An article in the Sunday, Mar. 22, Washington Post by Nick Anderson went “inside” the admissions process at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., right as this year’s acceptance (and rejection) letters are about to go out.
While it’s rare for selective colleges to open up this way to the press, nothing in the story was really news-breaking. It was more of a confirmation of things we already knew. Though GWU has certainly become much more selective in recent years, it still isn’t in that echelon of schools who admit fewer than 20 percent of applicants.
A look at their process is still worth the read. A quick breakdown:
“Everyone wants the formula for getting in. There is none.” At the very top of the food chain, this is true. Naviance scattergram addicts will mull over how that 35 ACT/4.9 GPA got rejected from Brown while snidely speculating over how the 30/4.4 who got in. You can have done everything right and still get rejected from all your reaches. Why? Because 80 percent of all applicants to the most selective schools are just as qualified as you are.
“I have ‘Leadership!!!!’ with four exclamation points. She has a great story.”
Leadership continues to be a topic at information sessions everywhere when eager parents and kids query the admissions officers on how to get that extra edge in their profile. The spiel always goes back to extracurricular activity based on quality, not quantity, and they love to see students who have earned leadership roles at the end of a long involvement with one or two beloved passions.
“My bigger concern is what looks to be a declining GPA in a very modest senior year”…. The officers took a dim view of students who were coasting as they finish high school. One seemed to be “taking a lighter senior year…therefore, makes the straight A’s less distinctive.” ….“Uh-oh. Got a D.” She noted a campus visit.
These comments underscore the importance of finishing strong junior and senior year. A D early on can be overcome, but even a C first semester of senior year presents a red flag to any school in the more selective categories (it’s certainly a deal breaker at the very top schools), and will require some supplementary explanation. As for dropping the class second semester of senior year—don’t do it. Suck it up and improve that grade. All your semesters count.
“She noted a campus visit.” “She noted a campus visit.”
This is called demonstrated interest. A school such as Yale will tell you it matters zero—makes sense for Yale, if you get in you’re almost certainly coming. But at most schools, GWU included, it helps to distinguish if you’re just throwing a bunch of apps out there to see what sticks, or if you’re truly interested in enrolling. So visit if you can, and make sure they know you were there—register, get an on-campus interview (as long as you made the effort to get there, why not?).
Gender came up. About 55 percent of GW undergraduates are female. Several times, officers pointed out that a candidate was male. Rarely did that happen with female applicants. “We have fewer males in the pool,” Felton said afterward. That doesn’t mean men get an edge, she said.
Hmmm. See the Post’s follow-up article: “The Gender Factor in College Admissions: Do Men Or Women Have an Edge?”
“She scrutinized a supplementary essay on what excited the student about GW. Sometimes, she said, applicants write mostly about Washington, D.C., rather than the university. Or they just write about themselves. Not helpful.”
Find something specific and wonderful to say about the school you are applying to when you answer the question: “Why _____?” And be sure you have the right school. As the article’s author noted: “Free tip to GW applicants: Don’t refer to Colonials as Hoyas in your essay.” Think this is a joke? You might be surprised how often admissions officers cite cut-and-paste jobs that refer to the wrong school…
All these tidbits and more make this worth a read.