Current Freshman willing to answer any/all questions

<p>This board helped me a lot last year with all of the questions I had, and I know how difficult selecting a college is so I just thought I'd try my best to give back. (I know i started that 101 reasons to attend WashU thread but I will honestly try to give unbiased answers lol). And in case this is relevant to you somehow: I live in a modern dorm, I'm premed so I've taken/taking chem and bio, and I'm asian (chinese to be specific). </p>

<p>I'll try to check this thread, but please feel free to send me a private message because I always check my email. And any question is fine, no matter how small or large, i'll try my best to give you a good answer filled with pros and cons.</p>

<p>Hi nooob (wow, I felt bad for calling you by your screen name)</p>

<p>I think this is a great thread so I will start off by asking a question: </p>

<p>How would you describe the vibe of the campus?</p>

<p>Big difference between modern and traditional dorms? I love the suite stye of the modern dorms and love the social atmosphere of the traditional.</p>

<p>can you elaborate more on what you mean by the social atmosphere of the traditional?</p>

<p>i mean i like the idea that you have the opportunity to get close to a lot of people, but i love the modern feel/ private bathrooms of the modern dorms. So I dont know what I want. How do u feel about this?</p>

<p>Is the campus card account useful? Or should I just use a normal debit card?</p>

<p>Hello,
Thank you for volunteering to answer the questions!</p>

<p>My first question is…
Why WashU? What is the distinguishing factor at WashU from other colleges that as a student, you can’t resist??</p>

<p>My second question is…</p>

<p>Do you think WashU provides much flexibility in education? (e.g.: I can major in engineering if you choose to do so, although I was accepted to the college of arts and sciences orignially)</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>nooob,
I think it is fantastic you are doing this! I am currently sophomore and President of a SU recognized student group called Bear Buddies: [Student</a> Group Directory | Student Union](<a href=“http://su.wustl.edu/directory/19692]Student”>http://su.wustl.edu/directory/19692). We are a group of over 100 current students who try to give honest answers about WashU. It sounds like you would be a fantastic person to join.</p>

<p>Incoming students would also benefit by joining, as this would allow you to talk with a current student with similar academic and extracurricular interests to you. Also you can get information from over 100 other current students through the expert lists, which allow you to contact students via specific club, class, major, etc. This list will prevent your opinion being made by one sour grape, or one overly sweet(?) grape. We are not affiliated with Admissions or Orientation, so we are not here to recruit you…just to give honest answers about our experiences at WashU. Anyone is welcome to join, regardless of where you are in the process or how certain you are that WashU is the school for you.
Key features: paired up with a mentor with similar academic and extracurricular interests, pictures of dorms and expert lists
How to join?

  1. PM me or
  2. Join the facebook group “WashU Bear Buddies 2009-2010”
  3. Or join our discussion on the facebook group for the WashU class of 2014.</p>

<p>i got accepted and got FA/scholarship (named John M. Olin Scholarship) which i happily accepted!</p>

<p>im curious what kind of paperwork i have from now on.</p>

<p>could you explain any material i prepare to send to university?</p>

<p>thank you!</p>

<p>Hey nooob, I appreciate your help in answering our questions.</p>

<p>i was wondering, in your honest opinion, if there is a difference in the social environment of healthy living communities (substance-free dorms) and regular dorms? </p>

<p>Thanks a lot for your response!!</p>

<p>Sorry for the really late responses, but here I go:</p>

<p>@Zenith: I’d say the Vibe on campus is pretty relaxing. There’s usually people on lawns reading or playing frisbees. People eating outside, talking, and of course, a lot of people walking to and from class. On the South 40, where the dorms are, I’d say it’s just as lively. Maybe not as many people reading or sleeping outside, but on certain days there are basketball games, and club events outside. There’s also a good amount of activity in some of the favorite eating places, such as Ursa’s, which stays open till 1 am and serves hot chocolates and quesadillas and gellato. </p>

<p>@hotdancer: you basically summed it right up. Traditional’s are definitely more social (in my opinion). i lived in a modern sub free and if you find the right friends on your floor, it won’t seem bad, but obviously not everyone on the floor will show their face all the time. There are some people who complain about excessive partying on traditional dorms, but that’s really a gamble anyways and can be solved by going to another dorm’s study room or to the library, whenever you need peace and quiet. </p>

<p>@lovinglife: campus card is extremely useful, especially when you run out of meal points since they can just deduct meals from there. But a debit card is always handy as well, just in life in general. </p>

<p>@pimouse: great question. Personally, I think WashU has everything to offer and is really a great school. Of course, I haven’t attended other schools so other colleges might do the same, but when I visited and looked into WashU, I was guaranteed all of these great things. I love how there’s a lot of flexibility in choosing classes. I love how the advisers here really want everyone to succeed. They don’t care if every single person is a pre-med, they would love each of us to get into a medical school if that were possible. All professors have some sort of office hour, there are so many review sessions held by professors and TA’s before classes as well. Overall, I just liked the relaxed, non-competitive atmosphere provided here. Of course, there will always be those who try to make it competitive, but for the most part, I didn’t find a target on my head or anything like that. </p>

<p>To answer your second question: YES! WashU is extremely flexible. You can easily change between schools in WashU, even in your sophomore year. You don’t have to pick a major until the end of your sophomore year. There are also plenty of people doing double majors in two diff schools, like art and artsci, or engineering and business, etc. the flexibility here is what also drew me to WashU although I probably won’t really need it.</p>

<p>@basketball: sorry but i don’t know anything about those papers lol!</p>

<p>@muppetsecks: in my honest opinion, yes there is a difference. Personally, when i lived on a sub free, I found a group of friends that were similar to me so i definitely think I got lucky. There weren’t that many ‘awkward anti-social’ people, everyone was friendly, but some people had their own quirks, and there wasn’t always alot of socializing among the whole floor, mainly some cliques (mine included), and a few people who didn’t talk to the rest of the floor. I haven’t lived in a regular dorm, but from what I’ve seen, they tend to be a little more social, perhaps because there happen to be more people who are okay with drinking (and those people tend to be really social anyways). In my opinion, it comes down to whether you’re really okay with drinking or not. There were definitely some people on my subfree who would go out and drink, it’s just not okay to drink on the floor. Wherever you go, you’ll find friends, so don’t choose non-subfree if you’re only worried about making friends, cause those friends may not be the ones you’d like to make anyways.</p>

<p>Do you know anyone in triple dorms, and how did that turn out?</p>

<p>This may be a dumb question, but it just popped into my head and now I’m curious:</p>

<p>Are you allowed to put nails or thumbtacks into the dorm walls? And if not, how do people hang up heavy decorations like bulletin boards or framed posters?</p>

<p>Thanks :)</p>

<p>ampersand- No, you’re not. (Or, at least don’t get caught at the end of the year with holes in the wall).</p>

<p>At least in the modern dorms, there are bulletin-type boards you can stick pushpins in.</p>

<p>Blue tape is great for everything, btw.</p>

<p>Use tape…they’ll charge you if theres a bunch of big holes in your walls. You generally won’t be able to hang big things though.</p>

<p>One of the advantages to using the campus card is that on-campus dining purchases are tax exempt. This is not so when you use a debit or credit card. Click the undergrad link on this page for confirmation of this [Campus</a> Card - Washington University in St. Louis](<a href=“http://card.wustl.edu/undergradacct.html]Campus”>http://card.wustl.edu/undergradacct.html)</p>

<p>Is it a common occurrence for people to party in other dorms or do people usually stick to their own floor/dorm?</p>

<p>cosine: Others usually, depends where your friends are generally</p>

<p>cosine, to add onto marc, word of where parties are usually spreads fairly easily among freshmen floors.</p>

<p>Especially in the first few weeks.</p>

<p>@pandora: no i don’t really know many people in triples since I think they’re pretty rare anyways, but from what i’ve heard they don’t happen to be too bad, aside from maybe the lack of space. It at least gives you more of a chance that you’ll have one roommate you’ll really like. But what incoming freshmen don’t realize is that it’s really all luck, so don’t stress too much about it. don’t try to be best friends with your roommates, just slowly get to know them. You may or may not have the best roommates but there’s not much you could do now. If your roommate turns out really bad, you can always request a change and reslife will see what they can do.</p>