<p>I don’t think it can be compared like that. First of all, you would need to compare the results of those who applied for FA and those who did not, not those who got accepted/waitlisted/rejected. There may have just been more people on the thread who did not apply for FA. Secondly, People who don’t need financial aid have access to better schools, opportunities and tutors. They will have higher stats in general and probably be accepted in a higher proportion at any other school as well. Everyone who got in has their merits, everyone who didn’t has them as well and probably only the people who were borderline were decided based on whether or not they need FA (Supposedly WashU does somewhere between 75-99%, although I’ve heard ~90-95% most often, of their decisions need-blind). WashU does this because, unlike the Ivies, they don’t have virtually unlimited funds and they’d rather put some money toward improving their school and making sure that those who do need FA get all that they need to be comfortable at WashU.</p>
<p>I know WashU has funky waitlist practices and is not need-blind, but that doesn’t mean that everyone who got in only got in because they have money. Plenty of people get into Ivies because they have an insane amount of money too (i.e. pretty much anyone who donates a library would be accepted). Stop complaining, you’ll all go to great schools. WashU is obviously looking for something specific, and I see no problem with trying to accept people who they think would actually choose their school. As someone said on one of the other threads here, some people chose WashU over HYP. Obviously WashU did a good job figuring out who those people would be.</p>