<p>Not sure what is meant by noteworthy, but in terms of delivering a first-class undergraduate education, with a profound focus on it undergrads, especially considering that WU is a top-notch graduation institution, as well, WU has it over most of the Ivies and MIT.</p>
There are obvious ways in which an admissions counselor could assess interest, such as whether or not you visited, interviewed, talked to their representatives when they visited your high school/came to a college fair in your area, etc.</p>
<p>But here’s another one that occurred to me while reading about how WashU accepts the common app and doesn’t require a supplemental essay. If you have looked at the applications for the named merit scholarships, then you must have realized that they are A LOT of work! So if a student who has an otherwise stellar application doesn’t apply for a scholarship for which he/she appears amazingly qualified, then I would view this as lack of interest. In other words, applicants may not want to spend days writing very specific essays–that they are unlikely to be able to “recycle” from their other apps–when they know all along that they aren’t going to that school anyway? I don’t know if this was your case or not, but, in general, I would say that someone who genuinely wants to go to a very expensive school and has such a good shot at a scholarship would probably take the time to fill out the separate application. Just a thought…</p>
<p>Also, HYPSMIT, after reading conceited comment after conceited comment from some of the other waitlisted applicants, I find it immensely refreshing that, however outstanding your credentials are (and they are!) you don’t view yourself as unique or somehow above everyone else. Good for you and best of luck with your other applications!</p>
Yes, please let me know where you end up and/or if you ever figure out why you were waitlisted. I don’t imagine that many guys of Pakistani heritage end up where you will.</p>
<p>Hear, hear, Tomismom! I agree that HYPSMIT has a refreshing attitude and his question does not come off as a whining rant. He has a legitimate question, actually took in the information offered to him in the discussion and was appropriate in his responses. He realizes what a lot of kids do not: That while he may be a gifted, talented, hard-working student, there are THOUSANDS of other gifted, talented, hard-working students out there with whom he is competing. </p>
<p>As an admission counselor for a top tier school said during a panel discussion at our high school: Sadly, many, many more highly-qualified students apply than can possibly be admitted. And while we do our best, the reality is that we will turn away students who would have been an asset to our student body. It can’t be helped.</p>
<p>“There are obvious ways in which an admissions counselor could assess interest, such as whether or not you visited, interviewed, talked to their representatives when they visited your high school/came to a college fair in your area, etc.”</p>
<p>TomisMom and others: Sometimes the adcoms “guess” right and guess what? Sometimes they don’t “guess” right! My stats are 2350 and 4.2 GPA, and all EC’s like the OP. I never visited Wash U, never filled out the essay for scholarships, never showed any interest. Submitted my application 24 hours before the deadline. Yes, I’m using the school as a back-up—and that’s not illegal, folks. Everyone reading this has done the same thing, it’s what we are all told to do—to have a balanced list of schools. And, yes, I was ACCEPTED. </p>
<p>HYPSMIT: I totally can understand why you are annoyed at being waitlisted. You clearly would EXCEL at WashU and the fact they didn’t take you is THEIR LOSS. The posters who say “they knew” and “they gotcha” and they can “see through your application” act like the adcoms can read minds. Well, they didn’t read my mind. They took me, with similar stats as yours, and there’s a 99% chance I WON’T be attending Wash U.
Hang in there—you’re going to end up somewhere great.</p>
<p>Wash U. High quality of undergrad. life, pretty uniformly. Harvard (speaking as a former medical and grad. student), in my observable experience, was not as “happy” a place, undergrad-wise, but that is almost impossible for anyone to hear, if they’re more hooked on rankings/ratings than other, in my opinion, enduring and profound ways of assessing a school.</p>
<p>My daughter is going to neither institution, since she chose and got in somewhere else, ED (which was really a very personal fit for her), but Wash U. was very high on the list of schools, had she been deferred or rejected from her ED choice.</p>
<p>And, the food is great at Wash U., and it is most certainly not great at Harvard.</p>
<p>@HYPSMIT, thanks! But I will not be going to WashU (money ) . I would say you could take my spot (hehe) but I have a feeling once you get those acceptance letters from Harvard and Princeton, you won’t care much ;)</p>
<p><<
Wash U. High quality of undergrad. life, pretty uniformly. Harvard (speaking as a former medical and grad. student), in my observable experience, was not as “happy” a place, undergrad-wise, but that is almost impossible for anyone to hear, if they’re more hooked on rankings/ratings than other, in my opinion, enduring and profound ways of assessing a school.</p>
<p>My daughter is going to neither institution, since she chose and got in somewhere else, ED (which was really a very personal fit for her), but Wash U. was very high on the list of schools, had she been deferred or rejected from her ED choice.</p>
<p>And, the food is great at Wash U., and it is most certainly not great at Harvard. >></p>
<p>Then I applaud you. WashU certainly has many benefits over Harvard, with food and dorms being the top of the list. While many would not see this, it’s refreshing to see some people do see it. </p>
<p>Personally, WashU was my second choice after Duke.</p>
<p>First of all, thank you to all of you for the words of encouragement…it definitely means a lot coming from all of you high achieving CCers Tomismom, you definitely hit on something i didn’t think of- you were right in assuming i didn’t apply for merit scholarships simply because I was too lazy to fill everything out. I don’t think I would have gotten any of them, but I certainly feel like I would have been a competitive applicant. Also, was it wrong for me to consider WashU a semifit/safety school? After all, everyone is told to apply to some reaches, some good fits, and some safeties. In my case, I was reasonably sure(though not certain!) that I would get in, which is probably the main reason I applied. Some of the replies have been that I didn’t deserve to get in because I viewed WashU in such a light, but I don’t think that’s fair.</p>
<p>Hypsmit, you will have a wide array of choices. i don’t think that WashU adcom has a magic eye that can tell who will accept their offers, and that certainly isn’t the only basis for their decision, because otherwise they’d only accept people who visited and reject all those who don’t! which certainly isn’t the case. </p>
<p>My D visited in the fall, got accepted, but now is being offered free airfare to come visit. Too me, that sounds like they are wooing her, and didn’t accept her just because they thought she was a guaranteed admit!!</p>
<p>HYPSMIT, you are a victim of WashU’s tendency to waitlist those who the school knows are likely to be admitted at more highly-ranked schools, and are thus using WashU as a “safety school,” of sorts.</p>
<p>WashU struggles to keep its yield up, so by admitting someone with credentials as impressive as yours, it would be doing itself no favors; WashU adcoms knew that you weren’t likely to attend their school, so they waitlisted you.</p>
<p>It’s a tricky strategy, and you’re just one of many that has fallen prey to it. Oh well… if anything, your waitlist is a good sign.</p>
<p>It’s quite foolish the view Wash U as a “safety school”. With 25000 apps, it is hard for anyone to get in, regardless of your stats. The majority of these 25000 apps have stats just like yours. The whole “over qualified” argument is just as bogus. Over qualified in what? SAT scores, gpa etc? There’s much more to the admit process than just stats. You all need to go back and read posts by ST2. ST2 does an excellent job of explaining the whole process of admits. Your stats only get your foot in the door, then it’s about creating a student body that fits the mold they are after for this incoming year.</p>
<p>If you do your research ahead of time and figure out what school is your number 1 choice, then you should apply ED to that school. You’ll have a much better chance of getting in then.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, I’m sure you’ll be quite happy at the school you end of attending.</p>
<p>JCR80, I’m definitely not saying I’m overqualified…and although I do see some evidence of that theory, I don’t think it’s 100% valid at all. You, like many others, keep saying that there is more to the story than stats, and I completely agree. But that’s just it- my stats are pretty good, but what really makes my application stand out, in my opinion, are my essays and extracurricular passions, which I have succeded in on a national and international level. So I understand totally that my stats are irrelevant after a point; I’m not trying to refute that at all. What I don’t understand is why the rest of my app didn’t push me through the door. Certainly, I’m not naive enough to think that I’m special and deserved to go-absolutely not. Nor am I trying to say that there is no way WashU could ever waitlist me-again with 25K applicants, that’s absurd. What I am trying to figure out is that I am in contact with three current aceptees and two students, none of whom had an application (in my eyes at least) as strong as mine, and the majority of whom didn’t demonstrate any particular interest in the school.</p>
<p>I went to the MIT board and saw kids less qualified than someone I know who was rejected. This kid had everything top-notch including national achievement, too. So, it goes on everywhere. Hypsmit, you sound like a great kid, who’s got his / her head screwed on right. Probably got off on the wrong foot with your thread title, but you’ve cleared that up. You do “deserve” good things to come your way!</p>
<p>It is very embarrassing for a student like you to be waitlisted from Wash U. It seems that Wash U didn’t want itself to be a safety school for super qualified students. Did you apply for Financial Aid? It would make probably worse. It seems they open doors for those who are more likely to attend with 50k/year. Anyhow, you seems to fit not Wash U but Ivy Schools.</p>
<p>Bingo. The head of admissions at a selective northeast LAC once told me that students should be honestly prepared to answer these questions:</p>
<p>(1) “Why us?” In other words, what is it about our school that is unlike any other school in meeting your needs and helping you grow? What, in particular, do we bring to your table?</p>
<p>(2) “Why you?” In other words, what do you bring to our table? How do you stand out from every Tom, Dick, and Shari that applies here? How will you enhance our student body, and make it unlike every other student body?</p>
<p>Perhaps the OP conveyed in some way or another that either (1) or (2) (or perhaps both?) were not coming to fruition. This is not to say you’re not an outstanding candidate; indeed, quite the opposite. But sometimes it takes (1) plus (2), and somebody with lesser “stats” may have really soared in that regard.</p>
<p>Excellent response and often true. But it keeps getting missed that Wash U admitted and therefore preferred MANY others with objective stat-based qualifications just as strong as the OP too (not just those with “lesser stats”). Top “stats” kids are all over the place as students at Wash U. With 20,000 apps annually, some top-stats applicants will be accepted and many not (exactly the same as what happens at HYP and the other top-20 unis and LACs). It is not a statement that the OP isn’t in any way “qualified” (of course he is) or that he isn’t “good enough.” Instead, it’s supply and demand and ALL top colleges have very tough decisions on distinguishing between applicants with many times very similar qualifications. It’s not about better or worse, it’s about different. And when there are essentially instances of little or no differences, then the tough arithmetic means some are in while others are out.</p>
<p>And everyone needs to keep in mind, top applicants (from a stats/scores perspective) are generally “competing” with other top applicants for some percentage of the admittances. At every college – YES, at HYP too – it’s not only the top scorers who are admitted. These colleges assemble a community and look for scientists, debaters, poets, writers, painters, actors, athletes, and the list goes on and on (including geographic diversity, URMs, etc.). They could fill a class with the top scorers only, but not a single one of them do so. That would be like a football team filling its roster with nothing but the biggest guys they can, but not having quarterbacks, running backs, cornerbacks, kickers, and so forth. It would be a physically imposing team, to be sure, but they wouldn’t do too well. Nor would they be a lot of fun to watch. At every top college, there are ALWAYS going to be people admitted with qualifications that appear objectively to be inferior. Needless to say, the Admissions Office didn’t see these admitted students as inferior in any way (and I didn’t even talk about issues like legacies and the like which likely take up a much higher percentage of any given class at HYP than it does at Wash U).</p>
<p>Finally, perhaps the more understanding in this community might bash Wash U a bit less if in addition to the foregoing you also remember that Wash U has many unique characteristics which require far different admissions practices than HYP and many other top unis and LACs. Unlike HYP and the 70%-ish yield figures, Wash U has to assemble a workable class mosaic with a 35%-ish yield. Then, to complicate matters more, unlike HYP and many others, Wash U has separate SCHOOLS (not majors, SCHOOLS) of undergraduate business, architecture, art, social work, and engineering. Clearly they articulate a preference for one student over another when one gets an admit and another gets a waitlist or reject. But, there are many important institutional reasons why Wash U will often waitlist rather than outright rejecting – the most significant one being giving them a “second crack” at some percentage of the waitlist once they begin to see who is actually going to matriculate and how their class composition is shaping up.</p>
) . I would say you could take my spot (hehe) but I have a feeling once you get those acceptance letters from Harvard and Princeton, you won’t care much ;)</p>
Tomismom, you definitely hit on something i didn’t think of- you were right in assuming i didn’t apply for merit scholarships simply because I was too lazy to fill everything out. I don’t think I would have gotten any of them, but I certainly feel like I would have been a competitive applicant. Also, was it wrong for me to consider WashU a semifit/safety school? After all, everyone is told to apply to some reaches, some good fits, and some safeties. In my case, I was reasonably sure(though not certain!) that I would get in, which is probably the main reason I applied. Some of the replies have been that I didn’t deserve to get in because I viewed WashU in such a light, but I don’t think that’s fair.</p>