Isaac Seiler has navigated a mid-college transfer, Capitol Hill, prestigious scholarships — and his aspirations are far from over.
Issac Seiler, a senior sociology major and political science minor, vividly remembers his first day in St. Louis. He transferred to WashU in 2023 without ever visiting campus and, when he arrived in August without knowing anyone in the city, the heat index was over 100 degrees. “I remember thinking, ‘This feels tough,’” he said.
But Seiler is no stranger to tackling challenges. When concerns about LGBTQ+ rights arose at his former university, a Christian school just 20 miles from his home in Michigan, he advocated on behalf of his upset peers. “My theory of change is that you have to work within institutions and with people to get things done,” he said. “We had loud demonstrations, but we also had dialogue and many meetings with high-level administrators.”
After two years, Seiler decided to take a break from his formal education. He became the digital director for a congressional campaign in Grand Rapids, Michigan. When the campaign was successful, Seiler moved to Washington, D.C., to help stand up a new congressional office. “There’s nothing like learning by doing,” Seiler said. “People in Washington were so supportive, but they also held me to a high standard and expected great things of me.” After a year on Capitol Hill, Seiler decided to return to the classroom.
(Photo courtesy of Seiler)
Seiler selected WashU for the experiences a strong research institution can offer and was further swayed by how involved students can be. “What stood out for me about WashU was the number of resources versus the number of students,” Seiler said. “I looked at schools with a similar level of prestigious researchers and faculty, but they all had much larger student bodies.”
President Kamala Harris (Photo courtesy of Seiler)
He took full advantage of the university’s hands-on learning opportunities and dove into undergraduate research. Under the guidance of his advisor, Caitlyn Collins, an associate professor of sociology, he explored journalism, artificial intelligence, and tech policy for his undergraduate thesis. Seiler traveled to Australia last summer with the help of a Summer Undergraduate Research Award, conducting more than 18 research interviews with journalists to explore threats facing their industry.
In 2024, Seiler was named a Truman Scholar, a competitive scholarship awarded to outstanding young leaders who plan to pursue careers in public service. Assistant Dean Brooke Taylor helped him navigate the complex application process and was a valuable resource later when he applied for the highly prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. While Seiler wasn’t selected for the Rhodes Scholarship, he was named a finalist — a coveted honor that is not lost on him. “Just to be in the room with all those other brilliant candidates was surreal,” Seiler said. “Before WashU, an opportunity like that would have never been a reality for me.”
Seiler is still deciding what he’ll do after he graduates in May. Public relations, journalism, and private industry are all on his mind. But as his path to WashU has shown him, anything is possible. “I couldn’t have imagined myself at an elite institution like WashU,” he said. “But I decided to seize every opportunity that came my way.”
