MTV's Campus Life

[Strokin 3s]

Has anyone else seen this show?  Judging from the number of debates arising about how tough it is to get into UW at Madison and how prestigious it is, I just find it hard to argue the difficulty of getting into this institution.  The one guy may be the dumbest human being I have ever witnessed, yet somehow he was admitted to Madison.  Though he may be the dumbest the rest of these kids aren't far behind either....

[Skatastrophy]

Has anyone else seen this show?  Judging from the number of debates arising about how tough it is to get into UW at Madison and how prestigious it is, I just find it hard to argue the difficulty of getting into this institution.  The one guy may be the dumbest human being I have ever witnessed, yet somehow he was admitted to Madison.  Though he may be the dumbest the rest of these kids aren't far behind either....

I've never heard anyone call Madison prestigious before... nor call it hard to get into.  The majority of my high school class went to Madison.  It's just the place that Wisconsin high school graduates go, not someplace that they're applying to and praying that they get in

[dsfire]

I've never heard anyone call Madison prestigious before... nor call it hard to get into.  The majority of my high school class went to Madison.  It's just the place that Wisconsin high school graduates go, not someplace that they're applying to and praying that they get in

How long ago are you talking about?  Madison may not be Harvard, but they are respectably selective for a school with 40k students (moreso than Marquette, though not enough for them to be in different selectivity classes per US News & World Report).  Academic profiles for incoming freshmen at both schools:

• UW-Madison
• Marquette

I haven't seen the show, though, so can't comment on that.

[Hards Alumni]

correct.  it is a great school, and decently difficult to get into... especially if you live in state.

[OneMadWarrior]

Its considered one of the public ivies and has a very good national reputation. as we all know lots of schools have lots of idiots at them and some high schools are just easy and grades are inflated.

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

I've seen a few episodes of this show, and I have to admit, I don't blame UW-Madison one iota from running to distance themselves as far as possible from it. 

Interesting concept, but poorly executed, especially since UW would not let MTV cameras into their classrooms and other campus areas to show a complete portrayal of campus life.  You get a feel for the party life, but not much else. 

[muwarrior87]

SAT: 1830-1980

Interesting stat on the UW-M webpage about admission.  Seeing as the SAT is only out of 1600, that's pretty impressive 

[Robyrd5]

The scoring of the SAT changed a few years ago. It's out of 2400 now.

[muwarrior87]

ok, then marquette's is still based on the old scoring i'm assuming since it was about that when I was a freshman.

[reinko]

Some schools accept the writing portion, others do not.  Each institution can decide on its own.

A select # have become SAT optional. 
And not blow off schools either, good schools like Holy Cross and Hobart William and Smith.

[Ari Gold]

watched about half of one episode. It seemed like there was virtually every stupid college sterotype filmed (liberal black guy from the predominantly conservative white suburb or super conservative wait-til-marriage non partying southern girl)  who had THE SAME FRESHMAN DRAMA we all had -my roommate and I are BFF now they hate me, I want to Drink but I need to study this girl/guy is super cute but...- YAWN

Lets not forget that there are some people (that we've went to HS with) that would generally be regarded as pretty dumb happen to be able to get good grades (in HS) that will do fine in college, but since they were so vacuous, trivial and mindless that we'll continue to have no respect for them.

[CAINMUTINY]

Madison is tougher to get into than MU, it is not even debatable.  This include both in-sate and out of state residents, being even tougher for those who live outside of Wisconsin.

[Hards Alumni]

Madison is tougher to get into than MU, it is not even debatable.  This include both in-sate and out of state residents, being even tougher for those who live outside of Wisconsin.

no, much much harder to get into in-state.

[jfmu]

no, much much harder to get into in-state.

false

[chapman]

false

I would actually agree that it is.  I can name specific examples of people from in-state who had solid GPAs and test scores but were rejected or wait-listed as well as those who I attended the school with my freshman year who managed to get in with a lower GPA and test scores but were from the coasts.  They have the lowest percentage of in-state students of any public school in the country after all, so it's not that hard to believe.  It's probably a combination of wanting the out of state tuition dollars which are readily available from people with more money, having stronger connections with the out of staters with deeper pockets, and that university housing is always limited and there's no point of accepting a Wisconsin (or Minnesota) kid and telling them they have to pay to live in the privately owned dorms when the out of state kids would prefer to live there.

[77ncaachamps]

Curious question as I'm an out-of-stater (CA):

"Does Wisconsin have, in its charter, a policy of admitting a certain percentage of its incoming class from within the state, or maintaining a certain percentage of its whole undergraduate population from the state of Wisconsin?"

I ask it partially because of the debate about the difficulty of getting into Madison as an in-state resident and my own experience of researching my applying to a state school.

Before MU, I was considering Univ. of North Carolina. But then I found out that in their charter, only 17% of their students (incoming?) can come from outside North Carolina.

[Sir Lawrence]

Curious question as I'm an out-of-stater (CA):

"Does Wisconsin have, in its charter, a policy of admitting a certain percentage of its incoming class from within the state, or maintaining a certain percentage of its whole undergraduate population from the state of Wisconsin?"

I don't know if there is any mandated policy, but if you are a state of Wisconsin legislator from, say Sturgeon Bay, and your kids aren't getting into Madison, I guarantee you that pressure will be applied to correct that deficiency.

Undergraduate stats are found here:  http://www.admissions.wisc.edu/facts.php

Amazing:  Living Alumni 368,522
Marquette's Alumni Association claims 100,000 members:
 http://www.marquette.edu/alumni/about/index.shtml

[77ncaachamps]

Interesting links, Lawrence.

I found these:

1) 2006 USA Today acceptance list:

"MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY     10,206 applied     6,850 accepted     67.1% acceptance"

"UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON     19,342 applied     13,447 accepted    69.5% acceptance"

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-11-02-collegerates_x.htm

2) From Wisconsin's website:

"Impossible? Let’s not get carried away. UW-Madison admits six of every ten students who apply. Compare that to the microscopic acceptance rates for 2006 at places such as Harvard (9 percent), Princeton (10 percent), or Stanford (11 percent). UW-Madison’s 56-percent acceptance rate is on par with its peer flagship institutions, such as Michigan (47 percent) and Illinois (65 percent)."

"Another often-overlooked facet to UW-Madison’s admissions crunch is that the number of incoming freshmen that the UW can enroll is limited chiefly by physical space — seats, specifically, in required courses. By their sophomore and junior years, students disperse into thousands of different courses in one hundred and sixty majors, and it’s easier to squeeze in a few newcomers. That means that while it’s difficult to get admitted to UW-Madison as a freshman, it can be easier to transfer in."

http://www.news.wisc.edu/admissions/myth6.html

[Hards Alumni]

false

it is absolutely more difficult to get in from in-state.  I have several friends from IL and MN who attended UW and I can say for a fact that their GPA, ACT, and Extra Curriculars were far below WI residents who did not get accepted.

out of state = more money.

[muarmy81]

out of state = more money.

BINGO...and that's also why you tend to see a lot more foreign students, universities can get more revenue from those students than in-state.

[reinko]

it is absolutely more difficult to get in from in-state.  I have several friends from IL and MN who attended UW and I can say for a fact that their GPA, ACT, and Extra Curriculars were far below WI residents who did not get accepted.

out of state = more money.

This is what seperates UW from the likes of UNC, University of Michigan, and UVA.  These public elites have the resources available that they do not have go out and cherry pick rich kids from out of state.

[jfmu]

it is absolutely more difficult to get in from in-state.  I have several friends from IL and MN who attended UW and I can say for a fact that their GPA, ACT, and Extra Curriculars were far below WI residents who did not get accepted.

out of state = more money.

maybe for those states but i had people from my high school who got accepted to northwestern and not UW...just sayin

[mu_hilltopper]

This is what seperates UW from the likes of UNC, University of Michigan, and UVA.  These public elites have the resources available that they do not have go out and cherry pick rich kids from out of state.

Do those schools really have resources that far above UW?    Via state govt funds, or donors?  UW doesn't have big donors?

.. And sure, out of state tuition is more expensive, but thousands cheaper than MU.  Can't agree with the "rich kid" comment.

[Hards Alumni]

you don't have to.

UW has so much effing money from all the patents they own.  To say they don't have the 'resources' is a pretty ignorant thing to say.

[reinko]

Do those schools really have resources that far above UW?    Via state govt funds, or donors?  UW doesn't have big donors?

.. And sure, out of state tuition is more expensive, but thousands cheaper than MU.  Can't agree with the "rich kid" comment.

Based on endowment figures, then the answer to your question is yes.

UW-Madison: 1.7 bill
64% in state, 36% out of state (31,000 undergrads)
UVA: 4.5 bill
67% in state, 33% out of state (15,000 undergrads)
U of M: 7.5 bill
72% in state, 28% out of state (25,000 undergrads)
UNC: 2.3 bill
84% in state, 16% out of state (17,000 undergrads)

So Madison, has the smallest endowment, largest enrollment and accepts the most out of state kids.  So I stand by my theory.

Enrollment data gathered from collegeboard.com and endowment figures from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._colleges_and_universities_by_endowment