<p>My daughter has been accepted, but wasnt selected as a finalist for any of the scholarships, was not invited to attend one of the special weekends in April, and has not received any personal contact from the school since being accepted; just the form letters. I spoke with an FA advisor who was not interested in our 2008 unusual circumstances which artificially inflated our income, his only advice being to reapply for FA next year when the 2009 numbers will be used and see what happens. Meanwhile, my daughter has received scholarships and a lot of personal contact, including phone calls and invitations, from all of the other private schools on her list. </p>
<p>She appears to be a 2nd class accepted student. While that could be understandable and ok since WashU is very selective with many very well qualified applicants, Im wondering if this 2nd class status would follow her throughout her undergrad years there, limiting her opportunities. Do current students have any insight into this? Is there someone at WashU who I could speak to?</p>
<p>heyalb - No reason to take that tone. First of all, axxyzz said “appears to be”. That is a qualifying statement in itself and therefore doesn’t need your snarky reply. Second, here is a person that is not seeing a lot of help or feedback from the school apparently. I don’t think this at all reflects Wash U in general, but if you were a parent in her/his (I will assume her for convenience) situation, I guarantee you would be concerned as well. Exactly what better does she have to go on than her own experience? At least she is asking for help instead of just trashing Wash U like some people do on here. You could try being more helpful instead of just taking shots and acting so superior.</p>
<p>axxyzz - First I would try talking to Bill Witbrodt in Financial Aid @ 314 935-5765. He is usually very helpful and reasonable. Maybe there is nothing they can do, but at least you can try again. I would send him an e-mail (<a href=“mailto:Bill_Witbrodt@WUSTL.EDU”>Bill_Witbrodt@WUSTL.EDU</a>) first explaining in detail why your situation is unique and why the income you show for 2008 does not reflect funds that can be used for her education, if that is indeed the case. Then ask for a follow-up call, suggesting a couple of appointment times.</p>
<p>Usually Wash U does have someone from your area that is an alum call admitted students to see if they have questions. We got such a call. It is a bit mysterious why you did not. Heyalb is correct that only a small percentage of the students get a paid trip to the school after acceptance, but I would think all students are welcome to come. I agree with you, though, that most private selctive schools have designated days for accepted students to come so they can make up their minds. All the schools my D was accepted to did, and most were similar to Wash U.</p>
<p>To address your main concern (besides the money that is), I feel confident that if your daughter did decide to attend Wash U, she would not feel like a 2nd class student. From everything I have heard and based on what my D observed while she was visiting, once she was part of the class of 2013 she would be treated very well and Wash U would do everything they could to make sure she was as successful as possible. The adjectives I hear most often from students attending Wash U are “nurturing”, “attentive”, and “helpful”. Good luck to her!</p>
<p>I think at this point, the records that Admissions would have used in your decision are probably filed deep in a basement vault somewhere… Phone calls and event invitations now probably depend much more on where you live and on which school you’re in, as many mailings seem to be handled separately by the different colleges within WashU. For instance, WashU probably doesn’t offer to cover traveling expenses for students living nearer to (or possibly very far from) the school.</p>
<pre><code>As FallenChemist said, I’d probably keep trying on the financial aid if you’ve got an explainable reason - I had the same problem when I applied, and ended up getting a lot more aid (Mesmer FA/Scholarship) than I’d originally been given.
In any case, though, once you’re at WashU there’s really no distinction or “caste system” based on the stats you had coming in, neither students nor faculty really care about that sort of thing at all, although obviously it’s necessary to keep focused during college if you need to be a competitive applicant for internships, grants, grad school, etc.
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<p>I think that heyalb just misunderstood me. I wasn’t saying that I expected all of those great things, just that the fact that they didn’t happen I take as a sign of being “2nd class”. (Although a phone call from a student would have been nice.) At this point it’s all about making the big decision and trying to envision what her experiences would be like at each of her choices.</p>
<p>FallenChemist and Don_Quixote, thanks for input on everyone starting out on an equal footing. That’s my concern and you’ve been a big help.</p>
<p>As a parent whose kid recently graduated from WashU, there are certainly pros and cons of the school, but there is no doubt that one of the school’s great strengths is how they treat students and their families. From advising, to dorms, to every facet of life there, the administration is constantly seeking ways to make every student’s experience better. Again, every school has its pros and cons, but there is no need to worry about being a second class student. I’ve got two other kids at great state schools, and the contrast is substatial. My son, by the way, was admitted early decision, was turned down for some merit scholarship, was never was invited to anything, never heard from anyone, and had a fabulous 4 years (he’s now first year medical school).</p>
<p>Mythreesons: First of all, great name! Second, very nice story, is great to hear. Congrats to your son for getting into med school. Finally, we hear about the positives of Wash U all the time, so clearly it is a great place. But it would be good to hear, as an exercise in realism, what you and/or your son thought the negatives were.</p>
<p>I think the main negative for him was the lack of a big time sports program. While WashU does extremely well at the Division III level, you don’t have the football experience that you get at a Big 10 or SEC school. Other than that, in all honesty, I can’t think of any other negatives he ever spoke about.</p>
<p>axxyzz - you should have received a list of all the parents around the country who have volunteered to be available to talk to parents of admitted students and/or admitted students themselves. Parents on that list also are given a group of parents of accepted students to contact, usually within their area code and usually no more than about 15. You may just be in an area where there is no parent volunteer. Go ahead & pick up the phone and call one of them! If you didn’t get the list, call 800-935-4826 - undergrad admissions office - and have them send you one! If your D joins the school, you can volunteer to be on the list, too! </p>
<p>One of the greatest things about WUSTL is their continued focus on the admitted students and their families - I have a D at another school larger private school and can clearly see this positive feature of WUSTL, especially in comparison! Also have a friend who had one at Harvard & two at WUSTL - she often marvels at the stark contrast in responsiveness (with WUSTL being light-years ahead!)</p>
<p>axxyzz----I agree with everything palmalk said!. My son didn’t get a scholarship but was asked to an Architecture Weekend. Our flood of contact really didn’t begin until mid April but we were contacted/welcomed by 2 local people and the list of parents to contact also came. We have been made to feel welcome since the beginning and anytime I have contacted the school through email or phone the response has been rapid & positive. Their PR with families if awesome. Orientation also made us feel as if our son was going to be well taken care of. So don’t worry…remember this is a super busy time for schools; acceptances have barely been out 2 weeks and I’m sure they are doing the best they can.</p>