College- Going to Madison!

[logan82]

Do they still use class ranking for admissions? I would think that being smart in a good school would actually be a detriment instead of smart in a bad school since you would rank higher in the bad school than you would in a good school. If you want to go to a certain school, but can't get in I would think you can transfer in later. My brother transfered from Lax to Madison and got into Madison easily since he had good grades in Lax.

[tomter38]

If playing baseball is something that you really want to consider, be sure to check out some of the smaller schools in the area. Lakeland, Egdewood, Marian, MSOE, Lawrence, Beloit and where I go and play baseball Concordia are all very excellent programs with quality players. The WIAC schools are usually the more trendy choice, but believe me a lot of times the smaller schools can give the WIAC schools a pretty good run for there money, especially in baseball.

You still have plenty of time if you are a junior, but this summer will be a good time for you to start talking to the coaches from all over. Playing a college sport is a wonderful opportunity that not a lot of people get the chance to do.

[T B0NE 10]

If playing baseball is something that you really want to consider, be sure to check out some of the smaller schools in the area. Lakeland, Egdewood, Marian, MSOE, Lawrence, Beloit and where I go and play baseball Concordia are all very excellent programs with quality players. The WIAC schools are usually the more trendy choice, but believe me a lot of times the smaller schools can give the WIAC schools a pretty good run for there money, especially in baseball.

You still have plenty of time if you are a junior, but this summer will be a good time for you to start talking to the coaches from all over. Playing a college sport is a wonderful opportunity that not a lot of people get the chance to do.

When you say talking to coaches what exactly do you mean. I go to a school with around only 400 students and with mediocre to below average sports programs. Not exactly something that would attract any attention.

 

[AmyintheSouth]

Prestigious Schools

What really is the difference between a UW-Oshkosh and UW-Madison? Will it effect job interviews in future? Will it effect my quality of education. What about schools such as Marquette? Or lets go out of state with schools like Northwestern or Notre Dame?

I don't know enough about midwestern schools to quantify those in particular, but I will tell you at least for the first couple jobs out of college, your school can definitely open doors. But it all depends on what you want to do. One school might have a better overall reputation but another school might be the place to be for a specific field. And if you really want to play baseball, the prestige of the school won't matter as much as where you can actually play. As I said earlier in this thread, this is the time to be going to camps and showcases and making contacts at colleges and universities.

 

Also, you mention scholarships and that you think you should be getting a decent amount of money. I hope this means you're applying to a bunch of things and not that you have excellent grades and credentials, and therefore you think you'll be getting something. If it's the latter, you likely won't, especially if you go to a larger school. I was an excellent student, 10th in my class, had the awards, activities, jobs, etc -- I got nothing because I only applied for one or two scholarships and I went to a large, public school. It's the big fish in the small pond versus the small fish in the big pond thing.

[tomter38]

What I did is I went to camps at all the various schools and met the coaches, kept in contact with the ones that I was interested in. Email your stats around to all the coaches and tell them you are interested in playing ball at their school. A lot of the athletic sites have interest forms, fill those out and I'm sure coaches will contact you. Not everyone has D1 talent out of high school, and it is hard for a lot of D3 schools to recruit kids, there are a lot of us that fly under the radar and you have to promote yourself then. Those camps hosted by the school's coaches are very good for meeting the coaches, but you still have to keep contact with them and make sure they keep tabs on you.

I'm sure your high school coach has been through this with out players, my coach was very helpful in setting me up with the coaches at the places I wanted to go. if you have any other questions i'm more than happy to help you out. What position do you play by the way we might need some help over at concordia.

[T B0NE 10]

I play all over. This last high school year I played everywhere but C and 1B

[jwill535]

Like others have said before, if you know the type of field that you want to get into, look around at each school to see what they specialize in. For example, the buisness school at UW-Whitewater is nationally ranked and very well respected. If engineering or construction go to Platteville. If you want to go into teaching go to LaCrosse. Now if you dont get into a headliner school like UW, dont worry, your degree from any of the school will carry just as much weight.

[jazzytrav]

I never heard of this weighted GPA thing...

Very basically, some schools have certain classes with a high enough difficulty level that they weight them in order to keep the students that challenge themselves with these classes from seeing a drop in their GPA. The normal scale is A=4, B=3, etc. A weighted scale is, literally, A=5, B=4, and so on. The problem is that usually these classes aren't any more difficult than the same classes being offered by different schools that don't weight classes. Colleges are now on to which schools weight their classes and know that the GPA is probably inflated. The valedictorian of my class had a 4.3 GPA.

 

 

Another question when you apply to colleges do you apply to a whole bunch, then decide which one out of the ones that accepted you. I know this is a stupid question but I really don't know. And the school counselor we have inst the most helpful.

This can depend on a lot of things. If you want to have a lot of choices and choose later, then there's no harm in applying to a lot of schools. The problem is that there is almost always an application fee, so it can cost $200-$300 to apply to a lot of schools if you go that route.

 

I would say to get yourself a list of your top 3-5 choices and apply to those. Considering your scores, you shouldn't have a problem getting in to at least one of them. But worst-case scenario is that they all turn you down and you still have time to apply to your second list of schools. Just make sure to start applying as soon as allowable, for two reasons: you'll have time to apply to those other schools if your first list turns down, and there have been some years recently where some UW schools put a freeze on applications because the incoming class is already too big. The earlier you're in, the less you'll have to worry about the chance that this might happen.

 

 

[mothershipconnection]

In fact, there's a kid who's graduating with a 4.00 and 33 (I think) SAT that was turned down by all the Ivy League schools, Northwestern, Michigan, and Purdue. He "settled" for Wisconsin.

 

That's crazy, I can possibly see not getting into Ivy League schools with those stats, but Northwestern, Michigan, and Purdue? I can't fathom them having several thousand kids with a better academic record than that.

 

Finally, in response to a previous post, I believe that it is OKAY to pursue a Masters (or professional) degree immediately after college. I was fortunate enough to receive a tuition waiver and graduate assistantship to pursue a MS right after I completed my first degree. There is even an internship built into my Masters program. In a year, I will be able to graduate with work experience in my field and zero debt.

 

I agree. It's best to put your head down and just run straight through it. I went straight through for 8 years, and I don't know that I would have gone back if I had gone out to work right away. People become comfortable and buy houses and cars they couldn't pay for and have children they wouldn't have time and money for if they went back, so they don't.

 

Also, and this is big, so I'm gonna put it in all caps WHEN YOU DECIDE ON A FIELD, KNOW WHAT LEVEL OF DEGREE IS NEEDED, DECIDE IF YOU CAN GO THAT FAR, AND UNDERSTAND THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE THAT DEGREE. If you wanna work in some areas, you have to have a master's or PhD. Otherwise, you are a drop out. Anyone trying to work in the psychological field with a BA is a dropout, because they didn't go into a bachelors-level field, they went into a MA/MS/PhD/PsyD field. If you don't want to go to school for 6-10 years, make sure you choose a field that only requires a bachelor's degree.

[hawing]

That's crazy, I can possibly see not getting into Ivy League schools with those stats, but Northwestern, Michigan, and Purdue? I can't fathom them having several thousand kids with a better academic record than that.

 

But there could be several thousand kids with a similar academic record applying to each of those schools. UW-Madison got more than 24,000 applications in 2007, for a freshman class in the mid-5000s (source here). Getting in here is starting to be akin to winning a lottery. My high school academic record was very good and I was accepted everywhere I applied, but nowadays, I suspect applying to UW-Madison with the same record would be a crapshoot.

[homer]

"However, while 48K-55K may seem like a lot of money, in reality it is not."

 

 

That totally and completely depends on the individual situation: location, family, lifestyle, etc. My dad taught junior high for 35 years, my mom stayed at home. I doubt very much that my dad made more than 60K in a year and that was at the end of his career when there were no dependents at home (he retired about 8 years ago). He was able to raise four kids on that salary. Granted we never took trips to Hawaii or had cool cars or even HBO but it was plenty of money.

 

There are plenty of good jobs in the trades that go unfilled every year because people think they need to make $100K a year in order to survive. That's just not true. Not everyone is fit for college and not everyone should go.

[logan82]

The main thing that a college degree will give you is the ability to move and change jobs without having to take a huge hit in pay.

[jazzytrav]

Also, and this is big, so I'm gonna put it in all caps WHEN YOU DECIDE ON A FIELD, KNOW WHAT LEVEL OF DEGREE IS NEEDED, DECIDE IF YOU CAN GO THAT FAR, AND UNDERSTAND THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE THAT DEGREE. If you wanna work in some areas, you have to have a master's or PhD. Otherwise, you are a drop out. Anyone trying to work in the psychological field with a BA is a dropout, because they didn't go into a bachelors-level field, they went into a MA/MS/PhD/PsyD field. If you don't want to go to school for 6-10 years, make sure you choose a field that only requires a bachelor's degree.

 

This is correct for the most part. My degrees both would require further schooling, but the mere fact that I have any kind of degree got me the job that I have now and could probably get me much further in the field that I'm in if I choose to (I'm not choosing to).

 

That said, it was nothing that I was planning for and no one should ever plan for that. There are a few exceptions (I recently heard that a History degree helps in the business world, I don't get it), but for the most part, if you get a degree like my Religious Studies degree, or as MS said, a Pychology degree, you better be prepared for the long haul.

[mothershipconnection]

This is correct for the most part. My degrees both would require further schooling, but the mere fact that I have any kind of degree got me the job that I have now and could probably get me much further in the field that I'm in if I choose to (I'm not choosing to).

 

Oh yeah, you can get "a job" with "a degree", but if you choose a certain field to work in, you often will need a certain degree in hand. If you wanna work in some fields with a BA, you'll make less than a Burger King manager and will have a pretty demeaning job. You can get an English degree and land a job in plenty of places simply because you're college educated, but you won't be doing anything literature-related with it that will pay more than $30,000. I suppose you could manage a bookstore, but most people end up with office jobs total unrelated to their degree. If that's what you want, there's nothing wrong with it, but I don't think some freshman realize that will happen when they choose a major.

[T B0NE 10]

Ok after attending Badger Boys State and talking to reps from colleges at a college fair I have to say I've narrowed down my selections to.

 

UW-Madison

UW-La Crosse

Marquette

UW-Oshkosh

 

Im definately going to visit those four

 

With slight interest in

UW-Whitewater

and UWSP (which is basically 30 minutes away, too close?)

UW-Eau Claire

 

A thing I'm interested in doing is playing baseball in college. I'm currently submitting "prospective athlete" quetionares to many of the colleges. Also I have also heard of club baseball at Madison and Marquette and this sounds like a good option as well.

 

Another thing down the road when applying for jobs is certain schools gonna look better than others? What schools are known for certain things?

 

Right now Id say I'm definitely interested in working in Washington in the government somehow or getting a dream job with the Brew Crew or Packers.

 

So basically any advice is appreciated or info on the colleges I'm thinking about. Thanks.

[dadofandrew]

Seems UWEC is conspicuously absent, given your proximity to SP. It's a fine school, set up simply perfectly...though I suppose that's a minor consideration.

[hawing]

and UWSP (which is basically 30 minutes away, too close?)

 

Whether 30 minutes away is "too close" or not really is up to you to decide.

I started off at Beloit College, about 30 minutes away, thinking that being closer to home might ward off homesickness. (I spent too much time prior to college anticipating homesickness, which snowballed into a self-fulfilling prophecy.) Beloit and I turned out not to be a good match for each other (though it's a good school and I was a good student), but looking back, my dissatisfaction had nothing to do with its proximity to home.

 

If gas prices weren't on the rise, I'd suggest that living within commuting distance could save you some money, though at the expense of some typical college experiences.

[T B0NE 10]

Both my parents didn't go to college so I'm kinda doing most of this on my own and with my cousin who did go to college.

 

I retoke the ACT and got a 28 this time.

 

Id say my family is average income, I really don't know how much they make in a year. But if I had to guess combined they make around 80,000-90,000 a year.

 

My top schools currently:

UW-Madison

Marquette

UW-La Crosse

 

Well Madison and Marquette are my top choices probably and both are pretty expensive. Marquette at 30,000+! How can I pay for that?!

 

I have visits scheduled for those three right now

and I'll probably end up visiting Oshkosh and Eau Claire as well.

 

I'm pretty confident in my baseball abilities and plan on trying out for the team if I go to La Crosse or Oshkosh. Or the club team at Marquette or Madison or Eau Claire. (anybody know anything about club teams)

[SheetsCyYoung04]

Well Madison and Marquette are my top choices probably and both are pretty expensive. Marquette at 30,000+! How can I pay for that?!

)

Well if it is anything like MSOE it isnt as bad as it first comes off. When you get accepted, you get a scholarship of like 10 grand a year and only lose it if you slack off with grades. Plus its easier to get done in 4 years which means you are out making money while others are going deeper into debt. Still alot of money, but you can work internships during the summer and jobs during school to help keep the debt down.

[burniebrewer]

I'm pretty confident in my baseball abilities and plan on trying out for the team if I go to La Crosse or Oshkosh. Or the club team at Marquette or Madison or Eau Claire. (anybody know anything about club teams)

 

 

The UW club team has a website. Not sure how often it is updated, but it may help in some way.

 

 

http://uwclubbaseball.rso.wisc.edu/

[mothershipconnection]

Or the club team at Marquette or Madison or Eau Claire. (anybody know anything about club teams)

 

Eau Claire has the Cavaliers and the Express. Not sure about club teams, though.

[tomter38]

Eau Claire has club baseball I know for a fact. Cavs and Express are both summer league teams, rather than the spring season when the club team plays.

[T B0NE 10]

Does anyone know how club ball compares to varsity ball?

like the number of games, level of competition, traveling etc

[dadofandrew]

Club teams play anyone they can get a game with. Some take it seriously, some don't.

[T B0NE 10]

I'm visiting La Crosse this Tuesday, anything you guys think I should ask or make sure to see or do. Its my first campus visit.