Thanks for the advice littlelisa! I have thought long and hard about this decision and concluded that I am only applying to Madison b/c for one reason, my dad was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's and I want to be as close to home as possible since the progression of his disease is unknown. I'm also a non-trad and have already completed a Master's degree, so I am doing pre-reqs to meet Madison's requirements. I'd have to take a few other classes to meet Minnesota and other OS school pre-req requirements. My friend is in her fourth year at MN, so I actually went to a couple of lectures with her last year. Great school, but in the end, I just want to be as close to home as possible. My BF has a good job where we live now, so it is possible that just I will move to Madison, which is about 2 hours away, and then come home on weekends and breaks from school. Initially I was going to apply to several schools, but life happens sometimes!