<p>In our case, son received a rejection letter in regular, business sized envelope for the University Scholars program. A separate rejection letter for the Summer Scholars Program in Biology and Biomedical Research came in a 9 X 12 envelope. In the large envelope was a postcard sized card with the following:</p>
<p>"Congratulations!</p>
<p>Enclosed you will find good news concerning your application for a Washington University Academic Scholarship & Fellowship Program. Please read the enclosed material carefully and follow the instructions in order to complete the scholarship process. </p>
<p>The Scholarship Committees have completed their task of selecting the finalists for this year’s academic scholarship competitions. Because many students choose to apply to multiple scholarship programs, we have combined notifications for all programs in one packet. If you applied for a program and were not selected, you will not receive a separate mailing.</p>
<p>Congratulations again. You should be very proud of your achievement."</p>
<p>He is planning on calling them on Monday for an explanation. He did apply for several different scholarships, so I wondered why the letter only mentioned the Summer Scholars one. </p>
<p>Hindoo, did your daughter apply for more than one and if so, were they all referenced in the letter?</p>
<p>iaquilter–My daughter applied for only one. Hopefully, this means your son is still in the running for one of the other scholarships he applied for, though it does seem weird to include a “congratulations” card and a rejection letter in the same mailing. It must mean something, because it appears that several people on CC got both the card and the letter. Good luck to your son, and keep us updated.</p>
<p>My D will not go to Wash U. she has been accepted by Standford and has scholarship offers from other elite schools. I just feel upset with the Congratulation card. Gook luck to everyone.</p>
<p>Well it is too bad you let this destroy your opinion about WashU. All of our dealings for several years have been nothing but positive. I am sure the admissions office regrets the error. Sounds like many other options available. Hopefully, you can get a good aid package from Stanford (a place who in our and several otherspeoples dealings was often not too friendly). It is a great university. With this choice along with many other scholarships from elite schools she will no doubt find a choice that makes her happy.</p>
<p>Haha, I have a son at Stanford (who is very happy to be there and is doing great). Let me assure you that their fin aid office is the most annoying and unhelpful - and we didn’t even ask for aid, just to put the money from his outside scholarships into his account…</p>
<p>I remember a year or two ago there was an article in the WSJ about different schools approaches to finacial aid. A Wash U representative stated that they felt it was important to try to make the aid package work. He said their approach was:“We are here to try to help”. I know that they have really tried to work with D and we think they follow their stated mission. There are other well known schools that during the process of comparing aid packages from one college to another will not even consider relooking at the first offer. Some are really keen on offering big loan packages. They continue to be unhelpful in followup years. If one does not qualify for aid and/or is finacially set it won’t matter. Schools do have different approaches. I hope other schools we are considering are as helpful as Wash U has been to us.</p>
<p>Unfortunately we do not qualify for much financial aid. D is among a small group whose application were approved early by Stanford. Obviously Stanford likes D more than Wash U does.</p>
<p>You wouldn’t know if Stanford likes D more than WashuU unless Stanford had academic scholarships. You didn’t say D did not get into WashU did you? Are you implying that since D got into Stanford she should get one of the handful of the scholarships offered by Wash U. The candidate pool has a lot of overlap. Maybe the top Stanford candidates would get Wash U offers but maybe not. There are many people who get into MIT or Stanford who would not get a Axline Scholarship offer at Caltech. It sounds like you are trying to link admission at one school with scholarship offers at another. Perhaps they saw something on the scholarship app that was not as good as the other applicants.
If you are so convinced you can’t get need-based money why does Stanford even matter?</p>
<p>Stanford ranks higher than Wash U, if we have to pay the same amount of money, Stanford is a better buy. Secondly, if she goes to Wash U she is not in the group most valued by Wash U, but she is in the group most valued by Standford.</p>
<p>Not sure I would worry too much about ranks for top schools like this. They are all good. Fit is more important. I know kids who have turned down “higher ranked schools” even Stanford to go to WashU, even without a scholarship. There are some really good aspects of the place that may be better than the HYPS type places. D wanted a scholarship and did not get one. She could have gone to so called “higher ranked” places. She has always felt wanted at WashU. The opportunities have been fantastic and I would say a good as those at other elites. If feeling “wanted” is important than surely that should be part of the decision equation–as long as the school offers the best fit.</p>
<p>oldolddad - you are absolutely right about fit. As for turning down “higher ranked schools” it happened in our case and in many other cases that I know of. Have never looked back on choosing WashU. Like a second, or even now possibly first home. When you are talking about the top 15 schools - the difference in ranking is minimal. </p>
<p>schoolfinder - your daughter should visit both schools and determine the best fit for her. Have her overnight in a dorm - get to meet the kids she will be spending 4 years of her life with. Four years can be a very long time to just settle or not be happy. Both Stanford & WashU are great schools - she can not go wrong with either - so now it comes down to campus atmosphere, campus culture and fellow students. As they said in an Indiana Jones movie when offered the chalice “choose wisely”.</p>
<p>MCookie: I would really have to use my imagination to say the campuses reminded me of each other. Both were nice but seem really different top me.</p>
<p>yes, I think the students are more similar than the campuses. But the Washu campus visit is what finally convinced me that it was the place for me, more so than my visit to Stanford.</p>
<p>As a student at WashU who works with the admissions office, I would like to apologize on their behalf for the error. Our intent was not to be distasteful or crude in any way. Your daughter has a wonderful opportunty to choose among great schools. Whether you decide Stanford or WashU is the better fit, I do wish you, your daughter and your family the best. I have a lot of friends who go to Stanford and the place is very similar to WashU. There are some things I like about WashU a lot more, but I also think Stanford edges us in some areas as well so you won’t go wrong with either.</p>
<p>Thank you for your response. It is OK now. We understand that scholarship application has intense competition and there can be mistakes. </p>
<p>My son turned down Wash U scholarship finalist offer a couple years ago. Do you think that has adverse impact on my daughter’s application? Does the committee offer scholarship based partially on their estimation whether the applicant is going to accept or not? Do the schools that offer scholarships talk to each other so that they do not offer to the same student? I am just wondering and would apprecaite your reply.</p>
<p>I have been told on a number of occassions that the commitees that decide merit scholarships are different and independant of the admissions committee. The only communcation that goes on is the admissions committee telling them if an applicant has been accepted or not. There is also no communcation among different scholarships, as I know several people who have two different merit scholarships (major ones like Ervin and Rodriguez at that).</p>
<p>great responses Jeffwun. Very responsible and accurate statements. schoolfinder, I am sure that your daughter will enjoy wherever she goes and hope that you will forgive the erroneous, if not negligent, mailing of the merit based scholarship committee. Please don’t let this be representative of your experiences and impressions of WashU. As a volunteer at the admissions office it is vital that people understand that WashU really is a warm and welcoming place…best of luck</p>
<p>D is the one with the highest GPA ever in her school’s over 40 years history, SAT 1600/2340, 9APs, State and Regional winner of math and chemistry competitions, member of state champion team in science olympiad and academic decathelon. Captain of a couple of academic teams, president of a club. She also voluteered in a local library, worked for two summers as research assitant in national renowned universities. She at an earlier time received Top Scorer of the World award in a math competition. All her hard working won her the rejection letter with the Congratulation card. I have been wondering what went wrong. Wash U must be full of the very geniuses!</p>