WAUKESHA – After doing very well at Nathan Hale High School in New Berlin, Payal Ramji was angry when she received a letter from UW-Madison in spring 2001 telling her she couldn’t start college there. Instead, it offered her a different option for earning her degree from UW-Madison: She was invited to join the inaugural UW-Madison Connections program.
While she had her heart set on Madison, she had applied to other schools as well but still clung to her first choice. So she accepted. She enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha campus but received dual admission to both the Waukesha and the Madison campuses, including ID’s and student privileges from both. However, she paid the lower tuition of the smaller campus and registered for classes with only 20 to 25 other students.
“I hadn’t heard much about UW-Waukesha,” she confesses, so she entertained neither positive nor negative feelings about the place she was to start her college career. Two years later and now ready to realize her dream and take her place in the junior class at UW-Madison, she says, “My image totally changed. If I were to do it again, I’d apply here first. The experience has been great.”
Great for her has meant a number of things. Rather than being dropped into a milieu with thousands of students, she’s been guided through the general education prerequisites she needs before she can begin upper level studies. Instead of experiencing the social distractions of dorm life, she’s saved money and learned self-discipline by living at home. She’s found rewards in responsible positions, such as tutor, peer mentor, student government representative, and note-taker. Moreover, 72 credits will transfer to Madison, allowing her to graduate a semester early and spend the extra time working on her law school applications.
“This is not a slack-off university. Some of my friends thought it was a free ride, but if you pass here, you’re good to go,” she notes. At UW-Waukesha, she points out, students are taking the prerequisite courses, which often are not the “fun” ones. “You can get all the one-on-one help you need,” however. “I’ve formed the study skills here, making my chances for success higher,” she believes.
“I’ve had to learn to balance work, school, and responsibility. I’m ahead of the game. The anxiety’s gone. If I can do it here, I can do it there.” |
