WashU vs. Amherst

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
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<p>Hey guys, I've got a really tough decision to make. I've got a full ride to WashU and Amherst College and I'm torn between these two! I really like both, can you guys tell me what sealed the deal for you guys at WashU? What is your favorite thing about WashU? I'm posting this at Amherst's group as well to have both opinions.</p>

<p>I want to major in Economics and Political Science and might want to go to graduate school later for a PhD. in Economics at a really good institution in it(prob. Harvard, Princeton or Chicago). I know that academically they're both great. I don't like cold weather, but weather doesn't really matter that much to me. I like small class sizes and want to be at a small to mid-sized university. I might want to study abroad. I play the guitar and the drums so I would seek the opportunity to play in musical ensembles and would love to continue playing soccer as well, at least recreationally. I love participating in community service activities and have lived all my life near cities, so I don't how Amherst would be. I would want to have a nice social life at college, not dull. I've been to WashU and I really liked the dorms(the moderns). Is it true that Amherst is considered more prestigious than Washu? Not that it's going to matter much, but that's what I've been told. I like schools with a sense of community is this present at both schools? Oh, and I'm in for the Rodriguez Scholars program, I really liked the familia and the program too.</p>

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<p>Bump! </p>

<p>10char</p>

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<p>As far as prestige is usually thought of, WashU and Amherst are pretty unknown to the average Joe, but the adcoms at grad schools will probably consider both around equal.</p>

<p>Honestly, if I were in your situation, and I really liked both schools to the extent that I was going on this board needing to be swayed, I would say Amherst is a better choice. Your classes should be smaller, you’ll get more focused attention, you won’t be dealing with a largely premed culture, and you will be very well prepared for graduate school.</p>

<p>But since you want a WashUer’s perspective, here is why I chose WU over Amherst:</p>

<p>I didn’t like Amherst. For me, it felt too isolated, too quiet, too sedate. Having one dining hall scared the hell out of me; I’m all for a community, but that’s taking it way too far. At WashU, the size is much fuller, which means there are always new people to meet, and there are lots of options, whether it’s with food, clubs, etc.</p>

<p>WashU is amazing. The people are intelligent, laid-back, and generally compassionate, open, and friendly. It’s a great school, and you have immense flexibility with your curriculum. Plus, it’s incredibly beautiful, and St. Louis has an interesting posh v. grunge divide that’s pretty interesting and neat to explore a little bit.</p>

<p>But even though I love WashU and would choose it again in a heartbeat, there’s something about LACs that you just can’t beat. Especially if you’re set on grad school, I don’t know if there’s a better way to have your undergrad experience, I honestly don’t. And Amherst is an amazing school.</p>

<p>Either way, I think you can be very successful and very happy. I would go with your gut instinct–put yourself three years ahead, and try to think which one you wish you’d chosen. That usually works out for me.</p>

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<p>Thanks nitwitoddment! Your info was really helpful. I’m going to take this into account when making my final decision. </p>

<p>It is true that WashU is near a city, too. Thanks as248t57y</p>

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<p>I was making this choice in my head when I visited the two last semester. They were my top options at the time.</p>

<p>If I had had to make the choice, I would’ve easily gone for WashU. I also didn’t like Amherst much. It’s too small and isolated for my taste. The food at WashU is also astronomically better, and you don’t have to worry about the entire student body trying to use one dining hall. WashU students were also much nicer. One student helped me and a couple of prefrosh out of nowhere when we looked lost, and whenever a group of us walked by, some students would shout, “Come to WashU!” On the other hand, at Amherst the students seemed colder, and some of the students seemed annoyed by our presence. When I was in the cafeteria for lunch I overheard this conversation:</p>

<p>Person A: “Why is it so crowded in here?”
Person B: “ugh I think it’s prefrosh…”</p>

<p>Also, WashU’s campus is wayyyy nicer in my opinion. So yeah, that’s why I would’ve chosen WashU over Amherst, though Amherst has the upper hand in smaller class size/open curriculum/study abroad support. It’s very possible that you got a totally different vibe from Amherst though. It’s a great school, but not for me. I agree that there’s no real difference in prestige. Laymen will most likely not know about either one, and they’re both respected by grad schools and employers.</p>

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<p>Wow, that does sound cold actually. Thanks for the input nne718!</p>

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<p>This is probably going to be long-winded but I hope it helps you (and other potential Econ and/or Poli Sci majors) a bit. I plan to major in both Econ and Poli Sci and have taken a few courses in each department. Wash U has incredible departments in both. If you want to go to grad school in the future, it helps to go to a University that has grad programs already; which sounds somewhat contradictory, but it it allows the school to have more resources and professors, and thus provide you with lots of opportunities you wouldn’t necessarily have at a smaller school like Amherst. Not that you couldn’t do undergrad research at Amherst (I’m sure you can pretty easily), but it’s guaranteed that the opportunities will be vastly more limited. Wash U, also, actively encourages undergrad research, and I’m 100% sure that you’d find more opportunities for it here in every sense of the term. Amherst probably has like 10 professors in each department; to me, at least, that would get old rather quickly. Take my opinion for what it’s worth - I actively avoided small LACs - because it is an opinion, but you should at least be aware how various opportunities will manifest on a day to day basis. </p>

<p>Amherst will clearly have the advantage of smaller classes, but I’m pretty sure that advantage will be limited to freshman/sophomore years. The upper-level courses at Wash U in both of the departments you are considering are quite small – think fewer than 15 kids in most (especially econ, but largely true for poli sci). The professors that I’ve encountered (ones I’ve taken classes from, and others that I will in the future) are exceedingly well-credentialed, very helpful, and generally just want you to do well. You should browse the faculty listings on the various dept websites to get an idea of who they are, where they come from, and what their specific interests are. </p>

<p>There’s a great major here called Political Economy. It’s a very theoretical-based major that really studies the interplay of economics in politics and public policy. I probably won’t do it just because it is very theory-based, but if that’s what you are looking for, then it’s probably right up your alley. There’s some sort of senior seminar that’s supposed to be really cool, but I haven’t looked too much into it at this point. Anyway, you can find info about the major and those courses. The PoliEcon major also has its own eponymous research center, the Center for Political Economy. Doug North is a pretty major figure in the Econ department here (1990s nobel prize winner in econ - he founded that center, as well as the New Institutional Social Sciences Center, which was the basis for his nobel.<br>
[Political</a> Economy | Washington University in St. Louis](<a href=“http://bulletin.wustl.edu/artsci/politicaleconomy/]Political”>http://bulletin.wustl.edu/artsci/politicaleconomy/)

[Center</a> in Political Economy](<a href=“http://cpe.wustl.edu/]Center”>http://cpe.wustl.edu/)
<a href=“http://cniss.wustl.edu/[/url]”>http://cniss.wustl.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Anyway, for Poli Sci strictly, Wash U is especially strong in american politics, comparative politics, and political methodology. It certainly one of the largest majors here in terms of # faculty and # courses. Gotta be within the top 5 most popular Art Sci majors. This may or may not interest you considering you seem more Econ focused, but Wash U has really built up these quasi-study abroad programs in Washington DC for a semester where you get an internship for a governmental agency, think tank, policy group, NGO, etc. The Brookings Institution has a really close network with Wash U which could come in handy if you plan your 4 years out right and really know how to search out these opportunities. </p>

<p>For Econ strictly, there are several concentrations you can pursue within the larger major itself. Although Wash U isn’t exactly what I consider a large school (larger than Amherst -yes, but strictly speaking it isn’t really huge), having the ability to really hone your interests is nice. You may or may not have the same opportunity at Amherst. Off the top of my head, you can concentrate in Econometrics (one of the more popular), public policy, theory, finance, and industrial org. I know there are a couple more but I’m feeling a bit too lazy to search them out. As you probably know, you have free reign to take classes in the B-school here (read: any finance class you want), which is at least tangentially beneficial for most econ majors.
This is a listing of all the research centers in the Econ department: [Research</a> Centers | Department of Economics](<a href=“http://economics.wustl.edu/research_centers]Research”>http://economics.wustl.edu/research_centers)</p>

<p>For both Poli Sci and Econ, once you get passed each’s two intro level courses (American Politics and International Politics, and Micro and Macro), you really have a huge array of courses and specialties available. Those intro level courses will of course be much larger than at Amherst, but they are so basic and you take them freshman year so it really doesn’t matter in the long run. For what it’s worth I actually loved my International Politics class despite the large size - professor was awesome. There are seriously over 100 classes offered in the Poli Sci department alone here. </p>

<p>A not insignificant amount of people here double major between Econ and Poli Sci. The two departments collaborate a lot. I found that it generally makes life a lot easier and the academic experience more worthwhile - and will become even more so in the upper years. You mentioned wanting to go to grad school after college, and I can definitely tell you that whether you want to go into econ specifically, or something related like law school or public policy, you’ll be more than fine from Wash U regarding caliber of grad school. </p>

<p>I generally agree with what others said in this thread, except with one minor modification regarding pre-meds. Yeah there are a lot of pre-meds here, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing, and I would certainly not characterize this as a “pre med culture”. Also, Amherst is not more prestigious than Wash U. Wash U isn’t more prestigious than Amherst. They’re both good schools. Any difference between them will be due to size, location, and breadth/depth of opportunities… not prestige.</p>

<p>Also, regarding size again. Certainly Wash U is bigger than Amherst, but again Wash U isn’t exactly a huge school. I actually think that it feels much smaller than it’s size, anyway. This is just due to the general welcoming and supporting nature of campus. I mean, if you really do want that small LAC feel (I call it the “summer camp” feel) that Amherst can provide, you won’t get it 100% at Wash U, but the overall feeling of community definitely pervades throughout Wash U. This isn’t just my opinion - you can read any of the threads on this board or ask any of the other Wash U posters on here and they’ll certainly agree about the overall feeling of community here. </p>

<p>PM if you have any specific questions.</p>

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<p>In terms of big research university opportunities, Umass at Amherst is literally next door. 15 mins walking distance plus shuttle bus between the schools. The professors at Umass Amherst really likes the Amherst College students. You will get the same graduate level research opportunities when you are ready. You may not need to get out of the small campus to do that.</p>

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<p>Wow, thanks flashmountain! This is definitely one of the most informative responses I’ve got! Seems like the quality of life will be better at WashU then. </p>

<p>Thanks JudyLee! It’s important to know that there will research opportunities at Amherst as well!</p>

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<p>The only question you need to ask is if you want a small college – smaller than many high schools, although admittedly comprised entirely of super smart kids – in the middle of nowhere, or a medium-sized school nearby an actual city that will have greater opportunities in breadth/depth for classes, professors, and research. Wash U and Amherst will both have tight communities, although the sense of community is based on entirely different aspects at each school. </p>

<p>I personally feel that you should KNOW if you’re the kind of person who wants a school like Amherst. It is such a specific type of school that attracts a specific type of person, and if you are unsure one week before the decision deadline… I have a feeling you will have a greater likelihood of feeling out of place there than you would at Wash U. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine to be undecided and I didn’t make my decision until like 3 days before the deadline, but I think that because Wash U and Amherst are so different in terms of size, location, feel, resources, etc, (with the primary similarity being that they are both “good schools”), that it probably a better bet to go with the school that isn’t so narrow. For what it’s worth, during my time at Wash U, I’ve still never heard anyone complain that they wish we were smaller, or in a more rural setting, or had more majors, or had more classes offered. </p>

<p>I think Wash U is the kind of school where almost anybody can find amazing resources and have a truly enjoyable college experience, whereas Amherst is more of “niche” school – I don’t mean that to be disparaging in any way – that will provide great resources and an enjoyable time but only if you know 100% that you want a tiny school in a bucolic setting where you can feasibly know every student by name.</p>

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<p>I’m making a similar decision, but it’s between Wash U and Pomona.</p>

<p>“greater opportunities in breadth/depth for classes, professors, and research”</p>

<p>At Pomona, the professors were really friendly and enthusiastic about teaching, the walls in every building were plastered with students’ research projects, and you could easily cross enroll at any of the surrounding colleges (I think Pomona’s consortium is more practical than Amherst’s, though).</p>

<p>Wash U has a beautiful campus, a nice location, and great food–overall it felt more like what I thought college would be like–but it also seemed like the education was comparatively impersonal… I’m still undecided…</p>

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<p>I live in WMASS. Imo Wash U is the choice based on what you listed as your interest. Nothing going on in Amherst area other than colleges. St.Louis has much more to offer in arts etc.</p>

<p>You can’t compare graduate school resources at Wash U to those you could get from near by UMASS. Not even close.</p>

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<p>I think the arguments of Wash U vs. Amherst are largely the same as Wash U vs. Pomona, except for location/city. I’m agreeing with what has been previously said that departments at LACs will seriously have like 10 or fewer faculty members each and that the small classroom advantage disappears after freshman or sophomore year. I will add that this also depends on your major at Wash U. If you want to major in any of the humanities or many of the social sciences here (not to mention the Art or Architecture schools), you will have generally small classes that rival the size of an LAC during all 4 years. There just aren’t any classes these fields that are more than 25 or so kids. It really depends on what you want to study, and a school like Wash U will provide more extensive choices. </p>

<p>In ArtSci, it is really just the freshman and sophomore pre-med classes that get to be a couple hundred kids. If you are not pre-med, then this wouldn’t be a concernt. There are a few large intro classes in the Poli Sci and Anthro departments, but those are also going to be during your first or second year. To mitigate this further, you should look into these FOCUS programs at Wash U in Art Sci – a large amount of Art Sci-ers do and they are all pretty awesome. If you are in Art Sci and are not pre-med, you might end up taking like 6 really large classes, which represents about 10-15% of all the classes you’ll take here. I’ve found the teaching environment here to be quite personalized. If you don’t know any professor personally at Wash U then it’s just because you didn’t make an effort. I mean, it’s not like you are choosing between an LAC and a state school here. </p>

<p>One last benefit I would add to Wash U, is that there is just an exciting energy of having people that are not all liberal arts majors. At liberal arts schools, by definition, you’ll be around all pretty much like-minded people studying not very dissimilar subject areas. Although you might not personally take an Engineering or Business class, having friends with different interests definitely provides a positive benefit to campus. </p>

<p>This really comes down to size and whether you feel like you are the type of person that will be happy in the narrower type of environment of an LAC. I’ve never heard of anyone at Wash U complain that we are too large or too impersonal of a school, whereas it’s not a totally uncommon complaint of an LAC for students to wish that their school was larger or that it had more faculty and that had a higher degree of anonymity in the student body. So, I’m still arguing that if you are deciding between a small LAC and a school like Wash U a week before the deadline, then you will probably have a higher likelihood of feeling out of place at the LAC.</p>

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<p>That’s the problem vbball90! I went to a really small private school in my country(35 people in the whole class of 2010, different system, just finished at december though), so I’m accostumed to knowing all my classmates and the more personal attention in class. Though I’m not sure if this is what I want for college, in the sense that I didn’t live in my high school and it might start to feel like a bubble. Thanks for your posts, they’ve definitely given me more things to consider when making my decision!</p>

<p>That’s most likely to be true also onecot59. WashU most likely has more resources.</p>

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<p>That’s crazy, rdgonzalez! 35 people in a high school class - wow. I kind of understand your dilemma a little bit better now. If the size intimidates you a little bit, there are two options you might want to consider about Wash U.</p>

<p>1) The FOCUS programs in Art Sci. If you haven’t found out about them yet, they’re basically really small classes during your freshman year that are interdisciplinary in subject material. They basically provide an LAC-type classroom environment. You’ll get a big packet of information about it after (if) you enroll at Wash U. This is the info packet from last year, from the Art Sci website, so you get an idea of what is offered: [A</a> & S Getting Started](<a href=“http://magazine.artsci.wustl.edu/Getting_Started/]A”>http://magazine.artsci.wustl.edu/Getting_Started/)</p>

<p>2) This might not pertain to you, but if you are in one of the scholarship groups, that will provide a pretty small “second community” within Wash U itself. The scholarship groups are really tight and continue during all 4 years here, with events, retreats, outings, and other things. </p>

<p>I went to a public school that was quite large – larger than Amherst in total student body size – but I don’t attribute the fact that I’m comfortable with Wash U’s size because I went to a large high school. I know lots of people here that went to smaller private schools and none had any problem adjusting to Wash U (or, if they did, they must have gotten over it after the first week). I think by the time you are in your late teens and early 20s, most people – clearly not all people, but most – are ready for a larger environment that allows you to really explore who you are amongst a larger, diverse group of people. Try to project to how you might feel in your junior or senior year in college, knowing what you do about Wash U’s size and Amherst’s size and what you’ve had already during your years in high school. </p>

<p>If you were going from your environment to a really large american public college of 30,000 students, then I think your transition and decision-making process might be a little bit different. But, Wash U isn’t all that large as far as colleges go, and if you feel ready to move on to a slightly larger environment after your high school experience, then I think you’d probably feel perfectly fine at a school Wash U’s size. Of course, I don’t have any answers and this is all conjecture and opinion on my part.</p>

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<p>Thanks vbball90! The FOCUS program seems interesting. I also got along very well with the students who were with me at finalist weekend and know that many are coming to WashU. So that’s in favor of WashU as well. This is decision is killing me, haha.</p>

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<p>You can always look at course registrations for courses that interest you from the past year (courses.wustl.edu) to see the size of classes if it’s something important to you. </p>

<p>Taking econ courses for example, the popular courses such as Game Theory will have 40-60 people in it, and that’s generally an upper level class.
There are also less popular courses like Economics of Law with 9 people in it.</p>

<p>If you just want smaller classes, you can always choose the least popular classes, but expect waiting lists on classes that are even moderately popular (although enrollment size usually always increases to take in people off the waitlist).</p>

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<p>Thanks for the link marcdvl! Thanks for the suggestion, though I don’t think I would enroll in a class just because there are less people in it. I would definitely want to take the courses I’m interested in. Thanks for the insight!</p>

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<p>I chose WashU over Middlebury because WashU is bigger and in a more developed? populated? haha area. Amherst is smaller than Midd but in more of a city, so I guess it’s a little bit different for you. Good luck with your decision!</p>

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<p>haha, Thanks rainbowrose! Fortunately, I’m making my decision no later than 2 days from now! This decision is killing me!</p>