So here are the cost breakdowns for each school, I didn’t include transportation, books and supplies or estimated personal expenses:
Dartmouth
Tuition,room and board, fees: $60,324
Health insurance: $2,645
Meal Plan: $5,580
Net: $68,549
Grants:$52,671
Amount needed to come up with: $15,878
WashU (without anticipated pell grant)
Tuition, room and board, fees: $66,878
Health insurance: $1,512
Meal Plan: $4,926
Net: $73,316
Grants: $57,650
Amount needed to come up with: $15,666
Did you get work study?
Also, why did you separate meal plan from room and board? " Board" means meal plan. Usually room and board together is about $10-$13k.
Oh it was it was separated on Dartmouth’s website but not on WashU’s. So WashU would cost me $10,740 as of now.
Even for Dartmouth, you list room, BOARD, and fees. Then you list meal plan. I don’t have time to check it for you now, but I can do it later.
They are both amazing offers. If this is strictly a financial decision then WashU is definitely the cheaper option. They are both comparable schools so you cannot go wrong with either one.
Also, just as a FYI - WashU has a PEP program where you can freeze all four years at current prices and you can pay it back up to 10 years. You can use tutition, room/board and fees towards it. You can decide how much you want to apply to the loan. The application is simple. You can cancel it at anytime or prepay it too. It is based on simple interest too. You can also get the loan as you go but it will increase every year. The tuition/room/board/fees usually increase about 4-5% a year so freezing it at the current rates is a smart option.
I looked up WashU for you - not sure where you got your numbers but this is what it says on their website for 2016-2017:
Tuition $48,950
Avg Room and Board $15,596 (based on double and silver meal plan)
Student Activity Fee $490
Student Health and Wellness Fee $330
Total Charges $66,916 (it doesn’t add up - it should be $65,366) (I figured out why - it says the difference is due to books and supplies!)
http://admissions.wustl.edu/scholarships-financial-aid/Pages/undergraduate-charges.aspx
Grant - $57,650. That means you’ll have to come up with around $7,716 excluding books/supplies.
As far as health insurance, does your family have health insurance? If so, you can opt out. I did that for my D.
According to the Dartmouth website, the first year cost of attendance (which includes tuition, room and board and student fees, but not books and supplies, health insurances and miscellaneous) is $66,579, which is essentially the same as Wash U. http://admissions.dartmouth.edu/financial-aid/cost-attendance/cost-attendance
That means that Wash U will be $5000 a year cheaper than Dartmouth.
Given that you’re not sure about Greek life, I would pick Wash U. It’s cheaper and Greek life is less prevalent.
@Le1997 Where do you live? At least one of these schools will require air travel. You can’t be driving distance to both WashU and Dartmouth.
OP please come back and let us know what you came up with, given the finances and the difference in prevalence of Greek life. They are excellent choices and you will be fine either way. It would be nice to know what your final decision was.
You are so lucky to have these choices. Most seniors would give their left arm (OK, well maybe a pinky) to be able to chose between Dartmouth and WashU.
Since you’re unsure about Greek life and WashU is cheaper, I’d say go with WashU - an FANTASTIC choice. 
I finally made my decision! After thinking about it and talking it over with my family, I’ve decided to go to Dartmouth! Going into the process, I felt like given the chance, I would go to Duke no matter what. But, after visiting Dartmouth during Dartmouth bound this summer, I really fell in love with the school. I love the new residential system, I like the quarter system and I love the freedom that comes with the D-plan (even Sophomore Summer!).Also, I’m from a big city in Texas so I really want to experience something really different for four years. When I thought about my visit/going to WashU, which is a fantastic school, I just wasn’t excited about it. I never really pictured myself going to WashU but, that’s simply because I’m not the best fit for the school. I want to say thanks to everyone on this thread for helping me! I don’t think I would have been able to make a confident choice without all of your insight and advice!
Thank you all!
Congrats! Great job getting yourself to this point. Good job. You will do great. Dartmouth is definitely the right choice for you.
Congratulations !
Yay! I was rooting for Dartmouth for you because it seemed like you liked it best and because everyone else here was pushing hard for Washington … 