According to www.news.wisc.edu, The University Wisconsin Madison tied for 10th among all public institutions ranked in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 edition of “Best Colleges.” Academically, it was ranked 26th overall and 6th among public institutions.

Out of the average 21,000 annual applicants, only about 14,000 students are accepted at UW-Madison. This year, Senior Vanessa became one of those 14,000 accepted as a Wisconsin Badger.

The most popular majors at the UW Madison include: Biology, Communication Studies, Economics, English, History, Mechanical Engineering, Political Science, and Psychology. Vanessa plans on majoring in Business-Accounting.

This past year, Vanessa made the decision to apply to Madison.

Vanessa says, “I wanted to go to a big school, close to home, and somewhere where I had many options to choose from—both academically and extracurriculars.”

With an accumulative GPA of 3.95 and an ACT score of 28, Vanessa sent in her application on October 15th, for consideration in the first round of the application process. Two weeks after that, Vanessa received a letter back saying she had officially been accepted.

The application, like the majority of colleges, required essays. In one of her essays, Vanessa had to explain why she chose to go to Madison, and what she will take advantage of when she gets there. She also had to write an essay that explained something in her life that goes unnoticed.

However, along with the excitement of being accepted, came the nerves.

“I’m sort of nervous about being on my own. But I’m so close to home, and it should be a great experience, so I’m excited,” Vanessa says.

Overall, Vanessa says she likes the size of the campus and the options Madison offers.

Vanessa says, “I’m looking forward to meeting new people and being challenged to succeed.”

Vanessa also says she dislikes how the campus is “somewhat spread out—the campus as a whole, and the downfall of attending a large school is that there will be other students who are advanced academically so it will be challenging to be successful.”