<p>Hey everyone,
I recently got into WashU and am having a tough time deciding whether I should go. Obviously, WashU is a great place but I have a couple questions about some key issues:</p>
<p>1) Study Abroad
2) Multiple Majors (The difficulty of doing so and the difficultly of taking class not relating to the major. Also, when do you officially declare your major?)
3) St. Louis. Obviously Forest Park is great.
4) Atmosphere (Is it uptight/ chill etc.)
5) Research (I've already been given some opportunity from honors but was wondering how research at Cornell was? (Independent projects, schedule, opportunities, changing projects etc...)
6) Other stuff you think is worth stating.</p>
<p>I have a relative idea of the answer to some of these but decided its worth asking anyways.</p>
<p>1) I don’t know what your question is exactly. Yes we have study abroad programs. There is some discontent over the options for architecture students, but there are a lot of options otherwise.
2) Tons of people double major/minor, even across schools. It’s not difficult. You officially declare a major during/at the end of sophomore year.
3) Yes.
4) I decided to come here because of the relaxed atmosphere. I’m from the East Coast, and I love it there, but I was sick of the frenetic energy and competition over school. Here, people work hard, but they have perspective and don’t feed off of everyone’s anxiety. A lot of people cite the friendliness on campus as the reason they came as well.
5) I can’t speak for Cornell. At WashU there is immense opportunity for research- I know freshmen who are doing mutated DNA research at the med school, and the psychology department is world renowned for its research and faculty (heard of the pigeons here?). There are tons of opportunities for undergrads in diverse fields. Our prestigious medical school is a huge asset in this way.
6) Cornell’s quality of education and reputation have been sinking recently, whereas WashU is consistently improving in status. I value my small classes (I have only had a handful of large lecture courses- large meaning over 70) and the care I feel the faculty has for its students. </p>
<p>What did you mean by there is some discontent over the options for architecture students? My daughter said they have a Florence program for either the summer or semester which is really nice. Thanks.</p>
<p>I just mean as far as choice goes. The Florence program is supposedly great, but there aren’t other choices if you want to stick to architecture.</p>