Freshmen descended on the university in droves this year, putting pressure on admissions to tighten enrollment and raise standards for next year.
'Students have expressed a greater interest in us than was anticipated and enrolled in record numbers,' said Associate Director of Admissions Tom Reason. 'We've got a really large freshman class coming in this year and we're needing to be careful in the year to come to make sure we are managing enrollment really carefully.'
Part of this process includes requesting some supplemental information, including recommendation letters, a personal statement and a few short-answer questions from postponed students to ensure the most deserving students are accepted for the space available.
According to Lee Hansen, professor of economics, the university has been at roughly 30,000 undergraduates for a long time and 40,000 is regarded as the optimal enrollment.
'If we expand beyond that level then we have to hire more faculty and scheduling would be hard,' he said. 'I think the university would be very reluctant to do that because of complaints from parents and kids that are in bigger classes.'
Madison Memorial High School counselor Sharon Specht said she has seen an increase in both the number and quality of students considering college as a post-high school option.
'We've seen an increase in interest in students'who thought they could not go on to college for some reason or another'now see that they too, have the ability to go if they want to,' she said.
According to Specht, in-state tuition and the comfort of being close to home are two major factors that can increase the appeal of UW-Madison for her students.
With more kids applying to universities, she says the process has indeed become more competitive, as schools have been forced to raise standards.
Associate Vice Chancellor Gina Sapiro said the interest is a result of better communication and investing in the undergraduate program.
'We are doing a much better job with our advisors and our communication of making clear that this isn't just a huge place where students get lost,' she said.
According to Reason, because more students have expressed interest in the university, the admissions process has become more selective.
'For the last 10 years, [it's] pretty much the case that every year the freshman class in most, if not every, category has been better than the prior, and it simply has to do with the popularity of the institution,' he said.
applications
freshmen
graduated at the top of their high school classes
graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes
'UW-Madison's freshman class average ACT score
'national average ACT score
submitted Advanced Placement scores for credit
