Is WashU harder to get into compared to Duke,JHU and other comparable schools?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
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<p>Also would you rank WashU as better than these schools all around?</p>

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<p>In terms of selectivity, Duke > WashU > JHU (meaning Duke is the hardest to get into, followed by WashU, and then JHU).</p>

<p>In terms of one school being better than the other, that depends on what you want to study. For example, JHU and WashU are both going to have top-notch pre-med programs because their medical schools are among the top 5 in the country (WashU’s med school is tied with Penn’s at 3rd and JHU’s is 2nd). For engineering, I’m not too sure which is better (I do know that JHU has the top biomedical engineering program in the country, though). I’d say that academically, they’re all about the same. Prestige-wise, Duke has the most prestige, and I’d place JHU as having slightly more prestige than WashU (just slightly).</p>

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<p>Mhmm, I have never heard of Wash U. until a college fair this year haha</p>

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<p>^umm… ok?</p>

<p>Here’s the latest US News College Rankings, for whatever that’s worth:
[National</a> Universities Rankings - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-search]National”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-search)</p>

<p>It does depend on what you’re studying though.</p>

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<p>IMO, If you require financial aid, WashU may be harder to get into than Duke, and JHU…WashU is not need blind at all, Duke is need blind, and JHU is not entirely need blind</p>

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<p>It’s a bit tough to comment on degrees of “need-blindness” between different colleges though… By the latest numbers I’ve seen, 63% of JHU students receive financial aid, compared to 64% of WashU students, and 47% of Duke students. (Average amount of aid was pretty similar, with Duke giving the most). Probably wouldn’t really affect OP, i don’t think WashU’s need-awareness is that significant (it basically amounts to a “will you request FA?” checkbox on your appilcation…) Actually though WashU’s acceptance rate is ~6% lower than Duke’s, but acceptance rates don’t mean all that much. (EDIT: actually i might be wrong on the numerical acceptance rates… i’m seeing conflicting numbers…)</p>

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<p>For the record, JHU is the most selective if you’re applying as a bme.</p>

<p>(Duke, JHU, and WashU were all schools I applied to and was accepted to)</p>

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<p>FYI: WashU is need-blind for about 90% of the class it accepts, it just isn’t need blind for the last 10% because they need to make sure they don’t run out of scholarship money.</p>

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<p>I think that all three have comparable overall academics, maybe with Duke at a slight lead, but it has been my experience that Wash U has FAR less name recognition in normal social settings.</p>

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<p>Check the common data sets, I believe the last time I looked 75% of those admitted to Wash U (or was it accepted) had a 32 or higher on the aCT. SAT’s were similar.</p>

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<p>
[QUOTE=Johnson181]

JHU is the most selective if you’re applying as a bme.

[/quote]
Well, WashU allows you to easily change your major. I applied to ArtSci as a chem/biochem major but switched to BME during the summer before freshman year.</p>

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<p>Also keep in mind that a girl in my school was accepted to Duke and waitlisted at WashU. so you can conjecture about which is hardest to get into, but in the end they’re all hard to get into. You never know what the admissions officer is going to be feeling that day, so there are no guarantees.
Also, although WashU may not be often recognized by teenage social circles, anyone who knows what they’re talking about understands what a prestigious university it is.</p>

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<p>“although WashU may not be often recognized by teenage social circles, anyone who knows what they’re talking about understands what a prestigious university it is”</p>

<p>I’m not talking about teenage social circles; I’m talking about adults. Again, though, anyone who has a basic knowledge of prestegious national universities would know better, but Wash U generally seems to come up short, in my experience.</p>

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<p>The average adult could probably only name 3 ivies, big-name sports schools, and possibly schools in their region/state. For example, tons of people in the midwest know WashU, but couldn’t list big name universities in the northeast.</p>

<p>In the end, when it comes to getting that first job out of college, people who actually matter know about WashU. So what if your neighbor has no idea?</p>

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<p>
[QUOTE=Johnson181]

In the end, when it comes to getting that first job out of college, people who actually matter know about WashU.

[/quote]
This is true. While the plebs may have never heard of WashU, name recognition most definitely will not be an issue in situations where it is of practical importance.</p>

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<p>@nooob: Exactly dude, you just proved my point,</p>

<p>"FYI: WashU is need-blind for about 90% of the class it accepts, it just isn’t need blind for the last 10% because they need to make sure they don’t run out of scholarship money. "
—Nooob</p>

<p>its need-blind for 90 percent of the class it ACCEPTS, which means that WashU is RELUCTANT TO ACCEPT kids who require lots of financial aid…WASHU is not NEED-BLIND when its REVIEWING APPLICATIONS, if you require massive amounts of Financial Aid it could work agaisnt you, meaning that you have a lower chance of being accepted.</p>

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<p>firstly, i don’t know that there’s anything official about the 90% number, and secondly (assuming it’s right) i think you’re misinterpreting nooob’s statement - he’s saying that whether or not you’ll need financial aid would only affect your acceptance/rejection if you’re in the “least qualified” 10% (in the subjective eyes of WashU’s adcoms, of course) of the applicants who will eventually be accepted.</p>

<p>Also, and this is just a theory of mine (as is your statement that WashU is “not at all” need-blind, versus some standard of “somewhat” needblind), but I don’t think that WashU admissions sees how much financial aid you’re in need of - there’s simply a checkbox on the application, so that requiring massive amounts of financial aid doesn’t put you in any worse a boat than the other ~75% of students who request financial aid.</p>

<p>OP - Sorry to be off-topic: how are we doing on your questions? did you have any specifics (like particular study-programs at the schools) that you’d like to ask about?</p>

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<p>How is the Computer Science or Computer Engr program at WashU?</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/668452-wash-u-admissions-need-blind.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/668452-wash-u-admissions-need-blind.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>This just reminded me. Quick poll right here:</p>

<p>When was the first time you heard that Dartmouth was a college? As an Ivy?</p>

<p>What about Brown?</p>

<p>I mean they are not well known, but they are really good schools. So really who cares if your school is well know by average people? The only people you should care about is your employer.</p>