WashU v. Yale

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I know I am extremely lucky to have this decision:</p>

<p>I'm deciding between Washington University in St. Louis and Yale University. At WashU, I could go with a full tuition scholarship. Yale didn't give me financial aid, but I think I would be able to appeal that if I decided to go. Even so, I'd leave Yale with at least 50,000+ in student loans. If I needed money for grad school, my parents would be able to help if I went to WashU but not if I went to Yale.</p>

<p>I'm not sure what I want to do in the future (English, Econ, Math), but I think I may want to go to law school which makes me think Yale might still be the best option (?). What do you think?</p>

2

<p>For law school admission, your GPA and LSAT scores will matter more than whether Yale or WUSTL shows up on your application. Yale is fabulous, but for that cost difference, I’d favor WUSTL.</p>

3

<p>It’s hard to beat a full scholarship at such a prestigious school like WashU.</p>

<p>Plus, they have excellent food.</p>

<p>I’d go WashU. </p>

<p>Full Tuition anywhere is hard to beat, but at WashU… no question.</p>

4

<p>I personally think you’ll be stupid to pass up full tuition at WUSTL for full pay at Yale.</p>

5

<p>If you’re going to appeal, do it now and tell them you have full tuition scholarship to WashU, but you would really like to go to Yale; unfortunately, it’s not financially feasible for you, so would they pleaaaaase give you some money?</p>

<p>If they don’t budge, head to WashU.</p>

6

<p>I agree with netharion. Ask Yale if they can give more money so you can go there.</p>

<p>Whether you end up going to Yale or Wash U is your choice in the end.</p>

7

<p>Wash U. The cost difference is far too much to justify going to Yale.</p>

8

<p>yale is an amazing brand name to pass up on, but if you want to go to law school, just kill your gpa and lsat. I would first beg yale to give you more money - they might decide they have the resources to support you.</p>

9

<p>Have you visited WashU? Are you/could you be thrilled about going there?</p>

10

<p>WashU is a great school and I’m sure you would have a nice college experience there. But if you can push the money issue, if people ARE WILLING to help you and you really want to go to Yale, just do it. Easier said than done but if you and others are willing or able to make up the money, put aside any guilt in choosing Yale and go for it.</p>

11

<p>Have you visited both…I was in a tough position of giving up a full ride at one school and an awesome research stipend at another for a school that gave me very little money. I ended up going to the school that gave me little money, because I walked on campus and felt at home, a feeling I did not have at the other two (well, one felt like home because it was literally home, but thats a different feeling entirely). And three years later, I still consider this home. If Yale feels like home, try to make it work. If WashU feels like home, congrats on having a school love you just as much as you love it.</p>

12

<p>So if you had the choice between a free Jaguar and a Jaguar that 250000 but you could have your choice of color car, which would you choose? It’s really easy for someone else to tell you what to do, but ultimately you’ll need to evaluate what the money is worth to you and your parents. And, of course, you’ll need to evaluate how you felt about Wash U when you visited. That said…</p>

<p>Wash U will give you everything you need to succeed. If they gave you a full-tuition scholarship, they see you as a leader. One of the wonderful things about the school is that they will try to help you in any way that they can. If you need an advisor, they’ll give you two. In addition, I believe their scholarships have no strings attached; that is, you can major in what you like and you only need to do well enough (there’s no minimum grade point cutoff). That’s typical Wash U. It’s just a very hands-off place but they will do whatever they can to help you achieve your goals. I don’t know which scholarship you have, but I believe you can change majors if you choose.</p>

<p>One more thing: if you choose economics or mathematics, eventually your summers will be spent either doing an internship or an REU (research experience). An REU does not pay much; it’s usually around 4000-5000. (You can look this up at NSF.) So while you won’t cost your parents anything over the summer, you won’t be able to earn much money either.</p>

<p>One of my colleagues had a Wash U full-tuition scholarship and is now a leader in the field. He still gets tears in his eyes talking about the support he had, the research opportunities and the fabulous students around him. I believe these scholarships come with more than just money—some have seminars, some do outreach in the city, etc. You’ll have people who know you and can write letters of recommendation for you, you’ll have friends who will want to change the world. </p>

<p>My guess is that if you could go to both schools and see what would happen, in four years you’d end up in the same place.</p>