What’s New in APAP?

Welcome to the 2022-23 Alumni and Parents Admission Program (APAP) season! My name is Jason Lewis (BU07, JD13), and I am honored to return as your APAP executive chair for my final term. I have also served as chair for the St. Louis central committee for the past several years. I am once again excited to share my enthusiasm for WashU with prospective students and serve on a leadership team with remarkable alumni volunteers and university staff.

I’d first like to recognize an important success by the APAP community last year. 96% of applicants who responded to the post-interview evaluation said their interest in WashU INCREASED following their APAP interviews!  Your work as University ambassadors truly makes a difference.

Next, I am excited for a few new developments this year. The APAP Volunteer Portal has been significantly redesigned, boasting a new, user-friendly interface; faster responsiveness; additional- resources for volunteers and committee chairs; and more. One additional feature that long-standing members will especially notice is a revised Interview Report Form. The new form has been re-thought to make your reporting easier while still conveying the most important details to the Undergraduate Admissions staff. 

This year, APAP volunteers will also have more opportunities to interact with prospective students and the university. For the first time since the global pandemic began, volunteers now have the option to conduct in-person interviews with prospective students based on your and their comfort level. Virtual interviewing has also proven to be an unforeseen success, as it has allowed prospective students from remote and underserved areas to interact with the University, and so we will continue offering virtual interviews to volunteers who would like to do so and to students who need that option.

Similarly, Interview Days are back in some areas! Be on the lookout over the next couple months for information about Interview Days should there be one near you. There will also be more opportunities to staff College Fairs in many areas of the country this year-please make sure you have opted into College Fairs as an activity if you are interested in helping with them. University staff and local chairs are also hard at work planning in-person Recruitment Happy Hours and Kick-Off events across the country.

Finally, the Admissions Offices has launched a new initiative to give prospective students another meaningful opportunity to interact with the university: Bear Ambassadors. Bear Ambassadors are current students with whom prospective students can talk about their student experience. Prospective students can search for an Ambassador by major, home state, or academic division. Please visit the Bear Ambassador website and be sure to mention this to prospective students during your meetings.

Please reach out at any time to the APAP staff or me directly at jklewis@gmail.com. You can also connect with Pam Bookbinder Clarke, AB ’06, our vice chair and chair of the Morris and Essex Counties, New Jersey committee, who will be an especially valuable resource for new APAP members. A special thanks also to our wonderful parent member chairs, Gwen and John Litchmann from California, and our amazing chair emerita, Sally Silvers, AB ’69, chair of the mid-Missouri committee, who remain available to help you and to assist with anything APAP-related.

Thank you for all that you do for APAP! Here’s to a great season!

APAP Portal: Have you logged in?

The APAP Volunteer Portal is the hub of APAP volunteer participation.  It’s where you manage interview assignments (alumni) and your volunteer activities (alumni and parents).  

In order to access the Portal, you need a WUSTL key and password.  If you need help retrieving or setting up your WUSTL key, please contact APAP at apap@wustl.edu.

Please log in to the Portal to agree to the eligibility requirements for this season.  All volunteers–both new and returning–must complete this step. After completing the eligibility requirements, be sure to update your activity preferences through the Edit Activities section.  Here is where you can indicate how many interviews you’d like to conduct as well as where you’d like to conduct them.  This is also where you can opt in to receive emails about staffing College Fairs in your area.  This fall, over 70 fairs did not have WashU representation because we were unable to secure a volunteer.  College Fairs will be back in the spring, so please add your name to our distribution list!  

Interview updates

-All alumni interviews during this season may be conducted by video conference, by phone, or in person.

-If your chair assigns an interview to you, you will receive an email that will ask you to log in to the Volunteer Portal to accept or decline the interview.  Please be sure to check email on a regular basis, including your spam folder.   

-You can find detailed instructions about how to utilize the Portal to accept/decline interviews, contact the student, and submit the report form in the Member Resources section of the APAP website.

-Please complete the Interview Report Form within one month of accepting the assignment. You will find the report form within “Applicant Details,” which you can access by clicking on the student’s name after you accept the interview assignment.  Note to returning members: The report form has been updated in order to capture more helpful information for the admissions selection committee. 

-Please attempt to reach the student three times within two weeks by both phone and email.  If you are not able to reach the student after three attempts, please mark “Could Not Reach” on the Interview Report Form.    

If a student declines your interview offer, please indicate this on the Interview Report Form in order to complete the process.

-Regardless of the outcome, you must submit a completed Interview Report Form for the interview assignment to be complete. 

-All interviewing alumni APAP members should review How to Conduct an APAP Interview.     -If you are willing to conduct additional virtual interviews outside of your committee area, please log in to the Portal and click Edit Activities to select this option.

Transformative fundraising initiative announced

On October 6, Washington University announced Make Way: Our Student Initiative that will build financial resources for undergraduate scholarships, graduate scholarships and fellowships, and the student experience. 

The goal is to raise a minimum of $600 million in gifts and commitments.  

“With Make Way, we aim to be the most supportive university in the country for all of our students, including first-generation and lower-income students as well as those from middle-income families for whom a WashU education is a significant financial stretch,” said Chancellor Andrew D. Martin. Feeling inspired to make an impact?  Consider a gift to the APAP Endowed Scholarship Fund, which provides support for students interviewed through APAP. 

APAP member resources

All training resources for APAP volunteers are in the Member Resources section of the APAP website.  In order to access this section, you will need your WUSTL key and password.  If you need help retrieving or setting up your WUSTL key, please contact APAP

If you are a new volunteer, please complete the APAP Member Training at your earliest convenience.  It should take about 15 minutes.  We encourage returning volunteers to review the training as a refresher.  Admissions and APAP staff members are always available to you. You can find contact information for the APAP staff member and the Admissions Officer who works with your committee area in the Member Resources section of the APAP website.

Celebrating APAP’s inaugural volunteers

As we kick off our 30th anniversary season, we honor the following APAP members who were volunteers in the inaugural 1992-93 season and are current APAP members in this 2022-23 season. 

Alan Swimmer, Glencoe IL, LA 1982                                
Andy Lowenthal, Creve Coeur, MO EN 1976                    
Bruce Millinger, Melville, Australia, LA 1973
Cynthia Sung, Brooklyn, NY, BU 1986                    
David Bondor, San Antonio, TX, EN1978                    
Doug Pratt, Taylors, SC LA 1972                    
Doug Fisher, Baltimore, MD, EN 1986                    
Frank Ford, Dearborn Heights, MI, LA 1970
Hilary Kaplan, Marlboro, NJ, LA 1992                    
Joanna Seto, Honolulu, HI, EN 1989                    
Kevin Hall, Chicago IL, AR 1989                    
Michael Cohen, Chicago IL, LA 1983                    
Rob Meyer, Webster Groves, MO, EN 1976, 1978

If we inadvertently left anyone off of this list, please let us know.