wash u right for me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
1

<p>I'm not sure if I should apply. Schools that I really really like are Columbia and Yale. Here is essentially what I'm looking for in a college</p>

<ul>
<li>intellectual drive</li>
<li>a good biology program, but not a science-based college (I want a good education in the humanities also)</li>
<li>a homey atmosphere, good sense of community in the college</li>
<li>stuff to do (not necassarily near a city, but I don't want to be studying 24/7)</li>
<li>at least a decent music program</li>
<li>active college community (lots of involvement in stuff other than studying)</li>
<li>college where greek life is not too heavy</li>
<li>teachers who actually talk/interact with students and encourage them outside of class (ie discussions), but not necassarily something as intimate that can be found at a LAC. in other words, prfos who actually care about their students and are not at the college just for their research</li>
<li>undergrad research opportunities</li>
<li>has a med school or/and hospital nearby</li>
</ul>

<p>so what does wustl fit and what doesn't it fit?</p>

2

<p>Wash. U. is known as both one of the nation's foremost liberal arts colleges AND has one of the nation's best biology and chemistry departments. They're ranked #11 by USNews in terms of top universities in the United States. </p>

<p>They have their own medschool about half an hour away from the main campus, and it's the most selective med school in the world (yes, more than Harvard or JHU). Their undergrad programs are so good that the plurality of their med school students come from their own undergrad pool. </p>

<p>The campus is in a very nice and clean part of the city. If you want fun, there's downtown Clayton just 10min away and downtown St. Louis is not far at all. Also, they're building MetroLink this year which will be a direct route from the campus to almost any place in St. Louis.</p>

<p>There are over 200 student-run organizations on campus so there's never stuff to run out of. As for Greek Life, there's Frat Row so it exists but it's not that big at all. Sororities don't even have their own houses: Every year they vote whether or not they want to have houses and they always end up turning it down because they believe Greek life should just be a small yet fun part of the college experience, rather than having your social life revolve around it.</p>

<p>The student to teacher ratio is amazing for almost every class except GenChem and Freshman Bio, used to weed out prospective pre-meds. Most of your classes will be from 10-30 people in size. Teachers are always available. </p>

<p>Wash. U. has no shortage of undergrad research opportunities. You can even start undergrad research before you set foot on campus. </p>

<p>I think that answers all your questions. And now you know why I applied ED. I love Wash. U.</p>

<p>Do you hear that Wash. U.!? Marry me! Please!</p>

<p>-Hakan Sahin</p>

3

<p>ur criteria basically describes WashU</p>

4

<p>sweetness =).</p>

<p>I think I will be definitely applying to here as one of my top choices. The only concern is the distance (12 hr drive from jersey, so it's not too bad)</p>

<p>And another question: where else did you all apply other than washu?</p>

5

<p>Most people who apply to Wash. U. also apply to all the Ivies, and JHU. The ones who think they can use Wash. U. as a safety are the ones most commonly rejected and/or waitlisted.</p>

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<p>so in other words, make sure you show lots of interest?</p>

7

<p>what part of jersey u from? (lol) 16 hours is what I've been told by a reliable freind</p>

8

<p>central jersey</p>

<p>and i mapquested it lol</p>

9

<p>Wash U is amazing, somehow I manage to love it more and more every day - I made the right choice when I applied ED.</p>

<p>I just want to make sure you know everything about it though, HVSahin seems to have done some research, but isnt entirely right on everything - so as an actual student, I hope I can make some things more clear.</p>

<p>The pre-med program is great, but it is not true that a large number of them get into the even better Wash U med school. The Med School takes about 130 new students every year, about 10% from the undergrad dept. That's only 13 kids. </p>

<p>The area around campus is amazing. Something you definatley need to check out is the Delmar Loop, an ecclectic and fun commercial area with great resturaunts, cool stores (Rolling Stone ranked Vintage Vinyl as one of the top 10 record stores in the country), and an independent theatre, only about 2 blocks away from campus. The Metrolink, which is going to be amazing!, isn't scheduled to be finished until the end of next academic year - at the earliest. And for most fresh/soph's life seems to be centered in the immediate U City/Clayton area.</p>

<p>Also, in terms of groups - there are, indeed, loads of ways to get involved on campus and it isnt hard to start a new group if you cant find exactly what you want. The thing is though, the greek system is fairly prevalent. While the sorority lifestyle is more overwhelming than the actual sorority you belong to (and no the girls don't have houses - there is actually an ancient MO state law that prohibits them because it considers more than 7 single women in a house together to consitute a brothel) the frats pretty much run the weekend social life at wash u for freshman and sophmores.</p>

<p>Like with any school you will find huge lectures and duds of prof's here and there, but so far I am amazed at the quality of teachers I have found at this school. My classes have been interesting, well organized, and memorable.</p>

<p>I can answer any other questions you may have, if you like, I was in your place last year, I was obsessed with Wash U and checked this board about every 20 minutes - so I know how you feel. Let me know if I can help ease your nerves during this extremely scary process :)</p>

10

<p>Saravati: Yeah, I'm obsessed just like you were I guess! Do you have AIM?</p>

11

<p>I'm on all the time and i would love to answer any questions @ soitecatastrophe on AIM or you can email me @ <a href="mailto:acburman@artsci.wustl.edu">acburman@artsci.wustl.edu</a></p>

12

<p>I agree with pretty much everything sarasvati and HVSahin have said, and I absolutely loved my time at washu too (I graduated a yr ago). WashU fits all of your criteria, and is an absolutely wonderful school.</p>

<p>A couple things to add: although the metrolink goes downtown, you can actually get to more places in the surrounding areas by the washu shuttles. And even without the metrolink open near campus, it's not too hard to get to the current stations to go downtown for a baseball game, restaurants, the landing, the arch, etc. (Most students spend their first year or two exploring the loop, central west end, and clayton, so by then the metrolink will be more available, or you'll have friends with cars anyway)</p>

<p>And in response to the comment about the MO brothel law - that's just an old story that's been told and retold, and isn't actually true (HVSahin's right about the voting). It's nice that girls in sororities have friends outside of the sororities too, and the campus isn't divided.</p>

<p>While I'll agree about the frats being fairly prevalent on campus, it doesn't nearly compare to a lot of larger public universities, where membership is required to have a social life. There are definitely frat parties every weekend, but they're pretty much open parties, for anyone to attend - so most of the freshmen/sophomores that go aren't affiliated. By soph/jr years though, there are tons of other parties to go to on the weekends - so unless you're in a fraternity, they're not that big of a deal anymore.</p>