5 tips for Wash U success

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
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Hello future Wash U students/family members. I’m about to graduate from Wash U. Graduation day is exactly a month from today! College Confidential has been a great resource for me during my college journey, so I’d like to share some tidbits about my experience at Wash U and its ups and downs.

Some advice:

  1. College isn’t going to be easy all of time.
    Worry about your grades/friends/life/future, but don’t waste all of your energy on worrying. Getting into college was only part of the battle, and next comes four years of college. As Chancellor Wrighton says in his convocation address, hopefully college is not the best four years of your life because there are so many more years to follow. There will be low points, and it’s ok to feel sad or disappointed, but there will also be good things to come.
  1. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Professors, TAs, and even other students don’t want you to fail. In college, you’re expected to keep on top of all of your work and professors aren’t going to keep you on track like high school teachers might. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to leave you out to dry. If you can’t keep up, ask for help or for an extension, but always be honest and don’t make excuses. The worst that can happen would be a “no,” and professors like to see that you’re making an effort.
  2. Make the most of opportunities. Get to know professors, go to career fairs, join clubs, go to speaker events. You don’t have to wait until you’re an upperclassman to go to the career fair; even if you aren’t looking for a job or internship, you can still go and scope things out. I had success at the career fair almost every time I went and felt more comfortable talking to recruiters after going. Join clubs, but don’t feel that you have to keep going if you don’t like one. There are so many clubs and only so much time. Go see speakers. Distinguished speakers from all different fields will visit campus during your time there. Go to them. You won’t have many opportunities to hear people like that speak after college.
  3. Take advantage of resources. Similar to #3 above. Wash U has so many resources. It surprises me when I hear that someone never went to a career fair or has never been to the Career Center. Go to the Career Center for help on your resume and practice interviewing. Go to the Writing Center for help on essays. Even if you haven’t started writing, they can be a good resource for brainstorming or creating a plan (and motivation to write). Locate resources and use them.
  4. Explore St. Louis Get out. Even if that means something as little as going to a Cardinals Game or strolling through Forest Park, it’s good to get out of campus sometimes, and it’s really easy to spend a lot of time within Wash U.
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Very good advice. I would add one more thing from last year’s Convocation as well. Chancellor Wrighton told the students not to doubt themselves since WashU did not make a mistake admitting them.

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@sungoose @Hamurtle - sage advice. @sungoose what was your major and what does your next chapter look like? grad school/job; Any regrets? (you may PM on the regrets if you want to keep it real)

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Our Student is now a Senior at WashU. Great experience – perfect fit. Loves St. Louis. Just got back ourselves. It has been hard but worthwhile journey. Amazing to see that in 12 months, they will be graduating. All the points raised above ring true. I would really emphasize the networking aspects of school. Professors and staff want to help you – network, offer help, be eager. Show you want to learn. Seek risk. You will be rewarded. Our student has had so many great experiences. Best of luck!

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I would add a few more points:

(1) Students should be responsible for their own education. Don’t worry if that first Calculus or Chemistry midterm score didn’t turn out so well. Kids are resilient and will adjust. And if you do tell the parents, they shouldn’t go to the admistration and complain.

(2) Your study partners will become your best friends. You will celebrate each other’s successes, commiserate over the hard exams, and generally hang out together. In my sons’s case he probably spent more time watching movies, playing video games, and going out to eat with his study group than actually studying Biology, Calculus, or Chemistry.

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Hamurtle – You are so right regarding study groups. In some cases the groups will extend across year groups (Seniors and Juniors, etc.) Our student’s best friends attended many of the same classes and established study and work groups – to collaborate and share info – and relieve each other’s stress. Very helpful and positive experience. And agree with point 1 – no whining!

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@sungoose Can I borrow this to use in another forum? Pretty universal advice

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@bopper Sorry for the delayed response—I haven’t checked College Confidential in a while. Feel free to borrow as much of this as you would like!

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@sungoose can you PM me? I would like some more information

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Thanks for the great advice! I can’t wait to visit WashU later this month.