<p>So with only a week left to decide I'm leaning pretty strongly towards WashU for reasons everyone here already knows (excellent academics, beautiful campus & happy students, to name a few) plus a generous partial scholarship. That said, I have a few lingering questions I want to clear up before I commit - I know no school will have everything I want but I'm just interested in some opinions from current WashU students and alums...</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Is WashU still a smart choice if I'm definitely NOT pre-med? I'm certainly capable in both science & math but my real passion lies more on the humanities side (think history-public policy-journalism), and I want to make sure there will be some people with similar interests around. How are classes, professors, programs, etc in these areas? I'm also considering Duke, where I feel these departments are slightly more prominent, but feel free to prove me wrong : ) I'll probably go to grad school anyway (so I'd rather save money by getting a fantastic WashU education for less), but I don't want my humanities classes to be duds because everyone's only doing it to fulfill a requirement</p></li>
<li><p>Campus - does it start to feel too claustrophobic after a while? I've grown up next to Stanford's sprawling 8000 acre campus in the oak foothills, and while WashU's manicured campus is beautiful beyond a doubt, I felt I had seen most of it by the end of my recent three day visit. Obviously Stanford is kind of an extreme case and I don't expect a carbon copy, but I'm just worried that by comparison WUSTL's 169 acres will feel tiny within a few months. Forest Park and downtown STL are definitely perks for me, but do students actually take advantage of them? Are there nearby areas for outdoor activities in a more natural, undeveloped setting?</p></li>
<li><p>Be honest: is it fair to say that the WashU student body is dominated mostly by Jews and Asians (significantly more so than the average American college campus)? Don't get me wrong - I'm a sometime-jew with mainly asian/hapa friends, so I'm just curious if students of other faiths and ethnic backgrounds (Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, African-American, Hispanic, Int'l, etc) are represented in similar numbers. Do students of different backgrounds mix enough that it's reasonable to expect my friends will be pretty different from me? At the Rodriguez finalist weekend, which to be fair isn't specifically targeted at Hispanic students but still has a noticeable Latino slant, I didn't meet any truly first-generation students like I know at home in the sf bay area...are they present at WashU?</p></li>
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<p>Thanks for addressing my last-minute worries and hopefully see you next year!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>WashU’s pretty flexible when it comes to taking the classes you want. I have found the humanities and social science classes to be pretty easy, and yes, I do take them to fulfill requirements. There are some more “exotic” classes, I suppose.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t think WashU feels claustrophobic. Granted, I have sacrificed my social life in the past few weeks to prepare for exams, but for the most part, I think the consensus is that the campus is large enough.</p></li>
<li><p>It’s fair to say that, yeah. They are certainly present in higher numbers, but I don’t think that will affect social interaction at all.</p></li>
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<p>The percentage of Asians and Jews isn’t any higher than most Ivies or other top universities. Wash U, by the numbers, is equal to or better academically than most of the Ivies.</p>
<p>let me also add that I have seen the question about Jewish students at Wash U raised in various survey books and on line for years. It is disturbing and outrageous. No one questions the percentage of Jewish students in the Ivy league or elsewhere – and it is higher in those places – so why Wash U?</p>
<p>I just looked at CollegeBoard’s stats for each college and WUSTL upper range of the middle 50% isn’t higher than all that of the Ivy’s except HYP.</p>
<p>Look, the point is, Wash U student body is fully competitive with the mid and lower Ivies, as well as Stanford, Duke etc. It doesn’t get the credit it deserves for reasons I can’t fathom. There is this sense that it’s rise is somehow synthetic – and yet it has arguably the best medical school in the country, the best social work school, rising business and law schools and terrific undergraduate schools that combine close attention to students with top faculty. They continue to build facilities like crazy (see latest engineering school plans). They play Div III sports, which is a lot more sensible than what the Ivies (who break their own rules every day for recruited athletes) do.</p>
<p>I think WUSTL is a fine institution and I didn’t make any of those mentioned accusations. I was merely pointing out your previous claim about WashU’s superiority over all Ivy’s besides HYP in terms of numbers was not a factual statement.</p>
<p>Just checked Cappex and it seems WashU has higher scores than Brown, Columbia, Cornell(the lowest), Dartmouth, and Penn. (did I miss any? … and is just a hair below Princeton …</p>
<p>Yeah… Columbia’s 75% CR/M is equal to that of WUSTL, Dartmouth’s is higher and Penn/Cornell are lower. Also, I’m pretty sure that data is not current; I’d suggest using CollegeBoard’s.</p>
<p>^ well, you’re not going to find the ACT scores on the CollegeBoard site now, are you? And why do you want to pick a certain score instead of considering ALL of them (25%, 75%, CR & M, ACT & SAT, etc.) … that’s what I did, … as for the age of the data, … lol, it’s fresh enough … just pointing out that your statement in post #9 “was not a factual statement” … just saying, lol</p>
<p>^ Actually the ACT scores are on the CB website. As for why I chose the 75%, I’d prefer all of the Legacy/Dev. Admits/AA/D1 Athletic Recruits be left out of an academic comparison. And the more recent the data is collected, the more helpful it is.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your input, I very much appreciate your thoughts! Let’s move away from comparing WashU stats to various schools I’m not interested in and refocus on life at the school I hope to attend : )</p>
<p>in response to your first question: I’m a graduating senior who will graduate with a bachelors in History with a minor in creative writing. The history department is, admittedly, less prominent than history when people talk about washu. However, we have an incredible department. the professors are engaged and incredibly involved, and the classes are just wonderful. Opportunities exist for internships at the history museum or the historical society library close to campus-- i intern at the museum creating exhibit tours for school groups. Our senior thesis process is (while optional) tough but very rewarding. My thesis adviser is a professor both in history and in law, has at least 3 grad students working under him, and still took the time to meet with me every week of my senior year for my thesis. if you like discussion classes, you’ll be happy- many of my history classes are less than 10 people or at least under 30 so that we really get to engage with the material. in short-- I can’t say enough about how much I love our history department. So our humanities is nothing to sneeze at.</p>
<p>I will say, however, that while our writing program is awesome, it leans more on the creative than journalistic end. Something to keep in mind if you’re into journalism. though we do have a tv station and newspaper.</p>
<p>oh, and i meant to say as well: in the 100 and 200 level history classes, you will get people who are filling a requirement. but the upper level classes are awesome, and even those who are there to fill a requirement are generally pretty good about participating.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m a bit concerned about question #1 myself, too (well, a slight variation of ? #1)…I would love to delve into the social sciences field…</p>
<p>Can the test score stats have been inflated because of WashU’s superscoring policy? Other of those schools among the ranks do not superscore standardised test scores.</p>
<p>Most schools superscore. Sometimes it is difficult to find that information online, but here are a few:</p>
<p>Although Penn will always utilize the highest scores from any test or subsection in the review of a candidate’s application, having the complete testing profile provides deeper insight. Improvement in scores over a period of time, consistency in scoring or the knowledge that a student took the test once (as a relatively high scorer or even a lower score) provides information helpful in the review process. ([Penn</a> Admissions: Required Tests](<a href=“http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/applying/testing.php]Penn”>http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/applying/testing.php))</p>
<p>Dartmouth: SAT (with Writing) or ACT (with Writing): If you submit both, we will look at your highest equivalent score. For the SAT, we take the highest section scores from any of your test dates. For ACT, we take your highest single composite score.
([Testing](<a href=“Apply to Dartmouth | Dartmouth Admissions”>Apply to Dartmouth | Dartmouth Admissions)</a>)</p>
<p>Columbia: When evaluating applicants, we consider only the highest testing results reported from individual sections of the SAT (or the highest Composite on the ACT), and the two highest required SAT Subject Tests, always seeking to give students the greatest opportunity to showcase their academic talents and hoping to make the testing experience as stress-free as possible
([Applications</a> & Admission Process | Columbia University Office of Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/faq/admissions.php#6]Applications”>http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/faq/admissions.php#6))</p>
<p>MIT: While we do require the SAT Reasoning Test or ACT Plus Writing, we realize that some of you may also have taken older versions of these tests. In such circumstances, we will consider scores from each section of both the older and newer versions of the tests and use the highest score achieved in each section for our evaluation. This is also the case if you have taken the SAT Reasoning Test or ACT Plus Writing more than once. Since reporting multiple scores will not hurt you, we recommend that when you register to take tests, you ask for all of your scores to be reported to MIT. ([MIT</a> Admissions: Standardized Test Requirements](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/standardized_test_requirements/index.shtml#requirements]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/standardized_test_requirements/index.shtml#requirements))</p>
… and is just a hair below Princeton …</p>