Fun At Wash U?

<p>I'm deciding between UNC-CH and Wash U. From a student's perspective, what is the single most fun thing you have done at Wash U?</p>

<p>wow, I’m deciding between the exact same two schools. I’m also interested in hearing any answers to this question. The main thing I worry about WashU is that I might get bored. I know there’s different things like step-shows, and different accapella(sp?) singing groups and dancing groups - none of which are of interest to me.</p>

<p>You’re on a campus with 6000 other students, and you’re not in some remote town. I don’t know how anyone could get bored, but current students have better insight than I do.</p>

<p>No reason to get bored at Wash U. The general feeling here is that if you are doing something boring, it’s probably because you made the conscious choice to study instead of pursuing something else more fun. Not that studying isn’t fun. You get the point. Wash U’s culture is made from having a really smart student body that likes to have fun and not take yourselves too seriously. </p>

<p>So far, my fav memories from freshman year have been doing things with my floor. Most of us went to the hot air balloon race in forest park which was a really unique experience only because they are frickin 3 dozen hot air balloons lifting off at once and racing to a given point in the city. I mean, seriously - that whole concept is just fun. A smaller group of us went to the “balloon glow” the night before the actual race when the balloons are are all lit up - really pretty. The City Museum excursion downtown was a lot of fun - that’s really a place you have to see to believe. Favorite greek event would be the annual “Beta bubbles” foam party. That was just insane. Thurtene was fun, and no other college will have anything remotely like it, even though the weather this year was pretty awful. Back in the fall, a couple friends and I decided to take the metro to the CWE to do some shopping and lunch, but we ended up getting lost (don’t ask why… it’s a really simply metro system, and the CWE stop is literally two stops from Wash U’s main campus, and we’ve all lived near big cities our whole lives)… but we decided to make the most of it, got off at another stop, took a detour on the metrobus and ended up in this other part of the city (South Grand?) with lots of Thai restaurants and antique shops. That whole day was just memorable and ridiculous. Having free metro/metrobus passes is a real boon for Wash U students, as it just makes you able to do whatever you want whenever you want. You’re not going to be headed to downtown or using the Metro every day as a freshman by any stretch of the imagination, but having the free access makes you at least able to take advantage of the area (outside the Loop) pretty heavily in theory. </p>

<p>Those are individual stories, and you shouldn’t make a college decision off of someone else’s personal memories, but I think I’ve had a pretty typical Wash U experience so far and wouldn’t use the word “boring” once. Actually, there’s a common sentiment that Wash U suffers from what is termed on our campus as “over-programming.” It’s talked a lot about in the student government as problem to fix. I disagree that it’s a problem in the strict sense of the word, but hey it’s problem the best problem a college can have, right? There really can be like 3 things you want to do on any given night - even if one of those things is not a “formal” event per se, such just going to a movie on the Loop or chilling in the floor lounge with your floormates.</p>

<p>Some notable freshman year fun times:</p>

<p>Sledding down art hill (in forest park) in the middle of the night.</p>

<p>Hosting a party with my a cappella group after we finished our fall concert. That was just a ridiculous night in general.</p>

<p>Seeing Ben Folds at The Pageant (concert venue on the Loop).</p>

<p>Ice skating in Forest Park while it’s snowing and about zero degrees. (I went with a big group from my floor).</p>

<p>WILD (This year we had Major Lazer and Wale).</p>

<p>WUSTOCK (This year we had Matt & Kim on the south forty. Pretty amazing.)</p>

<p>Kind of embarrassing, but I actually really enjoyed the Residential College Olympics. It was a really good way to get outside and move around as a break from studying.</p>

<p>Basically, there are so many fun things to do at this school and in this city. The issue is not having the choices; it’s making sure that you find the time to put down the books once in a while and get out there.</p>

<p>Floor nights (bonding, music, inebriati), WUstock, City Museum, Monotonix at Gargoyle, Zoo/Paddle Boating in Forrest Park, Loop dinners, WUSauce/4x4 Student Plays/Mamma’s Pot Roast (and other performances), Holi water balloon fight, Harry Potter midnight premier, Thurtene, snow ball fights.</p>

<p>It’s a very minor thing, but here’s one of my favorite, fun aspects to Wash U that’s been pretty a consistent thing during my time here. Cheering for your friends (like, literally just shouting out their names really really loudly in the audience) when they’re on stage in Mr. Wash U or Diwali or Carnaval to me just exemplifies the community and support that is here. Having people just yelling out their friends’ name whenever they are on stage is just this random thing that I really enjoy about Wash U.</p>

<p>I’ve noticed that as well.</p>