Welcome Spring 2023 Future Badgers! We are excited to connect with you during SOAR this January. Please review this page to prepare for making your SOAR reservation. Our SOAR staff are available to help throughout the process! Contact us if you have any questions.
January 2023 SOAR dates will be held January 17, 18, and 19th. In the reservation system, you will be able to select one of these days to attend SOAR. Note: Certain academic advising units may not be present each day. The reservation system will only show the dates available for you to attend based on your academic major.
The SOAR Reservation System will open on Monday, December 5 at 12:00 p.m. Central Time. The portal link will be posted in the Making Your SOAR Reservation section.
Page Sections
Before You Sign Up

Confirm Your Enrollment
The Office of Admissions & Recruitment requires specific tasks for all incoming students after they are admitted. Some of these tasks must be completed before starting your SOAR reservation:
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Accept your offer of admission in MyUW
To accept your offer of admission:
- Log in to the MyUW portal.
- Click on Student Center down arrow/icon and select “Applicant Homepage”. Your Student Center also gives you access to other personalized information, including your financial aid package.
- Click on the tile page with “Admissions”
- Within the Admissions tile, it has “Application Status”; it will show you the applications that you have submitted.
- Accept/Decline Admission: follow the instructions it gives you to officially confirm.
- You will then pay the $100 deposit online. It is applied toward your tuition and fees for the first semester and is not refundable after the confirmation deadline.
To complete accept your offer of admission and pay your enrollment deposit by check or money order, please complete and submit the Enrollment Deposit Form.
You must accept your offer of admission by December 15, or within 10 days from the date of your admission (whichever is later).
If you have any questions about this process, please contact the Office of Admissions and Recruitment.
Activate your NetID Services to access MyUW
Your NetID is your username and password combination which allows access to University services, such as your MyUW portal and wisc.edu email through Office 365. You must have an active NetID to be able to register for SOAR.
MyUW is the UW-Madison student portal that you will use to access your student records and complete important tasks, such as: accepting your admission offer, reviewing your financial aid package, the Preparing for SOAR module, and more.
To activate your NetID:
- Locate the 10-digit campus ID number from your admissions letter.
- Follow these instructions to complete the process: NetID – Activating Your Account
If you’ve activated your NetID but have forgotten your NetID password, you can reset it online with the NetID Password Reset Tool. If you have forgotten your NetID, you can recover it using the self-service NetID Recovery Tool.
Know your other admitted student deadlines
After accepting your offer of admission, be sure to check your Admitted Student Checklist! These lists from the Office of Admissions and Recruitment will help you keep track of when other important tasks are due before Spring semester begins:
Additional tasks for students who deferred their enrollment
If you are a student who deferred their enrollment to Spring 2023 from a previous semester, please complete the following tasks:
1) Contact the Office of Admissions and Recruitment to check your admission status: You must confirm with the Office of Admissions and Recruitment that you intend to start UW-Madison courses in Spring 2023 so they can activate you for the Spring term. This must be done before you will be eligible to start your SOAR reservation.
2) Activate your Missing NetID Services: This important action ensures that you will have access to your Wiscmail (@wisc.edu account) and other important software licensed by the University. Please complete this task after you accept your offer of admission. Note: Reactivation of these services takes approximately 48 hours after you click “Activate Services”.

Explore Your Academic Options
During SOAR, you will work with the advising group that best matches your academic interests and goals. Review the two resources below to help you choose your academic interests and learn more about SOAR advising!
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Search the UW Guide
UW-Madison has over 230 undergraduate majors and certificates. Use the UW Guide to explore all our academic programs and filter by interest area.
Review the SOAR Advising Guide
This guide from the Office of Undergraduate Advising will help you learn more about our SOAR advising groups and how academic advising works both during and after SOAR.
Making your SOAR Reservation
You will sign up for your SOAR session using our SOAR Reservation System. The reservation process includes:
- Entering your information to help us personalize your SOAR experience
- Listing your academic interests to connect with a SOAR advising group
- Listing your parents/guests joining you during your SOAR experience
Because of space limitations and school/college availability, we cannot guarantee a specific date in advance of your SOAR reservation. Do NOT make any travel arrangements until you have completed your SOAR reservation. After you select your advising group, you will be presented with a list of available SOAR dates. You should select an available session date that works best with your schedule.
Ready to make your SOAR reservation? Click the button below to access the SOAR reservation system!
