<p>Hello, </p>
<p>I am very interested in going to Washington University in St Louis, and I'm sure my chances are pretty slim. But I was wondering what they might be, and what I would have to do to improve them.</p>
<p>I just finished my junior year at one of the better high schools in my state. </p>
<p>I have not taken the SAT, but I scored a 28 on the ACT without studying and I am definitely planning on retaking it. I know it's a pretty weak score, especially for Washington U. </p>
<p>I took AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Art this past year and I am still waiting to receive my scores. I plan on taking an additional 2 AP courses, possibly an honors course, and dual enrolling at my community college next year. </p>
<p>I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA. I do not know my class rank, or if my school even calculates class rank, but I'm sure I'm in the top 10%. </p>
<p>As for extracurricular activities:
Varsity soccer since freshman year
10 years of club soccer
4 years of piano
I have participated in a community service club my school offers called ACTION
I am a National Honors Society member
I actively tutor during the school year
For the past two years, I have been a part of a mentoring program in my school district
I will be running cross country in the fall</p>
<p>I also have good relationships with many of my teachers, so getting recommendation letters shouldn't be a problem for me. </p>
<p>I will also be looking to play soccer in college. </p>
<p>Thanks. I'd really appreciate knowing how I stand and what I should do to improve my chances.</p>
<p>Your GPA is good, but WUSTL is known for placing a lot of emphasis on test scores, and yours is not competitive. I equate them with Vanderbilt (perhaps unfairly), where we were told that students below the normal range were almost all legacies, recruited athletes, or somehow had other major “hooks.” WUSTL doesn’t have the same sports traditions as Vanderbilt, but only 25% of their admitted students scored under 32 on the ACT. That is not an encouraging figure for you. Even if you were to raise your score by 2-3 points (more than that is unlikely), you would still be at the bottom of their range. What is it you particularly like about WUSTL? Why don’t you seek out other colleges that satisfy those criteria, but which are either test-optional or where your score falls within the median range. Your soccer might be a significant asset in some situations, but you would already know if you are being recruited for a major D-1 soccer program. Otherwise, it is a nice feature on your application, but not one that will compensate for low scores.</p>
<p>WUSTL is not a major DI soccer program, and that’s why it’s attractive to me soccer-wise. It’s DIII, and it is still possible for me to be recruited by them. I know it’s a reach school for me, but I just wanted to know if it was at all possible for me to get in. I have other colleges in mind where I fall into a good test score range. But if you don’t think there’s a good likelihood of me being accepted, what other colleges would you suggest that have strong academic programs (science especially) like WUSTL? </p>
<p>WUSTL is one of the most difficult schools to predict admissions. Our school’s Naviance plot has no rhyme or reason to it. If you are competitive, you have as good of a chance as anyone else. Applying ED would help a lot. </p>
<p>Use the Chances Forum</p>