In WashU's defense...

Jeffwun
Wed, 12 Apr 2006 18:02:40 +0000

Look people, I am sick of coming to this board and reading the whining rants of those who were rejected/waitlisted or just don’t like WashU. Its cool to have that opinion, but the nonsense that is being spewed is ridiculous so imma just add my 2 cents.

Claim: WashU wailists a large number of people in order to play a game with the USNews Rankings to keep a low acceptance rate. WashU has Tufts syndrome and rejects overqualfied applicants in favor of inferior ones…its true because I know people who got into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc but were waitlisted @ WashU…etc, etc, blah blah blah


Reply: And your point is. I read the Suntimes today about a guy who had a perfect ACT, perfect math SAT, salutatatorian, great ecs and guess what he was waitlisted/rejected @ all the ivies. I think people forget that these schools are individuals places that are looking to build a community. They accept those whom they feel will fit into and add to that community based on what they read in the applications (stats, ecs, essays, recs, hobbies, etc). Just because you and your 4.0 GPA was waitlisted doesn’t mean u were overqualified and too good for WashU, it simply means that they didn’t feel you were a right fit for their community or that you simply wouldn’t enhance it. Face it, there are a countless number of kids with stellar stats, for every three that are waitlisted or rejected, there is one accepted. I hate when people think that they are the best thing since sliced bread and that if they were rejecting, then obviously some less qualified candidate had to have taken their “spot”…get over yourself.

There are people who get into Harvard but don’t get into Yale…why? Because Harvard and Yale are looking for different types of people. Same thing with WashU

Claim: WUSTL is nothing but an overrated institution that trys to lure qualified applicants away from ivies with merit money.


Reply: Sometimes I wonder if the people who spew this ignorance actually do get into reputable colleges. I thought that the purpose of an academic institution of higher education was to enroll the best students to lure the best professors and help make the best mark on society. Its like WashU is criticized for being a pretender elite school, but when they do things to lure the best students to truly be an elite school, they are also criticized. Damed if they do and damed if they don’t. WashU is a school that is now becoming nationally recognized and they deserve to recruit the best students to enhance their already stellar programs. I didn’t know this was a crime. So are they supposed to just sit on their money and not get good students? Yes, that makes a ton of sense.

Also, it isn’t like WashU doesn’t heavily invest in its students. They have a nice sized endowment and they are constantly rebuilding dorms to keep the campus looking nice, always giving money to keep the students happy.

Claim: WashU is only good for bio/pre-med. Everything else is mediocre @ best.


Reply: No, that is just wrong. Sure, WashU isn’t rankd #1 all across the board for undergrad programs. Yes, you can probably go to school B and get a better undergrad education in subject x, but the truth is, WashU is good across the board. There are areas where they are more well known, but WashU isn’t really terrible @ any major. Whatever you decided to do, you’ll get a good education. If this wasn’t the case, its undergrad program wouldn’t be ranked in the top 15. 2+2 = 4 wherever you go, when you’re dealing with the top schools, the education is pretty much the same.

Claim: No one has heard of WashU so I won’t get a good job after I graduate


These are the type of people who think the name Harvard alone is going to make them rich. These are also the people that assume that the same people who think Stanford is an ivy league school will be the same people to determine where they make it in the world. WashU is well known in the academic world as a great institution and has good job placement. Its career center is reliable and helpful. If you go to school, do well…you’ll get a job. If you go to school and goof off, then you won’t. Thats true whether you go to Harvard or Chicago State. Companies recruit @ WashU like they recruit @ other schools as well. You’re life is what you make it, quit trying to put the pressure on your school’s name to do it for you. No one will care where you went to school @ once you make a name for yourself anyway.

Claim: WashU is bad because they sent me so much mail. In fact, all the mail they send is just another ploy to get unqualified people to apply, so they can reject them and manipulate their acceptance rate.


Reply: Right, and I think imma boycott geico auto insurance since i see their commercials pop up every 15 minutes while im watching tv.

Again, colleges on the rise have a right and a responsibility to promote themselves. The same ones that criticize WashU for lack of name recognition are the same ones who criticize them for advertising themselves to students. People act like the ivys don’t send mailings out either. Hmm, how many apps did I get from Harvard? How many did I get from Brown?

Also, WashU is further accused of playing the rankings game. Imma just say this, any student who wastes $50-70 on an app fee and thinks they have a shot in hell of being admitted with clearly low stats, etc deserves to be rejected for not being sensible in college selections. I know this one girl who had bad grades and everything and was so sure she was getting into WashU because they were sending her mailings. After looking @ the mailings and doing further research (like people should do) she realized that she didn’t stand a chance in hell of being admitted and she decided to focus her attention elsewhere. I also know a similar girl who got mailings from Stanford and was so sure she would get in. Well, she applied…and got rejected. But its not her fault for slacking off in school, its Stanford’s fault for sending her that application and stringing her on right?

Claim: WashU is insecure about being an ivy safety. Real elite schools are confident!


Reply: Yes…the biggest crime ever, wanting to admit students who want to come. WashU is big on demonstrated interest because they simply want students to enroll and be happy with all the money they are putting into the school. Nothing wrong with that. Why waste an admit spot on someone who doesn’t plan on coming? Its not like they are asking students to get WashU tatoos on their foreheads or swear on a stack of bibles that WashU is their first choice in order to show interest. In fact, I thought visiting and doing interviews was normal for most schools anyway.

Claim: I just don’t like WashU


Reply: Well, if you put all this energy into concentrating on being mad @ a school, then you obviously need to go search for better things to fulfill and give your life meaning. Spring is coming, go out and play or something…

Okay, I think I am done for now. No hate to Harvard or any other schools mentioned. Im just tired of people dissing WashU for lame excuses. When WashU commits a real crime, let me know.

Peace!