<p>As someone who is in his 50’s, I would say that to people of my generation, Wash U is not that well known.</p>
<p>But that is not particularly relevant.</p>
<p>It is highly ranked NOW, and that is all that matters.</p>
<p>For example, when I was a kid, NYU was not that competitive to get into. Now it is.</p>
<p>One way is when they register for the PSAT or subject tests. There is a box that they check ( or uncheck if it is the default) for schools to be able to contact the student via email, snail mail etc…or even by phone. Once they do that if they are above a certain score level, a lot of trees are going to die. Repeated glossy mailings and bulk spam emails then become the norm…</p>
<p>j&jdad,</p>
<p>Thanks. My son’s PSAT scores are right around the National Merit Semifinalist cutoff, so presumably they were high enough to attract some schools’ attention. His private school registered him for the PSAT’s, and maybe they made the decision for him.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that college, whether we like it or not, is a business. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a business trying to market itself, especially when the prize is a highly accomplished student. My son got more mail and info from University of Chicago than any other school- I see nothing wrong with what they did. And I commend WUSTL for trying to get its name more recognized with the general public.</p>
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<p>I believe it was entirely because of his PSAT score, which was 215. If your son is not getting anything, he may not have checked the box that allowed the College Board to sell his name and address.</p>
<p>DD14 has been receiving emails & snail mail from WUSTL. Had never heard of it before joining CC. Does anyone know how strong their Classics Dept is?</p>
<p>SoCalDad,</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. Based on your son’s PSAT score, my son should have been contacted by some schools also. We were all much more ignorant about this process at the point of the PSAT, and either he (or his school, who registered him) must not have marked that check box.</p>
<p>On another topic going through this thread, I recently read an interview with an ex-admissions rep for a prestigious school that will go unnamed (but it’s in the South, and it rhymes with ‘fluke’) who expressed regret about her marketing efforts (regarding applicants) that targeted kids who had essentially no chance of admission. A lot of these schools obviously work to gussy up their admission selectivity and yield numbers at the expense (both financially and emotionally) of the applicants. No matter how widespread and common, it’s shameful.</p>
<p>I personally don’t mind the targeting of more “fringe” applicants. While it is true that most will be rejected, there might be a few which impress with their application - at least more than expected - and possibly get accepted. All colleges do it to some extent, I’m sure, and for most applicants it is not a bad thing to apply to some “reach” schools. If you are not in a good financial situation, then I wouldn’t blame the college for you applying to a school which you have a low shot at being accepted at.</p>
<p>@ New Haven-my son is enrolling at Wash U. He will be majoring in Classics. His plan is to go to medical school. I don’t really know how strong the Classics program is, but I think he was pretty happy with the department (one of the faculty members is a very close friend of my brother).</p>
<p>@psycho, thanks for your response!</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>A handful of kids applied to WashU from my son’s private prep school. The school regularly sends kids to the best colleges in the country (HYP, Stanford etc). 3 were admitted, the valedictorian (my son), salutatorian, and the kid ranked 4th at the school (4th ranked - kid with 2400 ACT and dual enrolled in orgo chem at the local state university). The valedictorian and 4th ranked kid are matriculating at WashU (salutatorian going to Georgia Tech and 3rd ranked kid going to Penn). So in our experience WashU attracts and admits the best of the best. </p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Anybody who knows anything knows Wash U is a top school.</p>
<p>Many kids nowadays would love to go to WashU. It is very well regarded in many areas and the dorms are the best in the country. From my kid school (25% of this year’s class got at least in one Yves) 3% are going to WashU mostly for Engineering.</p>