<p>Hi, I will probably be a marginal candidate for Wash U at best so I really need to show interest. What exactly should I do? Does making a visit improve chances of acceptance significantly? Can I do an interview without actually going to St. Louis? Emails, etc.? </p>
<p>Thanks for any suggestions...</p>
<p>And is a 3.85 UW GPA will all AP classes taken possible put me in the running?</p>
<p>Three words: Apply for scholarships.</p>
<p>Even if you don’t get any, the admissions office know that you took extra time to write the essays. (If you really want go to there, I strongly recommend this.)</p>
<p>I applied for one scholarship and was admitted.</p>
<p>In order of signifiance in interest:</p>
<ol>
<li>ED <- even if you don’t get in, the interest factor will remain and many people have been accepted RD</li>
<li>scholarship applications (If you get one, ur guaranteed admission; if not, they will still consider it quite a bit of interest)</li>
<li>Interview and visiting (both must be on campus)</li>
<li>Requesting materials, brochures, E-mails, phone calls etc.</li>
</ol>
<p>Yeah, definitely apply for a scholarship. WashU doesn’t have a extra articles, so writing a scholarship essay definitely help.</p>
<p>About materials, I highly believe they will send all those materials to you first.</p>
<p>Actually, they offer off-campus interviews with alumni:</p>
<p>[Campus</a> Visits & Interviews](<a href=“http://admissions.wustl.edu/faq/Pages/CampusVisit.aspx#interviewsrequired]Campus”>http://admissions.wustl.edu/faq/Pages/CampusVisit.aspx#interviewsrequired)</p>
<p>Can2010 has it almost right. The interview can be either on or off campus, the interview request shows the interest. A visit is always good, but only if it does not cause financial hardship for the student. If visiting, request to overnight in a dorm. Outside of ED, scholarship applications are probably one of the most important factors considered.</p>
<p>Hummm My son said he was going to apply for a scholarship, but he never did. {urgggg} However, he did visit and he did have an interview while he was there.</p>
<p>Hmm I never heard of the off campus interviews 
that’s something new for me. WashU don’t seem to emphasize a lot on interviews. Do you have to contact the admission office directly to receive contact with an alumni or something?</p>
<p>The admissions office will set up alumni interviews, as long as they are contacted early enough. You can choose either an on campus or off campus interview - but not both.</p>
<p>I would say campus visit and on-campus interview will definitely help – they say so on their official website!
For me, I’m an int’l student from China. I visited the campus and scheduled an on-campus interview when I was in the states. And I got in!! Many seemly stronger (or equally strong) candidates I know got waitlisted. I guess “interest” really matters to WashU AO.</p>
<p>Sounds good…do you guys know this from reading the website or did you actually know marginal candidates who got in because of their show interest?</p>
<p>WashU is a school that is strongly based on interest, as is most excellent institutions that are not HYPSM and some lower ivies. ED, therefore, would play the largest factor since the school knows you are going. By natural assumption, since scholarships take soooooo long to apply (writing like 1-2 essays per scholarship, getting recs, and sending everything in are such hassles), the admission officers will acknowledge that you have taken this time to complete these applications, and implies that you have strong interest in this school. Of course, since scholarships are based solely on merit, if you are strong enough and you get one, you are automatically guaranteed admission, which is another reason why scholarships are important for admission to the school. The rest are just interviews and campus visits, which again will show the admission officers that you are interested since you have taken the time and actually have a desire, however marginal, to attend the school.</p>
<p>Can2010 - your statement regarding interest is not quite accurate. It may play a role when deciding on otherwise not marginal but borderline candidates. The most important pieces are your grades, test scores and recomendations. If these are not up to snuff, you can show all the interest in the world and it will NOT help. You are right about scholarship applications. These are a much more important consideration than interest. To begin with, it often means you are in the top percent of candidates and also a person took the time and effort with their application.</p>
does anyone know if you can organize online or skype interviews. The problem is that I don’t live in the US.