<p>I've read the entire 101 reasons to attend WashU thread, and it all sounds AMAZING! To good to be true even. I'm really considering applying.</p>
<p>But there have to be some things you dislike about the school or the city.</p>
<p>Help me bring Washington University back down to Earth.</p>
<p>1) A $500 charge for health insurance when we already have health insurance. And it’s worse coverage!</p>
<p>2) Financial officers who won’t answer the phone when we try to ask why they charge for this. (If it’s not an option, like at every other college, then why write it as a line item?)</p>
<p>The blank looks I get when I proudly tell others what school I’m going to.</p>
<p>Oh well…I’m not going to Wash U for the name anyway.</p>
<p>I was going to say health insurance too. That’s my biggest issue. They’ve actually cost me money (outside of the $500) that I shouldn’t have had to pay.</p>
<p>And the doctors in student health services are bumbling idiots. Seriously. I hate them. Unbelievably incompetent. </p>
<p>But yeah, I figure if that’s my worst complaint about my school, I’ve got it fairly made. </p>
<p>I pretty much love WashU otherwise.</p>
<p>In a bit of poor timing for his profession, the health center director at Wash U is the new president of the American College Health Association. Perhaps the school’s inane policy, forcing you to purchase a poor health insurance policy that you don’t need or want, will be put under a congressional and regulatory spotlight.</p>
<p>WashU will be the fifth college “experience” in our family (aside from my own college days and my DH). All these colleges use Aetna and we also have an Aetna policy. But WashU is the ONLY college that does NOT allow you to opt out. That’s right, they are the ONLY college and some of these other colleges are peer institutions, like Northwestern. </p>
<p>What I do not understand is the ongoing disregard to this complaint. It’s not unusual to have some annoyance about a college, but this complaint has been passed on from one graduating class to the next. It’s been ongoing for years and it’s very specific and fixable.</p>
<p>So why do they charge this line item when all other colleges allow you to opt out? Can anyone here even name another college/university that charges for health insurance, regardless of whether the students has health insurance?</p>
<p>The food charge for undergrads is ridiculous too, its something like $1400. You’re essentially paying $1.30-40 for every point. This turns a $2 small juice into close to $3. Bagels are over $2 with this, etc.</p>
<p>Only complaints I’ve had is the charges (health fee, food fee, etc.)</p>