Hi, I’m an uprising junior in highschool and I’m interested in Wash U with other schools. So what did u do to get in? I know grades and act score are important, but what about outside of that? What helped you get in besides grades? I wanna do as much as I can in junior year to help my chances. I will most likely do the pre med route. Thanks! Looking at colleges is very fun!
WashU places a lot of importance on demonstrated interest, so it is very important to show them that you are really serious about attending. My daughter was accepted this year, and I think it really helped her that she visited twice and had an on-campus interview.
I had literally zero demonstrated interest. Was not even on the mailing list. Pretty sure my ECs and CommonApp essay got me in.
I’d assume though that most highly selective colleges, including WashU, care about yield and thus demonstrated interest to an extent.
Hi Hamzag-
I know you asked for students to reply, but I am a parent of a child (that was waitlisted at WashU). Wanted to share my observations after watching the results from our high school. Two things jump out at me:
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Demonstrated interest at Wash U seems to be very important for most candidates. That means not just visiting, but also make sure to apply for scholarships even if you don’t think you have a chance at getting them. One exception to this may be if you have another type of hook (ie, recruited athlete, legacy, URM). My son was already accepted Early Action at his top choice and did not apply for scholarships and only visited once during his sophomore year of HS. This is not necessarily why he didn’t get in…but I can’t help but think from looking at most of the accepted students replies that it certainly didn’t help.
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if you truly, truly want to go to Wash U, or any other top-tier school --and that school has Early Decision (where you can only apply to one Early Decision school, and if accepted you agree that you will attend) --apply through Early Decision. We had several students at our high school that were accepted to top tier universities like Wash U (Northwestern, Vanderbilt, etc) during the ED process. While these students were all deserving and will fit in well at their respective schools, I am not sure that they would have made it in during the RD round, based on the students from our school that were rejected/wait listed during RD. I am not even talking about my own child here…just that we had a few students in particular that were absolutely stellar that were rejected/wait listed during the RD round. In my own child’s case, Wash U was not his clear cut #1 school–so he chose not to do this.
Lastly, if you do apply ED that is the ultimate in demonstrated interest–so you are covered for both #1 and #2.
Good luck!
I do want to mention that there are ways of demonstrating interest beyond just visiting, since that is beyond the means of some students, especially those that live far away. You can attend local sessions in your area if they have them or email an adcom with a thoughtful email.
You’ve heard it a billion times but I’ll say it again. Everyone has good scores, ECs, and GPAs, it’s how much demonstrated interest that can really set you apart (and even help you if one of those other categories are slightly weaker). Personally I attended a visit that a counselor made at my high school both Junior and Senior year, visited the summer before my senior year and interviewed, applied ED, applied for some scholarships, and stayed in contact with my regional admission officer (calling her after I submitted my application to give updates on awards and stuff). Just don’t go overboard with the calling 
WUSTL will tell you themselves that applying ED gives you a much greater chance of acceptance than RD. Visit the campus, go on a tour, take a summer course on campus, stay in touch with your regional admissions officer. WUSTL wants kids that want to be there, not as a backup for another school they did not get into. It’s really a wonderful college.
Guys, i don’t think i could apply ED honestly since i will need some kind of financial aid, so is there any other advice? thanks 
hamzag there has been advice posted here besides just applying ED 
Do the below at a high level:
- scholarship essays (This means revise the hell out of your essays until they are amazing.)
- visit (try to talk to a professor. Perhaps if you have a good convo they will email admissions. It’s a long shot but if it works its good)
- interview (make sure to prep. Also only do it if you sincerely think you can do well. Interviews can certainly harm you.)
- local session (Dress sharp and have something intelligent to say to the adcom. Be memorable and follow up.)
There is also the usual:
Earn A’s first semester senior year and write a rockin Common App essay
Do the above and you’ll maximize your chances. Good luck!
slights32: thanks!
If you have an interview on campus, there is no reason to dress sharp or prepaire. Usually it’s done by students. Just wear jeans and be yourself. Just requesting an interview shows interest. You don’t have to do anything spectacular during the interview. My daughter had an ingerview with a student when we visited last year. They sat on a bench outside and discussed which TV shows they both liked. It was very casual.
But definately find out who your rep is and see him/her as much as possible. If he comes to your school great, if not find out when he’s in the area and go there. More then once is good. At the end of the process my daughter was on the first name basis with the rep. He knew exactly who she was. And every time he saw her he remembered her name. When she got admitted, he personally called her guidance counselor to let him know. He was the one reading her app so in sure that helped.
Quick note on the interview: if you have applied ED and interview in the fall of your senior year on campus, you may be interviewed by an admissions officer. Only caveat is the admissions officer won’t be the one from your region but they may read your app as part of committee. This was my experience and it definitely helped to be really prepared for any and all questions.
My daughter will be attending in the fall. The whole admissions process is quite a roller coaster. My advice is to apply to a wide range of schools and apply to a highly likely place that you wouldn’t mind attending. You will hear from them quickly and have the peace of mind that you know you got in somewhere. Other than that, the whole process is quite a crapshoot. My daughter demonstrated interest by attending a Sunday afternoon local recruiting event and then connected with the rep when she attended her school. She didn’t visit WashU until she was accepted. I believe one thing that helped was her glowing letters of recommendation. She attended a summer program at a different university last year and her teachers shared those letters because normally you don’t see what your teachers write. WashU seems to be a great community and I think her letters really showed that she would be a fit. But you never really know one way or another. Best of luck to you!
@hamzag If you’re definitely sure WashU is the place for you, you can apply ED even if you’re not sure if you can afford it. The financial aid office is incredibly accommodating and will do everything in their power to help you. Even if the worst case scenario is you can’t afford it, you are allowed to break the ED contract due to financial issues.
I second the advice/observations of bdjkin. After watching my older one go through the admission process and seeing outcomes of other students in his high school, ED certainly seemed to give kids an edge at schools like Wash univ and vanderbilt and other similar ranked schools. I saw many students who applied to highly selective EA schools like HYP and than when they were rejected or deferred did not have success in getting in RD to Wash Univ.,vanderbilt or other similar schools. My older son now at UC Berkeley but was waitlisted at Vanderbilt, Wash Univ and some other schools . No one knows for sure but i think he would have gotten into these schools had he applied ED. His advice to his brother was go ED to Washington University if he loves it and pray for the best.
It seems most of the kids who enroll at Wash U have money. And the expensive college counseling services tap into that and all sell Wash U hard so they can say they got their student into a “top” school…
I don’t know if you saw how much WashU has done to make themselves more economically diverse. The percentage of students receiving Pell Grants has increased significantly. Additionally, most top schools are private and cost a lot of money, so it’s not unheard of that most students going there are well off enough to afford it. Either way, WashU definitely deserves it prestige due to their incredible student body, academics, faculty, and the quality of life it provides their students.
I’ve always viewed WashU as a school that values pure interest in the school. Whether it’s visiting the campus, attending info sessions, or just connecting with local alumni, anything to showcase your interest is, in my opinion, highly valued by the admissions committee.