Thinking About UW-Madison

All applicants go through the same admissions review process and are admitted based on the quality of their academic record. As there is no separate admission process for applicants with disabilities, students with disabilities are competitively admitted to the University of Wisconsin every year.

Federal law prohibits us from making preadmissions inquiry about disabilities. If you believe, however, that some aspect of your academic record was affected by your disability, you may choose to share that with the Admissions Office. Information regarding disabilities, voluntarily given or inadvertently received, will not adversely affect any admission decision. Common examples of events that students choose to share include:

1. A disability occurring or having been diagnosed during the high school years with a subsequent and substantial improvement in academic performance once appropriate disability-related services or medical treatment are provided.
2. An uneven grade pattern that results from a disability occurring during high school (e.g., traumatic brain injury or disabling illness) with grades dropping and then improving as the student recovers.
3. A missing curriculum requirement such as foreign language that was waived in high school as part of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

You can provide a personal statement regarding your experiences as an individual with a disability in an academic setting. Describing the types of services you have received, your particular strengths and/or academic interests, or other relevant information will assist the Admissions Office in understanding your unique high school experience. It would also be appropriate for high school staff (e.g., guidance office, special education department, principal, etc.) to provide a letter confirming your experiences (e.g., the beginning of services or a foreign language waiver) to supplement your personal statement. Because the Admissions Office staff is not trained to evaluate specific disability documentation such as a learning disability assessment, it is neither necessary nor advised that you submit this information with your application materials.

Please note: students who have received disability services and accommodations throughout high school will have their academic record considered in a manner consistent with that of other applicants. Because accommodations are intended to level the playing field, the academic record accomplished with those services will be the record considered for admissions purposes. While the University of Wisconsin will consider extenuating circumstances that occur in any applicant’s high school experience, all applicants who are admitted have met the competitive admissions requirements in place at the time of the review.

Should you be admitted to the University of Wisconsin and want more information about the services provided by the McBurney Disability Resource Center, you may send complete disability documentation to the McBurney Center with a request for a service eligibility review. Our staff will then review your disability materials and notify you regarding your eligibility for accommodation and services through our office.

Students are approved for accommodations on an individualized basis after a conversation with their Access Consultant about the barriers they are experiencing in their education and once they provide the required documentation. While we do provide a list of standard accommodation examples available to students who qualify, not all of these accommodations are available to all students.

The following is the general order of events, but may be different for you depending on circumstances:

• Apply to UW-Madison and be accepted into the university. You can apply for our scholarships at this time as well.
• After accepting an admission to UW-Madison, we recommend applying through the McBurney Center as soon possible.
• Once you are connected to the McBurney Center, you will be paired with an Access Consultant who will work with you to make sure you have the information on following the proper steps from there.

Consult the After You Are Admitted section for even more resources.

The McBurney Center has a well-established process and professional staff dedicated to providing these accommodations, but these accommodations typically require more lead time and may involve recruiting new staff. Once you apply with the McBurney Center, we will begin working right away, but if you have not applied to UW-Madison yet and plan to do so, please email McBurney Center Transition Services so we can have as much notice as possible.

No. Students who work with the McBurney Center are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Students must voluntarily complete and sign a release either in McBurney Connect or a release of information form if they wish to allow their access consultant to have open communication with a parent or other member in their life.

No. FERPA applies to all areas of campus life. It will be up to your student to alert you if they are not doing well personally or academically.

Once students complete our eligibility process, they typically remain eligible for those same accommodations throughout their academic career at UW. Your student’s Access Consultant may request updated documentation if your student starts to experience new barriers during their time on campus and subsequently request new accommodations.

Students will need to request accommodations each semester by submitting Student Accommodation Letters in each course they elect to use them.

Your student may find that the university setting is different enough from high school that they want to adjust the types of accommodations they have. Students can revisit accommodations at any time with their access consultant.

Once students are approved for accommodations, they gain access to our database called McBurney Connect. Each semester, they’ll log in to McBurney Connect to submit which accommodation requests they elect to use for which courses. Once they make their requests, McBurney Connect will automatically generate emails that get sent to the instructors with a copy of the Student Accommodation Letter. We generally recommend that students log in to McBurney Connect to generate their Student Accommodation Letters prior to the start of the semester or within the first week of classes.

After students generate their Student Accommodation Letters, they should communicate with each of their instructors by the third week of class. This might be an email or, depending on the accommodation, might require a meeting. During these meetings, they will discuss each of the accommodations they requested and how those will be implemented in that specific course.

Each student on campus has an academic advisor who can assist them with class scheduling, major declaration, and other academic-related needs throughout their career at UW. Your student may also work with their access consultant if they wish to receive feedback on the balance of their class schedule within the context of their disability.

Students are always free to meet with their access consultant if they are struggling, and their consultant can provide resources specific to their individualized needs. They can also turn to a variety of Learning Support, Mental Health Services, Health and Wellness, and Student Assistance through the Office of Student Assistance and Support (OSAS).

We recommend that students first contact their instructors if they are struggling in their classes. They can meet with them during office hours or schedule another time to check in to receive input on how they might improve their grades. They may also want to check in with their academic advisor and explore the learning supports that are available to students on campus. Tutoring is also available from a variety of sources and in a variety of formats and locations across campus.

It is important for students to remain aware of the semester dates and deadlines set forth by the Registrar’s Office. There are a variety of drop deadlines each semester. They can contact their Academic Advisor or Access Consultant if they want to discuss dropping classes or withdrawing from UW.

There are a variety of ways for students to get involved in and around campus. They can explore the Wisconsin Involvement Network to find all the student organizations available on campus. They may want to consider applying for a student job during their time here. Many students choose to study abroad while on campus, and it is important to note students may use their disability-related accommodations during their time abroad as well. The University consistently updates their calendar of campus events, which provides a vast number of opportunities going on each day.

UW-Madison offers a wide breadth of important resources that your students may want to use during their time on campus. You can explore some of these below:

• Academic Advising: All students at UW-Madison are assigned an academic advisor who can assist with scheduling classes, exploring interests, and finding ways to expand involvement on campus.
• Career Exploration Center (CEC): The CEC is part of the Cross-College Advising Service (CCAS) and is designed to assist students in exploring their options for majors and careers.
• Office of Student Transition and Family Engagement: helps student adjust to life at UW-Madison. They provide a variety of opportunities through orientation and programming to ease the first-year transition.
• Office of Student Assistance and Support (OSAS): The Office of Student Assistance and Support is a primary resource for students navigating personal, academic, or health issues to get the help they need, whether that be on campus or in the community. The office also serves as a central location for reporting bias and other student-related concerns.
• Greater University Tutoring Service (GUTS): GUTS is a student organization dedicated to connecting UW students with volunteer tutors for assistance with academic courses, study skills, conversational English, and intercultural exchange.
• Parent and Family Program: This program helps engage parents, stepparents, extended family members, foster parents, legal guardians, and other chosen family members in campus life to assist their student during their time on campus. The program includes an e-newsletter, campus events, web chats, and more.
• Student Affairs: The McBurney Center falls under the branch of Student Affairs, which are dedicated to serving students and to helping them succeed in and out of the classroom in areas including health and well-being, identity and inclusion, leadership and engagement, and student advocacy.
• University Health Services (UHS): UHS is the UW-Madison student health center, with a mission to enhance learning and student success by promoting, protecting, and restoring health and well-being.
• UHS – Mental Health Services: MHS’ mental health providers understand the complexities of student life and offer an open, safe and confidential environment to help students through issues that may interfere with their development, well-being, and academic productivity.