How to Get Off the Waitlist - Page 3

trackie10x · 03-24-2008, 09:58 PM

mark hines emailed me - it was actually really nice. he told me about their 22,000 applications and how they only have 1,350 spots, and he said he post-it-noted my file should they go to the waitlist, and he thanked me for my strong continued interest - it's nice to hear that these days.

noobcake · 03-24-2008, 10:18 PM

Its okay, since you have already expressed interest, I am sure you will get off WashU's massive waitlist. They waitlist the borderline and the overqualified; you should feel fortunate. Good luck

trackie10x · 03-24-2008, 11:32 PM

haha thanks... is it true that they waitlist 55% of applicants, which would be around 12,000 people? i read that on one of these forums

noobcake · 03-24-2008, 11:43 PM

No one would know the exact number, but if you take a look at a deviance graph, they definitely waitlist at least around 50%. (With sample size of 50+)

trackie10x · 03-25-2008, 05:34 AM

that is just crazy... 50%.

Tsenguun · 03-25-2008, 06:00 AM

stupid. why would they do such a thing?

citymom · 03-25-2008, 09:37 AM

Tsengun:
This is not stupid. They have no way out.
They understand that they ARE a third- or fourth- choice match school for many top applicants. It is a common concept now. Instead of having a lower-tier safety where you have a 90%+ chance to be admitted, you can apply to 4 matches where you have 40-60% chance. You will likely get into one of them and probably in two or three. And WUSTL conciously plays into it by having a CommonApp without a supplement and offering full-ride scholarships (ALL their competitors, e.g. Cornell, Northwestern, JHU and UofChicago have very specific supplements and most do not offer free rides).
So WUSTL gets tons of applications but if they just go ahead and accept top 20% of applicants they will have a 10% yield at best. (Their competitors, actully do just that - aceept top 20% applicants and have close to 30% yield because they loose to Ivies but have more kids who prefer them over same-rank competitors: UofChicago is viewed as "intellectual"; Northwestern has superb location and has Chicago area as a feeder; Cornel is an Ivy and both Cornell and JHU have great world rankings).
So to maintain a respectable close to 30% yield, WUSTL has to pick those who are likey to attend from say 50% applicants. But if rejects most of top 20% applicants it will become a joke - a not-yet-there school that rejects almost EVERYONE accepted to Harvard, Princeton and Yale? Who will take them seriousley after that? (this will be obvious at schools sending a lot of kids to Ivies, and someone will publish the statistics). So they waitlist. Accepted to Harvard and waitlisted by another top 10 school? This actually happens all the time, so WUSTL does not look ridiculous.

nmehta4 · 03-25-2008, 11:04 AM

your a great candidate. you are prolly really high on that waitlist. send them any awards or anything and commit to going if they pull you off the waitlist. you deserve to get in.

GladenStar · 03-25-2008, 05:42 PM

Hey Trackie,
I was waitlisted too so I feel your pain. :/
Not to ruin my anonymity or whatever, but in your first post, you quoted Willard Dix and I just happen to live in the Chicagoland area and I know that he was the college counselor but got fired because he had some disputes with the WashU admissions office.
In specifically mentioning WashU, Mr Dix had accused a particular institution--an institution Lab School students aspire to attend--of engaging in morally reprehensible tactics.
googling of Willard Dix brought up his blog:
"I have spoken out frequently about practices I consider unreasonable, such as encouraging students to begin applications as early as March of their junior year and even making decisions before the senior year has truly begun. I've named the institutions that do this and have been excoriated by them for doing so (including having a letter sent to my principal stating that they would not accept any applications from my school)...it's clear that important but scary issues do concern high school counselors but other forces (like the threat of losing a job) cow people into silence. I've been accused of 'alienating' my school from certain colleges because of my viewpoint, even though we had managed to have more students accepted to those schools after my comments than before."

With that said, good luck to you. You deserve to get off the waitlist a lot more than I do.

trackie10x · 03-25-2008, 05:51 PM

wow... that was really great. thanks for the input, and i really can't stress enough how much all of the support from everyone has really helped - i actually feel like i have a shot with all of you behind me.

and also, what would really help is if you guys looked out for when washu goes to the waitlist. i know it won't be for awhile, but letting me know if you see anything or hear anything would be so helpful!

seafoodlover · 03-25-2008, 07:23 PM

This happens EVERY year at WashU. Its a superb school. But it IS St. Louis, which has WICKED winter weather. Its not the only game in town. Do what you can if you truly want to go there and I wish you luck, but frankly, they waitlist HUNDREDS and take just a handful off the list which are basically already sort of picked...as they sort of rank the waitlisters as well.....last year a mere handful...why? Because they dont want to build more dorms and expand the school and every year they have housing problems finding enough places for people to stay....and they DONT guarantee housing for 4 years....so as an upperclassman you can get booted off campus.

Its a great school. My D was waitlisted last year and we never got that phone call.....so we moved on.

On the other hand, they seemed to indicate that they would entertain an application for her sophomore year..and transfer in....which we considered....but I think she is going to stay where she is at.

trackie10x · 03-25-2008, 07:40 PM

I wish that I could give myself reasons why I wouldn't want to go there, and I can't seem to come up with any good ones. I went to Discovery Weekend, I met some of the nicest, most-involved, social, outgoing, intelligent, caring students I've ever met, sat in on classes with professors who cared about their students, showered in a really clean bathroom!!!, ate good food, and saw countless opportunities for students to be involved in the community. The weather... it's fine with me. I live in upstate New York - after years of waiting at the end of my driveway for the school bus at 6:45 am, I'm prepared for anything.

When I was there, it just felt like it fit. It felt as though I could be in those classes taking those notes and going back to my dorm and studying them, writing those papers, going out and doing community service with people... It was perfect.

Yes, there are many more options, and I know I would be incredibly happy at Tulane, with a full-tuition scholarship and an incredible service-learning experience, or at Fordham, with NYC opportunities, or even at the state school in my hometown. But my dream is WashU, and it became so real to me when I visited.

rob22 · 03-25-2008, 08:23 PM

I know kids waitlisted with 35s on ACT and great ecs/grades (like 4.6's) ... lots of APs ... this is actually a school where you can be "too good" and get rejected, as mentioned above.

by the way, it's obviously too late but kids that are perfect can apply ED to get in ... that way the college knows they are interested.

trackie10x · 03-25-2008, 08:28 PM

I debated applying ED, but my mom had just divorced my stepdad and we were in a really shaky financial situation and I couldn't commit to anything at that point...

CallofDuty4 · 03-25-2008, 08:47 PM

I'm really amazed by your dedication.

If I was an admissions officer at any school, I would be touched by your passion and commitment.

Keep on rocking!