The following was posted last year by a CC member on March 15th at 1:08pm on the CC Wash U Class of 2021 thread. Not clear if this email was sent to the counselors, but it was posted on the class of 2021 thread and portals supposedly updated that evening or late afternoon. Don’t know whether students will also receive a similar e mail. No guarantee they will do the same notification this year or that it will be the same date. Last year, March 15 was a Wednesday in the middle of Spring break week. Wash U is currently on Spring break and best guess is that the portals will update by end of this week. On the other hand, I called Admissions yesterday and they were still sticking to the “by April 1st” line. Here is last year’s email that was reportedly sent on March 15th:
Greetings from WashU!
Today is an exciting day! Our admission and financial aid teams have completed our evaluation and awarding process and are preparing to release admission decisions later this afternoon. The decision process was particularly challenging this year, as we received a record number of applications and more than 30,460 students vied for a place in our Class of 2021. I am especially pleased to have experienced my first admission cycle at WashU and can’t wait until May 1!
As we did with Early Decisions, we will release decisions late in the day, to avoid interfering with the school day and we hope you will keep this information confidential until that time. We will post admission decisions on our WashU Pathway. Students who applied for financial aid will also be able to access their financial aid awards online through their MyFAAccess Page. Our Student Financial Services team will be standing by ready to assist students with any questions or concerns about their financial aid awards. Please note that the merit scholarship process is complete, as all finalists were notified earlier this month and are now preparing to join us for Scholarship Weekend, March 30 - April 2.
I also want to take a moment to update you on a change in our process that you may see reflected in the decisions for students in your school. Based on feedback from school counselors around the country, this year we have reduced the number of students offered a place on the wait list by about 50 percent. Our hope is that reducing this number will support your efforts to help students finalize their college plans.
I am providing a link to our admitted student profile. I hope it will be useful as you counsel your students about our decisions. However, please don’t hesitate to contact me or our Admissions Officer who serves your school with any questions or concerns. You can find contact information on our web site.
@Nomorelurker That email was only sent to school counselors. You can tell through the requests for confidentiality and through phrases such as “at your school” and the admitted students profile.
Students receive emails at 5:30, shortly after the decisions are released.
some people are saying that decisions are only mailed through usps – can anyone confirm or link a source that says it’ll also be updated on the portal?
@heretoparty98 Looking at the threads form previous years you can see that the portal is updated. People are looking to USPS and UPS for early notification indicators.
@heretoparty98 Some people get an acceptance package through UPS and some people get one through USPS, however students receive decisions on the portal first. You can see this by looking at all the threads from previous years. Also, pretty sure wash u only sends mail to accepted students, and rejected or waitlisted don’t receive any sort of physical mail:)
@matt4isu the cheer was so accurate omg
If I remember correctly son’s admission package from 2017 was sent via USPS (but that was ED).
I guess there is enough circumstantial evidence to indicate that tomorrow is the big day. Good luck to everybody and try to relax, do what you like, and not overly stress over things. The real stress will be deciding between WashU and other schools.
@Hamurtle I’m guessing it varies based on geographical location. I live in TX, so do you think, if admitted, i would receive the package via UPS or USPS?
@Ashtash probably USPS and you will get it earlier since you’re in Texas. Son got his admission package last year 2 weeks later than most of his ED group, but we’re in California.
@Hamurtle Awesome, thanks! I’m guessing since I probably wouldn’t recieve a package the day of the portal update, if admitted, then cheking informed delievery is pointless, right?
@Hamurtle After looking at last year’s thread, it seems some people got their packages the day after decisions were released onlinea anyway, so from what you’ve seen, would you say using MyUPS and USPS informed delievery is pretty pointless?
Yes, no need to check any delivery portals.
I have a MyUPS account. In 2016, I received an update (I think around 1:30 EST) that I had a package from WashU, therefore I knew my daughter was in (I am in Indiana if you couldn’t guess :). However, it sounds like they didn’t use UPS for US mail last year. Either way, you’ll know by 6pm EDT on the day they release through the portal. It’s only a few extra hours.
Good luck to all. I really hope it is soon. I’d love for my kids to be at the same school, but if not, it wasn’t meant to be. You can’t take admissions decisions personal (…I keep repeating to myself).
@JemmaSimmons , I thought somebody else posted earlier that some students also got some type of notification email on the day the portals update, but maybe that is not the case. Could be that it was a student who talked to their counselor and heard about the notification that way. In any case, it seems probable that results may be imminent in the coming days. I thought I read that it was around 4 to 5pm (CST). Do you mean 5:30pm (CST)?
has anyone heard of their counselor receiving any such email notification today?
@Nomorelurker Yes, sorry! 5:30 PM EST. WashU usually releases around 4:15 PM CST and then they send out the emails shortly after.
To clarify, I’m a current freshman at WashU. The notification for students that occurred earlier in the afternoon was indeed a guidance counselor talking to a student. The real communication from WashU directly to students didn’t occur until the evening.
@JemmaSimmons thank you so much for answering questions. I was wondering if you had any info on University Scholars Program in Medicine. do you know how many students they take for this program? Ive heard 5 but nothing accurate. My DD applied and the only notification was on the portal saying students who were picked as finalists were notified, after the effort people put in I am surprised there is no further correspondence. I haven’t heard of anyone notified here. Any thoughts appreciated! Also, do you find Wash U stressful and competitive? I keep hearing mixed thoughts. I know this is off the RD topic. I hope everyone hears very soon!! TIA
My D read on Reddit that another student heard from their guidance counselor that Wash U is releasing decisions on Thursday the 15th. The GC apparently called admissions and was told that date . All heresay of course but seemed worth passing on.
@caspiancat thank you for relaying the message 
@caspiancat thank you for giving us a grounded and thorough claim! most of this Ups and message stuff is speculation.