What in the world?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
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<p>So after being accepted into WashU yesterday and celebrating with my parents, I logged into these forums to find this...</p>

<p>a total mess! People are claiming that since they were "overqualified," they were waitlisted. I agree that this could happen very rarely, but I also am puzzled by those who claim this is true. My friend got a full scholarship to Duke, got into Princeton, and got into Dartmouth, and...yes...he ALSO got into WashU last year. He was the valedictorian of his class.</p>

<p>I have above a 2200, SAT II's that average at 790, and 5's in all four AP exams I have taken. I also am salutatorian of my class and DID NOT SHOW ANY interest in WashU AT ALL on my application (there wasn't really anywhere on the supplement to show it). </p>

<p>If you were waitlisted, well: I am really sorry. I was REJECTED from Yale's brutal SCEA and felt really bad about it, but after a while you feel better and realize how much of a crapshoot some of these schools are. </p>

<p>Since that rejection from Yale, I have been accepted to UNC-Chapel Hill and Washington University in St. Louis. I was nominated for the Robertson Scholarship and have been invited to Scholarship Day at UNC on March 27th. I am also waiting from 9 more colleges, including Duke, Harvard, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Columbia, and others.</p>

<p>The amount of bitterness on these forums is really surprising and dissapointing. At least you weren't REJECTED like some people I know, and I can bet you that those people feel 10 times worse than you do. I run a pro-humanitarian blog, and can tell you that everyone I write about would KILL to live like any one of us does. Being waitlisted by WashU is NOT the end of the world, so please don't think it is.</p>

<p>Good luck with your futures; I am sure you will all find success wherever you go. Hey, Mayor Bloomberg from New York didn't got to HYP (he went to JHU) and he is the richest man in NY State. </p>

<p>HYP are way overrated. Although I am not sure where I am going yet, I want you all to know that it is NOT the end of the world to be waitlisted or even rejected, and I hope you all have success in the future.</p>

<p>--Helicio :)</p>

<p>P.S.: Actually, in terms of interest I was worried that they would think that I was more interested in Duke than WashU. I sent two supplementary recommendations from Duke professors to them, and went to Harvard Summer School last summer and got an A- in International Law. I worried like crazy when I saw people talk about interest and how it is such a big factor. Turns out those people were wrong!</p>

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<p>Not entirely wrong. Interest was really the only thing that got me in I’m convinced. Decent ACT but did their Summer program and did crazy amounts of interest stuff on essays and whatnot. Awful GPA though, still got in. =D</p>

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<p>I totally agree. I was waitlisted and I know I wasn’t “overqualified”, I don’t really think anyone is overqualified for WashU. Sure, I’m disappointed, but I’m not going to be coming up with conspiracy theories and basically insulting the completely qualified applicants who were accepted. There are a lot of people around here who just need to move on and wait for their acceptances elsewhere.</p>

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<p>Power to you Helicio. I was so excited about getting into WUSTL. After going through the WUSTL discussions, however, I felt insulted. Many things that people said came off as if the only reason I (amongst others) got in was that we had average scores/applications and would be more likely to go than an “overqualified” student. Yes, I had “average” SAT’s (my ACT was above average), but I believe my transcript makes up for the SAT (scores of which I did not even send). I also applied for financial aid (and do need quite a lot). There is no rhyme or reason to why some of us were accepted and others waitlisted, and even more rejected (despite popular belief that no one was). It’s a subjective process. Obviously we have seen people who were rejected/waitlisted by WUSTL get into HYPS and more. But that does not mean that WUSTL or HYPS or whichever school happened to tick you off is a horrible place. When I was deferred early action by a school, I wondered what I should do in order to get in regular round. I didn’t cry ‘woe is me’ and bash the school in the acceptee’s faces.</p>

<p>It is easy to find information that confirms your beliefs. It would be more honorable, however, to leave your insults at the door, because we all know that you WILL get in to a great school and you WILL be happy, because everything happens for a reason.</p>

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<p>^^ i second the above two comments. the amount of bitterness on the forums recently is honestly scary. i get it - you got waitlisted. But guess what? so did i. you cry, you get over it, and you move on. you don’t spend your time crafting elaborate conspiracy theories to rationalize your rejection/waitlist.</p>

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<p>thankyouthankyouthankyou for starting this thread. i think too many people feel that they are entitled to an acceptance and lose sight of the sheer number of very (but certainly not over-) qualified applicants. i was accepted to washu and have similar stats as many hgih-achieving, waitlisted people. i am waiting on HYP, but i did not ever consider washu as a mere safety school. besides, if so many people feel that they are ivy-caliber applicants, why are they so bitter over being waitlisted at a school they would clearly not attend?</p>

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<p>Helicio, you are right with what you said. My son got into Wash U, and he is thrilled. Unfortunately, the FA package probably will go against him, and he will be unable to attend. Still, to get into a university of this stature is wonderful, and you are to be congratulated for your efforts.</p>

<p>BTW, my son was deferred by Yale. Oh well. Just move on, he said.</p>

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<p>Thank you for starting this!</p>

<p>(and mad, mad props on the robertson nomination! I would have KILLED for that last year!)</p>

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<p>THANK YOU!! All those waitlisted people are just bitter!</p>

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<p>^ LOL I’m not bitter. Just saying.</p>

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<p>first off, i’m a washu wait-list and yale scea admit. not bitter, simply don’t care.
congrats on your acceptances, helicio, you get to choose from excellent schools. i know it must be upsetting to see people downplay the significance of your acceptance to washu, but really, half the problem is the way people are arguing this on the boards. the wait-listed/“overqualified” back their claims up with personal anecdotes of person x getting into hypsm but getting wait-listed at washu. on the other hand, the accepted, are backing up their claims with personal anecdotes of person y getting into washu and hypsm. very few people have hard data, which is also sort of a problem because washu keeps that private (fueling the WL people’s suspicions). in the end, WHO CARES.</p>

<p>the “overqualified” aren’t totally crazy when they whip out their 2300+ SATs and national awards. if they really are overqualified, it won’t matter in half a month when they all get into HYPSM. and those that are just pompous about their qualifications/totally delusional will realize how wrong they were.</p>

<p>i must say, i’m glad this fight is happening on CC right now because it’s soooo entertaining.</p>

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<p>Haha, YaleRose! It is quite entertaining. People need to realize that when more than one person from a small private school applies to a private college like Yale or WashU or Duke, things can get somewhat messy, too. Whatever these schools say, they really don’t want more than one person from a small private school because they want to diversify. For Yale, the val applied too, and she got in. I got rejected. We both were competing each other with the same admissions officer and such, and because our school is so small she definitely did WAY more than me and deserved to be accepted.</p>

<p>Anyway, just to point out that many things affect admissions you should all be aware of that. I know some people who were rejected from Yale or Harvard and were accepted at the other. Sometimes, these things are a CRAPSHOOT! Anything from who reads your application to what they need at the time can affect chances of admission.</p>

<p>Are you going to Yale for sure, Yalerose? Or are there any other schools you are waiting from? </p>

<p>Schools I am waiting from are:Duke, Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, JHU, Cornell, Columbia, UPenn, and Dartmouth. </p>

<p>I’m hoping to get into Duke, because that is my first choice of all of these. I’ll find out on March 26, in any case!</p>

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<p>As for the idea that interest will get you in, my friend went on two college visits and some other week-long thing at WashU. She was waitlisted. I had one visit and got in.</p>

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<p>Yup, Krock. I think the conspiracy theories being thrown about really aren’t as true as some people think.</p>

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<p>I demonstrated no interest besides putting my name on their mailing list, and I got in.</p>

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<p>Helicio, Yale is definitely my top choice. I’m also waiting to hear back from Williams, Columbia (College), Duke, Harvard, and Cornell.</p>

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<p>I was waitlisted and showed interest at WashU, but it wasn’t my top choice anyway and I really don’t feel too bad about it. For those who got accepted, congratulations. You guys should feel no negative feelings towards your acceptance at WashU just because a bunch of waitlisted people are sore about their decision. But do understand how they must be feeling…they were waitlisted at one of the top universities in the country while they had excellent stats and they have seen a bunch of forums that show people with similar stats to theirs. Just ignore the haters coz like yalerose says, who cares. Good luck to everyone in whatever college they choose to attend!</p>

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<p>I know a lot of friends who applied to WashU (I didn’t, but I figured I might as well check this board for kicks). One was accepted, and many were waitlisted (and the one who was accepted was “worse” in almost all categories than her peers). </p>

<p>I heard of someone waitlisted who had almost perfect test scores (AP, SAT, SAT II, and ACT), had tons of quality extracurriculars (leadership positions in most), was a top national something or other (Siemens finalist, I think). Almost perfect grades, too, at a competitive high school. Now, that doesn’t make them overqualified, but don’t you think they should have gotten admitted? If WashU is trying to improve their ranking, they’d waitlist this person because they realize that he/she is unlikely to accept their offer (figuring they’d get into an Ivy, which they did - Yale early), thus decreasing their yield. So, some of the complaints on this forum are entirely valid.</p>

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<p>i see what your saying, but maybe this person was all stats and EC’s and his/her essay/recs didnt stand out? there is a chance that admissions thought he would get into an Ivy and reject WashU, but I think that is very small… I would bet on there being another reason as to why this student wasn’t admitted.</p>

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<p>I didn’t even touch WashU campus and I was accepted. WashU had the easiest application of all the universities. I have no idea how I got accepted…</p>