus an application is required.

Students who enroll in a branch campus can only have a major of undecided at the Associate’s level.

Letters of recommendation

o Should come from teachers, ideally the teacher of a student’s most rigorous core course

o UW-Madison applicants should use online option (one required)

o All other schools, recommender can email admissions, recommender must send it from a school email

address

o It is advisable to include students full name and date of birth on a letter of recommendation

UW Branch campus with housing

o UW Whitewater offers housing for UWW of Rock County students

o UW-Marinette

o UW- Fon Du Lac

o UW- Fox Valley

o UW- Baraboo/Sauk County

o UW- Richmond

o UW- Wausau

o UW- Marshfield

Students who want to apply to:

o A branch school (for example UW-Whitewater at Rock County), apply to UW-Rock County and submit

everything to UW-Whitewater and use campus code for UW-Whitewater

o An affiliate school (for example UW-Whitewater), all transactions go through UW-Whitewater

A student who applies to an affiliate school (UW-Whitewater), and gets denied, will have the

opportunity to be admitted to a branch school (UW-Whitewater at Rock County). It is important

to know he or she MUST COMMUNICATE HIS/HER INTEREST TO THE ADMISSIONS OFFICE.