<p>how competitive is it to get into these schools?
I know that Cornell is pretty competitive... but WUSL (is this school around the same level as Cornell?</p>
<p>anyone??? :(</p>
<p>Overall, Washington U is more selective than Cornell.
25th-75th SAT percentile
Washington U 1350-1520
Cornell 1290-1490</p>
<p>It depends on the major, though. Cornell Arts and Sciences and Engineering are most selective. I know Cornell is a terrific university. I don't know as much about WUSL.</p>
<p>WashU is kind of weird because, while obviously very selective, it seems that they are also interested in how interested YOU are in the school. I remember on the boards last year, it seemed like everyone was wait-listed. I would imagine that Cornell, being an ivy, is not quite as concerned with their yield as WashU is. In any case, they are both really selective and it would be really hard to definitively say which one is more selective.</p>
<p>WashU is very weird when it comes to admissions. And yes, I was part of the crowd that got waitlisted. Sometimes it depends on how much you want to go, but sometimes they see certain things in certain applicants and want to admit them, whereas they see other applicants as just average and waitlist them. I have no idea how they do things. Cornell I think goes more by the numbers, but then again, I could be wrong.</p>
<p>I have known people who attended both schools as undergraduates. Both schools are great. Personally, for many majors, other than engineering, Hotel management and a few other majors, I think that WASH U is better. HOWEVER, there is a lot of complaints from their graduates that the WASH U name is not that well known, especially considering the toughness of the school. Cornell certainly has a more recognized name among employers. </p>
<p>As for graduate school, I am sure that Wash U is well known too.</p>
<p>WashU sends out an extraordinary volume of solicitations to prospective students. One theory is that this is for the purpose of driving up their application pool, which then has the effect of lowering their acceptance rate--increasing their selectivity ratings in the guidebooks and helping to boost their USNews ranking. A lot of people posting here over the years have felt rather bitter about it.</p>
<p>Consider this: The 2002 edition of Princeton Review's Best Colleges has WashU with 14,192 applicants, a 30% acceptance rate--But a pathetic 25% Yield! (percentage of accepted students who matriculate there). Talk about a bad case of Tuft's Syndrome! BTW--Tufts had a 26% acceptance rate and a 33% yield that year.</p>
<p>Compare that with this data, from the 2005 "Choosing the Right College"--the only current college guide I have right now. It shows WashU with 20,378 total applicants! And what did that 40% increase in applications do for their acceptance rate? Well, rejecting all those extra people brought their acceptance rate down to 20%--right up there with the most elite schools in the country. And their yield moved up to a still rather dismal (for a now-top 10 USNews university) 34%. Tufts' stats, btw, remained identical over the period.</p>
<p>I should also add that WashU had 6,695 undergrads according to the 2002 guidebook. In the 2005 book, that number had dropped to 5,912. So let's see...you encourage lots more people to apply, and shrink your class size. Bingo. Hello top 10. I have little knowledge of the school, and my daughter didn't apply there, but I can see how some CCers were really ticked off.</p>
<p>wow.. thank you all for your inputs :)</p>
<p>My Mom always says that St Louis is the most god forsaken place she ever lived in. She hated it. and it does seem like wash u is doing some strategic reputation building moves these days. its a good school but is it in the company of the ivies or chicago?...so is washu building up its "desirability" number with all the cold call mailings. then turning down a lare number of applicants. is this playing a us news college ranking game?</p>
<p>yeah.. I'm beginning to see that majority of people don't like WUSL... so I guess cornell is seen by people more positively?.. and their campus is gorgeous...</p>
<p>My uncle taught at cornell and i have cousins who live in that area. I have a cousin whos at cornell now. its a great school, very challenging, and the physical environment is tough. beautiful but in the winter it is cold and snowy and grey for long stretches of the winter. .....character building....</p>
<p>I want it to be clear that I have nothing bad to say about WashU academically. I was responding specifically to the comments (#4 and 5) about their admissions policy. If you really want to go, you'd better make it really clear that they're your overwhelming double #1 first choice, because they've got to get their yield rate up. Because they are clearly soliciting more and more applicants in order to goose their acceptance rate, IMO. I don't think there's another school in the top 20 that has such a wild disparity among its #applicants, #available seats, and #who matriculate. WashU is the same size as Harvard--perhaps the most sought-after school in the world--and getting the same number of applicants! WashU is less than half the size of Cornell--and getting the same number of applicants! WashU is slightly more than half the size of UPenn--and getting 2K more applicants! WashU is the same size as Brown, and getting almost 6K more applicants! That's some slick marketing.</p>
<p>Personally, I think Cornell is a better school in reputation and is also easier to get into. If you like WashU, it's also a very good school, and should be well-known in the future. In this case, you really have to apply ED or they'll waitlist you if you can't show any interest.</p>
<p>During Decisions Day this year, WashU's board was spammed with waitlist complaints. It was terrible. I got waitlisted there, but was accepted to Penn and Cornell.</p>
<p>LOL - The "majority of people" haven't responded to your question. You're accepting the opinion of a parent who "has little knowledge of the school" and who's daughter did not apply to the school. Another poster says their MOTHER didn't like St. Louis! Please! </p>
<p>D is currently at WashU with an amazing group of students. The advertising/solicitations have definitely brought in more applicants and from quantity the AdComs have chosen quality, diversity and in general an interesting and refreshingly FRIENDLY student body. </p>
<p>WashU has the 2nd or 3rd best (depending who you ask) medical school in the country. The majority of their programs are in the top 20 in the country. But to quote a current freshman, "WashU seems genuinely glad we (the students) chose it. There is no 'you should be glad we let you in' attitude here." The median SAT scores are now higher than Cornells if stats are something that you use to choose a school. But the beautiful surroundings (Forest Park, just across the street has ,museums, an art gallery and a zoo all free to students and is larger than Central Park in NY), the professors that joined Ds campus tour and encouraged the students to come to their classrooms (which D did) were very enthusiastic about their courses and the helpful, outgoing students that were there when we visited convinced her that this was where she needed to be. Before the visit, MIT, Northwestern and Rice were at the top of the list. </p>
<p>Yes, Cornell's name is more recognized. We'll tell someone where D is going to school (ALWAYS using the FULL name of the school) and they generally follow up with 'OH -is that in DC or Washington State? The people that do recognize the name are our doctors and other professionals. Expect the name to be more recognized as the years go on. But lack of name recognition does not in any way diminish the educational opportunities available at WashU. </p>
<p>The best way to choose a school is to visit. At the very least speak with people that actually have a connection to the school. Decide what YOU NEED from a school and then you will be able to intelligently decide between WashU or Cornell or any other place you think looks interesting. Good Luck.</p>
<p>Has the quality of the faculty at Washington U kept up with the improvements in the student body? It takes decades to build a good faculty. The student body turns over every 4 or 5 years. It takes several decades for the faculty to turn over. I have heard of other colleges that improve the quality of students through intense marketing but the faculty is still the same, and teaching the same way.</p>
<p>I am most familiar with Ds specific major. A new 55,000 square foot biomedical building was dedicated last fall and three new professors formerly with Johns Hopkins and CMU joined the faculty this summer. The money and effort that we saw being expended in Ds area of interest also put the choice of WashU at the top.</p>
<p>Perhaps I wasn't clear enough...wouldn't be the first time. The only opinion I expressed in my first post was addressed to the two posters commenting on the high number of waitlisted applicants at WashU. It wasn't addressed to the OP's question of WashU vs. Cornell. In fact, my second post was prompted by the OP's "majority of people don't like WUSL" comment---to disassociate myself. My impression is that it's a very fine school, and I know, from being a hiring partner's wife, that WashU Medical grads are very highly regarded. Sorry if I created a misimpression. The admissions numbers and comments on WashU's reputation for aggressive marketing stand, however--although I shouldn't have called the yield rate "pathetic." I just meant that it was way below where such a school would want to be.</p>
<p>You know, Copter Mom, youre right..all we can do is weigh in with our own opinions, backed up with some kind of feeble rationale. our 2 cents.....that's what these forums are right?...you ask a question, collect a bunch of opinions and make a decision. perhaps i don't speak for a majority of people, but both of my parents spent a year at washu and both hated it and st louis. don't be offended...it was just their experience...your daughter may love it...and apparantly does. I offered the comment because so many people like washu and wasu is marketing so heavily....it might be useful to the original poster hear that some people really had a different experience.</p>
<p>My dad was offered a scholarship at WUSTL back in the day. Not that he took it but it helped him overcome the inertia of the financial aid board at mom's grad school. </p>
<p>Thus, WUSTL has been good.</p>
<p>There's another opinion.</p>
<p>do these schools (Washington U and Cornell) have good and well-recognized undergraduate programs for engineering?
Thanks in advance :)</p>