<p>Wanted the 2014-ers to check this out. I challenge you to go through this list and check off the ones you find fo'real during your visit at Spring Preview/ Multicultural Weekend</p>
<p>Most updated list so far!!!</p>
<ol>
<li>The architecture of the buildings is classically gothic and beautiful.</li>
<li>Big university resources, smaller LAC-style attention to students (and AN EXTREMELY SMALL % OF CLASSES TAUGHT BY TAs - and when they are taught by TAs/Grad students this seems to be a good thing - e.g., the Writing 1 class).</li>
<li>Academic Flexibility -- Easy to switch schools within WashU and to double major/minor.</li>
<li>Amazing pre-professional programs and resources, especially for pre-meds through the renowned WUSTL medical center</li>
<li>The quality of your peers</li>
<li>Some of the best dorms in the country</li>
<li>Some of the best food for a university</li>
<li>Genuine Midwestern friendliness and helpfulness</li>
<li>Lack of cut-throat competitiveness amongst students, more collaboration</li>
<li>Easy access to metro and bussing (FREE!)</li>
<li>2nd best DIII sports school in the United States</li>
<li>Professors are more undergrad-focused than other top research universities (but renowned in their research fields as well!)</li>
<li>Undergrads have limitless research opportunities.</li>
<li>Beautiful campus (where students are playing ultimate frisbee, football, or in hammocks on the quads).</li>
<li>Forest park across the street (HUGE park with free museums and such).</li>
<li>The Loop (great food and shopping) within walking distance of the university.</li>
<li>Humongous shopping complexes not too far away (by car, Clayton area?)</li>
<li>3 large hospitals within the area.</li>
<li>Exceptional academic advising</li>
<li>Amazing diversity of the student body</li>
<li>Abundance of outstanding prearranged extracurricular activities available to student body (tutoring h.s. students, hospital volunteering, etc.)</li>
<li>Amazing merit scholarship opportunities not found at any school of WashU's caliber.</li>
<li>Central United States location that allows for relatively easy access from both the East and West Coast.</li>
<li>Hammocks all over campus. 'Nuff said.</li>
<li>Loads of brand new buildings and a strong commitment to construction and development...</li>
<li>St. Louis's fabulous music scene.</li>
<li>Crazy huge endowment that allows for lots of free trips to campus and subsidized FOCUS excursions and everything a student could want.</li>
<li>Summer excursions like ArtSci Weekends and FSAP that allow students to get acclimated to campus before Orientation.</li>
<li>Awesome Pre-O's!</li>
<li>Residential colleges that allow freshman to have connections to sophmores.</li>
<li>Really nice programs for frosh like FOCUS and Freshman Seminars and MBB, Text and Tradition, Medicine in Society...</li>
<li>They send you a lot of mail and you feel really good, especially when it's priority and you're like "OMG they spend $4.95 on ME!"</li>
<li>Outstanding Financial Aid</li>
<li>St. Louis has some fabulous food. The Hill, Ted Drewes, Tin Cup. Also the amazing Missouri Bakery with the best cheesecake I've ever eaten.</li>
<li>Involved and caring students (hirako, don_quixote, johnson181, balancedhelium, etc.) and parents/others (midwest parent; st2, fallenchemist; palmalk, etc.)</li>
<li>WILD (Kid Cudi and the Black Keys in a few weeks!)</li>
<li>Award winning and AMAZING a capella groups</li>
<li>The best dressed university chancellor in the country who has a bowling alley in his house!</li>
<li>The Bunny. Enough said.</li>
<li>Thurtene Carnival, largest in St. Louis, tons of food, games, rides. Greek life also plays a big role in the carnival.</li>
<li>The Holi Festival. Students gather on the Swamp for the school's largest water balloon fight. Everyone gets wet, muddy, and most importantly, everyone has fun.</li>
<li>The Gargoyle</li>
<li>Highest "Survey-per-week to Student" ratio</li>
<li>FLAT SCREEN TVs everywhere!</li>
<li>Smart kids yet no snobbiness</li>
<li>WUstock by the CS40 for free</li>
<li>Ursa's hot chocolate bar with 10 different kinds of hot chocolate, 6 kinds of homemade whip cream, and crepes on friday nights </li>
<li>Become a part of the best Baseball city in America (Just 5 train stops away from Busch Stadium) </li>
<li>Adjoined to the library is Whisper's Cafe - where you can go for your late-night studying or cafe food run!</li>
<li>If you're into any of the hard sciences: the best, top-notch, cutting-edge, fully-stocked laboratories and the myriad of research opportunities that come with them</li>
<li>The award-winning, always fresh and interesting StudLife</li>
<li>Moonlight Breakfast </li>
<li>Walking distance to The Loop, a bustling avenue of shops, cafes, and restaurants</li>
<li>Did I mention the gorgeous campus? Call it fairy-tale or robust and gothic, whatever you wish, but it is GORGEOUS.</li>
<li>Jazz at Holmes' Lounge</li>
<li>The Campus YMCA and the spawn of volunteer and community outreach programs, including the Social Change Grants</li>
<li>Gelato and crepes in Ursa's, Froyo at Bear's Den</li>
<li>Selectively chosen, fully trained, enthusiastic, and approachable Residential Advisors</li>
<li>Academic mentoring WITHIN the residential halls, in the form of selectively chosen, fully trained, and caring Residential Peer Mentors (for Writing, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and Calculus)</li>
<li>New Dorms on the 40 have memory foam </li>
<li>Free pizza events all the time</li>
<li>For the premeds: A panel of premedical advisors who are always available, supportive, and effective. While they are available anytime, starting junior year the Pre-Health advisors begin keeping a very close eye on your medical school application process. Premed advising and workshops include mentorship on your personal statements, reviewing your medical school resume, and interview practice.</li>
<li>Bear Patrol, which escorts those late-night study-ers back to their dorms</li>
<li>Closed campus, probably one of the safest around</li>
<li>The newly opened Danforth University Center, with an array of eateries, its own formal restaurant, and the upstairs Game Room (includes Wii, I think)</li>
<li>Wireless Internet access virtually anywhere on campus</li>
<li>Friendly bus drivers who care about the students</li>
<li>Bon Appetit, which listens to the students' needs and concerns and hosts fun events (like that Willy Wonka golden ticket game last year)</li>
<li>Students who are tolerant and supportive of each other</li>
<li>We just won the 2010 Annual Jeopardy! College Championships. BOOYA.</li>
<li>The Lunar New Year Festival - Student dancers and musicians combine artistry and aesthetics to create a story about the Lunar New Year. </li>
<li>Many city events are subsidized for students by campus organizations like ArtSci Council. Examples of events include city symphony performances (freshman year I remember Itzhak Perlman was in town), plays, musicals, Shakespeare in the Park (summer), and more. </li>
<li>The BALLER Brookings Hall. Seriously, have you every stood in the parking lot, beneath that flight of stairs leading to the two towers of Brookings Hall, and know that you will soon ascend the path to greater knowledge?</li>
<li>WashU is one of the prominent hosts of the Vice Presidential Debates, including Palin vs. Biden, 2008.</li>
<li>At least 22 Nobel Prize recipients did the majority of their winning research at Washington University in St. Louis. </li>
<li>The administration is incredibly friendly and helpful. They are like the staff at an upscale restaurant- understanding of your questions and concerns, at the same time professional and efficient. </li>
<li>Now and then-- surprises on campus like free donuts and coffee in the morning, petting zoos, horse and carriage rides, Fair Trade shopping booths, and the spontaneous pieces of artwork designed by the Art School students</li>
<li>Every year we have the Thurtene Carnival, the oldest and largest student-run carnival (complete with rides, cotton candy, games, and shows!) in the nation.</li>
<li>WashU is close to the City Museum, an artsy place for every one of your creative whims. Go down the giant slide, model something out of clay, watch a magic show, or go on the outdoors jungle gym and ball pool area. A good place to reconnect with your inner (big) child </li>
<li>Major St. Louis attractions are free: Free Zoo, Free History museum, and Free Art museum all within walking distance of campus. (in Forest Park mentioned in #15)</li>
<li>One of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the nation not to far from campus. Admission is not free, but it is fairly cheap. Also they have cultural festivals there a couple of times a year. </li>
<li>The South40. 'Nuff said.</li>
<li>Nerds who put the 'cool' in 'school'</li>
<li>Tons of research scholarships throughout your undergraduate, for every field possible (engineering, biology, anthropology, English, economics, etc)</li>
<li>If you're bored of studying in your room, there are lots of great places around campus to study. for example, Whisper's, Cupples II upper level, Bio library, the DUC, Asian Studies Library, the B-school, the Law Library, the study rooms in the dorms, and of course, Olin</li>
<li>The talented WUSLAM (WashU Poetry Slam) team . see it and hear it to believe it<br></li>
<li>A student culture that doesn't compare grades but instead shares life aspirations and personal passions<br></li>
<li>The fact that it's WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS.</li>
</ol>
<p>and</p>