bkuganda (2022-2023)

Peace Corps Volunteer in Uganda from 2004-2006, taught in inner-city Minneapolis for 2 years, administrator at a long-term care facility for 2 years.

4/27/09 - I applied for and have been granted an enrollment deferral until fall 2010 by the University of Wisconsin - Madison. My wife has one semester of nursing school left in Minnesota and we have a 16-month-old son, so we are very grateful that Wisconsin has accepted this request because it will allow our family to stay together instead of me living in Wisconsin and my wife and son living in Minnesota. Since I will be home for another year I plan to complete a few prerequisites I need in order to enroll in the La Follette School of Public Affairs at Wisconsin, where I plan to complete a joint degree with Law and a Master's in International Public Affairs.

3/24/09 - Withdrew from consideration at Indiana University - Bloomington and University of Florida today. Neither school can offer me the opportunities Wisconsin offers and Wisconsin will be much cheaper for me with Minnesota reciprocity. It appears to be a done deal unless Ohio State throws an insane amount of need-based money at me.

3/23/09 - Received the acceptance package from Florida today. The warm weather would be nice, but no scholarship information in the acceptance package. It would take a very large scholarship for Florida to beat out Wisconsin. Iowa also sent me a letter this weekend saying that I am still on the waitlist and that I can choose to have my file remain on the waitlist if I want to. I think I will leave it there for now, but even if I ultimately gain admission, I doubt I will get any scholarshiip and tuition reciprocity at Wisconsin will make Wisconsin much cheaper to attend. The only school I have not heard from is Washington University, which was always the school I had the lowest probability of attending. Even if they accept me, I doubt I will receive any scholarship, so there is no way I would afford to attend. So, it looks like this cycle is pretty much over and it will almost certainly be Wisconsin.

3/16/09 - Pretty much settled on the University of Wisconsin. I still want to wait and see what they offer me for a scholarship before it becomes official. But, I've begun looking in Madison for housing, day care and job opportunities for my wife. I'm really excited about this school as the program matches up so well with my interests and it is ranked pretty well at the same time.

3/12/09 - Received tote bag in mail from Tulane - they offered me $20,000 per year. Man, they are trying to pry me away from Wisconsin. Also was accepted at Arizona today and they offered me $15,000 per year. My wife is trying to promote Arizone since she wants to escape the cold weather, which Wisconsin wouldn't allow us to do. But, at this point I am not wavering from my desire to attend Wisconsin.

2/27/09 - Received a call from University of Wisconsin. I'm off the waitlist!! I am 99.3% positive that I will be attending Wisconsin this fall and completing a joint degree with International Public Affairs, focused on International Development in Africa. Exactly what I wanted!!