<p>There are actually a good number who were offered a spot off the wait list for the class of 2017, they were notified towards the end of april/ early may. So don’t give up hope. </p>
<p>Calling out WUSTL for highly questionable, unethical waitlist practices. My D was waitlisted with stats that generally exceed WUSTL’s medians (2350 SAT/3.90 UW GPA at a top prep school) and she had good extracurriculars (top state orchestra/4 year varsity sport). Not a problem, she never visited and she didn’t demonstrate much interest and to WUSTL that seems important. But nearly at the same time she received the waitlist letter, her college counselor received a phone call from the WUSTL admissions office and was told that if my D would attend they would immediately take her off the waitlist. Given the timing, how could this be anything but an artificial means for WUSTL to increase their yield while preserving their acceptance rate? Does anyone else find this watilist practice really shady? Either accept her or don’t; don’t play games with students’ futures so you can boost your US News ranking. </p>
<p>Yeah, Wash U seems to be doing this to game the rankings. Honestly, the caliber of students accepted and attending from my top-ranked HS aren’t all that high, but what all of them had in common was that they showed a lot of interest. This included attending the admissions rep meeting, visiting campus, having an on-campus interview, and applying for scholarships (especially the last one it seems). On the other hand, some of my super-qualified classmates went 4/5 for HYPSM and were waitlisted here too. </p>
<p>I think it’s a silly policy. They need to stop artificially boosting their numbers and stringing kids along like this. </p>
<p>At 0237 it would seem more appropriate to move on to more meaningful pursuits (like sleeping) than to pretend to know how an ADCOM makes its decisions.</p>
<p>@thebunny
First of all: if you can qualify for financial aid and this enables you to attend an expensive highly ranked college for free or virtually nothing, please don’t begrudge those who, equally qualified, might finally get some preferential treatment by being taken off the waitlist first simply because they can afford to pay. I would bet that most private (even highly ranked) schools’ financial models depend upon accepting a certain number of students who can afford to pay. This (in addition to endowments, etc…) helps to make it possible for them to offer financial aid to other students. If you qualify for financial aid, be thankful for them.</p>
<p>Also consider that there are many students (just as qualified, and in some cases, more qualified than others) accepted to private schools who don’t qualify for financial aid, but still can’t afford to attend these private schools. They often end up going to much cheaper state schools because they can’t afford to pay for the private schools. Meanwhile, other accepted students are attending the private school of their dreams simply because they qualify for financial aid.</p>
<p>Parenting3 your post was thoughtful and speaks for many middle and upper middle class families. I would agree that those who receive generous financial aid should be grateful and should make the most of their gift- one day they will be paying it forward so someone else’s child can attend college.</p>
<p>My daughter is a NMS who was WL at WUSTL, her first choice. She went in to it knowing that her excellent academic record and very good ECs would essentially buy her a lottery ticket for acceptance. She showed only a moderate amount of interest because she has a demanding schedule. She was accepted at her safety/second choice, a good state flagship that met her criteria on all points, offered her a generous merit aid package with a number of perks, and made her feel very wanted. She would have loved WUSTL but she will also love and get what she needs at the school she will attend and graduate with little or no money out of pocket. Congratulations to those who enroll. WUSTL is an amazing school but there are other very good fits for talented students other than the most highly selective. Best of luck to all of you seniors.</p>
<p>I think that people give WashU a lot more ■■■■ for gaming rankings when every other similar school does the same thing with a lot less outcry. My hypothesis is that some people don’t consider WashU a prestigious enough school to play the game, something they’ll forgive from an Ivy. Just a guess, though.</p>
<p>@Parenting3 I’m not trying to “begrudge” any of my fellow students admission. I think you’re assuming I am on a full ride but actually I receive no financial aid at at all. I’m very very lucky that my education is not a significant burden on me or my family, but how many people can say that, even in America? Many close to me do not have that privilege, and I know how devastating that can be. I am very conscious of having the luxury of a family who discouraged me from “worshipping money,” reminding me that there are more important things. I don’t want to suggest that anyone does not deserve to be here, simply that many others are denied the opportunity that money buys those students.</p>
<p>I have attended open forums and had discussions on boards with administration members and I understand that WashU is need aware because it has to be in order to maintain being the school I love The majority of the budget goes to faculty salaries/benefits/etc… I know it is really important to attract and keep a solid faculty and I appreciate that the Chancellor has made it a priority to improve WashU and its reputation. </p>
<p>That said, elitism and classism are problems at most top universities. Even ignoring social justice issues broadly in academia, universities should try to avoid becoming a homogenous community. I know WashU does not have the resources to provide everyone who is qualified to attend the chance to attend. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t keep pushing for changes on a campus I love toward goals to improve itself and broader communities. Nothing happens without movement from students, faculty, and alumni.</p>
<p>@thebunny
Well said. Thanks for clarifying for me. </p>
<p>Any recent waitlist activity? </p>
<p>@Singergurl1125 None that I know of. I contacted the admissions office and they’ve told me that it’s still too early to know whether they have any open spots for waitlisted students…</p>
<p>How is it too early to know? Wasn’t their deadline for acceptance/SIR due May 1 like all other colleges? </p>
<p>The representative I spoke with today said they didn’t anticipate needing to go to the waitlist at this time, but that they still weren’t ready to send final answers. She sounded very irritated- I’m sure they’re getting lots of calls</p>
<p>In your opinion, do you guys think that WUSTL will utilize the waitlist for this upcoming year?</p>
<p>The Wash U admisstions website says the following. Do you think that means they won’t go to the waitlist?</p>
<p>Enrollment Deposit Deadline Passed
Published on: May 2, 2014 </p>
<p>May 1 was Washington University’s freshman enrollment deposit deadline, as well as the National Candidate Reply Date. Washington University’s Class of 2018 is now full.</p>
<p>Please contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions if you would like to speak with an admissions officer. </p>
<p>Wow. Looks like my last chance to go to college this year is gone… I guess I’ll try again next year and the year after that and the year after that. Sigh.</p>
<p>actually, if some of the enrolled students get the waitlist offer of another school and decide to leave, some students will leave the wustl waitlist…but chance is very rare.</p>
<p>Just an fyi to those on the website - the APAP newsletter that went out today also corroborated that "Students who were admitted to the fall 2014 class had until May 1 to accept our offer of admission. At this time, our freshman class is very full and we do not expect to make any additional offers of admission. "</p>
<p>APAP information is generally quite accurate, and I’d wager to guess that if they’re announcing this to alumni then it’s set in stone. </p>
<p>Dingy1 - this is highly unlikely. I’d imagine that if they know it’s full only 1 week after the deadline then it’s probably larger than the target #, not equal to. So students leaving if offered a waitlist spot at some other school (which is quite rare to begin with) does not make the class any less full.</p>
<p>Then why are they not changing waitlist letters to rejection ones?</p>
<p>They just did- lol</p>