Hey everyone! I was wondering what my chances are of getting into Washington & Lee? I applied regular decision with the Johnson Scholarship. However, an admissions officer was not available in my area for an interview. (I contacted the school about this and they said it was totally fine, they’d put in my file that I had at least tried.) I’m an only child, my mom is a housewife in her late 50’s and my dad is 65, works full-time and will be receiving a kidney transplant later this year. My parents make most of their money, though, throigh the stock market. How will this affect my chances of getting in/receiving a scholarship?
Anyways, here are my basic stats:
SAT English: 710
SAT Reading: 600
SAT Math: 550
SAT SS Lit: 600
SAT SS History: 720
AP Euro: 3
AP US History: 4
AP English Lang: 5
(Currently enrolled in AP US Gov, AP English Lit, AP Statistics.)
I’ve taken all Honors/AP courses in English and Social Studies. I’ve taken Honors Bio, Chemistry and Forensic Science. For Math, I’ve taken Geometry, Algebra 2, College Algebra (through the community college) and now AP Stats.
GPA: 3.9 weighted
Class rank: Top 1/3 (my school is EXTREMELY competitive, has been ranked the best public high school in my state for many years.)
Extracurriculars:
Varsity Debate (2 years)
Varsity Forensics (3 years and State qualified)
Advanced Mock Trial (3 years, 1st place twice at the regional competition, 3rd place at State, still awaiting the tournaments for this year.)
JV Tennis (2 years)
JV Swimming (3 years)
Varsity Swimming (1 year)
Literary Magazine (2 years)
Jobs:
Babysit (10 hours a week or so)
Lifeguard (during the summer 40+ hours a week)
If it helps, I had killer essays (I’ve been told I should major in something like English or Writing, but so far I’ve decided on History. I haven’t decided what I’ll double major in, but I do want to minor in Spanish.)
And I can guarantee that I have three superb letters of recommendation.
Thanks so much!
(Oh, and when should I be expecting a letter from W&L?)
Johnson semifinalists are typically notified by the end of January, and if you are a semifinalist, you will be admitted (unless you are a behavior problem at the on-campus competition). Your scores, class rank, and coursework are low to be truly competitive for the Johnson, but it’s possible that your strong EC’s, recs and essays can compensate. The Johnson applicant pool has become both larger and higher-stats in the past few years as the scholarship has become better known.
Your dad’s health, source of income, age, etc. have no effect on your admission/scholarship chances. Perhaps you were asking about how your lack of an interview impacts your consideration? If there is no opportunity to interview with an area alum or a visiting admissions staffer, I’m guessing you live in an area that is far away/under-represented, and this should not hurt your chances.
I’m very sorry to tell you, but you do not seem competitive at all for W&L. A 550 in M, only 600 in CR, no impressive extracurriculars AND applying RD… I would not get my hopes up if I were you. And I’m not trying to be mean, just realistic.
What is "No impressive extracurricular? What exactly is wrong their EC? What will impress W&L?
Pretty sure my son will not get invited… what do you think?
Weighted GPA is 3.8 with mostly College level classes (10 AP classes of which the 7 taken -6 were 5’s and 1 was a 4) So he earned a AP scholars Distinction
National Merit Commended in Maryland
ACT 32 Composite
SAT 2280 Composite
Reading 740
Math 750
Writing 790
Extracurricular is typical : Athlete CC and Track all four year JV and Varsity, Various Clubs.
BUT he didn’t interview. We have never visited and he didn’t take any SAT specialized test as almost all the schools he applied to didn’t need them. We really only applied since we got a fee waiver and it is local to us being in Maryland. I wish now we had looked at the school closer but it is too late now. Pretty sure this is a long shot.
BB1945, your S’s SAT looks great (I got in with lower scores in all sections), can’t really judge his GPA but looks like a rigorous curriculum (lots of APs). Not having great ECs isn’t a deal-breaker, it’s just that having something spectacular could make up for OC’s poor stats. W&L is a school that needs to feel the love, and not applying ED and not interviewing might waitlist your son. Make sure he contacts the admissions office to let them know he is very interested etc.
WILLBLPRT thank you for the advice! He did contact about an interview but was pushed off by the local alumni to another Alum and then we got word he got some good scholarships locally so he didn’t follow up on that. He is a bright kid and I can honestly say he did not study for any of those AP test or the SAT/ACT. He says he is just a good test taker but I once again wish he had looked closer at this school and done all the extra steps! We visited JMU and VT and W&L was right in between of I81 but we just didn’t know about it really. I will tell him to let them know he is interested! Thanks!
Quite honestly, JMU and VT would be a bit of a waste of your son’s brains. Not to bash those schools, they are fine, but your S would be on the top ~3% of their class in terms of SATs (which, arguably, measure general intelligence). Even at W&L he would be in the top ~20%! He could have even shot for the Johnson Scholarship (Full Tuition, Room & Board for all years). Oh well, let the office know W&L is a top choice and he could definitely be in. Best of luck!
SATs have not been shown to measure general intelligence. They have been shown to quite accurately predict first-year performance in college. That’s it. Because they are easy to compare, they have taken on an exaggerated importance to people who are applying to colleges. Your SAT scores are very good, but by themselves won’t get you invited to the Johnson interviews. Your Johnson essay is at LEAST as important.
I don’t think you will be hurt by your not having an alumni interview as long as the school knows you tried. If an alumnus doesn’t get it together enough to interview you, I doubt an admissions officer would hold that against you.
Your AP scores likely won’t mean much here. It’s a good achievement, but they will pay a lot more attention to the grade you got in the class. It does look like you’ve really challenged yourself in your course selection. That is big plus.
A 3.8 weighted GPA may or may not be impressive. Depends on how hard your school grades. What’s your class rank? If a 3.8 puts you in the top 10% of your class, you have a good shot at a Johnson, assuming you wrote a good essay. If 3.8 puts you in the top 20%, it will be a lot tougher. What’s the trend of your grades? And, how did you perform in math, science, history, English, and foreign language? Those are all things that go below the surface of the GPA that tell a more complete story.
@WILLBLPRT Too funny. As out of state student were not even sure he will get into VT!! VT is the only big school he would apply to. He doesn’t want that big college experience. He thinks he need a smaller school so he can engage with professors and as a parent I just want him to be comfortable and not come out with a lot of debt. W&L was not at all on our radar until they sent us a fee waiver and asked him to apply to the Johnson plus we realized it was close. Is this considered a prestigious school. It looks to be a very good school but I am concerned about the school being heavy on Greek and partying. He’s not against having fun and he is definitely not going to be talked into anything but he doesn’t want to deal with drunk kids all the time so I am not sure if that is the case at W&L with such a high Greek Life and partying reputation.
There is a lot of partying at W&L, although there are students who don’t drink much and people don’t give it a second thought. But it’s not what I’d call a party school. Students work incredibly hard. W&L consistently ranks high among those schools where students log the most hours studying. It is very rigorous and, to specifically answer your question, it is considered a prestigious school.
@bellybones I said arguably. But I do think it correlates with IQ pretty well. It certainly correlates with admit letters well.
@BB1945 W&L is a very prestigious school. It is among the top 30 in the nation (Forbes Ranking) and it also ranks 19 for salaries (Payscale). Your S will get incredibly close contact with faculty (average class size less than 20). Also, they will meet your demonstrated need, so you need not worry about graduating with debt. And well, I was just admitted so I can’t talk with confidence about the atmosphere, but W&L has a reputation for a “Work Hard, Play Hard” vibe. Frats have high GPA requirements and the academics are very demanding so I doubt people are drunk all the time :>
Oh, and VT is pretty much a safety for your S, even being OOS. State schools tend to be a lot more formulaic with admissions, so even if he has terrible essays, recs and activities it’s likely he’ll get in.
Well Thank you both! No he is an excellent writer so I don’t think that would hold him back but if you go on the VT forums it sounds so hard to get into the school. He is not applying for the Engineering program though. He just got notice of pretty much a full ride at UMBC which is the only Maryland state school he would apply to. It is a honors college and is excellent in the area of computer and cyber-security as this will be staffing the new 30K NSA jobs coming here. But he doesn’t want to go that direction so it will be hard to go with the state school. I won’t tell him that W&L is considered a prestigious school. He has a bad connotation about the “ivy” level of students. He is one of those kids that doesn’t even really understand how smart he is and thinks he doesn’t like the smart kids, He wants that perfect blend of classmates that challenge him and yet aren’t competitive. We have a very competitive school and the kids that think their smart and are snobby about it drive him nuts and he wants no part of that. I am glad to hear that W&L has smaller classes. We really should have visited! Oh and I don’t understand what “they will meet your demonstrated need” means? Thanks for all the help!
No problem
Meeting the demonstrated need means that, if he checked the box that said he would like to apply for Financial Aid, W&L will calculate how much your family can contribute yearly without incurring in loans, and most selective colleges do the same thing. Oh, and this has nothing to do with the Johnson Scholarship, which is mostly merit-based. Just to give you an idea, a family income of around 75k/year means free tuition (this is called the W&L promise). Oh and regarding the snobbiness: I visited, and people were incredibly friendly; everyone at W&L is really really nice and polite, but not pretentious intellectually. They are, however, very preppy and well-off, which I guess can cause the impression of snobbiness. There are many study groups and people do not seem cut-throat competitive, but it is a top-tier school, after all, so most work hard to get good grades.
Absolutely agree with @WILLBLPRT that W&L students are friendly and hard-working, but by no means is everyone well-off. Over ten percent of the class of '18 receive Pell Grants, and 31 first-years are first generation college students. Most of D’s friends have either a campus job (not restricted to work-study students), a steady babysitting job, or work off-campus.
@yaupon Sorry, that was a poor generalisation on my part. But the overall fell of the student body is definitely preppy and well-off, which I’m fine with btw.
