Thoughts on Wash U in St. Louis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, I will reiterate that Wash U reaches out to students it has no intent of admitting, encouraging them to apply, just so it can appear to be more selective. Other schools with which it would like to be compared simply don't do this. The kids see through this and most parents know exactly what they are trying to do.

So, I guess this means that your kid got rejected from Wash U?

That is how your repeated posts make it appear.

It doesn't give the impression at all that there is anything wrong or dubious about Wash U's admission process. It just makes it seem like you have sour grapes.

I'm one of the PPs and my DC was never interested in Wash U. It was a good friend of mine who visited with her child who was given the "free preliminary application." They decided not to apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, I will reiterate that Wash U reaches out to students it has no intent of admitting, encouraging them to apply, just so it can appear to be more selective. Other schools with which it would like to be compared simply don't do this. The kids see through this and most parents know exactly what they are trying to do.

Imagine that there really was such a simple inexpensive way for a school to increase its academic standing - wouldn't you be disappointed if your school was too dumb to take advantage of it?

Since when do the rankings have anything to do with "academic standing?"

The rankings reward certain expenditures and distort the way schools handle admissions. I have very little respect for that.

So true - who cares about how a school ranks when I can rely on what my neighbor's cousin says? - and she actually lived in the same metro area as the school a decade ago!

[Anonymous]

I know nothing about the school except that they sent my son at least 2 pieces of mail a week for months, during the time when he was considering colleges to apply to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, I will reiterate that Wash U reaches out to students it has no intent of admitting, encouraging them to apply, just so it can appear to be more selective. Other schools with which it would like to be compared simply don't do this. The kids see through this and most parents know exactly what they are trying to do.

So, I guess this means that your kid got rejected from Wash U?

That is how your repeated posts make it appear.

It doesn't give the impression at all that there is anything wrong or dubious about Wash U's admission process. It just makes it seem like you have sour grapes.

I'm one of the PPs and my DC was never interested in Wash U. It was a good friend of mine who visited with her child who was given the "free preliminary application." They decided not to apply.

So you are basing your posts on a "friend" who travelled across the country to visit and tour the school and Wash U actually, gasp, gave this child an application? The nerve! So very underhanded of them to give an application to a child who took the time and money to fly across the country to tour the school!

Really? That is the entire basis for your argument? I don't see how your story is relevant here, given the details you shared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, I will reiterate that Wash U reaches out to students it has no intent of admitting, encouraging them to apply, just so it can appear to be more selective. Other schools with which it would like to be compared simply don't do this. The kids see through this and most parents know exactly what they are trying to do.

So, I guess this means that your kid got rejected from Wash U?

That is how your repeated posts make it appear.

It doesn't give the impression at all that there is anything wrong or dubious about Wash U's admission process. It just makes it seem like you have sour grapes.

No sour grapes and no child who has applied to this school, the barrage of mail solicitations notwithstanding. Several different posters have now shared their observations that Wash U engages in aggressive and fairly transparent efforts to boost applications and lower its admissions rate.

Sorry if that puts you on the defensive as an obvious Wash U grad or parent, but that's your problem.

[Anonymous]

Funny how all these "different posters" have inside knowledge as to Washington Universities motives. Pretty sure top 15 schools get more than enough applications.

[Anonymous]

Another thing is how the "different posters" just know that WashU targets applicants that WashU KNOWS won't be admitted. Even very selective schools will on occasion make some surprising admits - every heard of a reach school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another thing is how the "different posters" just know that WashU targets applicants that WashU KNOWS won't be admitted. Even very selective schools will on occasion make some surprising admits - every heard of a reach school?

Someone has a huge case of sour grapes. Even if Wash U is pumping up it's application numbers, it doesn't really reflect the quality of the student body or the campus culture. It's a beautiful campus with an amazing student body and a friendly culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's no better than U.Va. or College Park but popular with kids who can't get into Ivies, Stanford or Duke.

My kid was accepted at Yale, Stanford, and Duke (among other schools including Williams) but chose to attend WUSTL because it was one of the two "top 20" ranked schools (the other being Duke) that offered substantial merit-based aid (we don't qualify for need-based aid which is the only kind that most other top schools provide). My kid is not unique; WUSTL is teeming with students who got into "Ivies, Stanford or Duke" but, like my kid, are attending WUSTL because they received a half-to-full (+stipend) scholarship that is guaranteed for 4 years. I think that my kid would be attending Stanford if he hadn't received a scholarship to WUSTL but we simply didn't see the value of paying $60K per year when attending WUSTL is a fraction of the cost of attending any other top-ranked, private school and comparable to attending our state school. Even if WUSTL is "no better than U.VA or College Park" or if it's "popular with kids who can't get into Ivies, Stanford or Duke," WUSTL gives a lot of money to kids who can get into Ivies, etc. and these students attend too (my kid's dorm-mate turned down Harvard to choose between "full ride" scholarships from Duke and WUSTL).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, I will reiterate that Wash U reaches out to students it has no intent of admitting, encouraging them to apply, just so it can appear to be more selective. Other schools with which it would like to be compared simply don't do this. The kids see through this and most parents know exactly what they are trying to do.

So, I guess this means that your kid got rejected from Wash U?

That is how your repeated posts make it appear.

It doesn't give the impression at all that there is anything wrong or dubious about Wash U's admission process. It just makes it seem like you have sour grapes.

I'm one of the PPs and my DC was never interested in Wash U. It was a good friend of mine who visited with her child who was given the "free preliminary application." They decided not to apply.

My daughter attended a local Wash U recruitment session and was told that they'd waive the application fee if she applied. Even though she wasn't really interested, she applied because it didn't cost her anything, especially since Wash U uses the Common App without supplemental essays. She was admitted but didn't attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's no better than U.Va. or College Park but popular with kids who can't get into Ivies, Stanford or Duke.

My kid was accepted at Yale, Stanford, and Duke (among other schools including Williams) but chose to attend WUSTL because it was one of the two "top 20" ranked schools (the other being Duke) that offered substantial merit-based aid (we don't qualify for need-based aid which is the only kind that most other top schools provide). My kid is not unique; WUSTL is teeming with students who got into "Ivies, Stanford or Duke" but, like my kid, are attending WUSTL because they received a half-to-full (+stipend) scholarship that is guaranteed for 4 years. I think that my kid would be attending Stanford if he hadn't received a scholarship to WUSTL but we simply didn't see the value of paying $60K per year when attending WUSTL is a fraction of the cost of attending any other top-ranked, private school and comparable to attending our state school. Even if WUSTL is "no better than U.VA or College Park" or if it's "popular with kids who can't get into Ivies, Stanford or Duke," WUSTL gives a lot of money to kids who can get into Ivies, etc. and these students attend too (my kid's dorm-mate turned down Harvard to choose between "full ride" scholarships from Duke and WUSTL).

As noted in the 2003 NY Times article, Wash U made a big endowment push more than a decade ago. A larger endowment lessens the need to maximize tuition income and allows schools to recruit elite students. We'd all be better off if every top 25 school used WASH U's approach to improving the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny how all these "different posters" have inside knowledge as to Washington Universities motives. Pretty sure top 15 schools get more than enough applications.

NP. You don't have to be an insider to know this stuff. Some guy wrote a book about how this particular school games the admission process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny how all these "different posters" have inside knowledge as to Washington Universities motives. Pretty sure top 15 schools get more than enough applications.

NP. You don't have to be an insider to know this stuff. Some guy wrote a book about how this particular school games the admission process.

He must have had sour grapes, too.

Actually, I don't think anyone here has sour grapes, but it is hilarious to see how defensive people are when this is pointed out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny how all these "different posters" have inside knowledge as to Washington Universities motives. Pretty sure top 15 schools get more than enough applications.

NP. You don't have to be an insider to know this stuff. Some guy wrote a book about how this particular school games the admission process.

does "some guy" have a name? Does the book have a title?

I bet there is no book devoted solely to how WasHU games the admissions process.

[Anonymous]

Some guy wrote a book about how two mental patients bombarded the DCUM forums with incoherent messages about gaming the USNews rankings. Sequel coming out soon.