Accepted to College of Art! Super happy. Anyone else?
our son was wait listed too! stats wise and GPA and APs, ECs etc he would easily be in the top 5% of incoming Wash U students…am wondering what is considered lot of demonstrated interest …our son goes to one of the top schools (top 10 public/magnet/charter) in the country based on the US News ranking of high schools …for the last 10 years!!
when the admissions people visited his school, he went and talked to them and gave his name and told them it was one of his top choices, and took the name of the person and communicated etc. (could not visit the campus)…am wondering if you do not apply to ED1 or ED2 --does that mean not enough interest…especially for Olin?
@kg2013 I’m also from one of those schools (top 20 private school). I RD’d and was admitted to Computer Science
In regards to interest, I showed a ton. I visited from New York and did an interview. My app emphasized specifics about the university and also collaboration. I also tried to form the app around things that I had researched – WashU admissions likes to see some specific things in order to determine a good fit for their community.
I believe the visit is quite important for demonstrated interest. But to get a real answer, you’d have to ask an actual admissions person (and hope he’s honest).
Any idea how many WashU waitlists? And how many they take off waitlist? My daughter was waitlisted with strong stats (as many others here) – 35ACT, 3.98UWGPA, great leadership ECs, strong essays etc. Visited, interviewed and met AO when came to high school.
^^ This is literally my exact situation as well 
I was very surprised to be waitlisted. There are some pretty good answers to your questions on the “Waitlist FAQ” if you click on the waitlist reply form on the portal.
@slb176 it’s possible that they waitlisted her because they think her application is strong enough that she’ll probably get into better universities, and they don’t want to lower their yield. If that’s the case, then if she shows continued interest she would almost certainly be admitted off the waitlist.
Our DD was accepted into the Dual Program, Computer Science and Business, in the Olin School. I will chime in on financial aid. The actual EFC, is double what the NPC showed. She’s awaiting the decisions from several other schools over the next 12 days. There are 3 schools, that she favors above WashU on that list. Those 3 have more favorable EFC’s by a lot. If she gets shut out of those three, she’s heading to WashU, and we’ll make the finances work.
When my daughter got in ED in December 2015, I like to think that her name did get pulled out of a hat.
What she did though was to make sure she had extra “chips” in the hat with her name on them by demonstrating interest, having ACT scores and GPA in the higher part of the 50% range, participating in good ECs, writing a compelling and unique Common App essay, applying ED, etc…
I was surprised I was waitlisted, too. My stats aren’t the highest, but they’re definitely average and in WashU’s range. I also showed a ton of demonstrated interest since I visited twice (first my sophomore year and once to literally just interview and it was a 6 hour drive). I also talked to the WashU rep at multiple college fairs in my area AND WashU invited me to interview again in my area with an alum, so I did that as well. So I don’t think not showing enough demonstrated interest is necessarily the reason for everyone to get waitlisted. Maybe I didn’t emphasize collaboration enough in my application, but I guess I’ll never know.
I read all the comments --and still I think many of the RD candidates probably indicated that they do not need a single cent from Wash U and showed some unbelievable interest in Wash U --to get in as RD because of what happened in our son’s school.
Proof - two people, both with lower stats and less significant ECs, got in but both of them applied for ED! By the way, they were willing to do that because they most likely did not need any financial help from Wash U! Many people as indicated above cannot take that risk.
@JemmaSimmons I want to thank you for this post. After reading it and re-reading my D’s essay, I am certain that this is why she was denied. Sounds like they are not interested in diversity when it comes to personality.
@oldforester What do you mean “they are not interested in diversity when it comes to personality”? Have you visited WashU and attended any campus events? The campus has the same vibe now as it did when I attended over 30 years ago: friendly, collaborative, and students wanting to succeed. The one thing that changed my son’s mind about even applying to WashU was the students he spoke with at the Lunch with Students when we visited – he chatted for hours with them, felt an immediate connection to the school, and knew it would be “home” for him.
@oldforester Thank you for your comment, but I think you slightly misunderstood my message. There must certainly are a wide range of personalities on campus. The one thing that is common is the ability to play well with others, though. Even as an introvert who does not easily make friends (as an indicator of my personality, to show that WashU is not just a bunch of outgoing, bubbly people), I find this “trait” to be more about friendliness than actual personality. Politeness, collaborative ability, and overall respect and support for peers are learned abilities and choices more than personality traits, in my opinion. So yes, if you mean to say that WashU does not want to diversify away from a willingness to be collaborative, that would be mostly true. However, I would not make the leap that they do not diversify personality.
I was recently accepted to Washu 2023 and I guess I could speak as a testament to the whole personality thing. I’m pretty independent and also pretty introverted, but that’s not to say I can’t collaborate with others I just find I prefer working by myself where I feel I have more control. However, I do believe my reasons for getting in were luck and having a few “stand out” extracurriculars if you will. Being smart, being talented, and doing a lot of clubs,sports, etc don’t seem to be enough anymore. One must have an extracurricular or a few which almost no one else applying can claim to have as well as simply have a bit of luck. However, i find it slightly offensive that one would suggest personality as somehow being why a person did or did not get in, merit above all is what decides a student’s acceptance most usually.
Accepted RD! 34 ACT, 4.0 uw, 4.76 w, 11 ap classes total, strong ECs, and what I thought were pretty good supplements. Never visited and applied for financial aid. Does anybody who was also accepted know if WashU is covering hotels as well for Bear Days?
Accepted Students’ Celebration Days’ flights, lodging, & meals are all free for the student. WashU just emailed us our son’s airline ticket. Our son was a Regular Decision accept. He took the SAT only once and scored a 1550. He has a weighted GPA of 4.3. He has 11 AP classes (scored mostly 5s). He did a college summer program for 5 years from 7th to 11th grade. His extra curricular show a deep interest in Medicine and Community Service - medical mission trip to South America, clinical rotations in a local hospital, weekly tutoring in local disadvantaged schools, graduating in the top 3% of his class-he goes to a highly rated, competitive private school. We did visit the school but he did not have an admissions officer nor an alumni interview.
@diba.ghaed – first of all Congrats!! You are the first one here that did not visit the campus and still made it…and also applied for financial aid too–Kudos!! yet to see someone with your background getting RD…you are the closest case to our son with respect to academics (of course one cannot compare the GPA --because our son goes to a different type of school --where the valedictorian got a 3.90 UWGPA-- it is a public magnet school that is ranked).
Can you tell us what is the major you will be pursuing? Good Luck!
@diba.ghead --what I meant when I stated your case is closest to our son - we did not visit other than showing interest during Wash U visit to his school and meeting the recruiter etc…& applying for financial aid etc…
Hi I’m new to college confidential and this post will likely be half rant and half question. I was accepted to WashU RD and it is easily my top choice college and I believe my personal best fit from the schools I applied to. My financial aid quote from WashU puts me at 42k a year and I can only afford a max of 36k a year. I am incredibly interested in attending WashU and am fully ready to commit but I need the cost to be brought down to at least 36k by the school. What is the appeal process for financial aid? Should I do it through email, over the phone or wait until my Bear Day visit on April 4 and 5. I have established an amazing relationship with my admissions rep, how do I best let her know of my current situation? Furthermore, I have received larger offers at both Case Western and Tulane, would these count as comparable peer institutions to use in negotiations? Thanks for all your help College Confidential!
P.S. If anyone knows of an accepted WashU group I’d love to join.
@Wumbology38 there’s a FB group I know you can join
interested in hearing answers for above as well