<p>For how many years does Wash U guarantee on campus housing? </p>
<p>If required to go off campus, are apartments available close by, in safe areas?</p>
<p>I can’t find anything in the faq right now, but when I entered in fall 2008 you were guaranteed housing for all 4 years (I doubt it’s changed, but someone younger should chip in)… it just might not have been what you wanted. </p>
<p>There are absolutely areas that are safe for off campus (that have had zero reported incidents in the 3 years I’ve lived off campus) - mainly west of campus on Forsyth, Lindell, & Maryland.</p>
<p>As far as I know, guaranteed washu housing all 4 years is still the policy. However, I think that means any washu housing, not only on campus housing.</p>
<p>^Exactly. There are some apartments owned by washu that I never would have agreed to live in (wasn’t worth it when factoring sketchy location + extremely expensive).</p>
<p>Are the South 40 residential colleges similar to the system at Rice? At Rice, students strongly identify with their RC. Wasn’t sure if this is the same vibe at WUSTL.</p>
<p>Personally, I never really got that feeling. Of course, as a freshman, you’ll identify with your floor as that’s where you’ll form a lot of your friends the first few weeks. But I don’t think there’s much loyalty or pride for one’s Res College.</p>
<p>It depends in what your interest are. There are a lot of activities coordinated by the Res College. The Res College will also put together Intramural sports temas that you can join.</p>
<p>I live in North carolina and i probably wont college visit, so i have a question. How is ON Campus living?</p>
<p>It’s quite good, for the most part. Dorms are relatively new, and therefore have pretty up-to-date facilities. Rooms are pretty large and good quality.</p>
<p>Quite good is an understatement in my opinion. I’ve visited MANY other colleges and the quality of the dorms don’t even compare. WashU’s was also ranked NO.1 in the nation for dorms according to Princeton Review.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. But because WashU is my #1 school, college visit time for summer vacation… And one last question? Is it cheaper to be on campus or to find an apartment nearby?</p>
<p>^Apartment by far. And by far I mean apt’s are thousands of dollars cheaper.
(Note: freshmen are required to live on campus)</p>
<p>Thanks! Ill go check areas around WashU when i campus visit. Idk why im so excited…</p>
<p>WU would like its students to identify with their south forty colleges. I doubt that many do. An RC tends to be a combination of one freshman dorm and one sophomore dorm. This will matter, just once, with t-shirts and mascots at the initial convocation. Picking roommates and rooms for sophomore year may lead to another dorm, but spirit does not seem to be a large factor. Sometimes WU just tries too hard in the marketing department.</p>
<p>Freshman dorm experience may well depend more on your choice between “modern” and “traditional” dorms. The former are more luxurious, but less cohesive in my opinion (they can attract privacy seeking individuals, and those who plan to base their social lives outside the dorm-they are also more expensive which leads to a certain kind of self-selection). The traditional dorms have rooms opening off long hallways, and lead to more forced interaction. Floors tend to do more together, which can be good or bad depending on your preferences. They are older and look more run down, but are pretty much standard dorms for any good university, have a/c, and have standard dorm furniture.</p>