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Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
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<p>I'm a senior at Wash U preparing for Master's programs....I can pretty much answer any/most questions you have, along with other Wash U posters here. Obviously don't ask something that we can't answer; we're not in admissions, we don't know how many people will be accepted from waitlist, etc.</p>

<p>We can answer questions on student life, courses, programs, schools, majors, etc.</p>

<p>Will check back daily.</p>

<p>Grats to anyone that got in, and a big welcome to anyone that plans on attending.</p>

2

<p>-Of course every student is different, but what is a typical Friday/Saturday night like for you? Do you find students more likely to be partying, hanging out with friends, or something else entirely?</p>

<p>-We all know that the academics are rigorous, but how demanding do you find it? Are you so busy that you have trouble pursuing other things at night, or do you keep a good balance?</p>

<p>Thanks so much, it’s great to get a current student’s perspective.</p>

3

<p>What’s PNP as a major like? Because it looks awesome.</p>

<p>Thanks for this thread :)</p>

4

<p>Thank you so much! We really appreciate your dedication to prospectives!</p>

<p>Do you know anyone who did/does sub-free? What is their impression of it? I do not plan to smoke or drink in college, but I don’t want to limit myself socially either. I’ll probably go to some parties and just not drink. Would you recommend regular dorms or sub-free?</p>

<p>Also, why did you ultimately decide that WashU was the right school for you? It is one of my top choices for sure, but I’m still waiting on a few others before committing.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for doing this :)</p>

<p>Got two questions for ya</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What are the dorms like typically for a double or a triple</p></li>
<li><p>Is the Greek scene big on campus?</p></li>
</ol>

6

<p>Hey all, first off congratulations on getting into WashU! </p>

<p>ccuser18-
For me, and a lot of other freshman, a typical Friday/Saturday involves drinking and going to parties, mostly at the fraternities your first semester. For my neighbor, and a lot of other freshman, a typical Friday/Saturday night involves either going off campus with friends to a movie, out to eat, or shopping; or staying in and watching TV, movies, or just chilling with her friends. From my experience, whatever you want to do, there are a lot of people who will want to do that too. </p>

<p>As far as academics go, it varies for everyone with how they adjust to college as a whole, but most everyone has free time and stuff that they get to do outside of class. I work at a lab at the med school, my friend is on the executive board of a club, my roommate plays club baseball and is pledging a fraternity, I know a few people in an a cappella group, and those are just the examples that immediately pop into my head. Everyone seems to have something else besides school that they do, and I don’t think anyone here is struggling too much to balance things. </p>

<p>ceg1207-
I’m not in PNP, but at some point I was considering switching into it, so I got a few emails of people in the department. If you would like, I can PM you the email of the person who I think would be able to help you out. Also, [<a href=“http://pnp.artsci.wustl.edu/contact[/url]”>Contact Us | Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology](WashU PNP)</a> is the contact form for the department, you can just email them with questions about the program. Hopefully a student can come along and give you their perspective :)</p>

<p>Chlorinated-
I only know people who were forced into living sub free (one girl had to move to sub free or move out of reslife), so I can’t really say too much. However, my personal observation is that, by the fact that I have not ever met someone who lives on a sub free floor, people on sub free floors don’t go out too much. I’m biased, but I would say don’t limit yourself by going to sub free. I doubt that you would get the diversity of personalities that you would find on a regular floor. Just my 2 cents.</p>

<p>Penguinclassics-
The dorms are great. Roomier than any other dorm that I have seen. In fact, I am the only person out of all of my high school friends who doesn’t absolutely hate their dorms, so I guess that says something. Basically, if you choose modern, you are going to be living in a very nice room with your “own” bathroom for your suite. I’m pretty sure WashU is ranked on the list of “Dorms Like Palaces” list but I’m too lazy to look it up :o</p>

<p>The greek scene depends on what your scene is. If you like to go out and party, then the frat houses will probably come very familiar to you over the course of first semester. If you don’t like them, then no big deal. I think somewhere from a quarter to a third of the campus goes greek, but that really doesn’t change who your friends are. If you are friends with someone before they pledge, you can still be friends afterwards; the greek scene is not exclusive like you might find at a southern state school. Some frats like to think that they’re really cool, but most are pretty down to earth.</p>

7

<p>Just from my freshman year experience–</p>

<p>ccuser:
typical friday/saturday = going to the frats or watching a movie with friends
academics are challenging enough to keep you busy, but not enough that you have to be stressing out (unless you want to before tests)</p>

<p>ceg:
I have some friends and an RA in PNP, and they all seem to really like it. Intro to Psych is purportedly tough though, but AP credits can get you out of it</p>

<p>chlorinated:
the sub-free floor on my building is much quieter than the other floors, but they seem to have a good, quirky sense of fun, and they’re always around playing Magic or whatever. I know other people on my non sub-free floor who never drink and still go out, though it’s hard to go to the frats 100% sober and not be a little grossed out. I personally think it’s best not to go sub-free and leave your options open, lots of people never drank before college and have learned that it’s no so scary.</p>

<p>I decided WashU was the school for me because 1) it was the best school I got into 2) I liked the more relaxed, down-to-earth vibe 3) the people seemed intelligent and friendly and 4) I love the architecture.</p>

<p>penguinclassics:
dorms are very spacious, doubles have a bed and a desk against opposite walls with around a 5 foot gap between the two, so pretty spacious. I live in a triple, and it’s tighter, but there’s still plenty of room with two of the beds bunked and desks in 3 of the 4 corners.</p>

<p>greek scene…is a pretty big deal for friday and saturday nights, at least for freshmen, but otherwise I can’t say I notice it at all.</p>

8

<p>@ NWrnnr5 and nitwitoddment</p>

<p>Thanks for the answers, guys!
NWrnnr5, I would love that email.
PNP just seems perfect. I don’t think I was ever that excited reading through a course list as I was for PNP’s :D</p>

9

<p>Hey guys! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer people’s questions. I know I have a few myself.</p>

<p>First, how would you say your experience was/is compared to friends at different schools? Compared to them, what are the plus sides of going to Wash U, and what are any negative sides?</p>

<p>Two kids from my school went to Wash U last year but they are super weird so my opinion of social life at Wash U is pretty skewed. One is a hardcore druggie (constantly high and takes E) and the other is a pathological liar. The liar said that weed is particularly prevalent at Wash U (aka more kids smoke than drink) and I was wondering if that was true?</p>

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<p>What’s the LGBT community like, especially for women? How accepting are students?</p>

11

<p>Seconding awkwardturtle! I think I saw a thread on this a while ago, but it only had a few posts and wasn’t incredibly helpful…</p>

12

<p>sup yall, im here also to answer some questions as a freshman.
First: Compared to other schools, I would say WashU is fun and diverse. Maybe not in terms of racial diversity but in terms of what you can do with so many people. Everyone is “weird” but the fact is that we are also pretty cool too. I came to washu thinking it would be a bunch of nerds who sat around and played cards all day. no. its a normal college experience with other people who care about school but are not competitive. yah we dont have a “college” town but everyone finds what they love doing and its really a lot of fun.</p>

<p>LGBT: Havent heard a complaint at all ever. It isn’t that everyone is “accepting” it’s just that no one really cares if you are LGBT. No one would ever go out of their way to harass someone–its just a lifestyle choice.</p>

<p>PM me or whatnot if you want more info</p>

13

<p>^I would say that’s exactly right.</p>

<p>But just to chime in, weed is definitely not more prevalent than alcohol. Neither are too hard to come by, but alcohol is much more in-your-face.</p>

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<p>So I went onto *****.com and of course under WashU. I’m not sure how outdated these videos are, but a couple of the people in their videos stressed the self-segregation that goes on. Is this still true or was it ever?</p>

<p>Also, during breaks of school, do most people go home or is there a significant amount of people who stay on campus?</p>

15

<p>chlorinated:</p>

<p>I have a group of friends in a sub-free freshmen dorm this year that are quite socially active and drink a lot. Some of them are sub free because of parents, others because they wanted quiet. Probably an anomaly, particularly since it’s the sub-free that’s not a legit floor, but the freshmen dorm that’s an old square dorm, so I feel they would be inclined to socialize off their pseudo-floor anyways. It does tend to be quieter there on friday nights (since they don’t pre-game in-dorm), but they can be pretty loud doing other stuff when they’re not drinking (video games, hanging out).</p>

<p>Penguinclassics:
Dorms are definitely nice, I’m a freshmen, and I live in Ruby, and it’s one of the ugliest and oldest dorms on the South 40 (it’s a traditional). I wanted a modern, as did probably quite a few people on my floor, and we were pretty bummed for getting a traditional instead. It’s strange to me when I visit moderns and see how dam nice they are and how they have elevators (crazy).
Nonetheless, we’ve really come to love our floor. WashU dorms really are nice, even the worst ones you could be in. They’re spacious, well kept, maintenance tends to be quick when it’s needed, and the traditionals are quite social and tend to feel homely. Also, we probably had better furniture as compensation. No complaints.</p>

<p>If you want to be involved in greek life, WashU definitely accomodates that. If you’re not interested, than no worries. Most people rush in the spring of their freshmen year, but there’s also fall rush for sophomores.</p>

<p>KayTeeEss:
People definitely do weed, but not as much as drink. WashU has a fairly lax policy on drinking, basically, be responsible, don’t be disruptive or dangerous, and they won’t care too much. Tobacco wise, it’s a smoke free campus. Their policy on weed and hardcore drug use is one of no tolerance.</p>

<p>peachesncream:
At least freshmen year, I feel like a lot of people do go home (or do other stuff) for the breaks excluding winter break, but some people do stay on campus, particularly internationals, who tend to only go home during winter break.</p>

16

<p>Thank you all so much!</p>

<p>One more:
To what extent does the school that you are in determine your friend group?</p>

17

<p>^^ </p>

<p>For me, very little. I hang out primarily with the friends I have from my floor, and also other people who I know from groups and other things. That might be because I don’t have particularly favorable impressions of the people in my major. Don’t get me wrong, they all seem to be smart kids and maybe are great in their own friend groups. They just aren’t the sort of people that I would hang out with if I have the choice.</p>

18

<p>what do you mean by a no tolerance policy for drugs (weed)? do you immediately get kicked out if they find you doing them? and what are the chances of them actually finding you and you getting in trouble? and the same for alcohol? thanks!</p>

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<p>if you’re caught with weed (on campus), you’re put on some sort of probation, which isn’t a really big deal unless you’re caught again. if you’re caught with alcohol (unless it’s off campus or something completely flagrant, ie an entire bar in your room) no one cares; your RAs tell you to prop your door open so they can make sure that when you’re drinking you’re safe.</p>

20

<p>KayTeeEss: I would say the school you’re in has a minimal factor. Say you’re in engineering, where theres about 50ish people (on the low side) per year per major (obviously this varies). You might take the introductory sequence of 2-4 courses with them, and not see many of them again, or have the odd class or two with them in latter years.</p>

<p>Your first year, the classes you are in can help you pick friends, but there’s also floors, clubs, etc. And then of course everyone takes courses in ArtSci, not just the school you’re in. You will recognize more people in your own school (especially if it’s not ArtSci), but whether or not they become friends is of course up to you.</p>

<p>Edit: It often plays more of a factor in your senior years, depending on the program. There can be quite a few group projects, or classes where you are encouraged to work together on homework. At such a point it’s really helpful to make some friends in your programs. I know some people and we generally try to take a couple of the same courses each semester so that we can study together, etc. (I’m a 1st semester senior right now).</p>