Decision: Denied
SAT: 1260
GPA: 4.02
Decision: Waitlist!!
ACT: 32
W GPA: 3.91
No demonstrated interest
@homerdog I understand your frustration. I did not realize that no other merit scholarships would be given out after that.That was oversight on my part. I also have only just recently received decisions that I prefer over WashU. I also was not so aware of how much aid I’d get from high-endowment schools, and I was hoping to receive financial aid. I love WashU, and it’s actually quite difficult for me to turn down the offer. WashU accepts more students than they can take with the knowledge that a certain proportion will turn down the offer. They know that and account for it. I am sure that those students that you mentioned will attend amazing institutions, and I wish them the best
@homerdog Why would you be annoyed with kids who were accepted but won’t attend? Schools give our far more acceptances than spots had. They understand that about 60% will say no. It’s built into their yield. Why would a kid be obligated to attend a school to which they’ve applied Regular Decision?
Accepted RD WashU Class of 2023. ACT 34. W:11 4 SAT Subject exams with scores above 750. 2 Amazing recs from English and Anatomy/Physiology Teacher as well as one from my local newspaper editor. Applied for Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology as top choice and English as #2 for majors. 9 APs with 4s and 5s at the end of junior year. Class Rank #1.
My stats were decent, but not stellar. It was my ECs, writing initiative, and passion for the school that helped me get in. I visited and did a one-on-one interview with professors in the departments I was interested in. I also did an alumni interview and wrote the essay about volunteerism with Music & Memory experience.
Others achievements that may’ve helped: State of Iowa Youth Advisory Council(SIYAC) Executive Chairperson and 3 year member(working on an education bill that’s highly likely to be signed into state law), features writer for my local paper for the past 6 years, written for Hindu newspaper and Chicago Tribune, United States Senate Youth Program Delegate, Asian American Journalism Association JCamp Student Leader, National Society of Colonial Dames Student Leader, Coca-Cola Scholar, and World Food Prize Global Youth Institute.
@collegemom9 I’m upset because if, on the day someone gets an acceptance to a school that takes 8% of their applicants, he says he won’t go then he shouldn’t have applied. I really do look at it as kids taking spots that other kids could have had. Kids who would have matriculated. Kids with scores above Wash U’s 75th percentile. Kids who worked their butts off and are good people and curious students. You really don’t see threads where kids get accepted and in the same post say they aren’t going. There are multiple ones on this thread.
@homerdog It’s pretty inconsiderate to attack people who just found out that they won’t be able to attend when they saw their financial aid award; personally, the aid package I received was much less generous than WashU’s aid calculator predicted, and by no means was I certain of not being able to attend upon not receiving any merit scholarships. I’m not sure why you presume to know so much about WashU and their financial aid when your son did not apply, or why you feel it’s appropriate to comment on others’ financial situations.
@homerdog I’m sorry but this is how admissions works. One person’s dream school is another person’s safety. Some get inadequate or no financial aid anf can’t go. This is how it goes and you have to expect that 60-70% of the kids accepted will turn down their acceptances. The schools have planned for that. They certainly don’t anticipate or even want all the applicants to say yes.
I understand when kids don’t get enough financial aid upon acceptance. I guess I assumed that the kids saying they couldn’t go were kids who applied for the full tuition scholarship and were full pay and knew that, when they didn’t get the merit scholarship, that Wash U wouldn’t work for them. In that case, they should have removed their app from consideration. Of course, if a student thought they would get a certain amount of aid and did not, then I understand not being able to attend, but I believe Wash U is a meet full need school. So, if accepted, need would have been fully met.
@sliu412 You have nothing to apologize for. No one is obligated to take a spot offered in regular decision. You took nothing away from anyone.
There are some amazing resumes on here! Plenty that I would think would easily be admitted but I guess when there are 25k apps, there’s no way to accept everyone qualified.
Just to help the thread-denied
S, midwest, top 7% of 660 kids, CS major
Several AP, Multivar Calc, AP physics, CS, APUSH, Lang
35 ACT
EC- 4 yr sport, varsity, orchestra 9 yrs
He attended info session at school but did not talk to AO, after app, he was contacted and attended interview. No campus visit.
Fin aid would be needed to make it a possibility.
S accepted! 1570 SAT; Subject Tests: Math 800, Chemistry 790; 17 AP’s; A’s for 4 years; lots of leadership… we are thrilled!
Waitlisted with a 28 ACT and 3.63 GPA. It’s not all about stats anymore!
@homerdog I’ve actually seen lots of posts where people stated the finances wouldn’t work on decision day. Even the Cornelius Vanderbilt schol announcement had a post in that regard. And eliteness of a school doesn’t trump a families’ own determination of their education budget.
Really, she should have withdrawn her app?
It was what I predicted, but even knowing the old news, D was clicking around that portal like there might be different information. Still, it’s Her choice to get an answer. She put a lot of effort into it and that scholarship rejection hurt. I guess she’s not as honorable as those Full Pay, butt busting young men.
After 3 days of reading about everyone’s “spots”, I have limited patience for it, so forgive any tone.
@homerdog You know well enough that “meets full need” doesn’t mean much when the school’s determination of need doesn’t correspond to a family’s assessment of what they can pay. For so many of these schools, the parental contribution is unrealistic.
@homerdog A school meeting full need does not necessarily mean that the school is affordable for all admitted students. First, the need is decided by the school, not by the applicant’s family. The expected family contribution calculated by the CSS Profile schools are often higher than what many middle class families can pay, except a few super-selective schools with huge endowments like HYP. Secondly, there are different ways to meet needs. Some meet needs by mostly grants, reasonable Federal loans, and work study. Others meet needs by small or no grants and lots of loans. Once someone in the forum shared that the differences of the financial aid packages received from the meeting full need schools ranged from several thousand to 20K! BTW, for those who have financial need and apply to RD, isn’t comparing the FA packages a major purpose of RD? As collegemom9 said in post 189: No one is obligated to take a spot offered in regular decision.
This system is broken. I’m just feeling really bad for the kids I know who would be great additions to any school who didn’t get an offer. I’m not saying anyone who was accepted does not deserve the offer. I never once said that.
Financial aid should be more transparent. NPCs should be accurate and that way families can determine whether it works to apply whether it be ED or RD. Wash U offered spots to kids who can’t take them. And left many just as qualified kids who could make it work without an acceptance. Wash U has historically taken 15-20 kids from our school, many in RD. And more than half enroll which is pretty good for them. They changed their tune this year and took 7-8 in ED and, from what S19 knows, no one in RD. The kids are surprised as am I. And it just hurts to see kids accepted who can’t go when the kids I know (again super accomplished high scoring and kind friends to boot) won’t get the chance.
Those who know me a bit here know we are full pay. It’s my understanding, though, that one can run a NPC before they apply and see what need based financial aid will be offered and how that will be packaged. I myself ran a few while trying to see if we indeed would get no aid. If wash U’s NPC is so far off then shame on them.
Hey! I just got waitlisted by WUSTL and I’m honestly SO FREAKING HAPPY OMG!!! I got rejected from Tulane and Skidmore so this was a shock for me, but that’s a different story. Anyway, my stats are 1530 SAT, 4.0 (no APs nor IB, school doesn’t offer, but I take like 6 online courses! edX is honestly the best), a lot of leadership, varsity volley (not playing for college), super personal statement (literally ripped my heart out and squeezed it onto a piece of paper), etc. My question is - do people even get off the waitlist here? Like how many applicants do they put on the waitlist? Oh! Forgot to mention! I’m an international student from Russia who needs moneyyy (a lot of it) to attend.
@homerdog I couldn’t disagree more with you. These kids have no idea what schools they will get accepted to when they apply. Numerous acceptances come back between when they apply and when they receive notification. Things changed and he is no longer interested in Wash U vs other options he has. Who are you to say he shouldn’t have applied?
if there is an accepted student group chat, can someone message me it?