<p>First, congrats to your D for having such great choices. All three have much to recommend them. My son's at WU and I have close friends with students at the other two and they are thriving there as well. If there's not a compelling reason to draw her to one or the other --- a specific academic program or proximity to a particular city or cost/FA --- than it really comes down to how the student feels they fit on campus, whether they see themselves thriving there for four years. I hope she's been able to visit her top choices and even stay overnight.</p>
<p>To answer one of your questions, nothing I've heard, seen, or read would lead me to conclude that WashU is "very conservative," so I think that's way off base. It's almost like whoever said that was confusing it with another school, like maybe Washington and Lee, or something. I'd call it more middle of the road, neither ultra liberal nor particularly conservative. I don't get the sense that it is an "activist" type campus. It's not really "out there" one way or the other. Probably similar to NW or Penn that way. WU draws a fair number of students from the NY-NJ area, from the Midwest of course and the greater Chicago area, and from the SE. It's a pretty mixed bag politically, imo. </p>
<p>Frankly, I think the rankings controversy is very much a CC phenomenon and I doubt it touches the majority of WashU students in any way. It's true that WashU catches a lot of trash talk because it 1. markets itself vigorously ; 2. Offers merit scholarships to attract high achievers and 3. Supposedly abuses the waitlist practice by waitlisting more than is necessary to manage enrollment. And these policies are thought to have a big impact on the USNWR rankings. My feelings as a WashU parent are that these practices have a minimal impact on rankings and that the lion's share of WashU's top-20 ranking can be attributed to measurable factors that contribute to academic excellence: the quality of the student body, the quality of the faculty, and the amount of institutional resources (endowment) available to spend on the education of students, improvement of facilities, and attracting and paying top faculty. </p>
<p>I think that a lot of the negativity about WashU on CC has to do with regional bias and just individual prejudice, usually in favor of someone's own college or alma mater. So, there are CC participants who don't get how WashU could be ranked in USNWR over places like Brown, NW, Cornell, JHU, etc., unless there is something flawed or "fishy" in the achieving of those rankings. My S has never mentioned running into any rankings trash talk when he's talking to friends at other colleges or playing ultimate frisbee against other college teams. At this point, I don't think he gives rankings or controversy about them a second thought.</p>
<p>WashU has a large east-coast jewish community. Its liberal. I'm also from california and I know that(the less exciting but much less annoying Central Valley).</p>
<p>I don't think there's any school spirit at Wash U. We visited last year and even though school was in session there was no one around, except for the people visiting the school! The cafeteria was full of us visitors. I think everyone was hanging out inside their rooms.
I'm on Wash U's waitlist but I'm going to Cornell. How do I get my name off the waitlist? Can I do it online?</p>
<p>Hmmm....that is kind of unusual (no one being around besides people visiting). Was it during reading week maybe? These past couple of weeks everyone's been playing frisbee outside the library. I guess the campus ebbs and flows and you happened to come at a bad time....Oh well. I'm sure you'll have a great experience at Cornell!</p>
<p>I don't know anything about the WashU waitlist specifically, but I remember for the one school I was waitlisted at, there was a postcard that came with the letter that you could mail back to accept a place on the waitlist. So if you didn't send that back in, I don't think you're on the waitlist anymore. Aside from that, you should send a letter/email to the admissions office requesting to be removed from the list. Best of luck!</p>
<p>First off, just wanted to thank everyone for replying. You've all been very helpful. :)</p>
<p>Second, as someone who has already visited WashU and is now going back to stay overnight, I would encourage anyone who is down to two or three schools to stay overnight at a dorm. It will give you a very good feel for the school and the students. It's not even just about getting to see what the dorm is like. Staying overnight also means that you are interacting with students all night, you are walking around and talking to random people about why they chose school X or didn't choose school Y, or how the food is and what classes they like. It's really one of the best ways to see if you feel comfortable at a school.</p>
<p>Third, speaking from my own experience visiting campus, on the first day we were there, there were hardly any students around until around noon or so (my dad said, "Don't people go to school here?"). On the second day though, everyone was out and around and I got to get a much better feel for what the student body was like. To be fair though, on both days it was horribly cold and very windy, which is probably why we didn't see anyone sitting on the grass or playing frisbee and what-not.</p>
<p>Hopefully the weather will be nice next week when I go back for a second visit.</p>
<p>Most students who don't have class until later generally don't get up and come out until noonish. I personally am a morning person, so I'm up and about at the library at 7:30 studying, then class at 9, then I hang out in Holmes until my next class at noon. Once noon rolls around, the campus really comes to life.<br>
I will say that when I visited though, it was reading week and the tour guide made sure to mention that to us, so I knew why there seemed to be very few people around...that and it was the middle of December!!</p>
<p>Yes, Wash U is on a bit of a different schedule. Most classes don't start until 10 (as opposed to 8 at most colleges) so many students sleep in later.</p>
<p>I also need some help dispelling fears, with the lack of school spirit being at the top of that list. I was at WashU for Olin Spotlight weekend, and there was very little in the way of school spirit. However, I did find that if you talked to students they were excited about WashU, even if their sweatshirt happened to say Michigan on it instead.</p>
<p>My S and I have visited twice in the last three weeks....down to wustl and nu. It was cold three weeks ago and everywhere we turned, people were wearing washu sweatshirts. The last two days were beautiful and there were a lot of people out on the various lawns playing frisbee, etc., and this was during the week before finals begin. As well, we found students really outgoing and friendly. </p>
<p>You're certainly not going to get the kind of school spirit that you would see at big-time sports schools and which many kids may think is the essence of the college experience. However, at this level of academics, there really aren't many schools that also have that big-time "rah-rah" type of sports programs. That being said, in the times that I've visited wustl, I keep saying that it's like a programmed cult.....everyone we met said that they love going to school there.</p>
<p>mtldad, please let us know what your son decides. Your postings have been so well written and thoughtful. And yes, I would agree that it seems that everyone who goes to WashU loves it. When I tell people that my D is going to WashU next fall, people always say things like "oh, that is such a happy school" or "I know someone who goes there and just loves it"....etc!</p>
<p>Mtldad,
Add my son to the list of students who loves WUSTL. He's a huge college sports fan and grew up going to football games at the powerhouse university in our state. Although WUSTL doesn't have the same atmosphere, he still enjoyed going to WUSTL football and basketball games this year. In some ways I think he might have enjoyed it more. He actually knew several of the guys on the team and was able sit closer to the action. He was afraid at first that he might miss big time sports but I don't think that he's missed it all.</p>
<p>Thank you for the kind words. The deposit is in the federal express envelope and my S will be on the South 40 come late August! It came down to washu or nu and my S just loved washu. I just wish there was a direct flight from where we live! Both schools are great places and I know that his education at both places would be first-rate, but he just loved everything about washu. He thought nu was a great place, also, however, there were just too many variables at nu that he kept trying to rationalize just to get to where he already was with washu.</p>
<p>mtldad, thanks for the update. I'm so glad to hear that your S will be joining the WashU community. Hopefully next year both your S and my D will be two more of the kids on campus telling visitors how much they love WashU!!</p>
<p>mtldad - we traded info on your "WUSTL trip report" thread. So glad to hear your son chose WashU. My daughter made the same choice, announcing at dinner Sunday evening, "I want to go to Washington University". There was a visible sigh of relief shared by my husband and I that her decision had been made! She did have a small "crisis of confidence" (as one CCer put it), worrying that her midwest public high school education maybe has not prepared her for WashU. After getting wonderfully encouraging e-mails from 9 current WashU parents I contacted (getting their e-mail addresses off the APAP sheet provided by the school with her acceptance information - their children had also attended medicore public high schools) and with the everpresent supportive posts from ST2, D turned the corner and has a smile on her face ever since. I mailed the forms and check on Monday and they were already posted as having been received on her status check list on the WashU site on WEDNESDAY!! My husband has a partner who graduated from WashU about 10 years or so ago and he has said, "WashU runs like a well oiled machine. I was so disappointed when I went to medical school, because they were a disorganized mess compared to WashU!" Nice to hear!
Alas, my nephew chose Northwestern. He visited , but did not attend class or spend the night. My sister worries that he really did not have enough information to choose NU, but she is just so darn happy he didn't pick CalTech (due to the distance and logistics involved) that she doesn't want to say too much. We live it two different midwestern states, so it would have been nice to have them at the same school. They might have gotten to know each other a little better. NU is a great school and he will do great there.
Also, my daughter informed me that now that she is going to attend Washington University, I might need to start pronouncing the name correctly!?!?! Mom, she says, it is WAH shington, not WAR shington. Guess my midwest twang was coming through. Geez louise - I will have to practice so as not to embarass her come August!!</p>
<p>I agree. Overnight visits are essential. Everyone can get hung up on rankings etc. NU, Wash U, etc they are all excellent schools and offer their students many, many opportunities. It's all about best fit for your S or D, and your family. Wash U offers merit scholarships but not NU; if money is not an issue or if your S or D received merit money from Wash U then that rightfully may tip the scales. Good luck.</p>