Chances at WUSTL?

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

<p>I'm a senior (female) at a competitive private high school in New Jersey. There are about 100 students in each grade, and each year, most of them go on to highly ranked colleges.</p>

<p>My school does not rank. They also don't publish GPA; rather, the college sees a transcript (this GPA is just for reference). My school is on a trimester system, but the only thing on the transcript is final grades.</p>

<p>My GPA (unweighted) is 3.62 out of 4.0. (school doesn't weight GPA). I'm somewhere in the top half of my grade, although I don't know where (but I'm pretty sure I'm not in the top 10... like I said, my school doesn't rank, we don't even have val/sal).</p>

<p>Senior year courses and grades-
Fall term (all colleges automatically see these grades)
AP Physics B (school doesn't offer C)- B+
AP Calc AB/BC (basically, an honors AP... combines Calc AB and BC in one year)- B+
English 12 (standard senior year English class)- B+
Biotechnology- A
AP/IB French Language (will take AP exam)- B
IB Visual Arts (HL)- A</p>

<p>Winter term- midterm predicted grades (colleges don't automatically see them, but my counselor said he'd send them if they were good)-
AP Physics B- A/A-
AP Calc AB/BC- A
English 12- B/B-
Biotechnology- A
AP/IB French Language- B+/A-
IB Visual Arts (HL)- A</p>

<p>ACT (only taken once)-
Composite- 34
Science- 36
Math- 33
English- 35
Reading- 32
Essay- 10</p>

<p>SAT2s-
Math1- 750
Math2- 770
Physics- 750</p>

<p>Other-
-National Merit Commended Student
-4 year varsity swimmer (varsity letter all 4 years)
(My other ECs are mainly dance, music, writing, and clubs.)
-I'm planning to participate in the AMC 12 in a few weeks.
-I applied for engineering.
My counselor says my Common App essay is very strong. He says he's writing me a great rec. My other recs are from my Chem(gr9)/AP Enviro (gr11) teacher, my Geometry Honors(gr9)/Pre-Calc Honors (gr11) teacher, and my art teacher (Painting- gr9, Drawing- gr10, IB Art HL- gr11-12). I have done very well in all of these classes; I chose these teachers because they all know me well (especially my art teacher). I also got an additional rec from my Biotechnology teacher. This is the first year I've had her, but she seems to know me pretty well, and obviously I'm doing great in the class.</p>

<p>My aunt and uncle (my uncle being my mom's sister) both went to WUSTL (aunt for engineering, uncle for business?). My uncle wrote me a letter of recommendation. I had my alumni interview recently, and it went well- it turns out my interviewer actually knew my uncle, and they were in the same dorm freshman year.</p>

<p>So, what do you think my chances are at WUSTL? I know my GPA could be higher. Will the legacy thing help me?</p>

2

<p>Looks to me like you have a very good chance. Don't even think the grades are that much of a problem given the described rigor of your school. (You can figure out your own weighted GPA - each AP class is on a 5.0 scale so if you got a B, give it a 4.0; honors and regular classes figured as usual).</p>

3

<p>Your grades and scores look solid. No problem. There are never guarantees but they are not an obstacle to your admission.</p>

<p>On the legacy question, being from NJ and having an aunt and uncle who attended is probably marginally beneficial. Ordinarily, legacy only applies to mother or father, but what the familial connection suggests is that Wash U will be seriously considered if admitted. Wash U like all schools, wants a high yield among admitted students. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the replies!</p>

<p>IJReilly- I know, NJ is totally not in the geographic minority at any top school. But hey, my uncle grew up in NJ (went to the same prep school as me too) and he managed to get in, so I guess they take some kids from NJ, right? :)</p>