<p>Especially for any students of color, have the incidents affected university life at all?? Is it really close?</p>
<p>To walk to Ferguson, it takes over 2 1/2 hours to get there from Wash U so no it isn’t close at all. I believe most of the students do not have cars at Wash U.</p>
<p>Echoing newjersey17, totally different part of the metro area. Ferguson is north of I-70, which is a kind of dividing line in that part of the St. Louis area. WUSTL is well south of I-70.</p>
<p>I know there were numerous discussions at the university when this all started happening, mostly from an academic point of view as opposed to any way it would affect daily life on campus. Other than that I suspect it had no effect.</p>
<p>Do you expect WUSTL to have taken a hit in applications because of the Ferguson riots?</p>
<p>I know a person that might have considered WUSTL for a PhD (one that majored in geography as an undergrad, not sure what that girl intended to do at the PhD level) that has crossed it off her list because of the riots…</p>
<p>No. However, I do think that ND may take a hit in applications because of their dismal football season though. </p>
<p>@newjersey17 </p>
<p>Can’t tell if serious… </p>
<p>I’d imagine that the average non-applicant in this case would be less qualified than those who are adamant about applying, regardless (if such a person is swayed by football)</p>
<p>We are considering WashU but concerned about safety on campus and around. Can any current student/parent comment on whether they feel that the university is taking the security issue seriously and there is adequate protection for the students. Any additional security personnel is present on campus?</p>
<p>The campus is very far away from the events going on. The Chancellor has kept parents updated on security, but really it is not an issue. The campus is both safe and beautiful.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>The riots have made me lower WashU on my preference list; I first considered the school in a relative period of calm, but I would now consider WashU as a last resort…</p>
<p>@Catria As a longtime user, I am puzzled by your perspective. As others have mentioned, it is 2 and a half miles away from Ferguson, and the riots are likely to be a short term ordeal. It is not even remotely close to campus. That’s like saying you won’t consider the University of Connecticut because of what happened in Sandy Hook or Wellesley because of what happened at the Boston marathon. Life goes on…</p>
<p>“Ferguson is north of I-70, which is a kind of dividing line in that part of the St. Louis area. WUSTL is well south of I-70.”</p>
<p>Well, Saint Louis University is even further south than Wash U, but a few days ago, protesters shut down Highway 44, and HWY 44 is right in the middle of Saint Louis University campus. </p>
<p>Hahaha I’m glad that the people who want to stay away from America’s top pressing issues aren’t considering Wash U. Wash U students are all passionate about their community. If you feel like you don’t want to be at the heart of one of our nation’s current struggles, then I agree that Wash U shouldn’t be your top choice.</p>
<p>My son came home this weekend from SMU which is located in Dallas and he said the protesters were stopping traffic there. Protesting is happening everywhere - not just in Ferguson. </p>
<p>I’m surprised you are basing your college choices based on a current event. These things will calm down eventually. Every college has been exposed to some event or another. </p>
<p>Brown just had protesters not too long ago over readmitting a person who was convicted of a crime. </p>
<p>Dallas was hit with Ebola. Well it is over now. No one can predict when a catastrophe will hit. Instead it’s more important to see how the people react to it.</p>
<p>@shawnspencer - good point. That’s like saying don’t apply to Harvard or MIT because of what happened at the boston marathon. </p>
<p>Also it takes 2 1/2 HOURs to walk to ferguson (not miles). It isn’t close at all. </p>
<p>Things are already calming down and it will continue to do so because people wont tolerate it. </p>
<p>My daughter attends Wash U and she cannot wait to get back. She is home for the holidays and she absolutely loves being there. She feels very safe and loves the community. </p>
<p>Wash U has also done really good job of keeping the students informed and the police on campus have been very helpful too. I’m very happy with the administration at Wash U. It is really top notch. We are very happy and more importantly so is my daughter. We cannot ask for anything more. </p>
<p>Good luck everyone with your applications and decisions. :)</p>
<p>Just to clarify the protesters were protesting on a major highway in Dallas. </p>
<p>I live in St. Louis. I am about 25 minutes drive from Ferguson, WashU is about 15 minutes drive from Ferguson. My mother’s a nurse at SLU hospital (downtown), and events had made it difficult for her to make it to work.</p>
<p>If you’re not in Ferguson itself you will likely not be personally affected by the protesting in Ferguson. However protesting has been becoming much more widespread recently (Walmarts all over the area are having Black Friday protests, malls across St. Louis are having protests etc.) There were some protests in Clayton, a fairly affluent neighborhood a few days ago. As a resident of West County I have not seen any protests. However I believe there was a protest at the West County mall tonight, too. I was trying to find some to participate in earlier at several Walmarts as far as St. Charles, but I unfortunately got there too late! It’s more exciting than dangerous or life-threatening. </p>
<p>Having said, a student at WashU will be safe. The media has done a good job at depicting the protesters as violent rioters but that is certainly not the truth. Several of my friends had actually joined in on the Ferguson protests and they were not exposed to any violence from the community - only mace and tear gas. Ferguson is the only thing showing up on my social media, and nobody is setting cars on fire or burning down buildings. Whoever is doing that I have no idea.</p>
<p>I’d imagine it’s making for great discussion on the WashU campus. Do not let the unrest in St. Louis deter you from applying or attending. I have not heard anything about protesters coming on or near the WashU campus and deciding to attack a student. The things and people you have to worry about would be the same in any city. You’ll be fine.</p>
<p>If the situation in Ferguson continues (and I imagine there’s still at least a few months of protests), there is still plenty to do downtown and in West and South county. There are always certain parts of a city you want to avoid (like East STL or much of North STL), but you won’t find yourself accidentally wandering to those places.</p>
<p>As for students of color, I would not imagine there would be any issues on-campus. The student body at WashU is not racist by any means as far as I have seen. </p>
<p>Please don’t tell anyone else though. I was hoping less people would apply to WashU this year so I could maybe get in. :o</p>
<p>For theist part, advices given on CC are pretty good, but unfortunately, some aren’t. </p>
<p>Auto correct lol
Ignore “theist”, it was supposed to say: “for the most part”,</p>
<p>Catria, I’m surprised at your reaction too. We have a friend in Med School at Wash U. Better avoid L.A. area colleges too, more than a hundred have been arrested in Ferg related protests. And stay away from UWisc, they took over the state capitol a couple years ago and it could happen again.</p>
<p>I would also refrain from going to any school in New England. There was a big war like 240 years ago. For all we know, that could happen again.</p>