Chance son please

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

<p>White, male</p>

<p>ACT 34, eng. 35, reading 34, math 32, science 35</p>

<p>GPA 4.0/4.0 unweighted, currently 4.13 weighted</p>

<p>rank 1/155 small average public school</p>

<p>AP's (only 7 offered in total @ school-others were ART & Chemistry): 10th AP World Hist. (3); 11th AP Lang/Comp (4), AP US Hist. (4)</p>

<p>Senior--Taking AP Lit/Comp & AP Calc. AB currently</p>

<p>Has taken/is taking 3 honors courses: Chemistry, Pre-calc. trig, Physics</p>

<p>ECs: Heavy Drama (Student director-junior/Honor Thespian (officer-2 yrs)/Community Theatre 4 years
NHS 2 years
Marching Band senior year only
Quiz bowl starter 4 years
Skills USA Computer Chapter 4 years (officer-2 yrs.)
Rotary Interact Service Org. 3 years
Science Club 4 years
French Club 2 years
Key Club 2 years
EV team senior year only
Church Youth Ministry
Worked 15 hours/week average part-time job during summer and school since age 16</p>

<p>Intended Major: Computer science/engineering w/minor in creative writing or theatre</p>

<p>Done most volunteer work/projects thru Rotary Org. and church youth ministry (approx. 330 hrs. in all)</p>

<p>Neither parent graduated college.</p>

<p>Have a few state and regional writing awards</p>

<p>Essays: should be really good, first one finished and sounds excellent
Recs: should be great (3 teachers in rigorous subjects who've known him 2-4 yrs. ea.</p>

<p>Went to Discovery weekend (he had a blast and loved Washu) had interview w/current student (said it went well), nominated for Danforth by GC (but still haven't gotten anything yet from WashU); plan on applying for Rodriguez/Ervin/engineering scholarships</p>

<p>Any comments and opinions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>Are you planning on applying ED? That will be a big factor in the decision process.
I think you have a really good chance ED. The only problem I can see is the AP Scores, which is not as impressive as the rest of the application. Your combination of engineering and drama may also seem very intriguing to the admission committee, which is quite unique.</p>

<p>If applying RD, as long as you apply for those scholarships, you will have a very good chance as well. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Can2010 - You think the AP scores are a problem? An overall 34? Maybe the math score of 32 is a little “low” for an engineering major? I’m not sure I agree with you regarding the ACT scores especially given the rest of the package. I do agree that overall the OP’s son looks like a very good candidate!</p>

4

<p>Thanks, Can and Palm</p>

<p>He’s applying RD because of “binding” ED (without scholarships/substantial financial aid, it would be very tough financially). It’s kinda funny about the “low” 32 in math, he’s actually considered the math whiz at his school but on the ACT, there was one section he always had problems in in the past. However, on his recent Math ACT, all three subscores were 16! </p>

<p>Honestly, he’s not, imho, studied enough in past preparation for his AP exams. He does great in the AP classes though, all A’s. For preparation for ACT, he only took ACT practice test in the lil’ ACT handout booklet GC gave him, and, for most recent ACT, he only did practice math and science tests. He went from 32 Comp/June to 34/Sept and most of the increase came from science (32>35).</p>

<p>A few things I forgot as well: He’s also taking a concurent College Biology w/lab course this semester, and is treas. of NHS, VPres. Thespians, this year (his Th. troupe placed superior in one state event last yr. and they’ve only been going to state 3 years now).</p>

<p>Will it help that neither parent graduated college–is that considered a hook at all? And does the part time job help him? </p>

<p>Any insight/opinions welcome. Thanks!!!</p>

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<p>palmalk; I believe Can2010 mentioned AP not ACT. A 3 and two 4s is not great and reflects quite a bit on the high school level.</p>

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<p>Wash U superscores the ACT…fwiw…</p>

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<p>ST</p>

<p>Do you think those AP scores will really hurt his application overall? He didn’t send out the scores to them so will he have to self-report them?</p>

<p>Rodney</p>

<p>Those scores above were all from Sept. test and they were his highest yet or tied his highest in each category.</p>

<p>Thanks for any insights!</p>

8

<p>btw, Even though he’s applying to some other schools including one Ivy SCEA, he is secretly hoping to go to WashU. He just can’t apply ED because of not knowing about scholarships/financial aid early enough. He really loved the campus, eng. facilities, students, dorms, food, everything…I just hope it works out for him.</p>

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<p>midsouthmom,
The part-time job and the first-gen college student will help. Colleges love to see part-time jobs. Also, aside from financial aid, WashU has great merit scholarship, so have him apply for those too.</p>

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<p>Hi, I’m new & still learning but when WU came to visit DD’s high school, they told kids that if finances were an issue after financial aid was offered, that would allow them out of an ED agreement. Can anyone verify or argue this?</p>

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<p>@hopesma That is true for most, if not all, colleges that offers an ED option, not just WUSTL.</p>

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<p>Oops - misread. Sorry about that.</p>

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<p>ST</p>

<p>I know common appl. requires self-report of AP scores; does the Universal App. which WashU also accepts also require it? And help me out: what do you mean by “reflects on high school level”? Also, I would really appreciate your overall opinion of chances.</p>

<p>Btw, fwiw, I checked with Admissions/FinAid and, even tho they said they will do anything possible to make it financially feasible for applicants, ED is binding and only a handful of students have been released from it recently.</p>

<p>Thanks for everyone’s input.</p>

14

<p>As I read it, “reflects on high school level” implied that if a 4.0 student who’s first in his class gets less than stellar AP scores, then the school and/or the AP classes are not all that rigorous and the competition within the school is also less than stellar.</p>

<p>As for chances, they’re good, but he’s certainly no shoo-in. As with many well-qualified candidates, he’s competitive, but no school can accept all well-qualified applicants.</p>

15

<p>WCASParent - That is what I meant in regard to “reflection on school”. 4s are OK, but a 3 can be a bit of a red flag for a top student. But, if everything else looks good, I would not worry about the 3.</p>

<p>midsouthmom - I really don’t do chances posts. The info available is so limited that I don’t believe it possible or acceptable to make a “wild guess”. I think there has been some good advice provided above. By all means apply for any and all merit awards that you think may be applicable. Absolutely the Danforth, Ervin, Rodriguez and Engineering at the minimum. You never know the result and it will also help with acceptance. You may be assured that WashU will do everything possible to assist you with finances. Good luck to your son.</p>

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<p>ST</p>

<p>Thanks for the input and I guessed that’s what you meant on the “reflects” statement. I meant to mention that 3 was in his sophomore year and his first AP course but it’s not that big of a deal. I understand what you mean on chancing, as WC said, there’s alot of well-qualified applicants and they can’t take them all. Just looking for any input objectively out there. Thanks again.</p>

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<p>Midsouthmom,</p>

<p>If Wash U is his first choice, do not be afraid to apply ED because of finances. First of all, I can assure you Wash U does much better than all but a few schools. Second, if you cannot afford to attend, you can withdraw even if accepted without an argument. I understand you sign a lot of docs to indicate you are serious, but sincerely they do not try to force anyone to attend if they feel they cannot afford it. Ask them flat out about it if you are still concerned.</p>

<p>All of that said, do not apply ED as an admission tactic. Only do it if it is truly his first choice.</p>

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<p>He’s decided to apply RD so he has extra prep time for all scholarship applications and essays during Thanksgiving (and Christmas, if necessary). “Admission tactic” was never any reason for ED, not quite sure what was meant by that. Btw, I did ask about the binding decision directly as noted in an earlier post. Regardless, as with so many seniors, he’s been so bz with senior activities and heavy courseload, work, other things, that time has been limited for the extra essays, etc. and he’s too much a perfectionist to just throw it all together, lol. Not that anyone should ever do that anyway for a top 20 selective college. He also needs some extra time this month for applying for some substantial outside scholarships that could help him in the overall costs of attending if he’s lucky enough to get admitted. He’s applying to 3 super selective schools but WashU is definitely way up there and also three safeties. Two of the safeties have pretty much already given him a full ride and one of those is in his top three picks. But I can tell he really is praying for WashU to work out for him. I just hope after all the applications, essays, etc., for WashU, he at least gets admitted, then we will see about costs involved. I’m really concerned about him getting a WashU merit scholarship because they’re so ultra competitive and I don’t know if he would even be considered a qualified applicant to the committees. Anyhow, thanks for any input from anyone. I would love to hear some input from some current engineering majors.</p>