<p>It seems to me that Wash U, despite being an incredible school, has a problem with name recognition. I have encountered the problem that when I tell people I'm going to Washington University, they either think it's U-Dub or Washington State (one even thought it was GW!)
My theory is that this is a result of the name "Washington University in St. Louis" being too much of a mouthful to say in its entirety every time one says it, resulting in the shortening to "Washington University" or "Washington in St. Louis." People are thrown by either the "Washington" or the "St. Louis."
Many of the kids I talked to at Wash U when I visited said they had this same problem.
I think that Wash U needs to change its name. To something easier to say. Not that I'm a slacker, but it needs a name that defines it and sets it apart from other schools with similar names. </p>
<p>Apparently there was even a petition at Wash U a few years ago to this end.</p>
<p>Yeahh I know what you mean, I've been having the same problem.</p>
<p>Not only has no one from my area even heard of the school but they mix it up with other schools. My chem teacher asked me where I was going to school and I told him Washington University in St. Louis and then he told other people that I was going to George Washington.</p>
<p>And yeah...saying the full name is annoying since no one knows the WashU shortening...but what can you do? At least people will know once we are AT the school.</p>
<p>Maybe your friends and teachers and other random people don't know what it is, and might even think you're an underacheiver or something to be going to a school they've never heard of. But, employers, grad schools, etc. DO know about Wash U and do respect it as one of the top institutions in the world.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the name definitely does suck. Its really long, so its hard to like read off of a sweatshirt...</p>
<p>Oh I know I'm not letting the name turn me off at all.</p>
<p>I actually did at first. When I got accepted and then went to visit before I made my final decision (I didn't visit before applying) I was sure I was going to enroll at Cornell but after my visit I decided that it was a much better school for me. </p>
<p>And it's almost eerie how nice everyone treats you...</p>
<p>yeah it was eerie....
i'm waitlisted at brown and before i went to visit i was like meh, st. louis is in the midwest, and brown is on the east coast, and brown has a better name, i'll go there if i get in off the waitlist.
now, no way in hades would i go to brown. wash u was so lovely when i went and the people were scary accomodating, so i'm def. going there. even if i get in off brown's waitlist, it's washU for me. yay!</p>
<p>I absolutely love WashU...I agree its name is a mouthful and that it's the only thing not perfect about the school...I think they should call it Eliot University..cuz TS Eliot and grandpa are so hawt~~</p>
<p>Yea, let's do a "Alternative names for WashU" thread!!</p>
<p>I understand it used to be Washington University, but because it was confused with University of Washington, and GW, the "in St. Louis" was added!</p>
<p>i agree, some people understand when i just say "wash u" but we were going around the classroom saying where we were going to college, and saying "washington university in st. louis" seemed to take forever compared to the other one-name schools. but oh well...it's really minor.</p>
<p>as much as the lack of name recognition is annoying, i think it's actually a good thing in retrospect for a couple reasons.
1. It is fun to joke with friends about how few people know about wash u.
2. Because it doesn't have the "Harvard" brand name, we get the smart , friendly kids without the [insert expletive here] kids that just want the prestige</p>
<p>Oh man, I applied to georgetown, George washington and Washington University in St.Louis.
You have no idea how confused my mom was by these 3 colleges. It has nothing to do with the pretige factor, it just shares similar wording as other schools so it's not difficult to get a little confused from time to time.</p>