Should I Apply Early Decision to WashU? Please Help!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
1

<p>Hey Guys, </p>

<p>I'm a little bit scared because a lot of my friends with lower SATs and GPA's are applying to much higher schools than me. For early action I am strongly considering University of Michigan, but since I going to do Biochemistry (Pre-Med Track) I wanted to know whether or not I should try Early Decision for Wash U. Please be honest!</p>

<p>GPA - 3.64 (UW), 4.14 (W) ~ Moved to Maryland from another school which "ruined" GPA, I have had a large upward trend however going from mostly B's to a 4.71 this year.</p>

<p>Junior Schedule: AP Bio (DP), AP USH, AP Lang, Honors Chemistry, Honors Algebra 2 (Stupid old school), Spanish 4 - All As both semesters except for stupid Lang teacher giving me B's</p>

<p>APs: Government, Biology, Language, U.S History (All 5s) - Planning to take Chem (DP) and Lit next year (can't take any more because of graduation requirements :()</p>

<p>SAT I: 2270 - 800 W, 740 M, 730 CR
SAT 2: 730 Bio M 740 USH, Probably going to take another Math one this october</p>

<p>Extra-Curriculars:</p>

<ul>
<li>Varsity Tennis for 3 years: Varsity Captain junior year, 1 doubles, regional semifinalist, team won state championship (while I was captain), undefeated record junior year</li>
<li>Leadership Roles in Ambassadors Program at school (helped plan events for incoming freshmen and back to school night, etc.) and another Club (DNAcademy) </li>
<li>In NHS this year, also do Model U.N and went to JHUMUNC 2010</li>
</ul>

<p>Internship: This past summer I did an internship in India for 6 weeks. It was at Fortis Hospitals, the largest healthcare chain in Asia, and I did a lot of interesting things there. I went around with clinicians and saw a variety of specialties including Pulmonology, cardiology, Neurology - And saw treatments and procedures first hand (such as Angiography and Bracheoscopy)</p>

<p>College (Common App Essay) - Very good I think. One of the better ones I have written; heartfelt commentary on my struggle with being Indian-American and ties into speaking with patients at the Hospital as well. Generally very good feedback</p>

<p>Supplements for WashU: I have another good essay on WHY I want to be a medical student (that I originally wrote for UMich) but could easily be adaptable to this college. I can't find a place to put it though since they don't have a supplement!</p>

<p>If I get some positive (or negative feedback), I am willing to visit or interview even though it is quite far away. </p>

<p>Thanks SO MUCH for reading this, and if anyone has an idea of my chances or whether or not it is a good idea to ED this school, please let me know.</p>

2

<p>Do you know your rank? Does your school rank? </p>

<p>Applying ED would probably increase your chances of getting accepted, so if it is your favorite school, it sounds like a good idea. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Agreed with sacchi. If it’s your top school and you’d have no regrets about missing out on other places if accepted, go for it :D</p>

4

<p>Do you really want to go to Wash U? Have you visited the campus? Have you looked at the website? Applying ED should be a decision about whether you want to go there or not, not about your stats.</p>

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<p>Using ED is your best opportunity to tell your top choice school “you are my #1 pick”. If that’s WashU, go for it. Don’t make your decisions based on what your friends are doing or where they’re applying. Do what’s right for you.</p>

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<p>I appreciate all of your responses, and definitely agree with you guys. Recently I have started to like Washington University more and more, and I don’t think I would have any qualms with going there. I do realize that loving a school is a good reason to apply ED, but at the same time I don’t want to “waste” my ED by picking an overly ambitious school (let’s say I wanted Harvard as my number 1 pick, it wouldn’t be worth it to use my ED on that). If anyone could comment on whether I would have a good chance ED’ing WashU, that would be very helpful. As per your advice, I will definitely look into the school much more!</p>

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<p>If you are within the top 10% of your class, you would clearly be “within range” for WashU, and you wouldn’t be wasting your ED. If you are outside the top 10%, WashU would be reachier, as an extremely high percentage of their admitted class was in the top 10%, among those schools that rank.</p>

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<p>Sadly our class doesn’t rank. Since I moved from a weaker to a much stronger high school , I am “behind” in Math and some graduation requirements and thus my senior year schedule only has 3 APs and a couple of Honors. I have been looking at Wash U a lot now and I want to visit and interview, but still aren’t sure whether or not I should apply to it for my early decision school. If anyone has any idea if it is viable that I would get in ED, that would really help my decision. Thanks!</p>

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<p>Yes, it’s certainly viable. I don’t think you’d be “wasting” your ED. Your SAT is incredible, and the school will recognize the school change.</p>

<p>What you need to decide is if you want to go to WashU, as others have said.</p>

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<p>Thanks Johnson181, I really appreciate the feedback. Do you by any chance know whether WashU is a school that applying ED really helps? My friend said he read in his college book that WashU is very into the early decision, and is much more likely to accept someone if they feel they are committed to the school (like not using it as a safety from Ivies).</p>

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<p>Yes. 10 char.</p>

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<p>for ED don’t expect any aid. wash u costs $$$$</p>

13

<p>^^^ that post is totally incorrect. In fact, the “only” break in the ED contract, if accepted, is if the FA package you get is still not within “your means”, but this is true for any school, not just WashU. </p>

<p>The school accepts you for you, and their scholarships and FA decisions are determined by another committee and at a later date. In fact, their scholarship program is notoriously generous, and based on merit as well as need. You will NOT find some top schools (read: ivies) who give out merit scholarships the likes of what you can find at WashU.</p>

<p>If financial aide is important to you, be sure to investigate their many scholarships. You should also determine what your FA package (based only on need) would look like, consisting of loans, grants, and work study. This is determined on your EFC.</p>

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<p>True on that. The only schools I can think of that offer more aid than WashU in terms of need-based are HYPSMIT and maybe a few other highly selective schools.</p>

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<p>If I get some positive (or negative feedback), I am willing to visit or interview even though it is quite far away. Recently I have started to like Washington University more and more, and I don’t think I would have any qualms with going there.</p>

<p>marcdvl asked if you visited the campus… </p>

<p>What has been your “demonstrated interest” up until now? Have you shown them “the love” that they want and need? (They ARE one of the schools that want to see the love!) Have you requested info off their website and gone to any college fairs that Wash U participated in? Does applying ED make the impotance of a “yes” answer to all the aforementioned questions disappear? I don’t know the answer to this last question, but I wanted to ask it on your behalf. What I do sense is that you should NOT apply ED because you aren’t totally committed to going there. I think you are a (mid to high) match, I just think you should keep all your options open by applying RD. Either way, show more demonstrated interest…</p>

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<p>Hey jshain, I appreciate the message - As of now I only really started the college process and what type of schools I want to go to. I had a couple of colleges I had always been thinking about, but up until recently I haven’t started looking into programs, the campus, and other specifics about school. I know that it seems like I haven’t really put any thought into my decisions, but now that I am getting into the swing of apps and planning I am definitely going to think about WashU a little more. I just talked to my dad about a visit sometime in September, and am hoping to get an interview there as well. It sucks that the schools I am thinking about are so far apart!</p>

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<p>Consider going to their Discovery Weekend (which is also at the end of September). They “take care of everything” and I didn’t need to go; my son was fine without me and it saved an extra plane fare.</p>

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<p>Hey I just checked it out and it looks awesome! Did your son like the activities they had planned, and the school in general? I am trying to plan going there with some friends who are also applying to WashU and want to visit.</p>

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<p>Wait are you a rising senior? If you are, you are just starting to look at colleges?</p>

<p>You have a long way to go my friend…</p>

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<p>Great suggestion from limabeans and good luck to you k-cat!</p>