Located in, you guessed it, St. Louis, MO, Washington University in St. Louis (WashU for short) is a medium-sized private research university known for their humanities programs and their rare undergraduate architecture program. It’s also a super friendly and nice school – something that all of our clients who are drawn to WashU have pointed out as a big selling point. WashU had a 12% acceptance rate for the Class of 2028, but they break that down for us even further (rare!) (perhaps an example of their kindness—is data transparency a sign of kindness?).
While the overall rate might be 12%, the ED acceptance rate was 25% and the RD acceptance rate was 8% – yeesh! If you’re very excited about WashU, it is probably in your best interest to apply ED, or at least put it away in the ED II backup list. WashU is also keeping its test-optional policy this year, and noted that out of accepted students, 55% had test scores and 45% did not.
WashU has two supplements, one of which is mandatory and the other is optional (more on that later). Both sections are very straightforward college essay questions: why us and community, which you will be more than familiar with by the end of your application process. Now, let’s dive into how to answer each question!Please tell us what you are interested in studying at college and why.
Undecided about your academic interest(s)? Don’t worry—tell us what excites you about the academic division you selected. Remember that all of our first-year students enter officially “undeclared” and work closely with their team of academic advisors to discover their academic passions. You can explore all of our majors and programs on our website.* (200 words)
The Why Us essay is a staple. Your goal here is to convince WashU that their school is the only place on earth for you to study what you want to study. It’s an argumentative essay, where the thesis statement is “I should go to school here,” and the evidence is your research on the school. Do not, for any reason, simply write about vibes. It’s cool that you like history, but you need to be more specific than “History is cool,” okay?
You want to open your essay with an origin story, essentially, why do you want to study what you want to study? What was that spark that lit the passion for your major? If you want to study history, to keep with our example, maybe it was a fascination for documentaries as a kid. Was there a particular visit to a museum that got you excited about medieval history? Now, you want to condense this anecdote into a very, very brief story. Think like, two sentences, tops. You only have 200 words, so you don’t want to spend over half of it on this story.
Next, you want to pull in some evidence. If Ken Burns got you excited about WW1, and that’s what you wrote your origin story on, then you want the evidence you pull to match that. You start by bringing in some upper-level classes – no intro classes, since those are available everywhere. If you said WW1 is your interest, then pick a class that is either about WW1 or that would serve as a good foil to WW1, perhaps providing context to the before, or discussing its aftermath. When you write about this class, it shouldn’t be “this class looks cool,” it should actually explain the “why” of why it’s cool. Will it give you a particular insight? Help you understand a certain concept? Tell us!
After the class, you’ll want to talk about a professor you’d want to research with. Same guidance as above on this one – the professor should be doing research in an area you’re interested in! It does not make sense to write about a professor who only studies the history of 17th-century China if you want to research WW1. Talk about what this professor will teach you, what knowledge they will impart, and why you want to work with them.
The next supplement for WashU is “optional,” but we don’t really believe in optional! So you’re going to have to do it!
Optional Supplement
This optional question allows you to add another dimension to your application – something that the admissions committee might not learn by reading your transcript or your personal statement. If you plan to apply for one of the Signature Scholar Programs, we highly recommend you complete this supplement.
WashU is a place that values diversity of perspectives. We believe those perspectives come from a variety of experiences and identities. Respond to one of the following prompts to help us understand “Who are you?”:
Option 1: WashU supports engagement in the St. Louis community by considering the university as "In St. Louis, For St. Louis." What is a community you are a part of and your place or impact within it? (250)
Option 2: WashU strives to know every undergraduate student "By Name & Story." How have your life experiences shaped your story? (250)
Community essays! These questions are very similar to each other, with Option 1 being about connecting your current community to WashU and Option 2 being more about your current community writ large. If we were you, we would be writing an essay for Option 1. The first prompt allows you to apply the communities you’re in now to how you’ll engage with the community at WashU, which not only tells them more about you, your values, and your passions but also shows them you’re the right cultural fit for WashU. That’s valuable!
The second prompt can be a trap – and it’s similar to Prompt #1 on the Common App. Also, Option 2 might have you rearing up to tell a story about hardship, trauma, or another less positive topic. First of all, you do not have to write about things like that to get into college – full stop. That myth is pervasive, and a lot of students think they have to write about their worst days or moments to get into college. Imagine for a second you’re a college admissions officer: you’re reading hundreds and hundreds of essays, a significant chunk of which are about these hard or bad moments. You do not have to retraumatize yourself to write something that ultimately won’t even stand out that much. If you did have an experience, especially during high school, that affected your grades, caused you to switch schools often, or otherwise impacted your academic career, those things should go in the additional information section.
We believe you should approach both of these prompts in mostly the same way, with a lil’ flair on the end for Option 1.
You should start by thinking about the communities you’re a part of – and this can honestly include anything. You may want to write about things that are a little more obvious, like a club, a team (maybe not this, though), or other structured activity. You could also talk about family, your neighborhood, your church, your friend group, or another place where you engage with others. Try to choose something that’s not otherwise reflected in your Common App, so if you already have that community service org as Activity #2 in your activities section, maybe don’t write about it here. Once you have your idea, it’s time to brainstorm a story.
The story you choose to tell here should drop us into a moment in time with your community. If you’re writing about family, maybe it’s a cultural or family tradition you engage in; if you’re writing about your neighborhood, it could be an example of how tight-knit your apartment complex is, or how you and your neighbors banded together to fix that pothole on your street on your own. If you want to talk about community service, try not to focus on anything that makes you look just soooo amazing – not that you aren’t, it's just annoying to read humble brags. Instead, focus on a moment in time that made you see something in a new way, how you recruited friends to join you, or how you handled a conflict that popped up during your shift.
The story should be full of details (as much as you can in 250 words, that is) that make the reader feel like they’re in the story with you. If you talk about your summer job at a nursery, describe all the colors and smells of greenery! Your beginning should set the scene, describe where we are and why we’re there. The middle of your story should bring in some kind of conflict, doesn’t need to be radically serious or anything, but something that will require a resolution of sorts. And finally, your conclusion should resolve the issue at hand. If you’re writing Option 2, you’ll stop here.
For you Option 1-ers, next you want to connect the community you chose to write about with something available to you at WashU. Did you write about how you go hang out with your grandma and her friends at the retirement community and how they absolutely demolish you in pickleball every week? Then see what clubs at WashU might allow you to continue that kind of engagement – maybe a pickleball club, or an organization that visits senior centers. You want to make sure you draw a through line from what you have done to what you will do. It makes no sense to say, “And that’s why I’ll join the radio station!” after an essay about your time on the robotics team.
Make sure that the rest of your Common App is in good shape, too. We have guides on the Common App essay, the activities section, additional information (if needed), and so much more. And, if you need help with those, we’re here too.
Need help with your WashU app? We got you, reach out today.