2009-2010 Washington University in St. Louis Application Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.
ksmi117 said:
What did the email say?
Click to expand...
WashU email said:
subject: "Information regarding Merit Scholarship"

The Washington University School of Medicine Merit Scholarship Selection Committee has just completed the difficult task of selecting candidates to whom we are able to offer merit-based scholarships. I regret to inform you that you were not selected as a recipient and will not be awarded one of our merit-based awards.

This year the task proved to be incredibly difficult due to the number of superb candidates who applied. The Selection Committee was very impressed with your credentials and accomplishments and hope that you will be joining our medical school community in August.

This decision has no effect on your eligibility for need-based financial aid. We are proud of our need-based financial aid program which for the 2010 incoming class will limit our medical student’s annual need-based borrowing to no more than $20,000 annually. The remainder of the cost of education will be met by scholarships provided by the School of Medicine. This combined with our tuition stabilization program (which holds tuition constant for four years of medical school) makes costs predictable and limits need-based borrowing to $80,000 for four years.

Thank you again for your scholarship application. I only wish we had more scholarships to award and could have offered one to you.
Click to expand...

Seems like the same email they sent last year

Anyway, It's probably a good sign if you haven't heard anything yet -- you're probably still in the running for one of the scholarshps! :luck:
 
hmm i got an email like that for the olin a while ago, but nothing yet about the general ones. soon enough i guess
 
jla314 said:
hmm i got an email like that for the olin a while ago, but nothing yet about the general ones. soon enough i guess
Click to expand...

ksmi117 said:
Same. I guess we shall see what happens.
Click to expand...
Well, no news is certainly good news in this case 🙂

I do think it's sort of silly that they say "I only wish we had more scholarships to award and could have offered one to you" since apparently some people who got pulled off the waitlist last year got some merit money. Go figure.
 
bobsmith said:
Well, no news is certainly good news in this case 🙂

I do think it's sort of silly that they say "I only wish we had more scholarships to award and could have offered one to you" since apparently some people who got pulled off the waitlist last year got some merit money. Go figure.
Click to expand...

me too, but it made my decision a whole lot easier i think :/
 
bobsmith said:
Well, no news is certainly good news in this case 🙂

I do think it's sort of silly that they say "I only wish we had more scholarships to award and could have offered one to you" since apparently some people who got pulled off the waitlist last year got some merit money. Go figure.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I suppose that happens when people with the money offers withdraw at the last possible minute. But still, wouldn't it make more sense to give it to people who got in outright? I'll never understand med schools!!
 
ksmi117 said:
Yeah, I suppose that happens when people with the money offers withdraw at the last possible minute. But still, wouldn't it make more sense to give it to people who got in outright? I'll never understand med schools!!
Click to expand...

to me, personally, if they called and offered a spot in june without any money, i wouldn't go. there is no incentive, its a private school with a large tuition. money is enticing, it draws you in.

now if this is my top choice and i would go here no matter what, then its a different story. also, i don't think we can mistake outright acceptance students as being necessarily the best candidates for the scholarship monies. however naive this might sound, perhaps they value the waitlisters just as much as the outright acceptance ppl.
 
For those of you from last year who were on the waitlist but later got accepted by WashU...
What sort of updates did you have in your update letter? Did you just mention that WashU was your number one choice, etc.?

Thanks!
 
RunningDiva said:
to me, personally, if they called and offered a spot in june without any money, i wouldn't go. there is no incentive, its a private school with a large tuition. money is enticing, it draws you in.

now if this is my top choice and i would go here no matter what, then its a different story. also, i don't think we can mistake outright acceptance students as being necessarily the best candidates for the scholarship monies. however naive this might sound, perhaps they value the waitlisters just as much as the outright acceptance ppl.
Click to expand...
Exactly. I liked WashU, but nothing about it stood out compared to the other top 10 acceptances I have. My favorite part about the e-mail is they mention need based aid... What about those of us who aren't "needy" but nonetheless don't feel comfortable asking our parents for ANY money, let alone close to $70,000 (if you factor in living expenses) a year? Might as well have been a rejection letter for me, considering I have much much cheaper options.
 
WildcatS11 said:
Well I assume thats why its called NEED-based aid, not aid based on how comfortable you are with your parents/finances. Some people don't even have that option. Therefore they NEED aid.
Click to expand...
It isn't about comfort level, its about my father retiring before he turns 100.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I do think that people with high EFCs that actually aren't getting familial contributions that match their EFC are sort of put in a tough spot with regards to financing their med school education.

But on the other hand, schools can't just offer to help out all the people whose actual family contribution doesn't match their EFC. If they did, everyone could just claim their actual family contribution doesn't match their EFC and ask for more money
 
bigman225 said:
It isn't about comfort level, its about my father retiring before he turns 100. I would never even consider taking money from them and they wouldn't consider giving it. I'm a grown man and I don't take money from mommy and daddy. If someone who "needs" aid can take out loans just like I can, what is the difference? WashU needed to price me in and they didn't.
Click to expand...

You make a good point, and I'm in the same position. However, I side with the schools for three reasons.

1. Having the maturity to take life on your own is a subjective matter, and schools can't decide who will and won't get money from their parents. If schools let students claim they received no money from their parents, it would be widely abused.

2. People in our position do have a safety net, many do not.

3. Need based aid does more than give money to those who need it, but gets more economically disadvantaged students into medical schools. Sure, I need money, but quite honestly, giving it to someone else does more to correct the disparity in med school.
 
For all WashU waitlist hopefuls, I think you would be pleased to know that I am also probably going to withdraw after having not received any merit scholarships.

A question to the current WashU students: How influential was the second look weekend in your decision to attend the school? I already bought the plane tickets, but having found out I didn't receive merit scholarships and that I was accepted into UCLA, I'm not too keen on going anymore. Was there anything so stellar about WashU's second look that you think would make me change my mind?
 
DaiZ16 said:
For all WashU waitlist hopefuls, I think you would be pleased to know that I am also probably going to withdraw after having not received any merit scholarships.

A question to the current WashU students: How influential was the second look weekend in your decision to attend the school? I already bought the plane tickets, but having found out I didn't receive merit scholarships and that I was accepted into UCLA, I'm not too keen on going anymore. Was there anything so stellar about WashU's second look that you think would make me change my mind?
Click to expand...

Ditto to this. Especially because I have the second look for the school I will now probably be attending scheduled at the same time.
 
shepardsun said:
Ditto to this. Especially because I have the second look for the school I will now probably be attending scheduled at the same time.
Click to expand...
Yup, going to Duke's instead. I would cancel the plane ticket DaiZ.
 
DaiZ16 said:
For all WashU waitlist hopefuls, I think you would be pleased to know that I am also probably going to withdraw after having not received any merit scholarships.

A question to the current WashU students: How influential was the second look weekend in your decision to attend the school? I already bought the plane tickets, but having found out I didn't receive merit scholarships and that I was accepted into UCLA, I'm not too keen on going anymore. Was there anything so stellar about WashU's second look that you think would make me change my mind?
Click to expand...

in regards to the bolded, i'm curious as to how many applicants initially apply to WashU based solely on the possibility of free monies i.e. olin scholarship.

EDIT: not judging anyone here. i did. there isn't much besides a lot of $$ to pull me outta cali and a state tuition.
 
RunningDiva said:
in regards to the bolded, i'm curious as to how many applicants initially apply to WashU based solely on the possibility of free monies i.e. olin scholarship.

EDIT: not judging anyone here. i did. there isn't much besides a lot of $$ to pull me outta cali and a state tuition.
Click to expand...

St. Louis is actually a really cool town if you give it a chance-Its very laid back, yet there are lots of fun things to do (including surprisingly GREAT food and the young population living around the central west end where WashU Med is). I personally think its an amazing location for undergrad and grad school.
 
Of course, I have nothing at stake here-If i feel like going to second look, I'll be in the area (for school 😛)
 
I liked the pen, I thought it was nice. You wanted a car?
 
DaiZ16 said:
For all WashU waitlist hopefuls, I think you would be pleased to know that I am also probably going to withdraw after having not received any merit scholarships.

A question to the current WashU students: How influential was the second look weekend in your decision to attend the school? I already bought the plane tickets, but having found out I didn't receive merit scholarships and that I was accepted into UCLA, I'm not too keen on going anymore. Was there anything so stellar about WashU's second look that you think would make me change my mind?
Click to expand...

It's kinda funny, but I'm feeling like I'll do the opposite of you. I got my "Financial Aid" estimate from UCLA, and it looks like 50k of straight loans. Loans without deferred interest. California is broke as hell. I have a brother in law school and I know that Wash U cuts your expected parental contribution in half for each sibling in school, so I'm guessing I'll get more aid from them than most other places, especially since half of your need-base aid is given through grants. I also have a sibling that will start undergrad next fall, so my 2nd year of med school and onwards that could be cutting the expected parental contribution to 1/4.

Has anyone gotten back need-based estimates? I haven't gotten all of my forms in so I don't know how much they would offer me.
 
allen5055 said:
It's kinda funny, but I'm feeling like I'll do the opposite of you. I got my "Financial Aid" estimate from UCLA, and it looks like 50k of straight loans. Loans without deferred interest. California is broke as hell. I have a brother in law school and I know that Wash U cuts your expected parental contribution in half for each sibling in school, so I'm guessing I'll get more aid from them than most other places, especially since half of your need-base aid is given through grants. I also have a sibling that will start undergrad next fall, so my 2nd year of med school and onwards that could be cutting the expected parental contribution to 1/4.

Has anyone gotten back need-based estimates? I haven't gotten all of my forms in so I don't know how much they would offer me.
Click to expand...

I turned in my stuffs really early and haven't heard. I think they said they'd send it out in April. Maybe I'm making that up though.
 
so is there some kind of rank to the WL?

or is everyone that is not accepted get put onto the WL?
 
Has anyone tried to fill out their financial aid form online? What is the purpose of the "Budget" Section-don't they determine the budget for next year?
 
ElegantWeapon said:
Has anyone tried to fill out their financial aid form online? What is the purpose of the "Budget" Section-don't they determine the budget for next year?
Click to expand...

It is stupid. I spent a long time working on mine last year, and when I sent it in they only allowed me to borrow to the standard budget anyway. Don't worry about it, and don't spend much time on it. Send it in, but know that they probably don't really look at it.
 
ksmi117 said:
Woot!! :highfive:

Are you gonna do the research thing? I definitely am if I go here.
Click to expand...

I already talked to a PI about it! It's all set and ready to go. I guess I've made my decision already!

Have you seen the research faculty list? It's like being a kid in a candy shop.
 
Hirudo said:
I already talked to a PI about it! It's all set and ready to go. I guess I've made my decision already!

Have you seen the research faculty list? It's like being a kid in a candy shop.
Click to expand...

Oh I have one too! I feel kind of bad being all like "if I go here" but he's super cool with it. 🙂

What's your research gonna be in?
 
ksmi117 said:
Oh I have one too! I feel kind of bad being all like "if I go here" but he's super cool with it. 🙂

What's your research gonna be in?
Click to expand...

Looking at HIV-related neuropathies using fMRI. Looks like a great experience. How about you?
 
Hirudo said:
Looking at HIV-related neuropathies using fMRI. Looks like a great experience. How about you?
Click to expand...

Well nothing that specific yet, but I'll be doing clinical research in diabetes. We're still in the project planning stage, but apparently one of the projects my PI has in mind involves mathematical modeling so I'm pretty stoked about that.
 
Hirudo said:
Looking at HIV-related neuropathies using fMRI. Looks like a great experience. How about you?
Click to expand...

ksmi117 said:
Well nothing that specific yet, but I'll be doing clinical research in diabetes. We're still in the project planning stage, but apparently one of the projects my PI has in mind involves mathematical modeling so I'm pretty stoked about that.
Click to expand...

Gunner-licious! Kids at WashU plan their research before they even go there. :meanie:


Haha, sorry, I couldn't resist.
 
Do you need to know programming for what you'll do? MATLAB?
 
Hirudo said:
Do you need to know programming for what you'll do? MATLAB?
Click to expand...

Not sure yet, but I have a bit of experience with those from my math research now, so hopefully I'll know at least a little bit.

I'm totally bummed that my PI is gonna be out of town during the Second Look. I wanted to see the lab and talk to him in person and stuff. Oh well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

wysdoc
2024-2025 Washington University in St. Louis
16 17 18 19 20
Replies
955
Views
311K
bananasundae3
B
wysdoc
2023-2024 Washington University in St. Louis
17 18 19 20 21
Replies
1K
Views
285K
derek dixon
derek dixon
wysdoc
2024-2025 Ponce (St. Louis)
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
297
Views
41K
dbqvic0129
D
wysdoc
2024-2025 Saint Louis University
6 7 8 9 10
Replies
499
Views
107K
Sue C
Sue C
wysdoc
2024-2025 University of Washington
10 11 12 13 14
Replies
680
Views
144K
stew_md
S
Top