@themiah06 “I got accepted. I don’t feel like filling out the chart, so I’m not going to. I just wanted to let you guys know that they accepted 1,650 out of over 29,000 applications. That’s a 5.7 acceptance rate.”
That could be inaccurate however. What you’re saying is plausible as well.
@collegeman5 is right. I think that WashU is similar to most ED schools in the sense that they usually accept 40-50% of their incoming class during the ED round. I don’t have the exact numbers for this, but let’s say 650 people were accepted ED to WUSTL, so they’ll need 1000 more students to round out the class. WUSTL has a yield rate of 33% ish, so they probably sent out 3000-3500 acceptance letters during RD plus the original 650 ED acceptances, which comes out to a 13-14% acceptance rate overall.
It is possible that the experienced admissions people can sniff out the applicants who are considering Wash U as a safety school or as their third choice. Wash U is a great school, and as most people who visit notice, everyone there is nice, students as well as staff.
Decision: Waitlisted CAS
Objective:
[ul]
[] SAT I: 2350 (800 CR, 750 M, 800 W)
[] ACT: N/A
[] SAT II: 800 (Math II), 780 (World History), 740 (Chemistry)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 5%
[] AP scores: Spanish Literature (5), English Language & Composition (5), Chemistry (5), Comp Sci (5), WHAP (5), EHAP (5), Calculus AB (5)
[] IB scores: N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, AP Gov, AP Biology, AP English Literature, Honors Theology, History of Medicine (online class), Free period
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul]
Published some cool research in scientific journals
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: Started two clubs (one is a literature society and one promotes feminism), varsity basketball (captain for two years, played all four years), editor-in-chief of school’s health magazine, member of a capella group (sopranos’ section leader for two years), student council vice president
[] Job/Work Experience: Zilch.
[] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered at local hospital for two years
[] Essays: I’d give my Common App essay a 9.5/10–everyone who read it said it was amazing, and I’m proud of it.
[] Teacher Recommendations:
APUSH teacher – 10/10, she loved me
Chem teacher – 10/10, he said I was the one of the best students he has ever taught
[] Counselor Rec: 8/10
[] Additional Rec: (from research mentor) 10/10, very insightful and full of praise
[] Interview:[/ul] No interview!
Other
[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): CA
[] Country (if international applicant): U.S.A.
[] School Type: weird lol
[] Ethnicity: 3/4 asian, 1/4 hispanic (basically asian haha)
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket: ~250K
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul] None.
Reflection
[ul] Idk guys, do your best, the rest will follow
[] Strengths: I’m not really sure?
[] Weaknesses: Too many to count? lol
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No demonstrated interest! Didn’t visit campus, didn’t subscribe to mailing list, didn’t go to school visit, didn’t even apply for a scholarship, etc.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul]
Deferred from Stanford, Accepted to UCI (Campus Honors)
General Comments:
nope
@Frazzled503 I’m almost 100% sure that’s inaccurate. While Wash U is very selective, 5.7% is ridiculous. That’d be in the top 2 or 3 lowest acceptance rates in the U.S.
@Ambitious19 Yes this sounds correct.
Regardless, WUSTL, like other colleges, is becoming more and more selective each year. That 5.7% may become reality in like 30 years. Kinda scary to think about.
I think about a third of the class comes from ED
Decision: Accepted CAS
Objective:
[ul]
[] SAT I: 2080 (800 CR 630 M 650 W)
[] ACT: Didn’t take it
[] SAT II: 780 US History, 680 Literature
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Don’t have it. I only got my weighted and I’m too lazy to calculate it unweighted. 3.9
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 14/125
[] AP scores: Nope
[] IB scores: Nope
[] Senior Year Course Load: Calculus Honors, Economics Honors, Geology EA, Religion IV, British Literature Honors, Physics Honors, Marketing Honors
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul] National Hispanic Scholar
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: Student Council President, Quiz Bowl Team Founder and Team captain, and several more with leadership positions.
[] Job/Work Experience: None
[] Volunteer/Community service: Some, not super exciting.
[] Essays: Pretty good I’d say.
[] Teacher Recommendations: Really good I’d say.
[] Counselor Rec: Good.
[] Additional Rec: Nope.
[] Interview:[/ul] Didn’t have one.
Other
[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): Texas
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Parochial
[] Ethnicity: Hispanic
[] Gender: Male
[] Income Bracket: >100k
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul]URM
Reflection
[ul]
[] Strengths: I really enjoyed my essay for the common app, and I believe that showed.
[] Weaknesses: Scores and gpa could’ve been better.
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I do not know.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul] Rejected at U Penn. Accepted at SMU, UT Austin, Fordham, Texas Tech. Still waiting on Cornell, Northwestern, Brown, Georgetown. However I’m going to Wash U barring any catastrophe.
General Comments: It feels so surreal. I can’t believe I got in. I’m just so happy.
@themiah06 @Jimkingwood @aydee115 @slights32 Yes, 1650 out of 29000 was what it said on my acceptance letter. However, 1650 is how many spots they have in the freshman class. Every college accepts more kids than they can accommodate, because some kids will not enroll. Wash U has about a 34% yield rate, which means they definitely accepted around 2500 to 3000 kids RD, and around 1500 kids ED. Their acceptance rate is probably a little less than last year’s 15%.
Oh, sorry @collegeman5 Didn’t realize you basically said the same thing 
Decision: Accepted CAS
Objective:
[ul]
[] SAT I: Didn’t Submit
[] ACT: 34
[] SAT II: Didn’t Submit
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86 ish, not too sure b/c my HS is on a 5.0 scale, where I have a 5.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 29/674
[] AP scores: Human Geo:5, World History:4, US history:4, Eng. Lang:5, Chemistry:4
[] IB scores: N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: Concert Band (highest level), Gym, AP German, AP Eng. Lit, AP Statistics, Fashion Construction, AP Psychology
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul] National Hispanic Scholar, Commended Status for National Merit, Illinois State Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: 4 yrs Marching Band + Section leader Sr. year, 2 yrs Badminton, 1 yr Editor of school newspaper, 1 yr Pit Orchestra
[] Job/Work Experience: None
[] Volunteer/Community service: Member of school’s chapter of National Honor Society
[] Essays: Great. I’m an English major so I know how to write well, and I’m friends with the majority of the English department so they really helped me revise and edit to make them flow really well.
[] Teacher Recommendations: My teacher recs were from teachers who really enjoy me as a student, so they were probably pretty good.
[] Counselor Rec: My counselor is new this year, so it was probably fairly formulaic
[] Additional Rec: From a staff member in the Marching Band who I’ve known since freshman year, so it was very complimentary
[] Interview:[/ul] N/A
Other
[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): Illinois
[] Country (if international applicant): N/A
[] School Type: Mid-size public HS, but with a lot of intelligent students
[] Ethnicity: 1/2 European, 1/2 Mexican
[] Gender: Female
[] Income Bracket: 95k ish
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul] URM (hispanic)
Reflection
[ul]
[] Strengths: essays, definitely, and test scores
[] Weaknesses: ECs are not super varied and not a lot of volunteerism
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Good test scores, essays, and Nat’l scholar
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul] Honors college @ ASU, KU, waiting on 4 others
General Comments: wasn’t expecting it, but happy all the same. They did offer me the Eliot scholarship, which is worth $46,800 over 1 year, so that’s something to think about.
Decision: Waitlisted SEAS
Objective:
[ul]
[] SAT I: 2330 (730 CR, 800M, 800W) - (superscored)
[] ACT: (breakdown): 35 (35E/35M/35R/35S) 11 Essay
[] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 770 Lit
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/65
[] AP scores: Calc BC (5), AP Physics B (5), Chemistry(?), AP Physics C-Mechanics and E/M(?) (currently taking)
[] Senior Year Course Load: Spanish 4, AP Chemistry, Religion, Research Methods, History 115 (Dual Enrollment), Teacher assistant, select choir, differential equations (DE), calculus 3 (DE)
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Not really major - National Merit Semifinalist (231 PSAT), National Hispanic Scholar, Outstanding Sophomore Award, Tri-M Music Honor Society[/ul]
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: Piano (11 years), Student council (Treasurer), Envirothon (1st place at regionals 3 times, first place at state twice - also team captain), Select Choir (pretty selective group), Math team (1 of 3 selected Junior and senior year - top 5% out of 1500 in a test), Student ambassador (conduct tours, run school promotional events), FBLA (placed in top 8 for 4 events at state competition - including 1st in cybersecurity - competed against ~ 4,000 others, several other regional awards), Track (9, 12), Tri-M Music Honor Society (treasurer), Tennis (12 - just for fun)
[] Job/Work Experience: Not much besides tutoring.
[] Volunteer/Community service: 150 hours, School sponsored at various locations - 40 hours
Summer Activities: Not much, a few youth camps, vacations, summer classes
[] Essays: 8, honestly this wasn’t my best essay (I sat down and cranked it out in 45 minutes - but spent almost 2 hours revising), but I think it got my personality and the way I think across. No one cried when they read it 
[] Teacher Recommendations: Teacher Rec #1: 10/10, My Calc BC and Physics B teacher and student council Advisor, also I TA for him, so I think he likes me and wrote a good rec.
Teacher Rec #2: 9/10, English teacher and student council advisor, only had her for 2 semesters, but I’ve gotten to know her through FBLA (she is the advisor for that as well) and student council so I think the rec was also good.
[] Counselor Rec: 8/10, She likes me I think and told me her rec was “glowing” so I think it was good, but I don’t think she knows me all that well, so I don’t think the rec was all that personal.
[] Additional Rec: N/A
[] Interview: None offered[/ul]
Other
[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): Nebraska
[] School Type: Private
[] Ethnicity: Hispanic
[] Gender: M
[] Income Bracket: around $130,000
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):URM and that’s it[/ul]
Reflection
General Comments: Oh well, congrats to everyone else. I likely wouldn’t have been able to afford it anyway.
Decision: Rejected Olin
Major: Finance
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2310 - 760CR / 770M / 780W
SAT II: 800 Math II 700 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.65 (extremely difficult and competitive school; top 20 in California)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): does not rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 Chemistry; 4 Psychology; 4 US History
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus AB; Honors Physics; AP Literature; AP Spanish; AP Government
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): CSF; AP Scholar
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Tennis (Captain); Football; FBLA; Green Club; Computer Science Club (Publicity)
Job/Work Experience: Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel; Mellow World Designer Bags
Volunteer/Community service: The Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens; Crowell Public Library
Essays: Common App (10/10); CAS (10/10); CALS (10/10)
Teacher Recommendation: APUSH (10/10); English (9/10); I am the favorite student of both teachers
Counselor Rec: idk 7/10
Additional Rec: employer (9/10)
Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: Finance
State (if domestic applicant): California
School Type: Small Public; top 20 in state; highly competitive
Ethnicity: Asian (born in China)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): idk none
Reflection:
Strengths: essays, SAT’s, and recommendations
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: my intellectual curiosity
Weaknesses: GPA and AP’s (very difficult school with limited options and class enrollment)
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: West Coast / Asian / GPA / Counselor Rec / EC’s
Other factors - the most unique thing in your application: I have had to adapt and live in several different places under several different circumstances; across 3 different continents with either or both parents;
Decision:Accepted CAS
Objective:
[ul]
[] ACT: 34
[] SAT II: 700/760
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.6
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 25%
[li] Senior Year Course Load: 6 APs [/li]
Subjective:
[list]
[] Extracurriculars: I have lots of leadership
[] Job/Work Experience: None
[] Volunteer/Community service: I do a lot of community service over the summer
[] Essays: I think they were very good. I had a lot of people edit them.
[] Teacher Recommendations: I’m assuming they’re very good
[] Counselor Rec: Personal (which is a big deal since I go to a big school)
[] Interview:[/ul] I didn’t think it went very well.
[ b]Other**
[ list]
[] State (if domestic applicant): Midwest
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Large public school
[] Ethnicity: Black
[] Gender: Female
[*] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/list] None
I think it would be very helpful for this school in particular if all the applicants, whether accepted, rejected, or waitlisted, indicated whether they DEMONSTRATED INTEREST i.e. went to the school for a visit, interviewed while at the school, etc.
WUSTL usually rejects kids that they think are using them for a safety. So don’t sweat it.
Decision: Rejected CAS
Objective:
Subjective:
Other
Reflection
[list]
[] Strengths: GPA, unique non-school related ECs, internship experiences, writing
[] Weaknesses: Test scores (didn’t take seriously, didn’t study), school related ECs (only participated in 2 clubs)
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Low test scores and lack of demonstrated interest, college admissions is now all about gaming the system
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Beloit, Grinnell (early write), Macalester, Smith (early write)
Decision: Waitlisted CAS
Objective:
[ul]
[] SAT I: N/A
[] ACT: 34 with a 10 on writing
[] SAT II: 730 for Math II and Physics
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.925 as of my Midyear Report
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School doesn’t rank
[] AP scores: 5s: APUSH, AP Physics B, AP Calc BC; 4s: AP Comp Sci, AP Euro, AP Stats, AP Lang Comp
[] IB scores: N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Spanish, AP Lit/Comp, AP Chem, AP Psych, Multivariable Calc, AP Gov, AP Macroeconomics
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): I have a few MUN awards; Outstanding Delegate in my committees at CIMUN December 2012 and CIMUN December 2014, Honorables at some regional conferences. Also got an AP Scholar with Distinction, and apparently a thing called the Illinois State Scholars (which is not really worth all that much).[/ul]
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: MUN, and this one volunteer group at my library, and a lot of summer stuff at my library
[] Job/Work Experience: Grader/Tutor at Kumon for the past few years
[] Volunteer/Community service: Mainly library stuff such as shelving or planning out some programs and themes and such.
[] Essays: My Common App essay was on point, there were no supplements.
[] Teacher Recommendations: I think they’re alright; at least my teachers know me well enough and they like me too, so I think it would have been fine.
[] Counselor Rec: Not the closest with my counselor but I know him somewhat well and I think he wrote a good one.
[] Additional Rec: N/A
[] Interview: N/A[/ul]
Other
[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): IL
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public, somewhat large (3000-ish students), pretty competitive
[] Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
[] Gender: M
[] Income Bracket: 100-150K
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None[/ul]
Reflection
[ul]
[] Strengths: GPA, test scores, essays are decent and my extracurriculars are fairly average
[] Weaknesses: My extra curriculars are fairly average
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: No interest at all, to be honest.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted to UIC, Pitt, and Ohio State and their honors programs, College of William and Mary (likely letter/cypher). Deferred from UMich [/ul]
General Comments:
Pretty much know one person in my school who got accepted and a lot of qualified people who got waitlisted and/or rejected. It’s a strange process to be honest.
Decision: Waitlisted CAS (CLASS OF 2018)
IM AT PRINCETON NOW THO LEL
Objective:
SAT I: 2400 (one time)
ACT: n/a
SAT II: 800 Biology M, 800 Math II, 800 World History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 UW
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/~800
AP scores: all 5s on 13 AP tests
IB scores: n/a
Senior Year Course Load: ap stats, eng, gov, econ, chem, honors physics, varsity tennis
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Latin awards, presenting at American Chemical Society, local rep honored me on the floor of the TX HOR, national merit scholar, national ap scholar
Subjective: SHOWED LITTLE TO NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER = GET WRECKED BY WUSTL WL
Extracurriculars: president of 3 clubs, did chem research, did a ton of volunteering, varsity tennis 4 years
Job/Work Experience: research, started my own tutoring business
Volunteer/Community service: a ton: i worked in a rural clinic in india for one summer, did a ton of tutoring for refugees, and started a club that focuses on improving education in rural areas of the world
Essays: bueno
Teacher Recommendations: both great
Counselor Rec: mediocre bc public school
Additional Rec: from a research mentor: really good
Interview: Didn’t have one
Other
State (if domestic applicant): tx
Country (if international applicant): n/a
School Type: public
Ethnicity: asian as it gets
Gender: male
Income Bracket: none of your business
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): my test scores are insane and everything else was fairly solid…i thought that WUSTL was kinda beneath me and so I got shafted with that WL bc i focused my attention on Ivies (which paid off). MORAL OF THE STORY: IF YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT GOING TO WASHU, YOU BETTER STRAIGHT UP CALL THE REGIONAL ADMISSIONS OFFICER, VISIT THE SCHOOL, REQUEST AN ON-CAMPUS TOUR, DO THE SPEND-A-NIGHT PROGRAM, REQUEST AN ON-CAMPUS INTERVIEW, WRTIE LETTERS TO ADMISSIONS, ETC
Reflection
Strengths: everything
Weaknesses: Showed 0 interest in the school
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Showed no interest
Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I’m at princeton so idc anyway but i just wanted to help you kiddies and let you know that Washu is a weird school that cares a lot about how passionate their applicants are. If you are on the wait list right now, there is still hope: call up the regional admissions officer and tell them how much you want to go there…send letters to admissions with updates on what you’re up to and why washu is your favorite school in this universe…go visit if you haven’t. There is still hope. your stats literally do not mean anything for this school. They would rather have a lower admitted average SAT score so that they can have a low acceptance rate.
[ b]Decision: Rejected CAS**
Objective:
[ul]
[] SAT I: 2320 single sitting. 2360 super score (800 M/780 CR/780 writing)
[] ACT: didn’t send
[] SAT II: 730 on math II
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.58
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank
[] AP scores: 5 on Calc AB
[] Senior Year Course Load: Advanced chemistry, AP french, statistics, English electives, advanced math electives, string orch
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):[/ul] national merit semifinalist
Subjective:
[ul]
[] Extracurriculars: piano, cello, jv tennis and track, stage crew, pit orchestra, speech and debate
[] Job/Work Experience: none
[] Volunteer/Community service: volunteer camp counselor for 1 summer
[] Essays: tbh my common app essay was not that good
[] Teacher Recommendations: one was probably good, the other was probably lukewarm at best
[] Counselor Rec: honestly I have no clue
[] Additional Rec: n/a
[] Interview:[/ul] did not have one
Other
[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): PA
[] School Type: prep school
[] Ethnicity: Indian
[] Gender: female
[] Income Bracket: would not qualify for financial aid
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul] none
Reflection
[ul]
[] Strengths: standardized testing scores maybe??
[] Weaknesses: GPA, poorly written common app essay, also no interview
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: GPA for sure. My grades just weren’t good enough.
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/ul] accepted to Pitt
General Comments: Congratulations to all those admitted! And to those waitlisted/rejected, WashU may not be the school for us, but I’m positive we’ll find one that is the right fit!
Just letting all of you who are stressing yourselves out reading this know: A) anecdotal stories like these are both more memorable and less accurate than released statistics (even if these are all true) and B ) I showed NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER and I am here - I applied because it didn’t have a supplement and I assumed I’d be waitlisted. College admissions as a system is a mysterious thing and it’s not really worth obsessing over what technicality lost or gained you the acceptance. It was probably arbitrary and meaningless, like the best tuba player ever is graduating and they need a tuba player.