Did I really deserve to get waitlisted?

Colleges & Universities Washington University in St. Louis
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<p>Stats:
• Asian Male no legacy or other hooks, 200K+ income
• GPA – 4.0 UW, 5.3 W
• Rank- 1/512
• Courseload: most rigorous all 4 years, this yr: All APs: Macro/micro econ, US gov, Language and Comp., Physics C: mechanics, Stats, Spanish Language.
• APs Taken: US history, European History, Literature and Comp, BC Calc, Chemistry, Biology (5,5,5,5,5,5)
• SAT: 2380 (not superscored, 780 M, 800 R, 800 W, 12 essay)
• ACT: 35
• SAT IIs: Math II, Lit, Chem (800, 760, 760)- kinda low unfortunately
• Awards: NMfinalist, AP scholar w/ distinction, nat’l Spanish exam gold medal, honor roll, a few other random regional scholarship awards</p>

<p>Subjective:
• Extra curriculars
o Speech And debate: my big focus, 3 time state champion, 9th place nationally, School President, 4 academic letters, lots of other related awards (don’t want to say event/state cuz it’s a give away :P)
o Quiz bowl- 2 yr captain, league all star
o Spanish club- VP/treasurer, raised 400 lbs of supplies to send to soldiers
o Interact Club- President, LOTS of volunteer stuff with this
o NHS, NSHS- nat’l honor society and Spanish NHS
o freshman mentor, student council, student Ambassador
o Have 400+ hours from variety of activities related to this
• Sports
o Cross country- captain, varsity letter
o Tennis- Captain, 2 varsity letters, 2nd team-all league, MIP award
• Summer stuff
o Blood Drive in Pakistan, 30+ hours, great rec. from Rotary int’l chairman there.
o Workshop in school in India on International Relations, 1 week
• Essays: Really good for all of them, insightful, but then again, everyone thinks that about themselves so idk.
• Recs: again, stellar IMO, but I’m biased</p>

<p>It just doesn’t seem to make sense to me, especially because one of my friends got in and he definitely wasn’t as qualified. Please don’t think I’m trying to be arrogant, I just want to know if there is anything i could have done to make them accept me.</p>

2

<p>Do you deserve to get waitlisted? No.
Do you deserve to get accepted? No.
Do you deserve to get rejected? No. </p>

<p>The key word here is “deserve”, and the similar word of “expectation.” </p>

<p>It’s a random process, and you’ll probably get into lots of other great schools – and maybe even Wash U from the wait list. You just put your best foot forward and hope for the best. Clearly you’ve done a great job in high school, but Wash U can’t accept the probably 20,000 out of 25,000 people with amazing test scores and GPAs. Otherwise, college admissions would be completely predictable and there would be no point to applying to more than like 3 collegs. I mean, just by going off your username, I’d assume you applied to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Wash U, and probably a couple other ones. You obviously wouldn’t have applied to so many if you predicted you would be getting into all of them. College acceptances aren’t just trophies to collect. </p>

<p>BTW, someone with a 2380 is no more “qualified” than someone with a 2300 or whatever. In my opinion anyone that has at least a 2100 on the SAT can do just as well at any top college like Wash U or HYPS. They don’t put everyone in a giant computer and take kids with the highest rank or test scores.</p>

<p>There’s other factors that go into college acceptances that class rank, SAT score, involvement, essays, etc. Mainly the fact that there’s 25,000 people who applied!</p>

3

<p>The things that would have helped you aren’t possible to change. Hopefully, some other school will be lucky to have you. Schools are looking for a variety of student types, and there are many other people similar enough to you that your hard work and great record are no guarantee. It is hard not to take it personally, but you really shouldn’t.</p>

4

<p>Just to clarify, I’m really, really sorry I used the word ‘deserved.’ It looks/sounds/is extremely childish and self centered, and for that, I apologize.
Vball, I understand that scores aren’t everything…in fact, in today’s college admissions, they aren’t even a lot. I’m not upset that I didn’t get in because i had pretty good scores, I’m upset that the rest of my resume wasn’t taken favorably. But you’re right, there is no way to gaurentee anything, and thanks for the words of encouragement!</p>

5

<p>I think I know quite well how you feel … </p>

<p>My son (2390 SAT, maybe not quite your ECs, but grade-wise right there with you, his SAT2s were a bit better, LOL: 800 in Math, Phys & Chem) had similar experiences at MIT, got also waitlisted - then rejected.</p>

<p>I 100% agree with vbball - it’s not about ‘deserve’, even though you might feel like it (and I understand your feelings completely! At your age, it’s normal that you take this personally). The colleges have a pretty difficult job, and evidently they saw something in other applications that they didn’t see in yours, despite your wonderful grades.</p>

<p>My advice? Don’t get hung up on this rejection (technically, you still have a chance, you’re still waitlisted), but look forward to whatever college you’re going to attend. With your stats, you’re quite likely to attend graduate school anyway, so undergrad is NOT all that important!</p>

<p>By the way - my son got accepted in WUSTL, but will 99.99% not attend … so there’s already a spot for you … :-)</p>

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<p>Let me ask you this, HY… If you were accepted, would you attend Washington University?</p>

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<p>No. But is that the point?</p>

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<p>Yeah, there were over 25000 applications this year, so many qualified individuals are turned down. We just don’t have the dorm space. Stay curious about where you might end up! I would bet many exciting things are in store for you!</p>

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<p>And please, I am not at all trying to be self righteous or arrogant here! I just don’t understand the logic, especially when one of my friends (definitely less qualified with similar interests) got in.</p>

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<p>Yes, that is the point. Why would a school accept you if they could figure out that it was a waste of their time?</p>

<p>Sure there will be others who were accepted who would not attend as well, but maybe it was not as obvious that they would not accept an acceptance.</p>

<p>Put yourself in the AdCom’s shoes. They are sitting around a table and saying, “Here’s HYPSMIT. She obviously will not come here if we accept her, so let’s not confuse her with an acceptance. Next!”</p>

<p>And is there a chance that your friend who was accepted, will attend Wash U?</p>

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<p>Hold on a second. How on earth did they figure out that i wouldn’t attend if accepted? I don’t ever remember checking off a box that said “Hi, I’m only applying here as a semi-safety.” I do like WashU, and i showed that in my app. So your reasoning doesn’t make sense to me.</p>

12

<p>

I do not know how they could tell, but apparently they have some experience in this regard, because they did figure it out, didn’t they? :)</p>

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<p>The simple answer to all of this is the fact that we had over 25000 applications. If we could accept everyone that showed superior credentials and superior statements, etc., then it would have happened, but the South 40 only holds so many students. I wish we could though!</p>

<p>Official statements:[Admission</a> Decisions](<a href=“http://admissions.wustl.edu/apply/freshmen/Pages/Decisions.aspx]Admission”>http://admissions.wustl.edu/apply/freshmen/Pages/Decisions.aspx)</p>

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<p>These people who have no intention of attending wash u get insulted when they are waitlisted?? Ha! They need to get a life and go where they really want to go (if they get in, that is).</p>

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<p>HYPS, you are obviously the type that will head off to an ivyleague school. seriously, your username is HYPSMIT.<br>
If the rest of us could tell that you are more interested in HYPSMIT than washu just from your username, I think it is easily possible for washu adcoms to tell, after reading through your whole profile, that you are merely using the school as a safety.</p>

<p>Also, you stated that you are asian, and asians are not considered an under-represented minority. Colleges cannot admit every great student they see. They have to maintain a class size that is balanced and proportional in regards to ethnicity and race. </p>

<p>Bottom line is, you shouldn’t worry at all, Im sure you will get in somewhere great.</p>

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<p>Haha, point taken oldermom. And futuredoc, i understand…just a little confused is all :slight_smile:
dadwhocares, of course i’m insulted. I (along with thousands of other waitlistees) believe I am qualified to attend. Why else would I have applied to WashU? And please, don’t denigrate me by saying “get a life.” You need to stop making stupid statements.</p>

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<p>Well, at least you are the one who is a little confused. What about the folks at Wash U? How would they have felt when they got your note: “Sorry guys, thanks for accepting me, but I ain’t coming!” Do you think they deserve to be insulted?</p>

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<p>dude you have amazing stats. :)</p>

<p>from the past students, i’ve heard that many washu-waitlisters ended up getting into ivies RD. this leads many to believe that washu tends to waitlist people who seem to aim more towards hyps (aka those who have awesome stats and see washu as somewhat of a fall back).</p>

<p>i was waitlisted too, and personally, i was also guilty of seeing washu as a (super selective) fall back. i’m not sure if the above theory was made up just to make us feel better or ease the pain of a semi-rejection, but whatever… it is what it is.</p>

<p>again, your stats look great. good luck on your other schools!</p>

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<p>Everyone knows WashU’s reputation for these things. I had lower test scores than the OP, lower GPA, lower class rank, less ECs, and less-than-fantastic essays. And I was accepted. This is clearly BS.</p>

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<p>congrats liberationn! i wouldn’t call it bs, just be happy you got it. :slight_smile: i trust that they take in all aspects of each applicant, so what we put under the chance threads on cc don’t account for everything.</p>