<p>I've heard both theories on this from other kids but does living in St. Louis hurt or help your chances at all? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Well from what I have noticed, it’s both. It helps because I’ve noticed a lot of St. Louis area kids get in, but I’m guessing it’s because they know the school well and it fits them I suppose. One reason is beacuse they might have connections with the school (i.e. alumni family member, faculty, summer research, etc.) that helps them get in. I’m also guessing that WashU knows the local schools well enough (how difficult the curriculum, etc.?) that they know what kinds of high school they come from to see whether they’re prepared or not.</p>
<p>Now on the other side, it’s more competitive because there are a lot of St. Louis area applicants applying. Thus, they have to put a cap on the number of acceptances. </p>
<p>These are just what I THINK are SOME of the factors that plays a role in this. Sorry if I’m wrong in this…</p>
<p>I think most colleges give some preference to locals so as to maintain good relations with the neighborhood.</p>
<p>That’s a good theory amazon, but unless you have some data to back it up, I’m not sure it’s all that true for private universities-- I mean, look at Tufts! Living in the Boston area hurts your chances of getting in quite a bit.</p>
<p>As for WashU, I’m not sure about local kids-- Moon&Star has some good points though!</p>
<p>Ruskibear - is your 3.5 gpa weighted or unweighted? Other than that you look like a good candidate.</p>
<p>RuskiBear-Many STL kids attending WU are “faculty brats” or kids of WU staff. I don’t have the exact % that falls into this category, but wouldn’t be surprised if its as high as 30% of the entire STL region cohort. This estimate is based on data I’ve seen from the last 4-5 graduating classes from Clayton High, which with Ladue and a couple of other high schools, places lots of kids (~8-12/year/school) at WU. The % of WU enrollees who are kids of faculty/staff is high for two reasons: 1) Such students attend tuition-free, which means that their enrollment “yield” (% of accepted students who actually enroll) is high; this significantly boosts the overall yield figure for the incoming class, a key statistic colleges use to compare themselves. 2) There is an economic incentive for WU to admit faculty/staff kids, which has to do with where the $ comes from that is used to pay the tuition for these kids (too hard to explain in detail, but that’s the gist of it). </p>
<p>Soooooo, if you are a faculty/staff kid, you’ve got a better chance of getting in than if you are not, all other factors being equal. If you do not fall in this category, does being from STL hurt your chances relative to everyone else? Can’t say. Maybe you are a quite different “package” than the typical STL WU faculty/staff kid. If so, emphasize that. What unique characteristics, interests, perspectives, achievements do you bring to the table? Good luck!</p>
<p>yeah i am a “faculty brat” but i wouldnt consider myself a brat, my mom is an assistant librarian and both my parents immigrated right before i was born so its not as if i’ve live a luxurious life by any means. I don’t know what’s going to happen but I would love to get it, we’ll see</p>