<p>How much work does the average student have at Wash U? I've heard conflicting stories that it's either a) pretty manageable with people having a good amount of free time or b) the work is overwhelming and you barely have any time. Obviously with a school as competitive as Wash U I'm not expecting barely any work and tons of time to myself, but at the same time I'm hoping there's a good balance between work and free time.</p>
<p>Also, on a semi-related note, how are the core requirements and major requirements? Is the number of classes you're expected/required to take manageable? I know the required courses varies wildly by major, but I'm hoping someone can enlighten me to what it's like on average. (I'm hoping to major in Poli Sci or Econ, if that matters)</p>
<p>Course load really depends on your area of study. Life sciences majors and engineers typically have challenging material and tests, but usually not much required schoolwork, just studying. Art students have to spend hours upon hours working in the studio to complete their projects. And business school students often don’t have the most challenging of classes, but do have more group projects than most others. Humanities students will, understandably, have more papers to write than everyone else. All being said, I have known students from all schools who have quite a bit of free time, and I have known some who never seem to have any. I would say the norm is that an average student usually has some free time to do what she or he wants, but it depends on the individual and her or his major.</p>
<p>Core requirements, while dependent on which school you are in, are typically quite relaxed. While I don’t know much about the requirements outside Arts and Sciences, I do know that my only required course has been the introductory writing one. For all other core requirements, you are allowed to choose which ones interest you (Each course in Arts and Sciences is sorted into one of several categories, and you must select a few from each category). It’s nice, because you can choose linguistics over spanish, philosophy over history, psychology over economics, or vice versa, depending on your interests.</p>
<p>Obviously, like you said, major requirements vary a lot on the major in question. I’m unfamiliar with poli sci and econ major requirements, but I can talk about the math/bio requirements. In math and bio, there are several different tracks to choose from. There a few shared courses between all the tracks (e.g. Calc III, Intro to Bio), and then each track requires a couple of classes unique to the specific area of study (e.g. a statistics course for the statistics track. Pretty simple stuff). Lastly, these tracks have a “upper level course” requirement, in which you are required to take some upper level courses in math/bio, even if unrelated to the topic of the track (e.g. I might take a number theory course to satisfy the statistics track upper level course requirement). To review, there are general track requirements, specific track requirements, and general “upper level” requirements. These do a pretty good job of focusing your study to a specific area while still allowing you to explore other interests you might have. I don’t know if poli sci and econ are similar, however.</p>
<p>I agree with Ryan. I am A&S Fr.
Your workload depends on your major and the courses you are taking that semester.
From what I have seen I would list the most demanding majors to be:
Architecture
Engineering
A&S (premed)</p>
<p>Least:
Business </p>
<p>I am premed (Biology + PNP)
My courses this semester include Chem I, Chem Lab, Calc II and Writing.
I have some free time but not much.
I am enjoying it very much.
Love WashU</p>
<p>I don’t really agree with business being the least demanding, especially for finance or accounting major. Yea, it might be a little bit easier during your first two years, but junior year will certainly be demanding. Endless cases, group works and presentations.</p>
<p>I am a freshman Artsci Premed, and just wanted to give my opinion.
I currently am in 4 core classes, one being Chemistry, and I find that I have TONS of free time compared to most people. It really comes down to your work ethic and raw intelligence. When I need to do work, I work, and I’m efficient. I see many other students who just stare at a book or study in social settings.</p>
<p>In the end, it all comes down to your study habits coming in and raw intelligence.</p>
<p>MBA programs look for several years of job experience before they admit people. Not that many people go directly from undergrad business to MBA. They also overlap an incredibly amount. So no, most (50%+) Olin students don’t go on to get their MBA (from anywhere) immediately after they graduate.</p>
<p>I know that many business schools require work experience before an MBA, just wasn’t quite sure if people who go to Olin choose to get an MBA as well. </p>
<p>How is the career support at Wash U? Have you found it pretty manageable to find internships and job opportunities?</p>
<p>I’m only talking about business students (which I assume is what you want to know)</p>
<p>Job market right now isn’t as good as desired. That being said, even now there are plenty of opportunities out there, you just have to pull your networking strings and try to apply for as many as possible. Compared with opportunities on the east coast, you might find it easier to land a job in midwest (i.e. Chicago, St. Louis) since WashU is more renowned in the area. However, as the economy continues to improve, I believe it will get better in the future. </p>
<p>Career center helps you edit your resume or prepare for an interview, but it still depends on you to do all the networking stuff.</p>