Wisconsin students with the highest grade-point averages in their graduating classes are guaranteed admission to UW schools, according a state law passed earlier this year.
“This statute will have a significant impact on which Shawano students are automatically granted admission to UW-Madison and all other University of Wisconsin schools,” Shawano Community High School principal Matthew Raduechel said.
One of the vague parts of the law was addressed by the Shawano School Board on Dec. 9. Raduechel explained the process local officials hope to use if students have GPA ties.
“The top 5% of a graduating class is guaranteed admission to UW-Madison. That’s based purely on GPA,” Raduechel said. “Students that are identified in the top 10% of the graduating class are granted admission to all other UW System schools.”
Schools must round down to the nearest whole student to be within the allowable percentage.
“We’re not allowed to designate students more than 5 and 10%,” Raduechel said. “In a graduating class very similar to here in Shawano of say 170 students, that’s 8.5 designated as 5%. So, we have to take eight students and not nine students.”
It is up to individual districts to have a process for making determinations when students have the same GPA at the 5% and 10% marks.
Raduechel and his team identified the tiebreakers Shawano will use.
If there is a tie within the 5% or 10% marks, students participating in university-level courses will receive one point, and those enrolled in all other dual-credit courses will receive a half point. The student with the most points wins the tie.
If students are still tied after considering the weighted courses, the student with the highest overall ACT score will win. A final tiebreaker would be to consider the highest ACT sub-score.
Raduechel noted had the law and tie breaking rules been in effect the past few years, the weighted courses tiebreaker would have successfully broken at least three GPA ties.
Students must still apply to the UW school, even if they are guaranteed enrollment.
The guaranteed designation is for the student, not the number of students. So, if a top GPA student chooses an option other than a UW school, his or her guaranteed enrollment does not transfer down the list to the next student.
The policy is expected to be back in front of the school board for approval in January.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
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