Hi everyone, I found out I got waitlisted at WashU. Is there a decent chance for waitlisted people to get accepted later? How many people are waitlisted? Thanks!
If you follow the link in the portal there is a FAQ page about waitlisting. It sounds like there are thousands on the waitlist and the most they have ever taken from the wait list is 150.
I got waitlisted, too. Didn’t expect it at all. I just prepare myself for either acceptance or rejection. So ironic :))
if you read their wait list FAQ:
“History can’t help us predict a given year’s needs. In past years, we’ve experienced almost every situation imaginable, from seeing many wait list candidates admitted, to seeing none at all admitted, and seeing just about every conceivable number between the two extremes. In the last 10 years, we have used the wait list six times. The most active year was 2011, when we enrolled 150 from the wait list. Unfortunately, we are unable to predict whether we will have the opportunity to admit applicants from the wait list in any given year, and it is best to secure your freshman place at another institution in case we do not have openings.”
Here is the thing about Wash U. Well the two things. First, full pay gets in at much lower levels of credentials compared to those requesting financial aid. And second, they may call it Tufts Syndrome but they might as well call it Wash U Syndrome. They have a history of working hard to protect their yield-vigorously. They are a higher than they should be wanna-be in terms of the ratings. So, you should make sure that they know you’d go if they extend an offer. Especially if you are full pay (which is less probable), but even if not, if you know you’d go if you got an offer promise that to them. And for even a better shot, see if your guidance counselor will “make the call” to reiterate your promise to attend if you get an offer. But if the school puts their reputation on the line for you, make sure that you do go if you get an offer. If there is a speck of doubt you are holding out for an Ivy, you won’t be invited to the party.
You have made this claim several times, but you have yet to produce a shred of evidence that gives you a basis for this claim. Other than an anecdote, which is certainly not proof or even evidence, do you have any or not?
02-21-2016 at 12:23 pm edited February 21
@lostaccount:
In other threads, you stated:
01-29-2016 at 11:06 pm
Wash U is well known for giving preference to full pay. I’m sure the top range of their scores are all those of students on financial aid-holding up the scores of those who are full pay. So if you are full pay, I can’t imagine you being turned down. In fact your scores are much more like those students from families who struggle financially.
01-09-2016 at 8:52 pm
Your chances depend a lot on whether you are full pay. If you are full pay, wealthy and had every advantage, you can get in with scores and grades a lot lower than those needed for poorer students who got their grades and test scores without individual tutoring and without benefiting from all the ways money can help students. Ironic but true. I bet the top of Wash U’s distribution of scores and grades have a high percent of students who need aid whereas the bottom is full pay.
Please provide the statistics supporting these statements. Thank you.
@555State @fallenchemist Wash U states on their website that they are not need blind when reviewing applications. This means that they do indeed look at your financial need when making the decision to admit students. Common sense suggests that they prefer paying students to non paying students. So as long as you meet their standards of qualification and can afford the college, you have a pretty high chance of getting in over those with need (even if they have marginally better scores). I don’t have direct statistics on this and I doubt you would be able to find them since it looks very unfavorable for WashU. However, speaking from personal experience, I come from a poor high school and our students who were more than qualified but financially needy got wait listed vs accepted. It seems as though they tend to wait list students who demonstrate financial need in an attempt to get higher paying students in first. If not enough paying students enroll, they then turn to the wait list.
I know fully well that WUSTL is need aware. I am not disputing that they take that into account in who to admit. The part of lostaccount’s statement I would need proof to believe is “full pay gets in at much lower levels of credentials compared to those requesting financial aid.” She(?) even uses the word “much”, and I am doubting they need to lower them at all since there are plenty of stat qualified students that can afford WUSTL full pay.
@fallenchemist I doubt they would be significantly lower in scores and what not. It’s basically comparing really high scores to even higher scores. So probably like a few decimal places for GPA or 2-3 points on the ACT. While it still sucks for students that were slightly better, the college deems the difference marginal and as long as the scores are still on par with their standards, financial need then becomes the determining factor. (This is just speculation of course but I doubt they would be willing to accept anyone with significantly lower than their average scores just because they can pay in fear of lowering the prestige of the school)
Glad you are following my posts! Wash U won’t publish a CDS. LOL. But there have been plenty of articles about my points and with quotes from Wash U staff. This is obviously not a publication but I’ve known many dozens of students who applied to Wash U and I’ve seen full pay students get accepted with scores in the 500s and lower 600s and seen those applying for aid get wait listed and rejected with scores well into the 700s and there is a very clear trend. It is not the least bit subtle.
As you say, speculation. It could just as easily be true that the stats are virtually identical, on average. No way to tell. 3 points on the ACT would be a huge move. If there even is a difference, we are more likely talking half a point.
In any case, as you can see from my original response to lostaccount, I was indeed focusing on her outlandish claim that there is a large difference. Outlandish until there is real proof, anyway. Not to mention defining the word “much”.
“Another issue has been WashU’s reliance on need-aware admissions, which administrators have long said is an economic necessity for the university. While most of the university’s peers and competitors have need-blind policies — which state that a student’s potential financial aid needs do not play a role in any admissions decisions — WashU is one of the few top colleges that accepts or rejects students based in part on their economic situation.”http://www.businessinsider.com/washington-university-universitys-economic-diversity-2015-1
http://www.wupr.org/2014/11/19/where-washu-is-worst/ “These skewed demographics are a result of Wash U’s need-aware admissions policies. Each year, Wash U receives roughly 30,000 applications, and since the admissions office expects about 1/3 of the applicants they accept to wind up attending Wash U, they accept roughly 5,000 students. First, the admissions office constructs their ideal class, without considering need. They then send that list over to the financial aid office, which tells them how many low-income students the university can afford to support, and how many they will need to replace with provisionally rejected/waitlisted individuals who can afford to pay full tuition. Despite being in the ideal freshman class, many students who needed aid will never see a WashU acceptance letter.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/education/elite-colleges-differ-on-how-they-aid-poor.html?_r=0
Obviously students who don’t need aid have a better shot at being admitted. So those admitted who need aid have to be stronger then those admitted who are wealthy and don’t need aid. If it were a close call, this would not be such an issue. But it is not a close call. The scholarship students, as a group, are stronger than the full pay group. And it is not a subtle difference at all. A comparison of the two goups would show the need based scholarship students to be significantly stronger than the full pay group. The fact that Wash U won’t publish its stats means…what does it mean when a school is not transparent about its stats? Perhaps that is a question to be answered by those objecting to my contentions.
I hate to break this to you but all the colleges that are need blind aren’t really need blind. They are all need aware. They know how to budget really well and on the common applications it states whether you need FA or not. So it’s not a secret! They already know the minute you submit your application if you need aid or not. They even know on average how much aid a student needs. I actually applaud WashU for being honest about being need aware.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out these colleges cannot accept everyone with FA. I’ve researched ND as an example which they classify themselves as need blind and oddly enough they have the exact same percentage year after year of how many students get FA. It’s rather ironic it’s the exact same percentage. But then again it makes sense. They have it down to a exact science.
Newjersey17 is correct and this is stated in the link lostaccount gave: http://www.businessinsider.com/washington-university-universitys-economic-diversity-2015-1: “Unlike other colleges, WashU is up-front about its need-aware policies.” But Wash U is concerned about this issue and that is why they have made scholarships a key part of the campaign, Leading Together. On February 22, 2016, Wrighton did send this update:
“To date we have raised $346.5 million in new scholarship support toward a minimum goal of $400 million and last fall we enrolled one of the largest and most diverse classes in our history – a direct result of our ongoing commitment to make Washington University accessible and affordable for all qualified students. Approximately 18 percent of the 1730 students in the Class of 2019 are member of underrepresented minorities…and about 11 percent of this academically strong freshman class is from families with high financial need…” The New York Times reported that they were at 6% last year (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/upshot/washington-university-aims-to-attract-low-income-students.html), but Wrighton’s letter says “up from 8% last year.”
In any case, lostaccount’s experience is, at the very least, out of date.
@lostaccount: Wash U has very few students with scores in the 500s, so unless they were all concentrated in your office, it seems unlikely that you had many students in this situation. I’ve seen athletes with scores between 500 and 600 get admitted to Stanford, too, but that doesn’t mean Stanford is doing something other Division 1 schools are not doing.
There’s more on this here:
https://source.wustl.edu/2014/02/leading-together-the-campaign-for-washington-university-is-shaping-the-future/
If your guidance counselor calls and asks, most colleges will tell you what number you are on the waitlist. Obviously if you are higher up on the waitlist you have a better chance of getting in. WUSTL is very open about admitting students who show interest as well. If you are waitlisted and really want to go to WUSTL, make sure to send an email to your local WUSTL representative with an update about any new awards, academic information, etc. to let them know you are very interested in attending. You can also include additional letters of recommendation as well.
Waitlisted at WustL. I really want to go here. guess i’ll have to try everything i can and see how it goes
We have indeed been following your posts. At long last . . . your response in post #14:
“03-31-2016 at 4:57 pm edited March 31
Obviously students who don’t need aid have a better shot at being admitted. So those admitted who need aid have to be stronger then those admitted who are wealthy and don’t need aid. If it were a close call, this would not be such an issue. But it is not a close call. The scholarship students, as a group, are stronger than the full pay group. And it is not a subtle difference at all. A comparison of the two goups would show the need based scholarship students to be significantly stronger than the full pay group. The fact that Wash U won’t publish its stats means…what does it mean when a school is not transparent about its stats? Perhaps that is a question to be answered by those objecting to my contentions.
Post edited by lostaccount on March 31”
^These speculative statements and accusations are your proof ? Really ?
The articles you cite and the cited text in your post #12 and post #13 do not support your speculative statements and accusations in post #14.
Similarly, the inference you have drawn from the anecdotal “proof” you cite in your post #10 does not support your speculative statements and accusations in post #14. The inference you have drawn is conjecture, at best.
You have made assertions about Wash U’s admissions in posts on a number of threads and presented those assertions as facts – so you have been asked repeatedly to furnish proof of your assertions. Since you have made the assertions, you bear the burden or proof to prove up those assertions.
The burden of proof does not rest upon Wash U – or anyone asking for your proof – to disprove your speculation and accusations. There certainly is no question to be answered by anyone asking for your proof. Nice try at making a closing argument with the rhetorical question posed in the penultimate line, but argument is not proof.
Repeating an outlandish assertion over and over again doesn’t make it so. As stated by @fallenchemist in post #11, “Outlandish until there is real proof, anyway”.