<p>wishingandhoping:</p>
<p>How did you come up with $48,000? I just went to the WashU site and they have the following info listed:</p>
<p>Tuition: $31,100
Student Activity Fee: $311
Student Health Fee: $631
Total Charges (excluding room and board): $32,042
Average University Room and Board: $10,064
Total Charges (including room and board): $42,106</p>
<p>My mistake...I don't know where I read the other figure. I do know that Wash U. is not need blind. Adcom visiting D's high school explained they try to be "sensitive" however.</p>
<p>We visited last year. D liked the campus but felt there were too many large intro classes for her taste. Also the fact that the dorms had a service where you could pay to have your laundry done made her feel there were too many rich kids. Our experience, with many, many kids applying form our HS, is ED makes a huge difference and courting them does too. The disparity between ED admits and RD waitlists is dramatic. </p>
<p>Also we had the oppociste reaction to the gated blocks. The gates did not appear to be original, I took them as a response to spreading crime. Also our tour guide told us you shouldn't go for a run alone in the enormous park at the colleges front door. If I remeber correctly, it seems to serve as a buffer between the college and it's very upscale neighborhood and some of the St Louis projects.</p>
<p>Lizschup:
D wound up in the Richmond Heights area I guess its called? She would have loved the DeMun area, the buildings definitely were classier but felt strongly about wanting to live alone finally and had set herself a pretty strict budget until she sees how far her $$ can go.. Shes pretty close to the highway #40(I think thats the #) and near the Shnucks/Office Depot shopping area.Lots of students in the area but also families and older folks. it is in a small multi apartment building..maybe 10 or 12 altogether.Its a fairly decent one bedroom,not centrally airconditioned,two window units but heat is included.Plenty of street parking but could rent a garage spot for another $25 a month if she wants.Only downside is there's no shuttle stop accessible for her so she'll have to drive to school and buy a parking permit..but its only about 5 minutes away.This may cause prices to be cheaper there.she and H went looking at the wash U affiliated housing in the loop area but he felt a little uncomfortable with the locations of the buildings and their condition compared to what else was available.Her plan for next year is to get to know the areas better (like DeMun,Dogtown) and "upgrade".Is your Son an undergrad?It seemed like DeMun skewed a little older.</p>
<p>Its so funny how everyones views of a school will be different when visiting.The park (Forest Park) is very old..I think it predates any old rich neighborhood/project differences.I might assume a tour guide would caution anyone not to run alone,especially young women.But we are New Yorkers so maybe our perceptions are colored by that?? Have to laugh about the laundry service..even my D's large public U in Arizona had that service.I think its just a business that caters to lazy college kids..whether they are rich or not.
Don't know much about the history of the gated streets..some looked very old to me and some looked newer..like the new developments were trying to emulate the appearance/cachet of the old turn of the century blocks.</p>
<p>Cathymee,
It sounds like your daughter is still pretty close to DeMun - just down the street. My son is a junior this year and the area is pretty mixed - professors, undergrad and grad students and young professionals. Is your daughter a voice grad student- I think I remember reading that? </p>
<p>And yes Forest Park if I remember correctly was built or at least used for the 1904 World's Fair. It's been unsafe to walk there at night since I lived in St. Louis thirty years ago, but it is just fine during the day. I'm not aware of it serving as a buffer from any projects. There are old homes directly to the north and Barnes Hospital and the trendy Central West End to the east of Forest Park. It is bordered on the south by Highway 40 and to the west by Wash U , beautiful old homes, the Demun neighborhood, and Concordia seminary. I thought the projects were blown up in the late 60's or 70's so I don't know where that info comes from.
I'm not sure what gates people are talking about specifically but St. Louis seems to have gated communities everywhere and have ever since I lived there -especially the University City and Clayton area. If they're not original it's probably because they have been replaced, not because of spreading crime.</p>
<p>curmudgeon -Thanks for sharing your visit to WUSTL. It is one of the schools on Ds list. Do you think visiting in the summer was a plus or a minus? H thinks it is a good time to make visits, but D thinks she wont get a true feel for the school.</p>
<p>Tututaxi, I have to answer yes to both. I believe that we had a more intensive view of facilities, research opportunities, more time with staff than we would have if the students were there. Are the other hand, my daughter would agree with your's . She ain't going anywhere where she doesn't like the "look"(feel, smell) of the kids, and obviously that can't really be "judged" in the summer.</p>
<p>Jumping on an old thread.</p>
<p>Wash U visit was so impressive. The library (just renovated) is just gorgeous, best we saw anywhere. The whole campus is so well-maintained. The admissions office is very organized--S applied to 10 schools and they were consistently the only ones who could at a moment's notice tell me if they had received the teacher's recommendation from such and such teacher. Think that bodes well for their administrative processes in general.</p>
<p>We visited during the school year, kids seem very normal. In my experience you can't tell the rich kids by looking at them. We live in a small house in a wealthy town, and you can't tell the kids who live in the million plus dollar houses from the ones in the cheapest houses like ours. What does work is looking at the cars in the student parking lots. Wash U's student parking has lots of VERY nice cars.</p>
<p>Agree the light rail stop will be a huge asset.</p>
<p>Son's one negative is the lack of a big sports team of any sort. Sports facilities are nice though.</p>
<p>
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Son's one negative is the lack of a big sports team of any sort. Sports facilities are nice though.
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</p>
<p>Looked like the women's volleyball and basketball teams had each had a very nice recent run as NCAA Div III champs, from the banners in the gym, when we did our tour...maybe it's not "big sports", but championships in 3 out of 4 or 5 years is a nice run, even in Div. III.</p>