<p>Hey WashU applicants.</p>
<p>We've talked about it quite a bit on the Stanford forum, but I'm just wondering if anyone here knows anything about how WU deals with Native applicants. </p>
<p>I know that Dartmouth and Stanford are very well known for their "consideration" of Native applicants, but I've not heard much about WU.</p>
<p>Are there any current students here who could give me some input on the Native community at WU or just anyone who knows a bit about how a Native's application is viewed?</p>
<p>I am 1/2 Native American and enrolled in the Chippewa Lac du Flambeau tribe, so my heritage is a big part of my family's life.</p>
<p>First of all, I'm surprised that colleges to which I am applying do not require much in documentation for Native applicants. </p>
<p>WU, NU, Emory, Stanford, and all other colleges I've talked to require nothing (though Stanford sends an "additional information" form to Natives). UW-Seattle is the only one that requires documentation and this is only optional and they say they encourage sending something because it will increase your chances of getting scholarships. And you can basically send anything. It's crazy!</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything about this?</p>
<p>The thing I'm most interested in is the Native community/support on campus; any current WashUers here who could give me some first-hand input?</p>
<p>The Center for Native American Studies (Kathryn</a> M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies) might be helpful. It's part of the School of Social Work, which is ranked #1 in the country. I'm sure they work with undergraduates in hosting events, providing research opportunities, giving advice, and you might be able to take some courses through it.</p>
<p>There's also the Native American Indian heritage week in the spring time. The biggset event of that week is the Annual Pow-Wow (I think they just did their 18th annual one). There are lots of events on campus during that week. American</a> Indian Awareness Week, including Pow Wow, March 31- April 5</p>
<p>For the most part, I think when you go to college you'll need to do some work on your own in terms of finding other native students and resources for them. Wash U has a decent amount of them it seems, but I don't know what other colleges offer. There might be an american indian student group on campus. </p>
<p>There's several undergrad classes which I found on the course catalog online: Native American Musical Traditions of the Western United States; Aspects of Native-American and Hispanic Music and Culture in New Mexico; Nineteenth-Century American-Indian Literature: Representations and Self-Representation; American Indian Societies, Cultures, and Values; Native Americans at Westward Expansion. </p>
<p>You can design your own major at Wash U, so you can probably create a native american studies major. The whole feel and philosophy of Wash U is to be a place where you can find your own niche, do your own thing, and within a friendly and supportive atmosphere. It's the kind of school where everyone mingles and is friends, but you still have opportunities to be with people with your own experiences and history (and aren't excluded into certain groups and no one intermingles). </p>
<p>With any top college that has tens of thousands of applicants from around the world, there's going to be other native americans applying and coming there. With such a small percent of the US population having a significant portion of their ancestry being Native, I'm sure they'd love to know about your heritage and experiences in the application process and will pay attention to it.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks for all the info, those opportunities seem really cool! And, yeah, I know at any campus I'll have to search for myself, I was just wondering if it was a well-known "aspect" of the school (such as at Stanford, which has its own "liaison" to American Indian applicants, which was a nice surprise). It seems like WU really makes an effort, which is nice. </p>
<p>I'm thinking of doing BME and another major from CAS. I was previously thinking International Area Studies, but a Native American studies sounds interesting. </p>
<p>While all this information is helpful, I have a few more questions. </p>
<p>At Stanford, I am able to explain my heritage a bit more via its supplemental essays. However, WU does not have any supplemental essays. I am applying for some scholarships as well, but those are more specific to the program. The Rodriguez scholarship talks about "bringing diverse groups together", do you think I could touch on my heritage there? I dunno..</p>
<p>So, I'm basically wondering how WashU will know how my heritage has affected my life. Admissions knows that I am Native American because a) I checked the American Indian box on the CommonApp and b) I had a brief e-mail conversation with my admissions officer via e-mail, albeit this was only to confirm that I was indeed an enrolled member in the Chippewa Lac du Flambeau tribe (for some reason this didn't show up on the commonapp). But, I digress. I just feel that WashU does not really know what my heritage has done for me and what I can bring to a place like WU. Stanford has an additional info request sent to Native applicants, but I can't expand like this for WU. </p>
<p>Do I just have to leave it as it is or do you think there is anyway to describe me more in depth.</p>