Thanks Wash U for waitlisting me, guess what, I DO NOT CARE!!!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
81

<p>I'm sorry but I hosted some of Duke's top applicants last weekend, who were deciding between the likes of Yale, Duke, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, tons of scholarships and were basically the best applicants you can imagine, and they all shared one thing: they were all wait-listed by Wash U. I am not bitter since I was accepted last year and offered a free flight but I do think that when you guys (Class of 2009) get there next year you should write an editorial or contact admissions to ask for it to change its policies. I think the more Wash U wait-lists the future leaders of America the less respect it is going to get and it's a pretty good school so it shouldn't be thought of in such a horrible light due to shady practices in admissions. If Wash U ever really wants to be thought of as "elite" like it purports to be on its brochures instead of affected with a mega inferiority complex then it needs to start trying to lure its top applicants rather than wait-list them...</p>

<p>I think that about wraps up/summarizes this discussion and I think that all the kids who were wait-listed this year need to quit complaining and get over it--if they were really so qualified then they've probably been accepted into a better school anyway. Otherwise, maybe you just didn't make the cut. Let alone, I think I've said what there is to say and people should just let the Class of 2009 congregate and enjoy talking about constructive things.</p>

82

<p>This argument defies comprehension. Washington University gets to select its Class of 2009. What else is there??? If people were accepted at Harvard Yale ect. and waitlisted at Washington University, then I think WashU is making it clear that it is looking for differant things in its applicants.</p>

<p>With a Top 10 undergrade program and the second best med school in the country, I don't think WashU needs to try to be elite. It's obviously elite enough, because people who got into HYP etc can't seem to manage to gain admission at WashU. Pretty darn elite.</p>

<p>On a side note, let us remember that the vast majority of the future leaders of America in the Class of 2009 will not attend an Ivy, or any other elite institution like Duke, or WashU etc. Many graduates of these institutions end up being fairly regular people. Just though I'd throw that in there.</p>

<p>Greg...you got my back man...awww.</p>

83

<p>Has anyone thought of the possibility that Wash U, like some LACs, determines that SOME students are in fact "over-qualified," will not attend, and are "too good" for Wash U in sense that it is a waste of an admissions letter. Read the book "Gatekeepers," and you will find that this was used by Wesleyan. A few of the decisions to not accept could just be a recognition of their place in relationship to other colleges.</p>

<p>Admissions are investments, and their is no point in investing in a company that all data shows will very, very rarely yield anything. Colleges have limited admission spots, so only to a certain extent can they admit two people expecting one to refuse and so they probably waitlist the students statistically most likely to be a wasted admission while giving themselves room for error (waitlist acceptance). This school is only recently very highly regarded and may be keeping non elite admissions policies while the strength of their actual university has propelled them to an elite status.</p>

<p>couples questions to leave you guys and girls with: </p>

<p>What would you say if you were the perfect applicant, got waitlisted, accepted it and was accepted? </p>

<p>What would you say if they outright rejected a perfect applicant?</p>

<p>And what is so wrong with the proportion of Wash U admits who want decide to go there being as close to 100% as possible if the additional admission of the "over-qualified" applicants would have yielded the same class?</p>

84

<p>oooh it doesnt matter. it just boosts your ego to say, "i got admitted to 15 schools" instead of "i got admitted to 14"
haha im joking</p>

<p>but serious, the reason why i acted that way was because washu was my backup, and i received their waitlist letter really early - like before april, 03/28 or something, so i was reeeeeeeally really insecure thinking i wasnt going to get accepted anywhere else
but now i got my other acceptance letters from elsewhere, and even if washu accept me now, i wouldnt go. so no hard feelings anymore.</p>

85

<p>US news does NOT use yield in their factors anymore.</p>

86

<p>Everyone keeps saying that here, but are people really so obtuse that they don't realize that yield affects acceptance rate which is still a factor?</p>

87

<p>it doesnt really matter anymore! it's april 11, and by now, if you were not admitted to washu, then dont bet on going, since they probably over admitted a little bit and theres so many applicants this year. if you desperately despearately want to go because you didnt concoct a good list of colleges to apply to and you didnt get accepted anywhere, then you can find some way to TRRRY to get off the waitlist. Otherwise, go to a different school. </p>

<p>2-3 safety, 3 match, as many reach as you want. if you only applied to like, 10 reach then too bad, lesson to be learnt. otherwise, go to your other reach acceptance or your match and move on. </p>

<p>washu is a great school, but its not the ONLY good schoool. so WHAT if it's rated 11 right now, or hypothetically 15 last year, and 21 previous??? it only matters if you want to go to a good college to LEARN. im sure its better to go to washu vs phoneix online or some other 3rd level college. but if u end up going to vandy, or northwestern, or nyu, or case, or w/e, it doesnt mean ur gonna get any less of any education. </p>

<p>school ranking is just a preliminary factor when it comes to what college to attend. its not like... you apply to top 15, u get accepted at 15, 13, 11, 10, and 4, you should go to 4 jus cuz its ranked higher. who CARES how they rank overall? you r going for a few specific majors, and u wouldnt go to nyu stern for physics even if they paid you even though its ranked like around 30ish. </p>

<p>overall ranking is superficious, because REALLY.. what do we college students care about? we care about quality of education, quality of social life, hire rate after we graduate. entrance to grad school rate... y should we care about yield? </p>

<p>and acceptance rate is superficial too. cooper union has by far the lowest acceptance rate in, i dont know if i can say the whole world.. but its not even ranked top 5 for lac. it is the only fullride school, and only 900ish for entire undergrad body.</p>

88

<p>nyu vandy are all better than washu</p>

89

<p>not according to US News... haha!
and i got waitlisted at washu while accepted at stern and never applied to vandy, so i thought washu was "harder"</p>

90

<p>I think incollege said it best</p>

<p>" think the more Wash U wait-lists the future leaders of America the less respect it is going to get and it's a pretty good school so it shouldn't be thought of in such a horrible light due to shady practices in admissions. If Wash U ever really wants to be thought of as "elite" like it purports to be on its brochures instead of affected with a mega inferiority complex then it needs to start trying to lure its top applicants rather than wait-list them..."</p>

91

<p>"nyu vandy are all better than washu"</p>

<p>I guess it depends what you consider better. WashU is better overall than NYU, but NYU does have a better b-school. I got accepted into both, but I'm not even visiting NYU. I'm happy with WashU.</p>

92

<p>I did not apply to WashU myself; however, I know several people in my school who have been accepted to the universities such as MIT, Stanford, Duke, Yale, Cornell, etc. and have also been waitlisted by WashU.</p>

<p>I know yield is not used anymore in USNews ranking. But WashU sure likes to reject super-competitive applicants. Whether this is due to interest factor, yield, wasting admission letters, or WashU being weird in their admission policies, I don't know.</p>

<p>Observe the statistics and draw your own conclusions. I do have one advice for next year's applicants though. If you are a very well qualified candidate, do not count on WashU as a match or safety.</p>

93

<p>Please, stop bumping this thread up. We're all tired of it.</p>

94

<p>Here's my question...</p>

<p>What makes WashU stand out among other top schools that would make students want to attend there? I tried to figure this out when looking into the school but I couldn't. So I wonder, acceptees and waitlisters, what made you apply to WashU? Because I could not find a reason to apply there over schools with similar "prestige rankings."</p>

95

<p>I applied there because I felt obligated to apply after they sent me 50 pounds worth of mail</p>

96

<p>What makes you apply to any school is an individual decision. I cannot believe someone would be so lame to apply to a school because they got mail. I guess I should apply for every credit card and magazine subscription I get in the mail! Wow! An obligation to apply to a school because they sent you mail. No wonder you did not get in. And to ask "what makes Wash U stand out among other top schools that would make students want to attend there"......you need to get a life and move on. What made you apply to your top schools chump? WOW......I have heard it all.....</p>

97

<p>Interesting how it has changed so fast in a decade. A decade ago, I saw someone in WashU because his A-level result wasn't good enough to get him a spot in a university in Hong Kong. Nowadays, some Harvard admits get waitlisted by WashU. Wow!</p>

98

<p>"you need to get a life and move on"</p>

<p>Maybe you should, judging by that and your previous posts.</p>

99

<p>Insult me all you want but lets be clear on one thing</p>

<p>"What made you apply to your top schools chump?"</p>

<p>WAshu is NOT a top school</p>

100

<p>I applied to Wash U because it offers many unique study programs within CAS. It has one of the highest med school acceptance rates in the country (after Harvard), it has merit-scholarships, a nice campus, and is ranked 11th in the nation.</p>

<p>Each person's definition of top is different. I consider HYPMS the best schools. But to me, closely following those schools are the rest of the lesser Ivies, Northwestern, Wash U, CalTech (probably left some out), which are not the best but are still great. Quality education can be found at any of these schools. However, I consider all of these schools 'top'.</p>