<p>I would be curious to see how high this percentage is, but alas, I am too lazy to actually compile it. Based on your search, was it a roughly big percentage or just a few cases here and there?</p>
<p>One possible explanation, other than the conclusion that colleges prefer SATs, is that these people originally took the SATs with less success and opted to take the ACTs. They may have indeed done better on the ACTs, but still have scores that are lower than those of accepted students.</p>
<p>Another reason might be that ACT is more popular in the midwest. A lot of the accepted students at WashU come from the northeast where SAT dominates, and many northeast states have higher standardized test scores. </p>
<p>Of course these are just possible explanations, and obviously a small trend in a small, non-random sample pool does not mean much.</p>
<p>Last year, Wash U received 23,105 applications for 1,500 spots. They accepted 5,128, or 22.19%. In my acceptance letter, they said they “received a record number of nearly 29,000 applications for our freshman class of 1,500.” For argument’s sake, let’s say that “nearly 29,000” actually means 28,800. Of last year’s 5,128 acceptances, 1,513 matriculated- 13 more than anticipated.</p>
<p>Assuming their number of acceptances doesn’t change much from year to year, 28,800 applicants for 5,128 spots (I was unable to find any historical data to extrapolate year-to-year decline of their acceptance rate. With a school like Wash U, it has probably been trending downwards recently- but I digress). I would estimate that the acceptance rate for the class of 2015 is 17.8%.</p>
<p>Where does the number 1513 come from? According to this article in September’s Student Life, the number of freshmen matriculants was over 1600, 100 more than anticipated.
</p>
<p>Either way, I think you’re on target with your lowered acceptance percentage.</p>
<p>My school subscribes to Naviance, which is like an online version of the Fiske Guide to Colleges. They say that 1,513 matriculated, but I have no information on how recent that number is.</p>
<p>Based on an earlier post by someone who I would assume is a current student, a sophomore dorm was converted into a freshman dorm last year. That, along with the article you found, leads me to believe that 1,513 is out of date.</p>
<p>SAT: 2090
ACT: 23
Spanish SAT 2: 710
Bio SAT 2: 650
GPA: 3.6 unweighted </p>
<p>I applied early decision and was deferred…I honestly did not think I would get in. My grades absolutely suck. I just have a lot of extracurriculars (competitive flute playing 7 years, art, volunteering, clubs). I think they let me in because I went to their summer program earlier last summer and got A’s in the classes I took there. And I sent them emails telling them how much I wanted to get in.</p>
<p>based upon the 5128 accepted last year and the statement that this year they would accept 15% fewer that leaves us with an acceptance rate of just over 15%.</p>
<p>KayTeeEss- Comparing the average SATs for waitlisted and accepted students is a flawed method. I’m assuming you did not eliminate outliers before averaging the scores. There will be many more outliers for waitlisted (you can apply with a score of 1800, for example, and still be waitlisted), while those accepted will obviously rarely dip below, say, 2000. I agree with your conclusion that Washu doesn’t have a wide policy of waitlisting “over-qualified” candidates, but I would like to see the scores compared after eliminating outliers.</p>
<p>Actually I did get rid of outliers. Left out people that seemed to get in due to URM or something else and also left out people that were waitlisted with unreasonably low scores. Make the averages yourself if you want. :S</p>