<p>I know if I ask this on the UNC thread the answers I get will be completely biased. Is it crazy to choose UNC over Washu? Especially if academics/opportunities/future jobs is ultimately my top concern? I do like UNC 's sports/social scene more but I feel that it would be near impossible for a public school to match the caliber of a top private school. However I still find myself leaning toward UNC. Washu students, thoughts?</p>
<p>I do think that if academics and opportunities are legitimately your #1 priority, then Wash U is likely the better fit. First, you’ll have a student body composed entirely of really smart people. Really smart people also attend state schools like UNC, but you will have a more diverse set of abilities and skills and overall level of focus on academics there. </p>
<p>On the whole, you will have much larger class sizes at UNC, professors who devote more time to grad students, advisors that don’t know your name, and overall administrative bureaucracy and red tape that only comes from state-funded places. Wash U will have a more personalized environment, smaller classes, professors you can actually talk to, more tailored opportunities for undergrads, helpful advisors, and much lower degree of red tape. </p>
<p>I’m just going to put it out there and say that if academics are indeed your #1 priority and you are still leaning towards UNC, then either academics aren’t your #1 priority as much as you think it is, or you are just seeing things with rose colored glasses. The decision process is really a balancing test. If academics were 100% of the equation, then there’s probably no question about which you should choose (honestly, even with it as 70% of the equation I think Wash U wins). Conversely, with 100% of it being based on a boisterous stadium culture, it’s probably clear which school wins. “Academics” alone is too broad to be considered a variable. You should assign a 1->10 to score for various things like small classes, accessibility of professors, smart peers, undergrad research, administrative difficulties, large stadiums, food, dorms, surrounding area, student body size, etc (whatever you deem important). Maybe Wash U is rated a 9 for small classes and UNC is a 4. Maybe you love Wash U’s size, so that’s a 10, where as you’re only “okay” with UNC’s 20,000 undergrads so that could be a 6. Maybe UNC has a 10 for stadium culture and Wash U is a 6. See whether UNC or Wash U has a better summed score at the end for these various variables.</p>
<p>Hi buttermilk, I replied to your post in the UNC thread too lol, since I’m facing the same decision and I keep changing my mind every 5 minutes!
vbball, is it true that it is really hard to get a high GPA at Washu? I’m thinking about doing pre-med, so obviously I’m thinking about getting into med school when considering colleges now</p>
<p>I think that WashU’s premed track is very rigorous, so your GPA might be slightly lower than at UNC, but it is also very highly respected, so they’ll forgive the GPA.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think that once you are choosing between two excellent schools that it should just come down to fit and where you feel at home, unless there is a large difference in the quality of your intended major between the two schools. I turned down Georgetown SFS even though I want to do international relations, simply because I did not feel as comfortable there as at some of the other schools I applied to.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decisions!</p>
<p>Go to Wash U and study pre-med if you are absolutely sure you want to be a doctor, and are aware of the classes you’ll be taking. If you’ve done your research on this, know what to expect, truly have a passion for science, and want to be a doctor NOT because you like House or because your mom told you you’d be a good doctor, then you’ll probably do fine here. Yes, a fair amount of people stop pre-med at Wash U, but 1) I don’t think it’s a higher % of people here than at other top schools; 2) for the most part, I haven’t seen anyone here stop doing pre-med and yet still absolutely love science (it’s usually the people who had a passing interest in science). </p>
<p>It might be harder to get a 4.0 here than at UNC, but as was just said, med schools seem to be forgiving of a <em>potentially</em> lower GPA at Wash U. Granted, a 4.0 at UNC will be better than a 3.0 here, but if there are slight variations it should matter. You might end up being a natural at this and end up getting really grades, too – let’s not forget about that not unlikely possibility. Also, as has been said, Wash U is known for having a pretty laid-back and collaborative culture, so again if you are really intent on your med school plans, I think this is a good environment and you should be fine.</p>