<p>I was just invited to an Alumni event in Houston for incoming WashU students. The care and respect accorded me at this event was fantastic. I personally met with the Dean of the Business School, Mahendra Gupta, in addition to many other prominent alumni including the head of Houston operations of major petroleum companies.</p>
<p>Everyone was so proud to be an alumnus, especially those that graduated 10-15 years ago and now see the value of their degree. They are very proud that their university is now considered in the same light as the top most universities, especially when the speakers dropped stats like "WashU's incoming class (transfers included) had higher average SAT scores on average than Stanford's" and that the current admissions round saw 22,000 applications for only 1350 spots. </p>
<p>It was a good feeling that the other people in the room felt proud of me (I was the only incoming student invited) especially in the context that admissions was so much more competitive than when they had applied. </p>
<p>At any rate, I just wanted to let all those deciding on whether or not to accept an extended Waitlist offer or who have already confirmed their decision to attend WUSTL this coming fall that they will be entering a top notch, world class university with a strong faculty and an alumni community that is strongly committed to providing the best for its future classes. The bond I felt with those individuals was fantastic-identical to my relationships with the nice people at Brookings and other friendly WashU people I've spoken with over the phone. </p>
<p>I'm definitely amped about attending!</p>