The Princeton Review -- an education services company that helps students choose and get in to colleges -- this year collected a wealth of data to help applicants and parents find the highly-coveted financial aid that a majority of them will need to pay for college. WUSTL was among 13 of which received the highest possible score of 99.

References:

1. July 27, 2009 — The Princeton Review gives 623 colleges financial aid ratings in the The Princeton Review

In The Princeton Review's top 10 colleges that offer the best quality of life, WUSTL comes in at No. 4, behind Rice U., Bowdoin College, and Claremont McKenna College.

References:

1. July 28, 2009 — Top 10 Schools with the Best Quality of Life in the Encarta.MSN.com

This year, the process of turning to waiting lists has started early at some private colleges. WUSTL — and other institutions with competitive admissions — turned to their waiting lists in recent weeks, before the final tallies were in on how many accepted applicants were coming.

References:

1. May 4, 2009 — Early Admission From Waiting List in the InsideHigherEd.com

The stimulus plan emerging in Washington could offer an unprecedented, multibillion-dollar boost in financial help for college students. Both the House and Senate bills call for the largest-ever funding increase for Pell Grants, the government's chief college aid program for low-income students. It could also hand out billions to the states to kick-start idled campus construction projects, including new dorms at WUSTL.

References:

1. Feb. 8, 2009 — Who Gets What: Billions to colleges and students in the Associated Press

and 56 others.

Getting into a top college is tough, but so is weeding through all the advice about it. To sort out the good tips from the bad, Ellen Gamerman recently talked with college freshmen about what they wish they'd known when they applied to college a year ago, including one student who had been wait listed by WUSTL.

References:

1. Nov. 26, 2008 — How I Got Into College: 5 Stories in the The Wall Street Journal

and 1 others.

Applying to selective colleges is stressful under the best of circumstances, but for twins and triplets the process can be particularly agonizing. One set of twins found happiness at WUSTL.

References:

1. July 27, 2008 — Is There a Better Half? in the The New York Times

A growing number of government agencies, universities, and charities are trying to ease the burden of medical school by offering free or nearly free rides. WUSTL medical school listing says "A few full-ride scholarships for top-notch students" and includes a link to a Web page.

References:

1. June 2, 2008 — How to Go to Medical School for Free in the U.S. News & World Report

More students are being accepted from wait lists at elite schools this year because colleges found it harder to predict how many graduating seniors would join the freshman class. Some state colleges and smaller liberal-arts schools are also drawing more from their wait lists.

References:

1. May 21, 2008 — Elite Colleges Reach Deeper Into Wait Lists in the The Wall Street Journal

WUSTL has need-based loans with grants for students from families earning less than $60,000. many prominent universities are moving to expand financial aid to the middle class.

References:

1. Feb. 21, 2008 — Stanford Set to Raise Aid for Students in Middle in the The New York Times

and 4 others.

Student financial aid season is getting off to a shaky start. The industry is experiencing jitters as the fallout from the subprime credit crisis trickles down to lenders who make private loans, as well as companies that also issue federal loans. Bill Witbrodt, director of WUSTL student financial aid services, says he has not seen students directly affected yet, but expects that could change.

References:

1. Jan. 18, 2008 — A Shaky Season for Student Loans in the Business Week Online

Legacy admissions may be elitist, says Adam Liptak, but they're not illegal.
He also says that legacy preferences in college admissions -- the nepotistic advantages given to the children of alumni -- are indefensible.
References include an article published in the WUSTL Law Review.

References:

1. Jan. 15, 2008 — A Hereditary Perk the Founding Fathers Failed to Anticipate in the The New York Times

The new Harold Alfond College Challenge is a first-in-the nation philanthropic program that will give families statewide a $500 starter grant — and assistance with paperwork — to set up 529 college savings accounts for infants. About 80 percent of account owners who receive matching grants in Maine continue to make contributions, according to a study by WUSTL.

References:

1. Jan. 10, 2008 — Maine program brightens college prospects -- at birth in the The Christian Science Monitor

Story on how some parents are cutting the cost of a college education by paying for all four years upfront.
WUSTL, where tuition is $34,500 a year, allows families to prepay all four years of tuition, room and board.
But the school also offers a no-fee financing program by working with various lenders to offer home equity loans to allow parents to prepay and lock in rates.
WUSTL financial aid services director Bill Witbrodt comments.

References:

1. June 11, 2007 — Parents Writing One Really Big Check in the ABC News online

NBC Today Show's final day of their special series "Getting Into College Today" included a panel of admissions directors from Princeton, Bates College, UCLA and WUSTL's Nanette Tarbouni.

References:

1. Oct. 20, 2006 — Getting Into College Today in the NBC News "Today"

Parents, faced with huge tuition hikes, have begun keeping a closer eye on the investment in their child's future. This, in turn, has spurred colleges to pay more attention to the people who will be footing the bill. Princeton invites parents to join alums now in Congress for receptions. Elon University, in Elon, N.C., sends parents their own acceptance letters. And Washington University in St. Louis has parents of current students send letters to parents of prospectives.

References:

1. March 20, 2006 — Education: you're in — and so are Mom and Dad in the Newsweek

Every college admissions cycle has its own set of dynamics, and this year is no exception. Many selective private colleges are reporting a boom in applications and, as a result, expect to admit a lower proportion of high school seniors than last year.
Students who are deferred from their first choice college rush to apply to other schools. One student was deferred by Yale and quickly applied to Northwestern, Brown, WUSTL, Penn and George Washington.
Such decisions by seniors help explain why many selective colleges also are experiencing a rise in regular applications.

References:

1. Feb. 14, 2006 — College applications take off in the USA Today

After Hurricane Katrina, the presidents of several associations that represent the nation's colleges and universities consulted with leaders of Louisiana's stricken colleges and universities. In response to the schools' requests, the presidents urged their member universities on Sept. 2 to admit displaced students on a visiting basis so they would remain students of the Louisiana universities. Over the last week, universities across the nation have responded with a mix of tuition policies. Some schools, like WUSTL, were charging displaced students while pledging help to ensure that students would not pay twice. Others, like George Washington University, were requesting tuition but allowing students who had written checks in Louisiana to defer payment until they obtain reimbursement from their home school.

References:

1. Sept. 10, 2005 — Flooding Puts Universities in a Bind Regarding Tuition in the The New York Times
2. Sept. 11, 2005 — Students resume campus life here in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Some schools, while glad to see parents care, are expressing concern over the downside. During freshman orientation this year at Northeastern University in Boston, administrators urged parents not to call their children but to let them call home when they want to talk. At WUSTL, upperclassmen perform skits about healthy transitioning for parents. The University of Vermont hires students as "parent bouncers" to delicately keep parents from interfering in, for instance, meetings with advisers.

References:

1. Aug. 28, 2005 — Colleges try to contend with hovering parents in the Associated Press

With more students applying to a finite number of prestigious colleges, including WUSTL, competition for slots has never been this heated — or this unpredictable. High school seniors can end up with their dream schools while admissions directors have a ready pool of students to plug into the inevitable vacancies that occur each spring when kids drop out, flunk out or study abroad.

References:

1. Dec. 10, 2004 — College admission, with a catch in the Kansas City Star (MO)

and 16 others.

It seemed like a cool screen name when he selected it, in middle school. But five years later, when it was time to apply to college, Jeremy Woolf began to rethink his e-mail address. ''I found SexyJer13 to be inappropriate,'' Mr. Woolf says. WUSTL student Jeremy Woolf and WUSTL admissions director Nanette Tarbouni suggest students select appropriate e-mail address names before applying to colleges online.This year about 30 percent of college freshmen applied online.

References:

1. Jan. 18, 2004 — ThinkB4applying: No dopey names in the The New York Times