<p>Apparently not, you were no qualified either. Don?t take me wrong, but there are more than simple numbers in the candidates. Wash U send mailings to all of those that have stats in the range accepted, but it is the only data the admissions office has from those students along with the race if it was declared on the SATs and the schools they attend. After all the mailings, each kid has more information about the school and the possibility to ask for more, and that is the ?interest? issue always mentioned. If every kid does his homework, he would have this information: ?The University is counted among the world?s leaders in teaching and research, and draws students and faculty to St. Louis from all 50 states and more than 120 nations.? (Extracted from the Facts brochure). This last is easily to understand that they are looking for geographic diversity, so the kid from the tiny town close to Fairbanks has a better chance to get in that the thousand amazing kids from Long Island, NY. The university also says: ?Approximately 90 percent of undergraduates come from outside Missouri; nearly 60 percent come from more than 500 miles away.? this means that it would be easier to get in for those living far away than closer.
The brochure mentions, ?1,470 freshmen were selected from 22,251 applicants?. Who say it was a safety? ?
Last year statistics were:
Architecture 668 87
Art 632 86
Arts & Sciences 14,674 872
Business 2,817 145
Engineering 3,460 280
Total 22,251 1,470</p>
<p>Once again, who say it could be a safety?
There is no way to accept more kids than they did last year or they could not guaranteed housing for everyone even if all the applicants have out of this world stats, for that reason, WUSTL gives another chance by wait listing those that are between the ranges to those who were accepted, and leaves to the students to ?polish? that list by own exclusion from those who didn?t want to go to WUSTL in the first place. It?s a smart move; no one can denied it.
Going back to the beginning of this posting, there is no such thing as ?over qualified? candidates, because it is crystal clear by all the information that the university sends, that they look for students that would fit beyond the stats. They don?t want 1300 kids from the Northeast, nor they want 1300 kids that play soccer or 1300 that have been volunteers in Habitat for Humanity, they look for a diverse body of students that can work together.
I hope that I explained this point for those they are still in denial, you are wonderful kids that for sure would fit very well in other universities standards and you will be very happy wherever you go. I feel sorry for those who really want to go to WUSTL, and I?m sure that if you make that clear, the admission officers would make it possible as soon as they find room for you, either by accepting people from the wait list if they can or by transferring.
Congratulations to all on your high school graduation!</p>
<p>I think you yourself are in denial if you can't admit what WashU did. They wanted to protect their yield, so they didn't admit kids who they thought would choose HYPSM. </p>
<p>This is what being overqualified looks like:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/profiles/member_stat_view.html?user_id=78689%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/profiles/member_stat_view.html?user_id=78689</a>
If someone gets a likely to Duke yet is waitlisted at WashU, it's pretty clear what happened.</p>
<p>^Thanks, Weasel. I did visit, interview, and apply for a scholarship at Wash U, so it wasn't as though I didn't demonstrate interest. It's a bit presumptuous of me to assume I'm overqualified, because I'm not an expert on Wash U admissions, but you have a point. It's naive to think that NONE of the waitlisted candidates were turned down for overqualification, even if it's not our place to identify who was over- or under-qualified.</p>
<p>My S was admitted to the only Ivy he applied to, how could you explain that? And he also received the Dean Merit Scholarship from that Ivy, was Wash U wrong by admitting him? I have to admit that my S isn’t original, many kids in his class were admitted by the Ivies but they enrolled at Wash U, for that reason, he is average.
I don’t understand what you guys said about “yield”. If Wash U has a shield of 25% (it’s just an example), and 1000 students in the class, and admits 4000 prospects, how could change the yield if there are 10,000 in the wait list and no one gets out from there? Remember that no one of the wait list was accepted last year, and the year before only 24 that accepted the wait list got in and most of them were in the January program.
I don’t think the wait list has the purpose of having a better yield, if they want to have it that way, they should admit less people and filling the spots left for those who don’t want to enroll with the wait list. In that case admissions rate would be around 8%.</p>
<p>As far as I know, no IVY school offers any merit scholarship at all!. That must be misleading.</p>
<p>^I'm pretty sure Cornell gives scholarships. I don't really see how that is relevant though.</p>
<p>Cressmom, I am having a lot of trouble understanding your argument. Could you try to rephrase it more clearly?</p>
<p>it is ivy's by-law no school gives merit of athletic scholarships. It is called scholarship but based on need.</p>
<p>^Wonder, google Dean's Scholars at Cornell.</p>
<p>1) There is no such thing as an overqualified candidate to WashU. You are correct. As has been noted firsthand on CC, you can have perfect test scores, be val, great ECs, awards, etc. and still be waitlisted. Nothing guarantees acceptance at a school where only ~18% of applicants are accepted.</p>
<p>2) There is something very fishy and wrong with WashU's use of the waitlist. WashU waitlists many candidates that have great stats for whatever personal reason, and many assume this is because these students are likely to receive offers at better universities that they will take. Yield protection. It exists at many schools but I believe it is more transparent at WashU. </p>
<p>3) Don't expect this to go away in the future. You knew what type of school you were applying to and you knew the odds of acceptance, regardless of your qualifications. As has been said, WashU is a private school and can make its own decisions on whatever criteria it wants. Until WashU has a yield comparable to that of the ivies and other top schools, it has the right to protect itself and its ranking; it's just disappointing that there are so many that truly do love the school yet are waitlisted like every other prestige-monger. Such is the consequence of receiving 22,000+ applications. WashU almost receives as many applicants as Harvard now: give the adcoms a break.</p>
<p>You're confused about what overqualified means. The reason perfect scores and great ECs don't guarantee acceptance to Wash U is that Wash U needs to protect its yield, and such good students won't pick Wash U.
Obviously, not all waitlistees are overqualified. But some are.</p>
<p>
[quote]
WashU waitlists many candidates that have great stats for whatever personal reason, and many assume this is because these students are likely to receive offers at better universities that they will take. Yield protection.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Exactly. That's what being overqualified is.</p>
<p>So, let me get this right ... there is a certain student profile that "should" automatically assure him/her admittance to any school? That's sure what people seem to be saying. "I have a 2370, great essays, lots of ECs, top of the class at a good school ... I deserve to be everyone's choice." Doesn't sound so great when stated that way, does it? But that's what is meant by those who feel they got into school A therefore should get into school B. That simply is not how things work, and admissions officers say that over & over. The admissions process is not cut & dried.</p>
<p>As far as the massive waitlist goes, though, that one is a bit strange! Maybe it's not all so massive as it seems ... maybe the only ones on the waitlist are those who posted here! :) If not, though, I think WashU might need to actually reject some students next year ... THEN you'll REALLY hear an outcry!</p>
<p>all this whining is making me nauseated, and I completely agree with kelsmom</p>
<p>a lot of the ppl who were accepted to washu this year have been accepted to ivy league schools so that "overqualified" reasoning is pure bull*****. washu can't tell if you're going to get accepted to harvard or yale just by your application since different schools have different things they're looking for, and as far as stats go, the accepted and waitlisted students are very similar--and because washu doesn't have a "why washu" essay, i really don't know how they can tell if you're serious about the school either, so i really don't know what the point of all this is</p>
<p>
[quote]
there is a certain student profile that "should" automatically assure him/her admittance to any school? That's sure what people seem to be saying. "I have a 2370, great essays, lots of ECs, top of the class at a good school ... I deserve to be everyone's choice." Doesn't sound so great when stated that way, does it?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It sounds somewhat arrogant, I will concede, but I think it's true. That's really the only explanation for the large number of highly qualified students who were waitlisted. By the way, I didn't even apply to WashU, so don't say that I'm just making excuses for not getting in.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Obviously, not all waitlistees are overqualified. But some are.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No mallomar. At a school like WashU, I don't think there is such thing as an overqualified student. I think that is what so many people have a problem with: they seem to think WashU is a notch below HYPS (and it is in my opinion) and that they are thus entitled to a spot - it should be guaranteed. It is not. But I certainly agree that WashU protects its yield, and why shouldn't it?</p>
<p>Entitlement and overqualification are two different things. I never said overqualified students were entitled to a spot. I agree, Wash U is entitled to waitlist or reject them to protect its yield.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Entitlement and overqualification are two different things
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Right. But when so many applicants have near-perfect test scores, GPA, and great awards, how does one distinguish the overqualified from the qualified? This is why students rejected from HYPS etc. don't feel so bad; it's a crapshoot. I guess it's time for people to realize that WashU is now also a crapshoot, even if they happen to unjustly waitlist so many instead of rejecting them - in the end, it seems the terms are nearly synonymous at WashU.</p>
<p>brand, your definition of overqualified seems to be different from everyone else's. In my mind, overqualified means that WashU waitlisted a student because they believed he/she would accept a better school's offer. I don't think overqualified means that the student felt entitled to the spot or that he/she felt too good for WashU.</p>