Waitlisted at WUSTL

IsraelP.1

Hey all, I was recently waitlisted at Wash U in St Louis. A friend of mine told me that this was standard procedure and I shouldn’t be nervous. I scored a 167 on my LSAT and I have a 3.94 GPA. Anyone have similar experience or insight that they can share with me? Thanks!

MissChanandler

Hmm I'm not really sure what your friend meant by "standard procedure." Your LSAT is a point below their median, so my thoughts are that maybe they're trying to raise their median or are having trouble maintaining it. They may be waiting on admitting you to make sure that they can afford to admit someone below LSAT median.

Cant Get Right

Their seat deposits are due in a couple weeks. There should be some movement at that point. But WL is only “standard procedure” in that it is standard to have a WL. It sounds like you’re on hold until they know where their numbers are going to fall. Have you visited them or interviewed? Their admit office has kind of an open door policy, and they like to see applicants taking advantage of that and showing some interest. If you haven’t already, a trip to St. L is probably your best bet for getting off the WL.

eRetaker

It looks like WUSTL has been aiming for a 169 median this year based on LSN data:
http://washu.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1819

I think you will have a good chance of getting off the waitlist if a substantial number of 169+ deposits elsewhere. Either way I think you are in a good position with that GPA.

Lucas Carter

Your friend may have been referring to "Yield Protection". This is when schools will WL applicants who have numbers much higher than their medians because they think the applicant will not actually enroll if accepted. Schools do this because yield is part of what determines their USNWR rank. The expectation is that if the applicant is truly interested, they will send a LOCI and subsequently be offered admission.

As others have discussed above, since your LSAT is slightly below median, it is unlikely that you fall into the Yield Protection category, as your friend may have been alluding to.

The 7Sage admissions course has some great material on waitlist strategies : https://7sage.com/admissions/lesson/what-to-do-after-you-get-waitlisted/.

Good luck!!

IsraelP.1

Thank you all so much for your insights!

BinghamtonDave

I was waitlisted at WUSTL tonight. 3.36/168. Weird cycle.

Selene Steelman

Research the program, the professors, and the graduates. Compose a letter of continuing interest where you (1) tell WUSTL why you love them, (2) tell WUSTL why they should love you/what you have to offer, and (3) state clearly that if admitted off the WL, you would immediately withdraw your application from all other schools and commit to attending OR clearly state the WUSTL is a top choice for you and you would be extremely interested in attending if admitted off the WL. Submit this LOCI before the deposit deadline so that when the admissions committee turns to the WL after the deposit deadline, they clearly see your interest. If you have already done this, then send an email reminder right before the deposit deadline that you are still here and interested. Now is the time to distinguish yourself from the field of other applicants in the WL pool. Good luck!