When?!? and Other Questions About our Early Action Decision Release
Freshman students who applied by our Early Action deadline for the Fall 2022 term will be receiving their decision at the end of this month. With our Early Action decision release right around the corner, you may find yourself getting questions from applicants and their families (whether work-related or not), so we want to provide you with some helpful information.
When will these students know when they will receive their decision?
Students have been told all year that decisions will be released on or before January 31, and we continue to use that language as applicants and their families reach out. We also updated counselors and applicants that we would be releasing in late January to try to set expectations with students who were hoping for a December early release. We are unable to share the specific date and time of our release because it would crash SIS to have all students accessing it at the same time. As a result, we let students know it would be at the end of January and let them know they will receive an email that alerts them that they have a decision. These emails go out over time, not all at once, to help the system from crashing and no one being able to see their decision. If you are asked when we release, we ask that you share our “on or before January 31” language and encourage students to check their email regularly and have their NetID and password set up and available.
Freshmen in Early Action can receive one of three decisions: admit, deny, or defer. One of the most common decisions that students have questions about is what it means to be “deferred” or receive a defer decision.
Each year, UW–Madison receives applications from many more students than there is space to enroll. To be able to offer admission to the most qualified and competitive applicants who apply for admission by our Regular Decision application deadline, some students may receive a defer decision. Applicants who are deferred are neither admitted nor denied upon initial review. Deferred students have presented a compelling application, however, we would like to review their mid-year grades, as well as consider admissibility in the context of our entire cohort of applicants. These students will receive a final decision in late March with our Regular Decision applicants. Students who receive a defer decision will also be sent specific information on their next steps.
More information about admission decisions is available on the Office of Admissions and Recruitment website.
The rest of the deadlines for freshmen and transfer students applying for Fall 2022 are as follows:
Deadline Decision Sent
Freshman Regular Decision February 1 On or before March 31
Transfer Priority Decision February 1 On or before March 31
Transfer Regular Decision March 1 On or before April 30
Students are able to check the status of their application, including their admission decision, online via their MyUW student portal. This Tuesday, January 18, an email was sent on behalf of DoIT to students who have not set up their NetID or who set up their NetID but not their recovery email for a lost ID or password. This email is sent at a random time ahead of major releases when DoIT is able to staff their support desk. This ensures students are set to access their MyUW Student Center ahead of time and receive their decision.
What questions about a student’s decision can we answer?
We are unable to tell a freshman why they were not admitted or discuss any other student’s decision with anyone. We use a holistic process, and therefore there is never one reason a student was not admitted. This year we are seeing yet another increase in applications and unlike previous years, we are not in an enrollment growth year. That means the pool will be more competitive and more students may see a defer decision in Early Action or a wait list decision come Regular Decision. If students have questions, you can always direct them to our office.