Chances - Early Decision I

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

Hello CC,

I’ve submitted my app and I’m wondering what my chances are like when decisions roll around in December (yes, I know that it might be too late / pointless to worry about it now, but… oh well)

UW GPA: 3.92
W GPA: 4.4
SAT: 1550 (800M, 750R)
Asian Male, California

Major: Electrical Engineering
Demonstrated interest in school (does WashU actually care much about this?): Went to college rep visit at my high school, also visited campus. Time permitting, I’m also considering interviewing.

Subject Tests:
Math II, Physics - 800

APs:
Physics C Mechanics, Chinese, Calculus BC: 5
US History, English Lang (self study) - 4
Music Theory - 3

Extracurriculars:

  1. I’m ranked within the top 250 of Boys Under 18 by USA Table Tennis. I’ve won medals / placed within at least quarter-finalist in events at US Nationals, state and international tourneys. (I can’t see this being super noteworthy. I’m proud of it though!) (>4 years)
  1. I'm an enthusiastic Maker, and I'm active on the scene (frequent maker / tech forums, attend local events, etc). I take apart old electronics such as computers and build new gadgets. Recently, I've been using Arduinos, breadboards and old computers as the focus of my projects. (>4 years)
  2. Piano! I'm a Certificate of Merit - Adv. Level (passed in 2016) and I've since played a lot for fun and at local community centers and events. (>4 years)
  3. I interned under an electrical engineering professor at UC Berkeley working on building design and simulation functionality for silicon photonics and Light Detection and Ranging technologies. The professor even offered to write me a rec letter based on my work (an offer that I took him up on) (Summer 2018).
  4. Volunteer math tutor in my school's Academic Center. I do 1 on 1 and group tutoring / help sessions, and I also help organize fun math games and activities as well as study sessions before midterms. (11th, 12th grade)
  5. Table tennis coach, volunteer coordinator and teacher assistant at a Folk Arts camp in Summer 2017. I was noted for leadership potential on my final debriefing log (but I'm 100% sure that means nothing).
  6. Volunteer lecturer at a local academic center teaching introductory programming, robotics and Arduino applications the summer following my Freshman year.

Essays: I think they’re alright. My CA essay was about being a maker. My supplement focused on my passion for electronics technology and how I’ve gone about facing the challenge of tech innovation post-Moore’s Law as a high schooler.

Self-evaluation: So far, I think my chances are very slim (maybe like 1 in 10 for anything >= to a deferral). I don’t think I’m any kind of stellar applicant perhaps for maybe table tennis (but I’m Asian…), and research internships seem to be pretty commonplace among T20 applicants these days. My leadership positions, depending on how it’s seen, is also mediocre at best. My GPA and SAT are definitely up there, but Washington University probably sees (and rejects) plenty of high stat applicants anyways. Am I low-balling myself or am I being too generous?

A question: My only two recommendations (other than my guidance counselor) are from my Physics teacher and the UC Berkeley professor who I interned other. The main issue I see here is the lack of a rec from a humanities teacher. Seeing as other schools require both a STEM and humanities teacher rec, will it heavily impact my application to not have one for Washington University?

Thanks!

2

I would say you have a solid chance at getting in. Your SAT and GPA are well within the range for admitted students, and ED will only boost your chances.

3

@worcester22 Thanks, that makes me slightly less worried about my application stats wise. I’m primarily worried that my ECs are lacking (this is NOT to say that I hate them; I absolutely LOVE them), however, as those are the main differentiating factor.

In addition, my question still stands regarding whether the lack of a recommendation from a humanities teacher will torpedo my application. Any thoughts on that?

4

OP, what is your school’s policy concerning teacher recommendations?

5

@Hamurtle I’m not sure what you mean by that. Do you mean WashU’s policy or my high school’s policy?

WashU only wants one teacher rec, and the other rec can be from anyone.

My high school has no policy regarding teacher LORs other than go through Naviance to get them sent.

6

You’re probably safer using a school teacher and a counselor for letters of recommendation.

7

@Hamurtle Oh, that too. The two letters of recommendation I was assuming were the two other than the counselor recommendation (which I have also gotten in addition to the secondary school report).