Despite the growing financial crisis, admissions counselors at high schools and students applying to Washington University do not believe that there will be a drop in the number of University applicants for the 2008-2009 admission year.
Nanette Tarbouni, director of undergraduate admissions at the University, said that she does not expect the number of students applying to the University to fall. She anticipates that the number will stay relatively the same.
“It is too early to be able to predict what will happen with applications this year. We do expect the size of the freshman class to be in keeping with our usual range,” Tarbouni wrote in an e-mail to Student Life.
According to the U.S. News and World Report’s 2008-2009 Best Colleges rankings, a record number of 22,428 high school seniors applied to the University for the 2008-2009 school year. Just 3,887 applicants, or 17 percent, were accepted.
This school year, 1,338 first-time degree-seeking freshmen enrolled at the University.
According to the College Board, not only are record numbers of students graduating from high school, but more and more high school seniors are applying to college. Sixty percent of graduating seniors apply to college, according to College Board data provided to U.S. News and World Report this year.
The increasing competition and rising applicant pools have caused the acceptance rates of most four-year institutions to decline.
With U.S. wages flatlining and the cost of education rising, the ability to pay for higher education has become more difficult, prompting numerous high school graduates to turn to low-cost state schools and community colleges.
At the University, the average total cost for a Wash. U. education after receiving grants based on need is $26,590, a 48 percent average discount.
Despite these factors, none of the schools in U.S. News and World Report’s top 20 national universities, all of which are private, has seen a decrease in applications.
Gregg Walke, a guidance counselor for seniors at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, does not believe the number of students in the U.S., including seniors at Stuyvesant, who apply to Washington University will ever decline.
“With the continuing growth of the popularity of Washington University in St. Louis and the school’s steady position at the top of the rankings, the amount of students that are going to Washington University is most likely to rise,” he said.
Stuyvesant, one of the highest-ranked high schools in the nation, sends a large group of students to highly-ranked schools such as Wash. U. each year.
According to Walke, for the 763-member 2008 graduating class at Stuyvesant, nine students applied Early Decision to the University. Only two were accepted and another was wait-listed.
Of the Regular Decision applicants, 87 other seniors applied to the University. Of those 52 were wait-listed, 18 were accepted and seven were rejected.
Mo Shomrat, a current senior from Stuyvesant, initially thought about applying Early Decision to Wash. U. However, after witnessing the low acceptance rates of students from the previous year who applied Early Decision, he decided to apply Regular Decision.
Shomrat agreed with Walke that the number of students applying to the University will never fall—especially at Stuyvesant.
“Wash. U. more or less has become a dream school for many students here,” Shomrat said. “From the friends whom I’ve talked to, I’d expect the number of seniors applying to Wash. U. this year from Stuy to exceed a hundred.”
