Washington University in St. Louis (WashU/WUSTL) Graduate School Admission Results

I'm currently a WashU master's student and my subfield is astro. My current PI directly notified me via email that the admissions committee could not admit me into their PhD program due to the highly competitive applicant pool. I'm really disappointed with this result because I literally don't know why. I have been working with my current PI as soon as I was admitted to WashU since August 2023. I wish everyone applying to WashU this cycle the best of luck :( Personal background: Undergraduate: earned from a prestigious UK university, First-Class Honours Degree (GPA 3.85/4.00 after WES evaluation), 1 year of research experience (4 different projects in total, including 1 UROP summer internship at Imperial College London), 3 preprints on arXiv, 2 strong LoR from my undergraduate project advisors; Graduate: currently earning my master's at WashU, GPA 3.43/4.00 (physics major GPA 3.62/4.00), 1.5 years of research experience (master's thesis project), currently writing my first-author paper, 1 strong LoR from my current PI.

Preliminary Interview

20min interview. Intl student. No GRE. ielts waived. Approached by a faculty member (not the potential advisor mentioned in my SOP)

Invitation from prospective advisor to visit weekend. Formal invitation to come later.

5 co-author publication, research during all my undergrad studies and 2 years of postgrad research. 4 LORs (3 from Yale, 1 MX). Multiple national and international presentations, and teaching experience.

5 co-author publication, research during all my undergrad studies and 2 years of postgrad research. 4 LORs (3 from Yale, 1 MX). Multiple national and international presentations, and teaching experience.

Interviewed in mid-December, it was a very fast turnaround.

Beautiful campus, excellent faculty, close to home, very excited!