<p>before i begin, i want to clarify that i was admitted via early decision, and so i am not an applicant that is whining about my uncertainty or insecurity, but rather a future WashU student that is trying to understand and clarify washus admissions process. moreover i was also invited to the multicultural weekend, so i am most definitely not complaining about that either.</p>
<p>ive read in many threads and heard from friends that washu accepted a number of applicants through an "early notification" process in order to invite them to the multicultural weekend. i have issues with this. washu never informed applicants (to my knowledge) that they would be admitting RD applicants early. therefore while many washu applicants received a well-deserved pleasant surprise in the mail, many many more became confused and all too soon started worrying about their decision and possible rejection. </p>
<p>i am disappointed that washu pursued such a process. it is common knowledge that the application and admissions process is insanely nerve-wracking for students, especially in march, the month leading up to the release of decisions for the big private institutions on April 1st. this sudden "early notification" does nothing to alleviate that but seems to perpetuate it. too many people on this forum and at my school (i live in st. louis, so hence, many applicants from my school) are utterly confused about what is going on in terms of whether not receiving a letter is an implicit rejection. to me it seems washu was insensitive in using early notification without providing all applicants with adequate knowledge on what it meant and what was its purpose and how it affected the rest of the applicant pool. </p>
<p>this may be me just complaining, but i do not see why washu did not wait one week (seeing as people received the early notification letter roughly on the 8th, and decisions usually come out on the 15th) so that all applicants can be informed of their decisions and possible invitations to the multicultural weekend at the same time, rather than confuse applicants with a sudden early notification and pursue an admissions process in a haphazard manner.</p>
<p>if you feel i am just a misanthrope that loves to criticize, by all means tell me i am just too critical and then ignore this thread because i may just be sleep-deprived and on too much caffeine. but if you feel my viewpoint has some merit, please do comment. i also ask that you respect me and my viewpoints, even when criticizing them. thank you.</p>
<p>All the colleges do the same. Last year, my S was called to let him know that he was accepted to Carnegie Mellon the first week of February and the decision were online by March 30th. Cornell University notified him that was accepted by end of February, and as all know, the Ivies notify the students they accepted by April 1st. MIT also did the same, three weeks in advance.</p>
<p>We are seeing a shift from the traditional notification on April 1st to notification BY April 1st. I think schools are trying to build brand loyalty by accepting some students early, it is a marketing tool to build the class they want and perhaps students accepted early yeild at a higher percentage, that is my humble guess.</p>
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All the colleges do the same. Last year, my S was called to let him know that he was accepted to Carnegie Mellon the first week of February and the decision were online by March 30th. Cornell University notified him that was accepted by end of February, and as all know, the Ivies notify the students they accepted by April 1st. MIT also did the same, three weeks in advance.
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<p>How did MIT notify your son three weeks in advanced, when they explicitly say that they won't release decisions early, or over the phone. Also, for cornell, what school did he apply to. There are certain colleges at Cornell who work on a rolling decisions process. As for Carnegie Mellon, which decision program did your son apply under?</p>
<p>In all colleges the kids who are candidates for scholarships (that require participation in any kind of visit/interview weekend) get notified earlier. This gives both sides time to plan (many of these candidates will not go for the the interview as they might have their minds set by that time on another college). </p>
<p>Usually kids who are candidates for these scholarships are so much stronger than an average applicant that there is no surprise at all for them to find out they are admitted. It might not seem fair that they find out earlier but there is really no other way to do it, otherwise logistics of the scholarship award process will not work for these colleges.</p>
<p>Crazy88, all the colleges release the results before the date they say they will. For those who get a merit scholarship with no financial aid application, always the results are given before the other applicants, maybe it’s marketing as many said. My S applied to engineering RD to all (he got the Dean Merit Scholarship at Cornell University and an invitation to meet the faculty, but he didn’t go, his mind and heart were at WUSTL).</p>
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For those who get a merit scholarship with no financial aid application, always the results are given before the other applicants, maybe it’s marketing as many said.
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<p>Not all universities do it this way. The University of Chicago notifies all RD applicants about merit scholarships at the same time all applicants are accepted or rejected. EA admits are notified about scholarships at the same time as RD admits. (These merit awards have nothing to do with financial aid applications.) However, there is no interview required to qualify for the scholarship.</p>
<p>i wish more schools did this early notification thing, actually. maybe that's just because i'm going to have to decide between several schools, but i would want to know as soon as possible which schools i have to let go or keep in the running. ultimately, it would make my decision easier, i think, if i could just say "Ok, one down(accept/reject), this many more to go." the sooner you know, the sooner you can ask yourself what you're going to do next. for washu and for any school, i'm done waiting, i really want responses. hopefully good ones :)</p>
<p>^ I know. At this point I don't even care about the outcome, I just NEED to know (obviously I hope hope hope I get into WashU!) because I am having such a hard time wrapping my mind around my options without knowing.</p>
<p>well I'm definitely confused/worried about when i'm gonna be notified for other schools too, because most say April 1...but that's a sunday. Nobody will do any notifying on a sunday, so that means before or after. before is always good, like we're expecting/hoping washu to do, but after would just make things worse...</p>
<p>Ah... this is my first post. But NP88, I COMPLETELY agree with you. I think early notification is great, but it's confusing when it seems that the process by which the letters are sent out is so random. I don't know that for sure, obviously, but it's like... oh one random kid in PA gets a letter, one random kid in NJ, etc etc, and then there's a dozen more kids in PA and NJ that haven't gotten anything. Is it based on when you turned it in?
I'm SO worried about this right now. Partially because I believed the website and thought it was coming in April-- but it turns out it's coming about half a month before.
I check the website compulsively now.... I was really anxious when I saw the blue button. But alas, it did not mean anything.</p>
<p>I am one of those in application limbo. I've applied to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton in addition to Wash U, and it is very disheartening to learn that I am not one of those people that "datadriven" mentions as one of those:</p>
<p>"kids who are...so much stronger than an average applicant that there is no surprise at all for them to find out they are admitted."</p>
<p>If you are accepted with a merit scholarship, those are announced early so you can attend the interview weekend, so that is logical. Also, I understand that outstanding candidates need to be rewarded, but are they not rewarded with their admission? If you are admitted later, isn't there is an automatic implication that you are the "second tier" of admitted students? It seems unfair, as everyone worked just as diligently on their applications and now those who are not contacted are experiencing additional worry.</p>
<p>I think perhaps the schools don't realize the extent to which people discuss these matters....theoretically, only the students who get these "early" mailings are the ones who know that they got a decision from the school.....although I totally understand the discussion.</p>
<p>The problem I have with Wash U's method, is that they are somewhat ambiguous about whether these admissions are "likely letters" or just earlier notification. I have no problem with the concept of likely letters, because even though they come earlier, it's clear there is more to come. In Wash U's case, the letters they sent use language that implies a certain finality to decisions, such that one might think that if they didn't receive this letter, they are going to be rejected. </p>
<p>If a candidate's good enough to receive a likely letter, I see no reason why the school shouldn't send one. Wash U should just make it clear that they are likely letters, not the final admissions call for the school. Right now it's hard to tell what direction they're headed in.</p>
<p>lol at uwball. yeah well we're all a little crazed. These decisions basically determine the rest of my life...where I go to school, who my friends are, and a whole domino effect of choices from there. All from an accept/reject decision from a school. and we have no idea what's going on.</p>
<p>...so i understand why most people are a bit on edge. I'm pretty much frustrated waiting so long for this, and now that it's so close, I can barely stand it.</p>
<p>no i mean i understand that where you go changes your future completely....but the way i look at it, if wash u doesn't like what i showed them, then i move on. you have to know that youll be fine wherever you go and that either way youll have a great time and get a good education</p>
<p>On behalf of WU, we send out early notifications to scholarship finalists because scholarship weekends/interviews occur before April 1st. We also notify students early because we have to prepare to fly over 500 students to Celebrations Weekends (or Multicultural Weekend...same thing) and if we wait until April 1st to notify the people we intend to invite, it'd be impossible to make the neceessary arrangements in time. If a student doesn't recieve an early notifcation, it is not indicative of a rejection or waitlist from the University. This is a practice that is not unique to WU, but common at most schools. It sounds as if there is an issue with college admission notifcatons in general and not just those of Washington University.</p>