Please chance me for WUSTL

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey all, </p>

<p>I'm currently a Junior (Class of 2014) at a competitive high school located in a suburb north of Chicago. I currently have my heart set on Washington University in St. Louis, but I know that admissions are spotty there. Please chance me?
(I'm thinking that I will apply to the school of Engineering for either Biomedical or Mechanical Engineering)</p>

<p>Some demographic info:
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Income: >$250,000</p>

<p>Statistics:
GPA: 4.12 W, 3.7 UW</p>

<p>SAT: Not taken yet, but will be taking the test on June 1. Projected score from SAT Prep/Practice tests: about 2160.
SAT II: Not taken yet.
ACT: 33 (34 English, 34 Mathematics, 31 Reading, 33 Science)
SuperScored: 34 (34 English, 34 Mathematics, 33 Reading, 33 Science</p>

<p>AP's taken thus far:
AP Physics C Mechanics (My school has a science program where we take Physics C and AP Chemistry over our junior and senior years. The Mechanics test is taken junior year, whereas the Chemistry test and Physics C Electricity and Magnetism tests are taken senior year)
AP English Language and Composition
AP United States History
Please note that I just took the AP exams for these subjects over the past week and a half, so I don't have scores yet.</p>

<p>AP Classes for senior year:
AP English Literature and Composition
AP French Language and Culture
AP Chemistry (Read junior AP courses)
AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism (Read Junior AP course)
AP Calculus BC</p>

<p>Sports/Clubs @ School (With senior year projections):
2 Years of Junior Varsity Soccer - stopped playing due to a hamstring injury.
3 Years of Peer Jury/Restorative Justice program - Will be in a leadership position as one of 4 seniors in the program.
3 Years of Best Buddies - 2 years as an associate buddy, and 1 year as a peer buddy (senior year). I will serve on the board of my school's Best Buddies chapter next year as a senior.
2 Years of participation in the TEAMS Junior Engineering Competition - I was a co team captain this year as a junior, I am unsure of my role next year.</p>

<p>Other Extracurriculars (Without projections for senior year):
3 Years of a paid internship in a Molecular Biology lab at Northwestern University - I work over the summer for 30-40 hours a week as a research aide to a technician in the laboratory.
4 Years of volunteering service for Misericordia, a home for the disabled (Total 100 hours or so) - My brother currently lives here, and the volunteer work I do for the home is something that I am passionate about. I participate in fundraising mostly. If anyone on here is from the Chicago area, don't forget to donate money on Candy Days :)
20 Hours of Habitat Restoration Work for the Cook County Forest Preserves.
Over 200 hours of volunteer service in coordination with my school's Best Buddies Chapter</p>

<p>Honors and such:
Sophomore Honors Society - Admitted 2012
National Honors Society, Lighthouse Chapter - Admitted 2013
Health Student of the Year Award 2012 - Only given to one student per Academic school year.</p>

<p>Demonstrated Interest in WUSTL:
I visited the campus and interviewed with one of the admissions officers over spring break. The interview was a success in my opinion, as the admissions officer and I discussed my interest in prosthetics and engineering as well as my involvement in Peer Jury and Best Buddies. The admissions officer seemed genuinely impressed, but she could have just been a nice woman. I received a post card from the admissions officer within 2 weeks of visiting, if that means anything. I love the campus, and the students that I talked to during the engineering discussion were really kind and helpful during the tour of the Engineering School. I am definitely considering applying Early Decision, since Wash U is my #1 choice.</p>

<p>Other Options:
If I don't get into WUSTL ED, I will probably be applying to UIUC, Tulane, and University of Michigan Ann Arbor. Since I'm an instate, I'm considering UIUC as a safety at the moment, and U Mich and Tulane as other viable options. I'm also going to apply to Northwestern as they take a lot of kids from my school, although it is a bit of a reach.</p>

2

<p>WUSTL ED: High match
UIUC: Low match/Match
Tulane: Match/High match
UMI: Match/High match</p>

3

<p>Highly selective schools are always a reach. Your gpa is a bit low and your ACt is at the 75% do it’s a reach.</p>

4

<p>I forgot to include that I got a 10 on the writing section of the ACT. I’m not sure if that really helps or not.</p>

5

<p>Out of curiosity, what do you mean by WUSTL admissions are spotty?</p>

<p>It is a phenomenal school- yes, demonstrated interest is important to them. Lets face it, they have to compete against many East coast schools that have bigger name recognition and ate located in areas that are perceived to be more desirable than St. Louis. My son, who never really had WUSTL that high on his list of 16 schools, went to the campus for a second visit (first visit was during December when no one was on campus) and fell in love with the school and decided to enroll. It helps that my brother and family live 10 minutes from campus.</p>

<p>You seem to have a pretty solid academic background and a challenging course load- almost seems like the high school I went to on the North Shore almost 30 years ago.</p>

<p>The best way to demonstrate interest is to apply ED. And BTW, just my two cents, your ACT is pretty high (especially when superscored, which WUSTL does)- I personally wouldn’t waste the time on the SAT, unless you think you can score much higher than the SAT equivalent of your current ACT score.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>