University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, Wisconsin · Founded 1848
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Test-optional
Wisconsin is test-optional through the spring 2028 term. You choose on the application whether your SAT or ACT is considered, that choice is final, and the university says you will not be disadvantaged if you leave scores out. If you do send them, only your single highest composite counts - Wisconsin does not superscore - and self-reported scores are not accepted. 11.8% of enrolled first-year students submitted an SAT score and 28.7% an ACT. In its own Common Data Set, grades and rigor are rated Very Important and test scores Considered. Transfer applicants' scores are not considered even if sent. Homeschooled Wisconsin students applying under the Wisconsin Guarantee must send an ACT. Source: admissions.wisc.edu - ACT and SAT Test Optional FAQs and Wisconsin Guarantee; University of Wisconsin-Madison Common Data Set 2025-26, C7, C8A and C9 (verified September 2026).
About
A public land-grant research university in Madison, the state capital, with about 37,200 undergraduates. Nearly half of its domestic undergraduates come from outside Wisconsin. Business is its largest field, with the sciences and social sciences close behind, and computer science is the biggest single major. Public service - what the university calls the Wisconsin Idea - is its guiding principle.
History
The university was created in 1848, when one of the first acts of Wisconsin's first governor, Nelson Dewey, was to sign the law incorporating it, and its first class met on February 5, 1849, in temporary quarters near the capitol. North Hall, the first building on today's campus, opened in 1851 on what is now Bascom Hill. In 1894 the regents defended a professor with a pledge to 'fearless sifting and winnowing' in search of the truth, words now cast in bronze at the entrance to Bascom Hall, and in 1905 President Charles Van Hise championed what became known as the Wisconsin Idea: that the university should reach every family in the state.
What stands out
- Nearly half of domestic undergraduates come from outside Wisconsin
- The Wisconsin Guarantee admits Wisconsin high school students ranked in the top 5% of their class who apply by the November 1 Early Action deadline
- Test-optional through the spring 2028 term; if you send scores, only your single highest composite counts
- Early Action (November 1) and Regular Decision (January 15), with no binding Early Decision
- 1,062 student organizations
- 96 percent of first-year students come back for a second year
Popular majors
Campus life
94 percent of first-year students live in university housing, and about a quarter of all undergraduates do. About 9 percent of undergraduate men join a fraternity and 8 percent of undergraduate women join a sorority. Students are the Badgers, and there are 1,062 student organizations.