<p>I'm pretty sure this is somewhere around the thousandth duplicated thread asking this question, but I've seen a lot of conflicting opinions and I'm not so sure. I know the college application process is pretty random, especially for a top school like WashU, and there are no guarantees for anything but I'm still freaking out a little.</p>
<p>I know my stats are pretty solid: 4.0/4.6 GPA, 2300 SAT, 2 800s on SAT IIs (and 2 mid-750s, no retakes), pretty good ECs (various clubs: VP/treasurer, co-founder/visual director [student magazine], co-pres), decent letters (I hope, I've talked to my counselor more than most kids and I've known one of my rec writers for all of high school from one of my ECs), and my CA essay was fairly solid. I don't do music or sports at really high levels or anything but I've done two sports at JV level and I've played piano for 8 years (haha I'm asian surprise surprise -___-)</p>
<p>So far, I've been accepted to Berkeley as a Regents Scholar candidate and was also invited for the UCLA Regents Scholarship, but I applied for USC on their early deadline and wasn't invited to compete for the merit scholarships.</p>
<p>I'm wondering if this is because of all the randomness in the college application process/if it really is Tufts Syndrome, or if my Common App just happened to suck in comparison to my UC application. I don't know if this also plays a factor, but my school is pretty competitive (5-10 HYPSM admits every year). I didn't really show any interest in WashU at all and I applied for financial aid.</p>
<p>Thoughts? Thanks!</p>
<p>I think three things hurt your chance at WashU:
- not showing interest
- The Asian applicant poll is the most competitve group at WashU
- WashU is needs aware - applying for FA can hurt applicants on the bubble</p>
<p>^all three of those applied to me, and I’m still here. I’ve always doubted that those factors really weigh in as much as some people believe.</p>
<p>From what you posted and not knowing what you wrote your essay about, I think the single biggest reason you didn’t get in is that nothing in your application stands out from any other high stat, good recs, piano playing, school clubs, school sports, Asian applicant. They’re a dime a dozen. WashU has its pick of the best of them. You pretty much nailed it when you said “haha I’m asian surprise surprise -___-.”</p>
<p>Of course, I’m just speculating, don’t take it personally.</p>
<p>The truth is none of us have a clue. However, you seem to be in a good position with Berkeley and UCLA so I wouldn’t worry too much or get too tied up in the whole process. Although the poster above (and you yourself) put that you’re an Asian stereotype, you also must take into account that many many Asian stereotypes do end up getting accepted into ivy leagues and other top tier colleges. But at the same time, the process can be very much based on luck, meaning one stereotype does get in whilst the rest of the crowd doesn’t. If you think about it, most people don’t get accepted into all of their top tier schools unless they clearly stand out but instead get into one or two. The decision can be subjective enough as to depend on what mood the admissions officers were in when reading your essays or what type of student a school was looking for at that particular time. So don’t worry about getting waitlisted at one school - you have good stats and seem quite confident about the other aspects of your application so I’m sure good news will come your way!</p>