Chance Me for WashU Early Decision

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
1

I’m applying for Washington University in St Louis early decision this fall. If rejected, I’ll reapply and apply to other selective colleges (Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Brown, Tufts, etc.).

*Note: CC = Concurrent credit

Here are my stats:

Intended Major: Biology
Objective:

ACT: 32 (33 superscore)
SAT II: None
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.91
Weighted GPA (out of 5.0): 4.13
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP World (3)
Senior Year Course Load (1st Semester): Genetics, Microbiology CC, Neurology, Zoology CC, Trigonometry CC, Band
Senior Year Course Load (2nd Semester): Immunology, Molecular Biology, Calculus I CC, Speech CC, Drama Lit CC, Physics CC, Band
# of Honor Courses (9th-11th): 7 in total
# of AP & CC Courses (9th-11th): 9 in total
Awards: National Merit Semifinalist, Questbridge Prep Scholar, District Research Fair: 3rd Place (Environmental Science), Misc. 1st Place awards in district- and state- level competitions

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Student Council (7th (Secretary), 8th, 9th (Treasurer), 10th (Sophomore Rep), 11th (Junior Rep), 12th (President))
Student Wellness Club (11th, 12th (President))
Theater (10th (lead role), 11th (minor role), 12th (Club Secretary))
Robotics (11th, 12th)
Model UN (10th, 11th, 12th)
Beta Club (10th, 11th, 12th)
Chinese Club (8th, 9th, 10th (President))
Young Democrats (10th (Treasurer), 11th, 12)
Interact (11th, 12th (Secretary))
Admissions Ambassador (12th)
Band and Orchestra (6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)

Volunteer/Community service:
National Park Volunteering (11th, 12th)
NAMI (11th, 12th)
Red Cross (10th, 11th, 12th)
Animal Shelter (10th, 11th, 12th)

Summer Activities:
Arkansas Governor's School (semi-selective, accepts 400/ year) (2018)
Summer Research Institute Assistant (2018)
Misc. Volunteering (2016-2018)

Essays and Recommendations: Fairly strong
Interview: None
Demonstrated interest: Attended expenses-paid flyout program to WashU

Other:

State (if domestic applicant): AR
School Type: Selective STEM school
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~60k (2017), ~15k (2018)
Hooks: First of siblings to attend college, completed biology research project (11th & 12th), member of school board, worked extensively on providing school mental health resources

I know there is no way to actually predict the outcome, but I’m interested in hearing what you guys have to say. Just let me know what you think my ED/ RD chances are for WashU (and the other schools, too, if you want), and if there’s anything I should do to further strengthen my application.

2

Extracurriculars done in middle school will not be looked at. And I would focus more on depth and breadth than the number of extracurriculars. There are only 10 spots to fill on the Common App.

I would take 1 more ACT. 32-33 is on the low end of the scores for accepted students.

Another concern is that you are taking a lot of DE classes, but you list only 1 AP class taken with a relatively mediocre score. If your high school doesn’t offer that many AP classes, that’s fine. Otherwise it would raise red flags. I also don’t see Chemistry listed as a class taken. Nor do I see a foreign language either.

3

I only included extracurriculars I did in middle school if I continued them in high school to show the amount of time I’ve been committed to them.

My current school doesn’t offer AP courses.

I only listed my Senior courses. I’ve taken two semesters of college level chemistry, as well as two years of Chinese.