<p>For those of you who have been to visit both the University of Chicago and Wash U, how does the Wash U campus compare? Is it about the same? More urban? Less urban?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>The WU environs is more suburban and less sketchy. Both campuses are attractive though.</p>
<p>I have children at each school. The campuses are not comparable at all, nor are the immediate environs. Wash U is a pretty self-contained campus, with all freshman housing a short walk from the academic quads on the South 40. It's really a pretty suburban campus,,,emphasis on pretty. </p>
<p>Chicago is in a more diverse neighborhood. The campus itself is equally beautiful, though in a different way. Freshman housing however is spread over a larger area, with one area up to a mile away. City streets run through the campus, though the academic quads are amongst the most beautiful I've ever seen.</p>
<p>Thanks for the comparisons. I am excited to go visit now. Everything I know about the school is great!</p>
<p>I think it's true that both campuses are beautiful, but WashU is much more of a self-contained environment, more suburban "bubble." Univ of Chicago is in the heart of the city, the way Columbia University is right in Manhattan. You walk out the gates and you're in the city. WashU's campus lies on the suburban border of St. Louis, but separated by a large urban park (Forest Park) and the surrounding area is more like a neighborhood or small town catering to college students. Like Evanston (where Northwestern is but less tony/upscale imo. Washu is urban-lite. UChicago is urban.</p>
<p>I really don't think of UChicago as urban urban-- but that's because I live in NYC.</p>
<p>I have some pics of Chicago's campus immediate environs at the ready for questions like these.</p>
<p>I haven't assembled a "favorites" for WashU, but just doing a flickr search, I got:</p>
<p><a href="http://flickr.com/search/?q=wash+u%5B/url%5D">http://flickr.com/search/?q=wash+u</a>
<a href="http://flickr.com/search/?q=wustl&w=all%5B/url%5D">http://flickr.com/search/?q=wustl&w=all</a></p>
<p>WashU and Chicago have been trying to amp up an intercollegiate rivalry through the sports teams, so I always think that WashU/Chicago comparisons are fun.</p>
<p>Well, if we were to rank the universities (a favorite CC activity) for urbanness, they would not be in the same tier. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>NYU --- urban urban. There is no greater urban in the U.S. </p></li>
<li><p>Boston University: urban urban but less so</p></li>
<li><p>Columbia University: urban urban, with gritty city quads</p></li>
<li><p>U Penn: same as above</p></li>
<li><p>UChicago: urban, with prettier quads</p></li>
<li><p>USC (CA): LA sprawl urban, nice quads</p></li>
<li><p>Yale: sort of urban, good quads</p></li>
<li><p>WashU; urban lite. Okay, suburban</p></li>
</ol>
<p>8 Northwestern: suburban</p>