Chance me RD '17

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

<p>Hi all.</p>

<p>I wanna be straightforward - My GPA is not that great (debatably bad), but i'm trying to be the candidate who can compensate with ECs/Testing. What are my chances at getting into WashU RD '17?</p>

<p>I'm an Indian (as in the asian variety xD)
Go to one of most competitive public schools in MA</p>

<p>GPA: 3.5/4.0 (UW), 4.0/5.0 (W)
SAT (superscore): 2340 (740 CR, 800 M, 800 W)
SAT II: 800 Math IIC (also 800 Math IC but nobody cares xD), 730 Chem (ew), 710 Lit
AP: Comp Sci A - 5, BC Calc - 5, Chem - 4, Physics - 4, US History - 4
Taking Psych, Spanish, and Stats this year predicted all 5's</p>

<p>Current Courseload:
International Relations H
Multivariable Calculus (class which only 6 out of ~500 students in my grade are allowed to take... considered highest math class at our school)
Spanish V H/AP
Psychology H/AP
Madrigal Singers (auditioned group of 24 of the whole school's best singers... out of a student base of 2000... extremely prestigious group)
Statistics H/AP
Science Fiction and Fantasy (unleveled senior elective english class)</p>

<p>Reccomendations:
Math Department Head (BC calc teacher) - has very high opinion of me and should give excellent rec
English III H teacher - likes me as a person .. didn't do to well in her class (got a B year avg). will prlly have a good insight into my personality though.
Counselor rec - idk too much of what the counselor thinks of me.. BUT she's writing her rec based on the recs which i'm getting from outside school which are - 1. TyE Business Competition Mentor and 2. MIT professor who i did an internship with (Both EXTREMELY strong recs)</p>

<p>Extra curriculars... (100 million over here). Listed in order of descending importance:</p>

<p>First High school level Bollywood A Cappella group which I founded in sophomore year (it's been 1.5 years (will be 2.5 when school ends). - Sophomore year thru senior year
TyE Business plan Competition - We spent a whole year formulating a business plan and we got 2nd place in the competition. I was the CFO... - Junior year
MIT RFID Lab internship - I spent the summer working in a lab with PhD students and the RFID dept head helping them formulate thesis. I may be listed as a co-author on these MIT students' theses (there are 2). - Summer before senior year</p>

<p>~Gap here because those 3 up there are the most important of the ECs~</p>

<p>Math Team - Captain Senior year - frosh to Senior year
Madrigal Singers - Senior year
Chess team -Freshman year to senior year - won 2nd place junior year. Senior year yet to be determined (predicted top 3)
Robert Creeley Foundation - Exec. Board member - Poetry foundation honoring deceased poet. We bring in a famous poet each year to our high school to recite for students. We also have an award given to top achieving students in poetry from anywhere in massachusetts area.
Chess Club - Co-founder - sophomore to senior year
Student Council Rep - Junior to senior year
All Male A Cappella group - frosh to senior year
Science Team - Frosh to junior year</p>

<p>Miscellaneous notes/awards:
Presidents volunteer award (1 bronze, 1 gold)
AIME Qualifier
Natl AP Scholar
Massachusetts Math Olympiad Level II Qualifier
I've been singing Hindustani Classical and Bengali Music since I was 5 years old.
I'm also fluent in bengali (spoken, written, listening, and reading)</p>

<p>So... how do i compete?</p>

<p>Thanks all!! and feel free to ask me to chance you as well. I don't know how well i'll be able to do, but i'll give my best effort.</p>

2

<p>Focus on your grades for the next year.</p>

3

<p>Firstly, yes, your GPA is fairly low (obviously all relative, objectively a 3.5 is pretty good) for washu, but your tests and ECs are good. Assuming you expand a little more on the volunteer work you did, I don’t see that part of your application getting much stronger.</p>

<p>It appears like your classes are challenging, which helps negate the GPA a bit; is there any upward trend? That being said, there are a lot of indian applicants, and a lot of applicants from Massachusetts, so competition is greater than if you were a Native American from Idaho, haha. I don’t think acceptance is unreasonable; I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened. Nor would I be shocked to see you waitlisted, so I guess you have a fair chance, which is all most applicants can hope for.</p>

4

<p>Thanks Ryan! I will keep all that in mind. Anyone else?</p>

<p>Sent from my XT897 using CC</p>

5

<p>Yeah, you’re GPA is slightly low. WashU is one of those schools where showing interest will give you an edge. You should probably visit campus and interview. That’ll show them that WashU is one of your top choices! Also, how many students from you school are applying to WashU? internal competition might affect you.</p>

6

<p>Hi Happyasever.</p>

<p>I am set up with an interview. However, visiting campus is kind of out of question for me since we are at least a plane ride away (considering we live in Massachusetts) and my parents don’t have enough free money to send me to campus :-/. As for internal competition, it says 20 people are applying :(. I guess that doesn’t bode too well for me xD.</p>

7

<p>Alright, it’s good that you’ve set up an interview and i guess WashU’ll understand that you’re not in a position to visit. But remember, WashU is not a need blind school, so those paying full fee will be given a slight edge. But don’t lose hope, admission to colleges is a crap shot anyway.</p>

8

<p>Loll well I said I would be applying for financial aid… oops xD. Ah well my family is willing to take loans to send me to the best school possible so low FA will not dissuade me from attending anywhere</p>

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9

<p>Is it possible for you to achieve high grades for your Jr. year and the start of your Sr. year?
What are your grades so far this year?
I love your prediction of all 5s on this year’s AP exams.</p>

10

<p>^xD i am willing to bet money that i will get 5’s in psychology & stats. as for Spanish, i’m not as sure, but I’m studying more for that than the others. MY jr year grades were pretty good. My senior year grades are not as stellar thanks to severe grade deflation in Multivariable calculus. First temr i got a B+ and this term i’m looking at a B/B- :(</p>

11

<p>Bumppp</p>

<p>Sent from my XT897 using CC</p>

12

<p>Bump x2</p>

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13

<p>Other than your gpa, your stats are better than mine and I got in ED, so who knows. If I were in your position, I would probably email your washu rep and simply explain that although you can’t visit due to financial circumstances, you are very interested in the school and would go if you were admitted. Something like that. Otherwise you might seem like one of the hundreds of kids that add washu to their common app because its easy. Not sure what your essay was about, but if you made yourself seem unique and interesting I think you have a great shot.</p>

14

<p>actually, second thought, maybe don’t say it’s due to financial cirumstances, because washu is need aware and they will probably admit someone with the same stats who doesn’t need FA. idk. it’s not fair, but it’s up to you :)</p>

15

<p>Lol well I prlly lost a significant edge by applying for FA then -_- lol. Oh well lol. I’m not asking for too much. Maybe like 10-20k per year to lower the burden on rents who will soon have to be payin for two kids in college</p>

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16

<p>For most cases, washu is need blind. It only really comes into play with international students, as well as those students looking for full rides (or nearly). For most applicants, FA is not a significant factor at all.</p>

17

<p>A school’s being need-blind or need-aware should be irrelevant to applicants; it does’t affect the school’s quality or desirability; it affects only the chance of admission, and that only for those on the cusp.</p>

18

<p>Thanks RyanMK and vonlost. I guess that makes sense. I didn’t really have an option in the end. There is no way my parents will be able to pay the full price of attending any of these 50-60k + private institutions xD</p>

19

<p>If you get accepted, WashU will help make the financials work. It might be student loans (some subsidized and some not). </p>

<p>Other top schools that are needs blind state that they will cover your full need as determined thru FASFA. Again that will be a combination of grant $, loans and work study. </p>

<p>You are in the most competitive pool (Asians). </p>

<p>Also your predicted AP scores are meaningless if you applied this year. You will not get those results until this summer and the admission decision is in April.</p>

<p>What high school do you go to in MA? I am from MA.</p>

20

<p>Acton-boxborough regional high.</p>

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