<p>Did anyone else receive this postcard from WashU today? It's a double-sided postcard that says:</p>
<p>MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Watch your mail for an invitation to discover the opportunities at Washington University in St. Louis. 2009 DISCOVERY WEEKEND September 24-26.</p>
<p>Visit campus as a guest of the Association of Black Students, etc. etc.</p>
<p>Does this mean we are definitely going to be invited to Discovery Weekend? Also, do students who go to Discovery Weekend usually get accepted or are their odds about the same? I'm just excited to get to go, but you know, if they're going to spend money on me, maybe they'll accept me!</p>
<p>It just said I was a guest. But the real invitations don’t come out until August or the end of July, it seems like. That’s what a search brought up. That’s when people tend to find out. If they’re not paying, I’m not going. I don’t have $300 for applications themselves, much less a flight halfway across the country. But it’s promising.</p>
<p>i’m pretty sure WashU wouldn’t pay to fly up a student who hasn’t even been accepted yet. Tons of kids I know loved to talk about all the mail they get from WashU and go on thinking WashU is in love with them until they are rejected. And, in this economy, colleges can’t afford to fly just anyone up to their campus to visit.</p>
<p>Actually, they do. Just do a forum search for Discovery Weekend. Not only do they fly some students out before those students are accepted, they fly students out before those students even apply. Not all students who get invited get paid for, though.</p>
<p>Ah, I see. Discovery weekend now sounds a lot like multicultural weekend, and if it’s anything near multicultural, i’m sure you’ll have a ton of fun.</p>
<p>I have read that minorities are more likely to get their trips paid. And, of course, there are no guarantees for acceptance. I was just curious.</p>
<p>Yeah there was one student on this forum last year who talked nonstop about getting flown up for free for Discovery Weekend… he got waitlisted. However, some students who were at scholarship weekend with me told me they were at Discovery Weekend, so they are a host of possibilities.</p>
<p>I believe Discovery Weekend is a chance for WashU to recognize you for your achievements thus far, and to have you see the campus (which many times converts ppl to WashU lovers). You will still need just as good an application and senior grades as everyone else to be accepted. Its to get WashU on your application list that fall/winter because you are a good candidate thus far.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. That definitely make sense. I haven’t submitted my pre-application, so I’m not even sure why I was chosen. I think I might have filled out one of those postcards a few months ago, though.</p>
<p>ok, well if its paid, I would definitely go. I was moderately excited about WashU before the first time I visited, and my visit confirmed all my positive thoughts about the school. Now im an incoming freshman this fall Oh, one thing if you are seriously considering WashU, SHOW INTEREST. It seems to send some applicants over the edge to an acceptance. So I would go if you can.</p>
<p>I can’t afford to go unless the trip is paid, so my application will just have to take a hit if I’m not invited. I am going to try to schedule an off-campus interview, but I’m not sure if they’re available.</p>
<p>I didn’t get my discovery weekend trip paid for, so I couldn’t afford to attend and it wasn’t a hit on my “showing interest.” After I was accepted, they paid for me to fly out to both Celebrations Weekend and Olin Spotlight weekend. I fell in love with the campus and now I’m a rising sophomore. :)</p>
<p>sorry I dont know if that was unclear… I dint mean that not showing interest means you wont get in, but I have been told by an admissions person before that it is sometimes a deciding factor when choosing you or the other kid that is very similar to you.</p>
<p>I am in complete agreement with newprov29, show MUCH interest and you’ll see that it pays off! As for the ‘as a guest of the x association’ part of the invitation, I’m relatively certain that means it will be a paid trip by that association, since that was the case for me. I was flown up in a paid trip, then I was back for scholars weekend, and now I’m going on a full ride :]
Best of luck!</p>
<p>“I am pleased to tell you that Washington University will pay your expenses for the weekend, including the cost of travel, meals, and program activities.”</p>
<p>If you call the woman (Bobby) on your invitation, she can probably answer your questions. She’s probably one of the nicest women you can speak to over the phone, and she’s very helpful. I never found much information on the website, but you can do a search here and learn about last year’s weekend.</p>
Oh, one thing if you are seriously considering WashU, SHOW INTEREST. It seems to send some applicants over the edge to an acceptance. So I would go if you can.</p>