As pressure increases to become the perfect students and get into their schools of choice, UW-Madison students are spending more and more time making sure their applications will catch the eyes of admission review boards.
Cross College Advisor Adrienne Thunder says some of the most difficult schools to get into at UW are business, journalism, pharmacy, education and nursing.
What seems a fairly standard application can turn into a time-consuming ordeal, to the point that students may feel they have taken on an extra class.
UW-Madison sophomore Jennifer Jacyno said the letters of recommendation for her pharmacy application turned out to be more of a hassle than anticipated.
\I was working on my letters of recommendation after my second semester at UW when I realized that four letters of recommendation were required and none of my professors or [teaching assistants] knew anything about me,"" she said. ""I feel like they'd have better things to say if they weren't a professor with 350 students or a TA that saw me once a week.""
Lynn Maki, an assistant to the dean of the UW-Madison pharmacy school, confirmed the importance of all components in the application, not only grade point average.
""We look at the qualifications academically and the other pieces in there,"" she said. ""We take all the other things into account.""
While other things may be taken into account for admission into the School of Pharmacy, the average student GPA is 3.7.
GPA is an important component for all school admissions, but it is not as crucial as some may believe.
UW-Madison Business School Advisor Michael Carr denied rumors that the Business School sets impossible standards for students.??
""There are a lot of myths floating around about not only the application process but the application numbers,"" Carr said. ""The rumor around town is that it takes a 3.7 or a 3.8 to get into the School of Business and that's just not true.""
Twenty percent of the students accepted to the School of Business each semester are accepted by the quality of their essay alone.
According to UW-Madison sophomore Natalie Herb, the School of Business' online application is one thing that makes the stressful process easier.
Other schools at UW-Madison make their admissions processes convenient and helpful for students.
UW-Madison junior Bailey Wundrow is a secondary math education major. She said when she applied to the School of Education, she was required to write two separate essays.
""The advisors were good about helping you construct the essays,"" she said. ""They were good about helping you with information and they were clear about when the deadline dates were.""
UW-Madison School of Education assistant Dean Jeffrey Hamm said that GPA is used a lot in the selection process, but they are moving toward a holistic approach.
""These are extraordinary students,"" he said. ""In a lot of our programs the GPA is really solid.""
The School of Journalism has a high average GPA, but other components of the application are considered equally.
UW-Madison School of Journalism Undergraduate Advisor Sari Judge said each part of the application holds a lot of weight in the admissions decision.
""We advise students to get involved in communications experience on campus, get an internship or join a club,"" she said.
The School of Nursing also considers work done outside the classroom in making admissions decisions.
UW-Madison sophomore Danielle Gawinski took extra steps outside of the classroom to boost her application to the School of Nursing.
""They wanted to hear a lot about volunteer opportunities and what experience you've had in the nursing field. I took a CPR class so I had some sort of background,"" she said.
What may seem to be an unattainable goal is quite possible if students merely plan in advance by talking to advisors and exploring the career to keep a few steps ahead of the game.
