Drawbacks to WashU????

<p>OK -- on the verge of applying ED. Anything negative about attending that I'm missing? I keep thinking WashU looks too good to be true.......</p>

<p>~lack of name recognition for people who aren't really informed about colleges (basically joe schmoe on the corner might not know ur attending a top 15 school)</p>

<p>~always construction on campus (which is good and bad, it means they are always improving facilities and housing; however, some people don't like the idea of having a huge hole in the centre of campus (the spot where they are building the new university centre and underground parking garage). In fact, the school has erected over 30 new buildings in 10 yrs!!!! That gives you an idea. While I love the fact that they are rebuilding a new dorm every year (and freshman get to live in the newest dorms like me), it is a pain to have to walk in a roundabout fashion in order to get places while the construction is happening.</p>

<p>other than that, I think WU is the best thing since sliced bread</p>

<p>Like any University life is what you make it. WashU obviously has great academics. One drawback of any very selective school is that it's darn hard to get into. With Low 22K apps, most likely 5K level of accepts with about 1500 admits, entrance is hard. So most prudent students will apply to reaches, matches and safeties to ensure admittance. Only real way to bargain on aid is if two comparable schools accept you. I'm guessing there are not many who can afford to pay full freight. </p>

<p>I think their merit scholarship competition is more work than other schools, and with entrance so tough it could be a lot of extra work for naught.</p>

<p>Good Luck all.</p>

<p>collegesearching, i was like you last year. i really wanted to apply ED but washu looked too good to be true. well now one year later i'm here and it still seems that way. the only real complaint i have is almost that washu provides everything for you. you sometimes have to make an effort to go into st. louis, which is an amazing city from the little bit i've seen the past few weeks.</p>

<p>also the weather kinda sucks, like it'll be really hot one day and cold the next or all the sudden start raining but its not that bad.</p>

<p>having been here i can't be happier with my college choice. this school is full of amazing people doing amazing things and is just a great place to be.</p>

<p>To reply to hsseniorlooking's comment about WashU's merit scholarships, yes there are some that you do have to put more work into, but then also there are many more that you are automatically eligible for by just applying to the school. I filled out two scholarship apps (The Fitzgibbon one for architecture, and the University Scholars one which wasn't really a scholarship but admits you to WashU grad school at the same time). I didn't get either of them. But I did get a nice scholarship from the school. In addition, they're pretty good about the National Merit Scholars program. Finally, I applied under the Architecture school. The scholarship I ended up getting was named after an architect. I decided architecture wasn't for me, and transferred to artsci. The scholarship came with me. It wasn't a scholarship that I applied for. I checked the box "Yes! I'm interested in financial aid!" and WashU was pretty good about providing it. So I know this is kind of a long post, but I guess my main point is, don't assume that you're not going to get any aid if you decide to come. Apply, then wait and see. Chances are you'll be happily surprised. (At least I was).</p>

<p>wash u is definitely fun to be at. sure, you might not get the name recognition but it is definitely getting more noticeable. There is a lot of construction going on esp on campus but that's just a nitpick.</p>

<p>i was definitely worried because it sounded too...perfect but since i've been here, im so glad i applied ED</p>

<p>Yeah can't think of any real drawbacks. The people here aren't ridiculously attractive, but definitely not ugly. There aren't too many different 'scenes', but that could be looked at as a positive or negative. As previously mentioned, I wouldn't expect to go into St. Louis a ton when you're an underclassman, but there is no real need to anyways. Record shops, good restaraunts, music venues, clothing, can all be found at the loop(the strip of stores in walking distance of campus). The positives outweigh the negatives tenfold...</p>

<p>Thanks for all the good info! One more question -- how big is the average class, and how frequently do you end up with TA's (or, how infrequently do you have contact with professors!) I'm choosing WashU over LAC's, and the class size/mentor relationship with profs is my only concern. I hate the thought of the huge lecture hall with no prof-student interaction. How often would I encounter that at WashU?</p>

<p>In my experiences, professors teach all their classes (even large lectures) and TAs only run review sessions. All professors have office hours and TAs have them as well. All my professors (even in the lecture classes of 150+ students) make an effort to at least learn the student's name so when you ask a question, they ask that you say your name and where you are from...or something like that. The professors here really are caring and want to get to know their students as much as possible. In one of my large classes there is even a lot of discussion/debate that goes on and its not just lecture :)</p>

<p>from a person who doesnt attend Wash U, but knows a ton about it. My sister went here 4 yrs ago.</p>

<p>These are the real draw backs, and no one here can dispute them.</p>

<p>Real lack of name recognition. A LOT OF PPL have no idea about this place. I come from a place in the northeast, that sends to all of the top schools including wash u/northwestern. </p>

<p>Not well recruited by companies yet, which I dont know why.</p>

<p>Grad placement is not up to par with peer institutions. In the wall streeet feeder list, wash u was in the 40s or low 50s. Northwestern was 21, UChicago 14, Rice 20, Cornell 25. </p>

<p>Other than that, it is a great school. But these are legit concerns.</p>

<p>A TON of kids here are pre-med students, which means ruthless competition in even non-science classes.</p>

<p>ouch! ruthless competition???</p>

<p>any current students interested in commenting on this one?</p>

<p>from visiting, I would have thought friendly, hard working, but laid back was a more accurate assessment!</p>

<p>ok so i'm a cheme which means a lot of people in my classes are pre med. um, i don't know if i would say ruthless. washu students are all driven, the pre med students however are competing to get into med school many of them washu's med school or a comprable one which are extremely competitive. i wouldn't say they are cuthroat but they do work really hard b/c there are only so many spots, but my room mate is premed and many of my friends are as well and we help each other study for classes and the like</p>

<p>I am also in gen chem and have noticed absolutely no competitiveness, period. Granted, it is only the start of the course and it is bound to get more intense down the line, but so far any truth to the claims aren't being seen right now at all. Of course students here are driven and hard working, but I don't equate that with being cutthroat. I am very impressed by the level of support available for this course to anyone who is willing to sign up. There's the PLTL program (you are put into a small group and meet weekly to discuss concepts and practice problems), sponsored study groups, and discussion sections. This course won't be a walk in the park, but as long as you do the work, go to class, and seek help when you need it, you should be fine. I can only assume that it is a similar situation for most other pre-med requirements</p>

<p>And to address the class size question, this semester I am in chem (300+), math (70ish), freshmen writing (capped at 15), english (20-25), and a seminar (7). Basic courses are going to be huge, but the option to balance them out is avaiable.</p>

<p>I'd like to agree with uptime....I'm in gen chem as well (the intro. class for all of those on the premed track, the bio majors, the chem majors....probably a few more tracks that I'm not even aware of at this point)......and the atmosphere is NOT cutthroat at all. In fact there seems to be an emphasis on helping eachother out (like the PLTL program "Peer-Led Team Learning" that uptime talked about....and also even in course lay-out--like the recitation sections. I had mine today, and we worked on problems together in groups. No one was "out to get anyone else". )Given it's early on in the year, but I think the cutthroat atmosphere would already be here if it was going to be here, and it's definantly not. Plus, WashU is really supportive of you the person. There's peer advisors, your 4-year academic advisors, etc.. and Cornerstone (which is sort of like a tutoring place....kind of hard to describe.....which is free, and everyone can use (and many do)....</p>

<p>"ouch! ruthless competition???</p>

<p>any current students interested in commenting on this one?</p>

<p>from visiting, I would have thought friendly, hard working, but laid back was a more accurate assessment!"</p>

<p>I haven't experienced any ruthless competition. I've studied and done homework with my floormates. I've skipped classes I find boring or repetitive. "Ruthless competition" is definitely overboard.</p>

<p>"ruthless competition" doesn't describe our school at all. Actually, one of my favorite things about this school is that the students here are brilliant and driven yet generally pretty laid-back. We'll be up studying at 2:30 and someone will want to drop everything and have a quick dance party. Or, we'll be out partying and someone will want to discuss Descartes. The point is, academics at WashU aren't about winning some sort of game (or even playing the game at all). We're all bright kids that love to learn, so if you're an inherently competitive student, you'll find it difficult to compete because people are naturally good at what they do (which is everything), not because people are competitive.</p>

<p>I am premed and in chem and students only seem concerned about learning, not doing better than anyone else. It is great to be at a school where no one talks about where else they got in---I have a friends at Cornell, Duke, and Penn, and that seems to be prevalent---freshmen there still want to talk about their stats! At this point, who cares??? I haven't seen anyone living here living in the past or worrying about the competition. This is a great place, even with the weather and construction...I know I made the right choice.</p>

<p>eleph - you wrote that WashU is "pretty good about the National Merit Scholars program". </p>

<p>Do you happen to know if they have a set amount they award National Merit Finalists (many schools do), do they award to ALL NMF who are accepted to the school, and how much is the award amount?</p>

<p>A NMF friend a three years ago was accepted to WashU and they only offered her $1,000.</p>

<p>i was both national merit and national achievement but you can only get one. however both scholarships are awarded 2500 from the NMSF but washu has a policy where they extend this prize for all four years.</p>

<p>for finalists, washu gives $2000 per year as long as you declare them your first choice with NM--I did this pretty late, but it wasn't a problem. MidwestParent: she got $1000 per year? or per semester? I remember looking at my bill this semester and freaking out before realizing that WU had cut all my scholarships in half and divided them equally between this semester and the next, so I did only get $1000 for NM on this billing, but i get it twice per year. Maybe this is the source of confusion?</p>