<p>oldolddad--My daughter applied for the Mylonas scholarship. I conveniently "forgot" that they only awarded three of these! ... I've never been particularly bitter about my daughter losing out on this--I know that Wash U. draws an amazing pool of applicants. ... OK, maybe a smidgen of bitterness. But I'll live and so will she!</p>
<p>It would be interesting to know how many students are only applying because of the possibility of merit money versus applying because they like the school. Would that be the same percent who apply to Duke, Caltech, Emory etcs those schools offer competitive scholarships to about he same percent of students?
Obviously the yield would indicate that it is not a first choice for many.</p>
<p>There are a total of about 100 scholarships with at least half tuition. Wash U does not say how many finalists are invited. If other schools are any indication, at least 150 finalists are invited, because not everybody accepts the offer.</p>
<p>My daughter applied for the merit scholarship and for the easy of double major at Wash U. On the other hand, without merit scholarship she will for sure not apply. Rice provides the same opportunity with lower expenses. My D has a descent scholarship from Rice, with no separate application.</p>
<p>A rejection letter come with a congratulation card is a serious insult. Just like somebody had an "C" and you congratulate him/her for that "C".</p>
<p>I hope Wash U will not send "Congratulation" card to students on waiting list or something like "Congratulations you made our waiting list even though you are not accepted". Or further to those rejected "Congratulations, even though you are not accepted you have an opportunity to apply for a transfer to Wash U in future years". Just kidding.</p>
<p>I want to point out that not everyone in the top 1% are equal. My D did not make Wash U top 150 indicates that the merit scholarship attracts many bright students.</p>
<p>WashU's marketing efforts are necessary and brilliant. They do not have the big brand name awareness and level of prestige of the Ivy's et al, and therefore are not the first choice of many of the cream of the crop students. That is why they offer merit scholarships while the Ivys don't. Do they overmarket the merit scholarships, maybe. But, at least they offer them!</p>
<p>When it comes to acceptances for both admittance and scholarships, WashU tries to assess how likely a candidate is to actually attend. They know that many of these 4.0/1600 SAT kids are applying to HYPS...etc and just threw an application into WashU. That is why they waitlist so many top candidates. Can you blame them?</p>
<p>Good point.</p>
<p>Er...maybe your kid just wasn't qualified enough? I'm sure your kid is brilliant. But you don't get 160K for nothing. It's highly likely that your kid just wasn't what Wash U was looking for. I don't mean to be inconsiderate. But my parents assumed the same thing as nervous1--they were assured that I was "too good" for Wash U when I got rejected for the scholarships. I explained to them that the scholarships were competitive enough--it would be arrogant and excessively wishful of me to assume that I was "too good" for Wash U.</p>
<p>I believe 100% that Wash U does waitlist top candidates for normal admissions. But not for scholarships.</p>
<p>Interesting comments. Rice offers about 10% its class academic money. Washu is nearer to 12-14% depending on multiple scholarship winners. But the sense is that it is tougher for Washu which says something about the strength of the Wash U pool and number of applicants. Rice is about 5 K per less in costs than WashU but I think it is more self-selective for applicants. Wash U is in th top 6 or so in number of National Merit Scholars enrolled so it attracts some amazing students. Interesting enough Chicago gives out only a third as many full scholarhips as Washu but has an enrollment that is larger. Yet because its applicant pool is smaller and at least by stats not as strong the perception may be that it is easier to get a scholarhsip there. For what ever reason the odds are against a person, especialy competing for one of the Arts and Sciences scholarhsips, to get one at WashU. Seems like every bright kid in the country is trying for one! There sure are a lot of amazng students out there.</p>
<p>scholarship awarding is a random thing. Quite a few students got merit scholarships did not get into Harvard or Stanford. On the other hand, many more Stanford or Harvard students did not get merit scholarships from the schools that offer. This is purely personal opinon of the admission office people. I uderstand that it is impossible for the admssion office to weigh each applicant's application equally. The thing I dislike the most is the fuss about essay. Which is used only as an excuse if somebody challenge a questionable decision.<br>
Essay is a subjective thing nobody can be absolutely sure essay a is better than essay b. Furthermore, how can you be sure the applicants wrote the essay themselves. I heard that many affluent families hire college consultant. How can you be sure the consultant did not write the essay?
My son was offered finalist interview from Wash U and my daughter was not. Ironically, my son did not put Wash U on top and won. My daugher does, but was not offered. Overall I feel they are comparable. This post is for academic purpose only because each of them won merit scholarship offer from other elite schools.</p>
<p>...This thread is distasteful.</p>
<p>Both of my kids were accepted to WUSTL, and none of them received a congratulations card, just the letter saying they were accepted (and the t-shirt, stickers, and a key chain). It’s strange…</p>
<p>cressmom lol
Not fair! I do not think my D got a key chain. I am going to check and if she did not I will be outraged! On the other hand if she accidently got two I will not post it!</p>
<p>i want a tshirt...is this only for a&s? cuz i got into olin. poo, i guess i'll just hafta buy my own tshirt.</p>
<p>My problem with WashU is that it's throwing tons of money to <em>buy</em> top students but at the same time is practicing need-aware (i.e. ability to pay is a factor) admission policy. To me, this practice shows WashU cares more about promoting itself than social justice. I have read that merit aid usually goes largely to higher-income families. It's disturbing to think of a poor student getting denied or left out simply because the school decides to use the money to buy another HYPS likely admit. If more schools follow WashU's example (due to its success and the fact the commitment to meeting need is under threat if they want to compete), more poor students will suffer in the process. My hope for WashU is to practice a NEED-BLIND admission and take care of the worthy but disadvantaged ones First before using tons of money to "buy" top students who aren't necessarily poor.</p>
<p>Who says they practice need aware admissions? If that were the case I know an awful lot of folks who should not have been accepted. They meet 100% of need for those deemed to have need. Where do you get this information? Having merit scholarships and giving financial aid are not mutually exclusive----except for HYPS et al</p>
<p>oldolddad, Wash U says they are not need-blind. I agree with Sam Lee that they need to fix that already.</p>
<p>Sam Lee - is your statement regarding merit aid going to mostly higher income families based on fact or just hearsay? Based on personal knowledge and having a kid in both the Ervin & Danforth Scholars programs - I have found just the opposite to be true. Most of the kids and parents that I have met are middle class or below. I know you like to bash WashU - but you should base your comments on more than just "reading" about something.</p>
<p>WashU offers approximately 150+ merit awards to the entering freshman class. That is a bit more than 10% of the entering class. It is very competetive and unfortunately most people don't realize the level of competition until this time of year. From my experience, they also go out of the way to work with people regarding financial aid.</p>
<p>I only received the keychain, decals, and t-shirt after I had sent in my deposit for Early Admission. It is probably the same for Regular Decision.</p>
<p>oldoldadd,</p>
<p>Your kid hasn't even enrolled at WashU and you already act like he/she has or you went there. :rolleyes: Do some research; it's not hard to find WashU's admission ISN'T need-blind: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_admissions_in_the_United_States%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_admissions_in_the_United_States</a>
<a href="http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/July01/568.presidents.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/July01/568.presidents.html</a>
If it were, I am sure WashU would be broadcasting it loudly, given the way its marketing itself.</p>
<p>I agree that in theory, having merit scholarships and giving financial aid are not mutually exclusive but in reality, they are on the opposite sides of a zero-sum game in most cases and that's the reason very schools are able to do both. Duke is the only school I know though I am not sure how long they can sustain it.</p>
<p>Just because you "know an awful lot of folks who should not have been accepted" (how exactly do you find out many people's financial background?) doesn't mean they don't practice need aware policy. Every school that I know of as need-blind states it very clearly and explicitly. Conversely, if schools don't tell you their admission isn't need-blind, chances are it isn't!</p>
<p>Also, meeting 100% of the need for the accepted ones doesn't mean the admission isn't need-blind. Many people confuse the two. </p>
<p>ST2,
I read about it and it's just common sense that most of those with the highest scores are not from poor families. "Higher income" doesn't necessarily means wealthy; it just means at least not poor. For example, you don't need to be from a wealthy family to get into those prep courses but you probably don't go to them if your family is poor. "Middle class" is exactly the group WashU likes targeting because they are the ones that would be faced with the tough decision of choosing HYPS with debt (the poor ones go to HYPS for FREE) vs WashU with merit-based scholarships. Wealthy ones will pick their first choice regardless since money isn't an issue. I am not bashing WashU (bashing implies lies and misinformation); in fact, I think WashU is probably ranked high and good enough to get great students using need-blind admission, even if it means sacrificing merit-based scholarships.</p>
<p>Mich_GIRL, I don’t think you could wear the T-shirt, I believe that they send the same size to everyone (XXL); my D disappears inside it, and I try to wash it a thousand times for my S to wear it, but it is still too big for him. (My D is in Olin too!).
Letsgorachel, yes it's the same, my S applied last year RD and my D ED and they both received the same package.</p>
<p>Michgirl, you just wait. You'll get every imaginable t shirt during the school year. My S is a junior and he was just purging his closet over the break and left quite a few ones for little brother- all Wash U t shirts!!! (Orientation Program Coordinator, Pep Band, 4in1, his WGE shirt, diversity, etc,etc).
Now we know where Wash U is spending their money- t shirts!!!! LOL</p>
<p>S did not get any scholarship either but he applied, knowing that it will be a long shot, so there was not a lot of expectations there. His roommate (from freshman up to now) is a Danforth and they are similar in so many ways. Who knows what this scholarship committees are looking for?
From a full paying parent I can say it is worth ever penny. We have to make some adjustments and sacrifices so the kids can go to the school of their choice. S2 is still deciding but he is already admitted to a comparable school and we might have to tighten our belts some more. After all a good education is the best inheritance we can give them.</p>