<p>**For those of you with questions regarding the WashU experience and/or specific majors/minors:</p>
<p>Check out the WashU Bear Buddies 2009-2010 Facebook page group, started by a WashU student and fellow CCer.</p>
<p>In the Discussion section of the FB group, you will find a list of student helpers, their fields of study, classes they have taken, and extracurriculars they are involved in. **
Link is here: Welcome</a> to Facebook | Facebook</p>
<p>I'll still be answering questions here and on the WUSTL 2014 subforum. However I've been increasingly busy lately and have been delaying in my responses, so please go to that Facebook group first and contact a student helper there. They are looking forward to answering your questions!</p>
<p>@musicalscientist- like Atemporal said, Cable exists in the dorms…but you pay for it in a “bundle fee” along with your dorm wireless (sucks, I know…but wireless is free everywhere else on campus)</p>
<p>Books will cost several hundred dollars for all your classes per semester (anywhere from $100 to $600). The science classes textbooks usually cost about $90-120 each. For the humanities classes, each book costs much less, but all the humanities classes I’ve taken have asked us to buy several books (several ethnographies/ poetry anthologies/ etc). So you end up spending about $100 per humanities class as well. However, if you buy the individual books for the humanities classes from an external source (like Amazon, Half Price, Borders bargain coupons) you can significantly cut down the costs. </p>
<p>The costs of textbooks can be quite eye-opening (and frustrating) at first, but like Atemporal said, the WashU book costs will be the same as at most other schools.</p>
<p>For some classes like the sciences, you will be using the same textbook one semester to the next. And for humanities classes, you can alleviate costs by shoppin at external sources.</p>
<p>Supplies…laboratory supplies (lab notebook, goggles, gloves) cost about $30 total last time I had to buy them. Not sure about art school supplies; I expect these to be much more expensive.</p>
<p>I think he just meant that having cable and wireless internet just adds to the cost of dorms? But yeah, every room will have cable and internet, so its not like you have to sign up for it and pay extra (round-aboutly, you’re paying for it anyway…)</p>
<p>^^ Thanks guys for helping out. Maybe they’ve been combining wireless+cable fees into the overall dorm fee now. A year or two ago they had cable+wireless as separate fees on our student bill.</p>
<p>Will there be proms? Or something like cocktail parties? How often is that?
Will there be an International day when everybody “International”, you know, has to dress up internationally?</p>
<p>I read a review on <a href=“http://www.u%5B/url%5D”>www.u</a> n i g o.com that was otherwise very positive, but claimed that WashU nickel-and-dimes the students. For example, it said that students have to pay to use the athletic facilities, that a box of cereal costs $7 (I think) on campus, etc. Is there any truth to these comments?</p>
<p>Thanks, Soundwave. Those costs happened to be the examples given by the reviewer. I am trying to get a feel for how much such incidental expenses would add up to for a student. And, frankly, I was a little surprised to learn that the rather high attendance cost doesn’t include things such as free access to any and all campus facilities. But maybe I was just being naive :)</p>
<p>Is the only difference between the meal plans the points?
i.e., there are no items that only students on certain plans can purchase?</p>
<p>Can flex points (or whatever the balance on the Campus Card) and meal points be exchanged?
i.e., can you buy extra meals with your campus card if you run out before the end of the year?</p>
<p>Can meal points carry over to the next year if you buy too many?</p>
<p>If you get the Square Meal Deal (3008 points), are you likely to run out if you eat 3 times a day and a snack, but have smallish meals?</p>
<p>How much should we put on the campus card? If it gets used at stores etc, then I would think that $500 per semester would do it, but then there is a risk of losing the card. Is it easy to put, say $100 on it, then reload it or is reloading a hassle?</p>
<p>Thanks!!!</p>
<p>Guess who is filing in the Room and Board form!!!
Son attending Mechanical Engineering next year!</p>
<p>Correct on the first two. Meal points only transfer from fall to spring semester. All other points are forfeited at the end of the year.</p>
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<p>This is an ambiguous question. It depends on what kind of food you get, and what you consider small. There are some options which are cheaper than others. For example, a 9 oz. steak runs at about 13 meal points, and you may or may not consider it filling. On average, I believe the Square Meal Deal allows for 15-20 points to be spent per day.</p>
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<p>From a personal standpoint, I only put ~$40 on my campus card for the entire year, and that money only went toward laundry. It depends on what you plan on buying, as campus stores will charge more than standard retail stores.</p>
<p>i think you need to have a kosher plan to be allowed to purchase from some of the kosher vendors, but other than that there aren’t any “privileges” associated with any of the plans.</p>
<p>…personally, i just buy a small-ish meal plan and plan to rely heavily on my campus card toward the end of the semester when my meal plan runs out. One dollar gets you one meal point that way, which beats some other options…</p>
<p>What is the average WashU student like? Are they lighthearted/able to make fun of themselves or do a lot take themselves a little too seriously? Are people humble or spirited? </p>
<p>Also, what is an average professor like? Are they readily accessible? Do they want to be helping students or are they into the grad students and research? </p>
<p>I have visited twice already and I really don’t want to make another trip out there because of money/time. Right now I am looking at Emory as an option and I visited and liked it a lot. I know that visiting after being accepted makes the experience much different, but I felt like it was a little more laid back of a campus and maybe more fun loving (not party fun loving, just fun loving)? Please tell me, can WashU’s culture be described in similar terms? </p>
<p>Any other extra info would be great. I am gathering as much as I possibly can!!! THANK YOU!</p>
<p>The Athletic Complex with swimming pool, gyms, weight room, etc. is free for all WashU students and faculty, but there is a smaller gym that’s just full of treadmills and weights that’s on the South40 (residential area for students) that you can pay $30 a year to use. It’s just closer.</p>
<p>At Bear Mart (grocery store), things are expensive. Kashi’s Good Friends cereal is a little over $7. But I think this is what it’s like in most schools.</p>
<p>There are no roller hockey facilities that I know of…</p>