<p>I have been involved with WASHU for a long time (my dad works there) and would absolutely love to attend the university, but I'm torn over whether to apply ED or apply RD so I can also apply to a few Ivys. The only school that I would really rather attend is Princeton, but my concern is that WASHU would see an RD application with legacy (dad and sister) as a sign of disinterest. I think I have a shot at Princeton (as much as anyone can, anyway), but I am certainly interested in attending WASHU. Would it be better to just apply ED or take my chances with RD? Would applying RD with legacy actually hurt my chances?</p>
<p>Princeton is ridiculously tough to get into. Can you post a bit more about your stats to get an idea of how realistic a reach it is for you? </p>
<p>If Princeton is a realistic reach for you (e.g. you are val/sal, have 2300+ SAT, have other factors such as recruited athlete, URM, or nationally recognized ECs), then I would say to not apply to WashU ED. Browse the Princeton results thread to get an idea of who is and isn’t getting in. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if Princeton is a very reachy reach, and you would love to attend WashU, I would say to go for ED. I think ED does help applicants that are within the range stats-wise. Anecdotally, more RD applicants that are “within range” are Waitlisted than ED applicants that are “within range”. If you think you are competitive to Princeton, than your stats are probably “within range” for WashU.</p>
<p>But only you can answer. Which would bother you more, attending WashU knowing that you might have possibly got into an Ivy? Or attending a lower ranked, possibly worse fit school that WashU, knowing that you had a decent chance at getting into WashU ED?</p>
<p>My son applied ED to WashU and was accepted, and we are thrilled. We just don’t know if he would have been accepted RD at WashU. He has a good friend with similar stats and activities who thought my son was nuts to limit himself to a single ED school. The friend applied RD to 16 different schools including a bunch of ivies, and was only accepted at his low match and safety schools. He is happy with where he will attend (a USNWR Top 40 U) so it is not a sad story, but I think the friend could have gotten into a higher ranked (Top 20) school with an ED boost, if he had wisely chosen an ED school.</p>
<ul>
<li>ACT: 33 (33 english, 35 math, 35 reading, 30 sci)…will take again</li>
<li>SAT II: Have yet to take</li>
<li>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.9</li>
<li>Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1%</li>
<li>AP (place score in parenthesis): BC Calc (5), Lang (4), Chem (4)</li>
<li>Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, APUSH, AP Worl, AP Phys C, AP Lit, Multivariable Calc self study</li>
<li>Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Eagle Scout, AP scholar, Yale book award? (I don’t know what this does for me, but I was told it helps)</li>
</ul>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<ul>
<li>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Quiz Bowl (All-star team, Varsity), Piano (9 years), NHS (secretary), Mu Alpha Theta (VP), Nanowrimo (hard to explain), Boy Scouts (Eagle, 3 palms, senior patrol leader), co-founded science club that does various projects and tutors, Robotics</li>
<li>Volunteer/Community service: Formed groups to volunteer at local homeless shelter and neighborhood cleanup projects, a couple hundred hours of tutoring.</li>
<li><p>Summer Activities: Self study (trig and pre-calc one year, multivariable calc the next), STARS program (researched under a chemist at WASHU for 6 weeks and wrote a research paper…300 hours)</p></li>
<li><p>State (if domestic applicant): MO</p></li>
<li><p>School Type: Public</p></li>
<li><p>Ethnicity: Cauc.</p></li>
<li><p>Gender: Male</p></li>
<li><p>Income Bracket: <$100,000</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I don’t think there is any particular area where anything totally jumps out (2400 or Intel), but from what I have seen on the Princeton forum it is well rounded. Princeton seems to be somewhat inconsistent in their decisions, which I guess is another problem. My sister got into WASHU last year ED, and while I don’t want to presume to understand what the school is looking for (or insult my sister), I think my application is generally stronger.</p>
<p>That ACT is weak for Princeton (although strong for most schools, including WashU ED).
If you don’t improve that score substantially, I would go for WashU ED.</p>
<p>I do plan on retaking it. The science definitely brought me down.
I’m a little confused on what a good score is considered, though. I have read that the 25/75 is something like 31/35.</p>
<p>They manipulate those numbers. The actual test scores for most colleges are higher than they report (i.e. princeton’s is probably 34-35). Schools purposely “selectively” choose certain demographics to base their test scores off of to make the scores look lower. This way, kids think it is easier to get in, more kids apply, then the college denies those students, lowering the acceptance rate to make the school look more prestigious. Whether this happens at Princeton or not is anyone’s guess, but I am certain it has happened in the ivy league and is currently happening at the rest of the top 20.</p>
<p>By the way, a 33 is outstanding. Your composite score is actually a 33.25, so all you have to do is raise it by 1 point in 1 section to get a 34, which would help a lot at princeton.</p>