Wash U decisions are posted

Jamiecakes
Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:10:55 +0000

My sister sits in on admissions at a large private university in the top 25. She said that EVERYONE is a good a student, so what catches the eye of the admissions comm. is that they have something else to offer. Are they an athlete that can fill a roster spot? Have they lived abroad? Are the first generation college, URM or otherwise different?

So for instance, asian engineering majors that play the violin are pretty common. First generation Ukranians who play the accordian and play soccer are not. There are SO many bright, ambitious kids that the Ivies and everyone else could fill their schools with people like my son (white, middle-class, super-freak student, good ECs, good essays, etc) but that doesn’t make him INTERESTING to them.

So, for all those upset about not getting in, I TOTALLY GET it because it seems unfair that someone with money to volunteer a month in Bangladesh gets more points than someone who spends 20 hrs a week volunteering at a nursing home locally. Or someone from an URM who went to the same great prep school you did and his dad’s a doctor, gets in when you didn’t. Or someone who can pay full tuition gets in with worse everything. It isn’t fair. It sucks for a lot of super kids.

But that’s the way it is.