Waitlisted...

<p>My son was also waitlisted with solid credentials. He had the advantage, however, of seeing the admission process with his older brother. Yes, he was very disappointed as Wash U was his #1 pick, but he knows that admissions are a crap shoot. Tons of qualified students and too few spots. You can never take a rejection or a waitlist personally. It will drive you crazy. As long as you know you did your best, you move on to the next goal. In the long run, things always work out.</p>

<p>The best piece of advice I have seen on CC. Smithview has nailed it.</p>

<p>"Tons of qualified students and too few spots. You can never take a rejection or a waitlist personally. It will drive you crazy. As long as you know you did your best, you move on to the next goal."</p>

<p>I’ve been waitlisted too and I need some advice about writing a letter of continued interest. What exactly should I put in it and what changes should be noted in the letter? Are testing out of an additional year of a language and self-study APs significant enough to put on it? Also, when should I send the letter? Immediately or after I receive decisions from my other top choice? Thanks!!!</p>

<p>@runeaglerun12
I totally feel your pain—my ultimate rival, despite having worse stats +Ecs,got accepted. I’m mainly trying console myself by blaming it on having a way lower income level than him—but I still feel like my future is ruined.</p>

<p>Got Waitlisted.</p>

<p>2280 SAT; 3.7 GPA, ACT 35. Took 11 AP courses. Good ECS.</p>

<p>got accepted, 26 act 3.4 GPA., URM. letsgo</p>

<p>Waitlisted. 33 ACT, 3.7 or so GPA, top 6% of class, editor-in-chief of newspaper, 2 varsity sports, etc. </p>

<p>I didn’t “demonstrate interest” or visit, so I understand. A few less qualified classmates got in, which is a little surprising to me. But seeing some very strong candidates get waitlisted (more qualified than most Wash U students), it just shows that the school isn’t top-tier, and knows that it cannot reel in some of its top RD applicants. Congrads to everyone who got in, and I hope everything works out for everyone who got waitlisted</p>

<p>Accepted! AND I’m OVER-QUALIFIED (according to you guys).</p>

<p>4.0 GPA
34 ACT
2230 SAT
Top 5% out of a big class
14 AP (including this year)
Major science and math awards (AIME, Siemen’s, ISEF, STS - Not saying the specific ones)
Student government
Varsity Athlete (State qualifying athlete, all american academics)
Hundreds of hours Volunteering
Great teacher’s rec
National Merit Finalist
Applied for Financial Aid (But probably getting none cause parent’s make too much)</p>

<p>Oh what did I do? I actually demonstrated interest and didn’t act like some of you guys are acting right now by saying I have solid credential and thus should be accepted.
This school is higher tiered than y’all think. Just because you didn’t get accepted doesn’t mean it’s not top tier. Sorry Duke waitlisted 3000 people, it must not be high tier. Sorry Yale waitlisted about 1000 people, it must also not be high tier.
What makes you think you that YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED? DID YOU SEE THE ENTIRE APPLICATION POOL? I mean I can say that a student who has a 3.7 from Philips Andover than many of the 3.7 from your school. Just because you might be top in your school doesn’t mean you are competitive in the entire pool.
I wanted to make this post to counter all of your guys trying to put down WUSTL.</p>

<p>@coffeeannarbor Congrats for getting in! But I think you said all that stuff above just because you got accepted… If you were one of the waitlisted, you wouldn’t say that… Just think about other’s situation before you criticize others…
Personally I am happy with the decision I got… I believe that those who were waitlisted were just people who couldn’t show WUSTL their interest effectively…
I do agree, however, that WUSTL is a top and competitive college and has the right–just as every other college has-- to waitlist whatever amount of students they think its necessary… I hope all the people who got waitlisted cheer up! Being in the waitlist actually means that we do have potential. Wish everyone get good news from colleges soon!</p>

<p>If a girl/guy doesn’t want to date you, does that mean she/he isn’t really that great? Does it mean she/he is manipulative? Does it mean you’ll never find a partner? I think most people realize that different people look for different things. That’s how admissions decisions work too. </p>

<p>You’ll see that some schools will like your application more than your friends’ applications and some won’t. Some readers will find your essay moving and some will think they are trite. “Intellectual” essays will impress some readers and others will find them pseudo-intellectual. Some schools will value two varsity sports and some won’t. </p>

<p>Look at the stats of Wash U students posted on College Board. (Avoid making conclusions from sites, like this one, that use self-reported statistics.) The statistics you see on College Board are very impressive. The stats you have posted are impressive too. That’s how you all got to this point. But they don’t tell the whole picture. I’ve met quite a few students at Wash U and they are really talented, energetic people. Wash U is not rejecting/waitlisting all its top applicants. It’s choosing some of those applicants based on deliberation and things that matter to them. There’s much more to an application than the stats—stuff that just doesn’t show up on CC. Wash U may have more than enough candidates from Missouri; Brown may not have enough. Division I schools will take different athletes than division III schools. It’s hard to understand if you aren’t part of the decision-making team.</p>

<p>As admission rates drop, students apply to more schools EA or ED. This drives EA/ED acceptance numbers down and rejections and deferrals up. Then students apply to 10 – 15 schools, driving admission percentages down and waitlists up. It’s unclear what this means; perhaps you’ll have a better chance of getting in off a waitlist this year than in previous years.</p>

<p>This is not unique to Wash U. Some LACs waitlist more than five times the numbers of students they need to fill the class once the early decision applicants are taken into account. So why do they do it? Most of you will get in somewhere you really want to be and you’ll take your name off the waitlist. The school can’t have an empty engineering lab, for example, so they need enough engineers to remain on the waitlist if they need them. They want students from every state. They want students from as many countries as possible. All this will play into the creation of the waitlist as well as who gets off. If you are interested in the school, update your application and write them a thoughtful letter. If you are not interested, move on. I will say that one of the best students I ever had was one who got into my school (not Wash U) off the waitlist.</p>

<p>In a few weeks, with a few acceptances under your belt, everything will be different.<br>
Remember that accepted students and rejected students can read these posts and all the other posts on CC. Before you post, ask yourself if you would want to read it posted on the site of the place you hope to attend.</p>

<p>Can someone please answer my question about when to send letter of continued interest ? B4 or after other college decisions come out? Also --self study aps ( 2) worth putting
in? I have 15 already but self studying additional 2 this year( planned before this yr started not just for this letter)</p>

<p>I’d send your letter of continued interest as soon as possible. That shows that no matter what school you applied to, your still interested in WashU. Are you able to visit campus soon? By visiting campus and scheduling a meeting with an admissions officer there, you will show a lot of interest, which will bump you to the top of the wait list.</p>

<p>I’d compile a nice list of further accomplishments (along with your 2 APs) and send an email to an admissions officer.</p>

<p>@cahsparent
Not asian, white. Takashi Saito is a baseball player…I’m sure my ethnicity didn’t help, though.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/1302136-those-who-complain-about-tufts-syndrom.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/1302136-those-who-complain-about-tufts-syndrom.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Feel free to join in.</p>

<p>To the people who were recently waitlisted by WashU:
It’s interesting to note that they are ranked 7th in the nation in terms of admissions selectivity, so I doubt that anyone could even be “overqualified” for this place. To consider yourself “overqualified” for WashU is absolutely pathetic and just ego-boosting. There are ways to cope with rejection (I was rejected ED – not a good feeling), but the best would be to accept it and just move on. It seems like many people on this forum haven’t had to deal with failure or rejection before – consider this something of a learning experience.</p>

<p>Mango15</p>

<p>Thanks for the thorough response! I’ll send one ASAP. Unfortunately, I will not be able to visit until early April because I have spring break then and it’s a ten hour drive away. Im mostly worried that if I visit then they might think it’s because I got rejected from other colleges and it would work against me? I think I’ll just wait for decisions from my other top choice before visiting. What do you guys recommend?</p>

<p>My college counselor advised me to wait for other top decisions ^ so that I could truly commit to Wash if needed</p>

<p>Does anyone actually know the WashU yield rate? Is that public knowledge?</p>

<p>agree with vk77, it’s ranked 7th for selectivity</p>

<p>Yes, I was admitted ED, but regardless, if Wash U truly rejected most “over-qualified” students, then it wouldn’t have the 2nd highest number of NMS recognized students, and Olin wouldn’t have the #1 highest SAT scores for undergraduate business schools. Also, over 90% of students were in the top 10% of their class. Many of you (not all of you) are completely undermining the accomplishments of the students who WERE admitted, making us feel like second-rate students even when Wash U was our first choice.</p>

<p>Overqualified to wustl?.. Check your ego. People there are brilliant, and more importantly, humble.</p>