<p>kROCK- I'll add on to that.</p>
<p>I personally turned down Duke (they're the same level, although a lot of bitter people on here are claiming that Duke is far superior), Hopkins, etc (didn't apply ivy- too far north/cold for me).</p>
<p>And I know dozens who turned down Harvard, Yale, Stanford, you name it.</p>
<p>Yeah, I've met several people at WashU already who have picked the school over a HYP, and I'm pretty sure I saw at least one more person doing the same on the "Official Decisions 2013" thread. For Premed students especially, WashU is right up there with the best of them. It's not the best school for everyone, though. Admissions try to pick people they think would be a good fit, and students who'll try to transfer to an ivy at the end of semester for the first three years are not good choices. (Assuming that the "wait-listing overqualified students" policy is even real, there's really no way to verify something like that, as I hope we all know that scores don't define a student). And for that matter, where you're accepted/waitlisted/rejected doesn't define a student.</p>
<p>As has been mentioned before, Financial Aid is hardly a significant factor in WashU admissions. WashU has had a reputation for giving good financial aid for a while now read up on their policy some time and they're making that policy a priority despite the national economy. </p>
<p>I got waitlisted to a school I preferred to WashU last year. It wasn't fun, for sure. I thought up a million reasons why the admissions people would have passed me over. It kinda helped to think that way, yeah, but it helped a lot more to move on and pick a school that worked for me. So some admissions committee doesn't think I'm a fit for their school - fine, maybe I'm not. Six years from now it really won't make a difference. </p>
<p>If you get in off the waitlist, great - pick WashU if you think it's the right school. If not, there are lots of other awesome schools out there. Do some visiting, find one with a good atmosphere and some challenging programs, and go for it. If you want your brush with the ivy-leagues and big-name schools, try later for Grad school, or do the open-admissions summer school program at Stanford or Berkeley and (as long as you're 30 minutes from the beach) get surfing lessons or something while you're at it. </p>
<p>If you made the wait-list, count your blessings - Best of luck.</p>
<p>I realize that it is hard to get waitlisted. But the number of posts by people trashing Wash U's supposed "policies" because they got waitlisted is ridiculous. Does someone want to tell me where they got this inside information about how Wash U is rejecting students they think might choose another school? I'm sorry, but all of this is ridiculous. I got waitlisted at some colleges, but guess what, if you're applying to top schools, that's what happens. And if you think every school isn't trying to get numbers, you're fooling yourself. Just because someone who feels they are qualified to be a Wash U student got waitlisted doesn't mean that Wash U is just out to get you. Many of you probably would have been (or hopefully still will be...good luck on the waitlist!) great Wash U students. Thank you to the waitlistees who, instead of bemoaning the school's "evil and manipulative policies", are either moving on to other great colleges or trying to figure out how to get off the waitlist without spewing opinions all over the site.</p>
<p>SAT 2400 valedictorian uw GPA 4.0... SO WHAT? he/she IS an excellent student, but is he/she necessarily going to FIT in a certain college? especially for those most prestigious and highly selective colleges like Wash.U
if a student loves wash.u a lot, and the passion and love will definitely impress the admission officers more than those numbers and scores do. he or she will probably contribute much more to the whole college community than those ivy wanna-bes do.
i remember UPenn's president has said something like this, "applicants should not think about how they can get in, but how they can fit in." Can't u see the way top colleges value applicants? they certainly want academically strong applicant, but they do love to see the students there can create a perfect school spirit and a home feeling. </p>
<p>i agree that college AOs must have manipulated statistics for their rankings, but we also should realize the reason why they rejected/waitlisted some "strong applicants."</p>
<p>No one said WashU was out to "get" anyone. I see no reason why we can't spew our opinions all over this site. You just did, why can't we?</p>
<p>Would I have liked to be admitted? Of course. Is there still hope? Yes. Am I going to burn down WashU? Certainly not. </p>
<p>I don't see anything wrong with voicing your opinions of something you don't like- what's the point of this forum if there's not any arguments to discuss withing the forum. (Rhetorical question BTW).</p>
<p>"You're implying they're not accepting the best applicants"</p>
<p>There's no such thing as the best applicants. Schools admit the applicants they want the most, and each school has different criteria.</p>
<p>I was waitlisted, and WashU is still my first choice. I'm from the St. Louis metro east, and the name "WashU" carries a lot of weight here. But it's not about prestige by any means; rather, it's about going to a school that feels like home (as it will be for 4 years of my life). I've visited WashU multiple times and absolutely love it.</p>
<p>Do they play games with admissions stats? Almost certainly, and that's true of most selective universities as well. I think WashU plays the game better than HYP, given that they have a substantially higher yield, but that doesn't weigh anywhere near as heavily in my decision as academics and quality of life.</p>
<p>I think yield is an almost irrelevant statistic, especially since it's so manipulable. I don't see WashU having substantially higher than Harvard. last I heard Harvards was like 89%. Don't get much better than that...</p>
<p>"I do not know how many students were offered the wait list or denied admission- we had over 23,000 applications for a class of 1400 (we admitted roughly 20 percent). </p>
<p>We always hope to use the wait list, but each year is so different that we are unable to predict if/how we will use the wait list this year."</p>
<p>This is the response I got back when asking "how many were offered a spot on waitlist and how many were rejected."
I'm pretty sure they know these numbers, and the reply back brings their integrity into question. I'm not surprised I got waitlisted, wouldn't have been surprised if rejected...but they could at least show some honesty when someone asks a fair question. I have read rumored responses about the lack of transparency... until now, it has only been "rumor" to me.</p>
<p>I would not have liked a response of, "sorry, we are not giving out that information right now", but I would have respected that over denying they know the numbers.</p>
<p>To be fair,
1. there's NO evidence that WashU waitlists overqualified applicants;
2. saying that WashU is playing the "same" game as others is conveniently ignoring the peculiarity of WashU's practice--WashU is the <em>only</em> school that waitlists just about everybody it doesn't accept (anyone gets rejected on this board?). How that works and the strategy behind is another topic.</p>
<p>There's no evidence, but of course WashU wouldn't admit that. This may sound pompous, but there's no reason several specific people on CC shouldn't be accepted. I used WashU as my safety/low match school, and feel overqualified, was waitlisted. But accepted at Yale, so I'm not upset. Last year, our class val and sal both went to Harv and were waitlisted at WashU. Both were out-of-your-mind amazing. </p>
<p>Even the anecdotal evidence is sort of becoming a good case of corroboration.</p>
<p>^^ Wow =o Thats plain WIERD =s but makes me feel better..=)</p>
<p>WashU is a private entity and can do pretty much as it pleases re admissions. They have no requirement for transparency or even to tell the truth in information/disinformation they do give out. Their officials are not under oath. They can lie "for the greater good".</p>
<p>They exist in a larger cultural mileau where reputation is important so they do have a vested interest in enhancing/maintaining that.</p>
<p>A firestorm of disgruntled waitlist posts is unlikely to make them change their policies. Consistent year by year disgruntlement generating gossip and transmission of "tribal knowledge" regarding their policies may make highly qualified applicants less likely to apply. But if all top schools are implementing "Tuft's Syndrome" philosophy in their admission process then Wash.U. can continue to do so also.</p>
<p>Please see KeepitCoolidge's post (#140) in <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/666288-waitlisted-washu-therefore-losing-all-hope-going-hyps-club-10.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/666288-waitlisted-washu-therefore-losing-all-hope-going-hyps-club-10.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks for the link, palmalk - KeepitCoolidge is right on, and explains that pretty well.</p>
<p>It amazes me each year how many people are angry at being waitlisted at WashU. No one is ever angry when they get waitlisted at HYP...etc. No one ever complains when someone is accepted to Harvard but rejected or waitlisted from Penn or Dartmouth.</p>
<p>The phenomenon here is that candidates who are using WashU as a backup or "safety" seem to think that it is their "right" to get accepted into WashU, especially if they are strong candidates for HYP...etc. Then,if they get waitlisted from WashU (which they thought was their "safety"), they start getting very nervous about getting accepted to their first choice school. After, if they get into their first choice school, they get angry at WashU for not taking them so that they could have rejected WashU instead of the other way around!</p>
<p>WashU, just like all the other top schools, gets more qualified applicants than they can accept. People accept the "crapshoot" analogy when it comes to getting accepted to HYP..etc. Somehow though, because WashU doesn't carry the "bumper sticker prestige" of those other schools they get angry at WashU. Give me a break!!!!</p>
<p>In other words, people need to pick a safer safety school. :)</p>
<p>Yalerose: first, congrats on Yale! I sincerely hope you enjoy it there.
[quote]
I used WashU as my safety/low match school,
[/quote]
You're a fool if you did that. wustl is a safety for no one. For everyone that applies (excluding the legacies/recruits, etc) wustl is at LEAST a high match. In all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if your air of superiority shined right through your app.</p>
<p>^^^ amen, johnson.</p>