DD has WashU on her list and we’re debating a visit since we live in FL so a visit entails flight, days of from school, work, etc. It’s a big deal and it’s the only school in St Louis area of interest. We’re debating because here’s her stats( she’s a junior):
SAT-1430 CRW=770 M=660
ACT=31 (early sophomore year score, retaking in 2 weeks)
GPA=4.55 weighted 4.0 unweighted
Class rank= In top 3 of class of 200.
EC= HOSA president elect, Jr. Leadership of Bay County, 1A state finals qualifier in swimming, all the Honor societies as a member, VP of National Technical HS, Beta Club, Interact club
3 year Volunteer swim coach for local kids in Summer Splashes program
Shadowed local retina specialist last summer
She’s solidly pre-med, has wanted to be a doctor for several years. WashU is a fantastic school for pre-med/med school. I know her scores are just below the 25% mark of WashU’s average. Is it worth a trip? I don’t want her to fall in love with the school only to have little to no chance of acceptance. Thoughts? Oh yeah, basic white girl if that matters.
33 ACT with a perfect 36 in English. It’s math that’s holding her back. She makes straight A’s in math and is through pre-calc which she took at the local college but always tests lowest on it. She “only” made a 29 in math.
I think its definitely worth the visit. Still some to take the ACT again. Hopefully get math into the low 30’s, but even then she has a chance. I have a kid who got 5’s on Calc AB and BC and for some reason the math ACT was her worst section. WashU is a great place and she should definitely visit and maybe ED. Definitely contact the swim coach. BTW we’re a Florida WashU family
Even with the 33 I would still consider WashU. Contacting the coach and setting up a visit are good ideas.
WashU is one of the top D3 teams for women’s swimming so OP’s daughter needs to have competitive times and a coach advocating as much as possible.
I would also suggest Emory as a possible candidate school. They are in the same athletic conference as WashU and a 33 ACT would be fine. Although it might be harder for an athletic recruit as they are in the Top 5 for women’s D3 swimming.
The grades alone without the swimming might make Case Western and Rochester targets. Both excellent schools with highly rated medical schools as well.
I recommend less competitive schools for someone who is determined to go to medical school. All 3 schools, Wash U, Case, Rochester have tough academics and being a bit lower than the crowd in math is going to hurt.
I’d look at nurturing Colleges That Change Lives schools. Earlham, Grinnell, Ursinus, Juanita’s, Allegheny, St Lawrence all good, nurturing schools.
Are you going to need/apply for financial aid? If so, Need-Aware admissions policies at Wash U. could make admissions more challenging for those stats.
Just a consideration: her lower math score may hurt her at some schools (including Wash U) if she declares her app as pre-med.
Maybe a 29 in math won’t be a problem… especially if you are full-pay… but, if it does get in her way… she has options in her path to med school.
You may already know this, but I run into a lot of people who don’t and so I am mentioning it… “just in case” you (or others following this thread) don’t.
So – just to throw this out there: you could expand your search to schools that don’t officially have a “pre-med” major, but have top stats is Med School admissions… or just general “STEM” grad school stats. ( I am not questioning her commiitment to becoming a physician… but the top med schools don’t actually prefer a “pre-med” major (For example, read the first couple of paragraphs and then look over then expectations on Harvard Med School’s eligibility information page: https://meded.hms.harvard.edu/admissions-before-you-apply)
@cptofthehouse actually has several on their list. (I actually happen to know that Earlham and Grinnell are both consistently in the 1st percentile for med school admissions, nationwide) I am including a link for a list of schools with top science grad admissions (It a couple of years old… but it is convenient to me at the moment, linked to the National Science Foundation Data on grad school completion rates… and the list really doesn’t change that much from year to year. http://www.thecollegesolution.com/50-schools-that-produce-the-most-science-and-engineering-phds-2/)
You can also look up data for med school admissions directly in the HEDS baccalaureate origins report. (Again, I happen to have a PDF of Earlham’s from a couple of years ago, when one of my own kids was doing college apps. If you want to see it, feel free to DM me, and I will be happy to share.)
Anyway, when I advise younger students considering premed, I usually advise them to throw their net wider. Then after exploring, really, to pick the school she loves the most and provides the best undergrad opportunities, that meets your other qualifications and has a super-solid science program… because students from those schools will often do even better in grad school than those from your top “pre-med” programs.
Also – I tell them: don’t get too hung up on “rankings” either. Any school in the Science Top 100 is still in the first percentile… Within the first percentile, the real difference is only which school will provide the best undergrad experiences for YOU; which environment will you be most comfortable in; at what school will you be the happiest?
Because within the first percentile… they are all outstanding. But for students who don’t enjoy where they are/who they are with/what they are doing… these things can become obstacles to finding success.
Emory was originally on her list academically speaking. Swimming, no way. Emory has won the D3 women’s title 5 or 6 years in a row now and except for possibly team depth, could hold their own with many pretty good D1 schools in the pool.
Emory has never shown much interest in her although we have got on the mailing list in every way but a visit. We’ve finally just let them go as they don’t seem to want her.
Thank you very much. That’s super helpful. Grinnell has been very proactive in contacting her: both the swim coach and the college admissions people. I was excited about it; I know Grinnell’s reputation as a school. But she didn’t like the idea of college in Iowa and mom wasn’t crazy about it either. I was overruled. I will definitely explore the list.
Just to make sure everyone is on the same page, DD has excellent grades in math: she had a freaking 99 average in DE pre-calc going into the final. It just doesn’t translate onto the standardized tests which is puzzling to me.
I think she should definitely apply. A visit can be a heavy lift (we are very challenged ourselves to get from CA to midwest schools that are all very far apart. East coast is more concentrated.) I am thinking our own approach will be to visit “clusters” of schools of interest and day trip ones. Others (like WashU) will have to be explored electronically. If there’s an acceptance then a visit will definitely be worthwhile (but then you have a very compressed period of time which is even more $$.) Good luck!
With a 33 on the ACT and the other stats, EC, etc you’ve mentioned, I’d definitely have DD apply.
Any chance you have the means for your DD to apply ED? If so, and DD really wants WashU, then ED is the absolute way to go with her stats.
Expectation management here: the pre-med curriculum at WashU is tough. As you may know, GPA and MCATs are 2 important factors for med school admission. There is no grade inflation at WashU- especially for med school required courses like gen chem, orgo, bio, etc… However, adcoms know the rigorous curriculum at WashU so the name helps.
I’m almost sure they have Saturday tours, admissions events, etc… in the fall. Fly out Friday night and go back to FL on Sunday. No classes missed.
My DD is a senior now. She loves it. Classes are tough, but, in her experience, the students have been collaborative. She applied ED and got an early Christmas present. It was such a relief to her and us that she had her dream school locked in early her senior year. That’s why I’m advising ED if you have the means and WashU is the definite #1 choice.
A friend’s daughter is there with similar stats. She was waitlisted and taken off the waitlist very quickly. Her SAT was slightly higher (1460) but everything else very similar. I’d apply.
As a current WashU student, I have personally applied to WashU and knew many stats of my friends. With these stats, applying premed might be slightly difficult regardless of the decision plan. I would recommend applying to another major that is easier to get in through early decision and declare Premed after she gets in. It is easy to change major when you are in.
^Premed is not a major so you don’t put it down on the application.
One of the more interesting majors at WashU (and which has a lot of premeds) is Philosophy-Neurology-Psychology. Also fondly known as PNP by WashU students. I would do some research into it.