<p>Watch what you post here.</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=739392&start=444[/url]”>http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=739392&start=444</a></p>
<p>college admissions can be so difficult to understand at times… i guess we all just have to wait it out and see what happens with the rest of our schools, and with the waitlists</p>
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<p>OP, I wish you the best, and I think your plan of action for getting into Wash U is a good one. But the above quote is utter nonsense. Wash U’s acceptance policies are somewhat opaque, but Wash U does NOT waitlist applicants because they’re “competitive.” Case on point: At my son’s school (he did not apply, so no horse in this race) the sal with a 36 ACT and another top student with a 35 ACT were both admitted last week. In pretty customary Wash U style, many others with good, but lesser, credentials were waitlisted.</p>
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<p>More misinformation. To apply for any of WUSTL’s merit scholarships (only a few of them are full-ride) students have to complete detailed scholarship applications with multiple essays.</p>
<p>wjb:
No misinformation. WUSTL does not require ANY supplement for regular application to the university. Can you name any minimally selective school that does that? Scholarship applications are needed ONLY to apply for merit scholarships, they are not part of regular application. And there are full ride scholarships, which most of competitors never offer.</p>
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<p>Actually, every year at my school, there are overqualified students that apply to WashU because the application is short and easy to complete and they end up getting waitlisted because they didn’t show any interest in the school. WashU knows they’ll get into HYPS and not go to WashU, and they want to keep their matriculation rate as high as possible and not waste a seat by giving it to someone who will not attend.</p>
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<p>That’s funny, the salutatorian and #5 at my school were waitlisted, while the valedictorian, #3 (me), and #4 got in. Guess what the difference was? We showed interest.</p>
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<p>I applied for a scholarship, and it was a very short online application with most of the information required the same as that for the Common App, and there was only one 500 word essay. Additionally, there is a scholarship for almost every area of study that has full ride and half ride awards.</p>
<p>citymom: Yes, I do agree that the “no supplement” policy is unusual, and I also agree that the policy is designed in part to drive up the number of applications. Although there may be others, the only other relatively selective school I can think of that has no supp is Brandeis.</p>
<p>My issue with your prior post was the insinuation that Wash U offers numerous full-ride merit scholarships to mobs of kids who don’t even have to apply for them. Forgive me if that was not the intent of your post. The fact is, Wash U does not do that. There are several full rides, several more half-rides, and a few lesser rides. All of them require lengthy applications and stellar credentials and achievements. Unfortunately, Wash U has taken down the information about merit scholarships for this year’s applicants, so I can’t provide a link.</p>
<p>Wash U’s merit scholarships are typically awarded to students who have been accepted to HYP and other super-elites. Wash U is not alone in trying to woo tippy-top applicants away from more selective colleges with offers of merit money. I have never understood why Wash U is singled out for its practice of “buying up” the best talent. Many others are doing the same thing. “Upstarts” Emory, Vanderbilt, and Brandeis come to mind. More venerable institutions, like U of C and Duke, offer merit money, too.</p>
<p>Gladenstar:
I pretty much ruined it for myself too at Miami. =(</p>
<p>I applied, got deferred, came on REALLY strong (too strong I’m afraid) and had my parents send a letter, had several people calling on my behalf, had others emailling on my behalf and I think they just thought, “This girl is crazy. We don’t want crazy people here!” LOL Seriously, I think I went way too far and they just got sick and tired of me.
I really had my heart set on going in the beginning too. I mean, I lived, breathed, and worked all things Miami. I toured, interviewed, wrote about it, everything. But it was a bust. I wasn’t underqualified, but definately not over qualilfied. After being deferred and having nearly everyone I knew call on my behalf, I was wait listed! LOL<br>
I thought, Holy cow, I am SO bummed! I cried for days.
Then I got over it. I mean, I’ve got so much going on in my life (like you, my parents are separated, my older bro died, and my mom is real sick.) so, I have to think that g-d has other plans for me, you know? If I didn’t force myself to ‘get over it’ and quickly too, I’d be a wreck. Miami will always be my first choice, but I can see pretty clearly that they don’t want me. (bah! Boo hoo!)
Thank goodness my mom forced me into applying to like, a billion other schools, and thankfully I’ve got some great ones to choose from. But my heart will always be tied to University of Miami, but I have to face the truth and realize that I totally over did it.
So for all you really cool cats out there trying your hardest to get into your first choice school, and don’t - remember - the big guy upstairs knows what he’s doing and we just have to accept that.
(Okay, I so totally don’t really believe that, but my mom tells me repeatedly that he does… LOL)
Good luck everybody!!!
And Trackiex10, man, I hope you get in, if anyone deserves to get in, it’s you!
Good luck!</p>
<p>azsummer, that was beautiful. 
thank you</p>
<p>and wjb, i was just wondering - are you implying that i’m lying when i say nanette tarbouni told me that i was a competitive applicant and that’s why i was waitlisted? maybe you didn’t mean that, but when i get home from track practice and get out my saved mail, i can quote straight from her words. i’m pretty sure the exact words are “you are a competitive applicant, and that is why you were waitlisted.” as soon as i get home, i will get my saved emails and quote the message for you. if the dean of admissions says it, i hope it’s true.</p>
<p>srunni, i liked your post - good info</p>
<p>Perhaps what she meant, trackie, was that because you are a competitive applicant, you were waitlisted, not rejected. That makes perfect sense. But no sane Director of Admissions would say that competitive candidates are waitlisted rather than accepted. That would in essence be a statement that Wash U accepts only non-competitive applicants!</p>
<p>^ let us know how things turn out for you. g’luck</p>
<p>well my stats are not as impressive as yours,but i also got waitlisted for WashU, and i accepted a place on the list but even if i got it i am not sure i would go. I think im just going to go to another school even if Washu was my number one school. Washu is just taking to long. My friend that got into Columbia got waitlisted for Washu. How crazy is that? Well I hope you do get in!!</p>
<p>wjb, i definitely don’t think she was implying that all competitive applicants are waitlisted, and i don’t think anybody would think that. </p>
<p>exact email quote: “You were a competitive applicant - which is why you have been offered a place on the wait list.” just fyi… </p>
<p>tedderbear - i think i had some of the same feelings as you at first. i thought, why should i even want to go to a school where i’m their backup? and yes, it does take a really long time! good luck with everything!</p>
<p>My interpretation, then, was correct. You are competitive, so you’ve been offered a place on the waitlist. If you were not competitive, you would have been rejected. Good luck getting off the waitlist. Kids do get off, and it’s a great school.</p>
<p>thanks, wjb. i guess we’ll just have to wait and see!</p>
<p>I got waitlisted too at WUSTL, and I was considering calling in/sending them additional stuff (spring grades, a letter about why I wanna go there, etc.). Did you end up being able to call someone and ask them about your application? Also, did you e-mail Nanette, or did you e-mail your admissions counselor? Best of luck to you! If you get off the waitlist, I’ll try extra hard. :D</p>
<p>thanks, diectsm, for the encouragement. people don’t realize that the encouragement they give helps as much as it really does.</p>
<p>definitely definitely call them and send in more stuff. when i first called, the receptionist connected me with mark hines, and i had to leave a voicemail. when i emailed, i emailed the basic office of undergraduate admissions, and i also emailed mark hines (he’s my region’s admissions counselor) and patsy lakey, who was on the washu website as my application processor. i think if you call the office they’ll be able to tell you who to email. i never did get anybody to tell me what the weaknesses in my application were, however.</p>
<p>when i sent my package, i sent a cover letter that had my three main reasons why i wanted to go to washu/thought i would “fit” at washu, an updated resume, an essay i wrote for a scholarship about my basketball team, a new recommendation from my basketball coach, a recommendation from my instructor at an alternative-spring-break program at northwestern u, and i know this sounds cheesy… but i sent pictures of myself wearing my washu sweatpants, sweatshirt, and tshirt.</p>
<p>good luck!</p>
<p>That first article bothers me. Not only are their acceptance rates outdated, but suggesting UChicago as a school to “fall back on” is ridiculous.</p>
<p>ANYWAY. I had to comment on that, sorry.</p>
<p>Good luck at WUSTL!</p>
<p>concretejungle, i noticed that! also georgetown as a safety? who would think that? uchicago, while its acceptance rate may be higher than some of the other top schools, is extremely hard to get into, AND it attracts some of the most learning-oriented students and discourages not-serious applicants with its deep essay topics</p>
<p>OP,
Were you planning to run track or participate in any other sports at WUSTL? If so, then maybe the coach can go to bat for you. As long as you are otherwise qualified, which you clearly are, then I think the coach can have some say in admissions.</p>
<p>i dunno, but it seems really ridiculous for accusing schools of tufts’ syndrome - even tufts itself! we all know that they’re excellent institutions, so why can’t some of us accept that they’re just pulling the semi-random acceptances that the Ivies pulls. if Harvard doesn’t accept someone with a 2400, then people accept that Harvard probably was looking beyond the scores and didn’t the student was a best fit. If WashU, which is a super-great school - ivy quality and all that, rejects someone with a 2400, people assume they’re just doing it to raise their stats. maybe, just maybe, WashU doesn’t think the student is a great fit.</p>