ED chances for Tufts or Wash U for Fall 2025

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hi. I’m a rising senior from a large urban school. I really like both Tufts and Wash U but don’t want to waste my one ED shot if there’s little chance. My stats are the following:

  • GPA: 4.0 unweighted/4.4 weighted (top 5% of class)
  • 10 APs by the time I graduate
  • I have some interesting ECs, including a part time job since freshman year and several internships related to my professional interest. I’m also a four- year varsity athlete (including a captain for the upcoming year) but nothing exceptional (I don’t have any state or national awards)
  • My family is full pay but I have no other hooks (I am not a legacy, first gen, or recruited athlete)

Thoughts?

2

You’ve tagged this thread “first generation”. If that’s a mistake I can remove it for you.

Have they provided you a budget, or alternatively have they confirmed that any college (up to $90k+ a year) will be fine?

What is your intended major?

3

Have you visited both campuses?

What is your intended major?

I think those will dictate how people recommend you do.

4

Your grades, rigor and class rank are competitive anywhere. EC sounds good. So you definitely have a chance at either school whether you RD or ED. Both schools are reaches for everyone.

Wash U acceptance rate is substantially higher for ED vs RD. Tufts doesn’t report their ED acceptance rate but acknowleges on their admission blog that your chances are better in ED.

If either of those are your first choice then I don’t think ED is wasted on them. And both schools offer two rounds of ED. Best of luck!

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5

Thank you!

6

Sorry! I didn’t mean to tag “first gen”- please remove.

Not sure about intended major. Definitely not engineering or business. Potentially something in health sciences or health policy (though not premed).

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7

Test score?

I don’t think your ED app would be a waste at either, which one do you prefer? Have you visited both?

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8

So the experience in our feederish HS is that WUSTL definitely seems to like full pay high test score kids with top grades and rigor, and is maybe less picky about ECs as long as you have been decently active. And in fact last time we had good data, WUSTL was way up there in terms of test scores (like top 5ish high among all US universities and colleges), which implies they must be compromising a bit more elsewhere to pass so many otherwise highly selective colleges and universities. And to be blunt about it, my S24 is heading to WUSTL with a profile kinda like that.

However, our kids like that who apply to WUSTL tend to actually go there a lot! Again, see my kid. It has a really good rep in our circles, I think there is a lot of values/priorities overlap with our HS, that sort of thing.

So I have heard (although not experienced) that WUSTL might get a little yield-protecty at times, if it is not convinced you are really into WUSTL. This is not unusual, we’ve heard the same thing about Rice, Tulane, for sure Tufts, and so on. But there are colleges where there seems to be very little of that going on, and I gather in some circles WUSTL is seen as having some of that going on.

OK, so, I think the first question is going to be what sort of test scores do you have? I am not saying I would never ED WUSTL without a high test score, but at least in our circles there is a little range in which someone might be considered really competitive for Tufts, maybe not quite there for WUSTL.

Second, if you have competitive numbers for both, and don’t feel a need to compare offers, and these are your clear top two, you can plan to actually ED both. Like, obviously put your absolute favorite first, and if you are rejected you can try the other. Because as far as I know, ED II is as good as ED I for solving yield protection issues.

However, if you are deferred–now you have a decision to make.

Edit: Oh, by the way, ED/REA/SCEA was a blood bath in my kid’s HS this year, meaning not a lot of people got in that way. Then RD turned out to be one of the best years ever. My point is just that ED is not in fact your one and only shot to get into a highly selective college, and lots of people still get into great colleges RD (sometimes surprising even themselves).

9

Thanks for the info.

I have visited them both. My SAT score is 1480 (740 for each section), which is very high for my high school but not for the published range or either school (but I know that there are a lot of test optional kids at both schools)…I don’t know whether to submit my score or not. My school guidance counselor doesn’t think I should because my school is lower than the median published score but I hate to think admissions officers might assume my score is lower than it is (and I worked hard for that score!).

10

Totally believe you, but how do you reconcile that with the WUSTL CDS stating that “Level of applicant’s interest” is “not considered”? Do we have misunderstandings on that section of the CDS? Are schools not all calibrated on how to fill that out?

11

So first, you should in fact be proud of that score. Second, I think recent events and commentary have suggested if your score is just below the reported 25th, it is probably worth submitting for just that reason–they might well assume otherwise it was lower than that. And then if you personally have actually experienced serious disadvantage you might well go lower than that.

That being said, that happens to be in the range where I think it might actually be materially more competitive for Tufts than WUSTL. That is very contextual and definitely far stranger things happen every year than a 1480 getting into WUSTL but not Tufts. And you could still ED both sequentially if you like. But still, you could think about that issue when strategizing, and possibly even go test optional at WUSTL but not Tufts if you think that makes sense.

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12

So it has always been unclear to me whether that does or does not include things like ED and yield protection. I think at a minimum, it means WUSTL is trying to communicate that you do not need to do things like visit or sign up for online sessions or such if you don’t want to, because it won’t make any difference to their process. But I am less confident that means they do not use a yield model in making admissions decisions, since it could just mean they would not bother to use demonstrated interest as an input into such a yield model.

That said, to my knowledge there is no real evidence at our HS of WUSTL yield protecting. And so since this is second hand I definitely do not want to insist anyone has to rely on that idea.

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13

So that I understand, you think I might be better off submitting the score to Tufts but not Wash U? Would you suggest this strategy for both ED and (if I don’t get in) ED2?

14

Just my opinion, I think that it is worth using your ED on either Tufts or WUSTL provided that it is your first choice, and your parents can afford to pay either full cost or whatever the Net Price Calculator predicts. You are a competitive applicant to either of these very good universities.

My recollection is that the current full cost of attendance at Tufts without any aid is about $95,000 per year. University costs in general seem to rise perhaps 5% per year. To me this suggests that by the time that you are done Tufts could cost you a bit over $400,000 (assuming graduation in four years). I doubt that WUSTL would be much different unless you get financial aid of one kind or another from one of these schools.

Personally I would submit a 1480 to either school. 1480 is a very good SAT score. One issue with schools being test optional is that students with higher SAT scores submit and students with lower SAT scores do not, which skews the reported numbers. However, admissions staff are well aware of this skew, and 1480 is very good.

And of course, as always, make sure that you also apply to safeties.

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15

Looking at the 2022-23 WashU CDS…roughly 60% of admitted students submitted a standardized test score meaning that 40% did not. I say roughtly because some students submit both an ACT and an SAT and are double counted.

So you would be in the “40% that did not” camp. I am betting that others in this camp will include people with hooks (e.g., athletes). I have no idea what that proportion is likely to be, so I will refrain from offering advice.

You should also check out the 2023-24 CDS when it comes out.

16

With a huge emphasis on might, but yes. But you could also reasonably submit to both. I view it as a very close call with WUSTL (I am more confident you should submit to Tufts).

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17

Thanks, all. Appreciate the advice.

18

What is your HS average and/or 25th-75th%ile?

19

You should ED for the school that you’re most interested in. ED is not a game - you will be somewhere four years, day after day after day - so you should be where you favor.

And both have ED1 and 2.

I’m not a HS counselor but on paper, it sounds opposite of what I would think would help.

If your hs is lower performing and you are greatly outperforming it, I would think it would make your sub 25% score stand out. I’m not saying I’m right but that seems logical to me. You might question them.

Also, don’t forget, not everyone submits so scores are artificially high.

Good luck whatever you decide - but mainly I’d suggest finding the right school to ED1 based on preference.

20

The hs average is something around 1050. I don’t think the school publishes the 25th-75th percentile. It’s a very economically diverse school so there are some very high scores and some very low scores. As I mentioned, I am in the top 5 percent of my class but I am not the top few people (my class has over 600 students).

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