<p>Hello, I might apply ED to one of these two schools, and my first question is, which one is easier to get into ED (no, I will NOT be basing my choice on this fact, and because WashU does not post this info on their website I would like to know what people with more knowledge than myself think)? Also I plan on going into the college of arts and sciences in one or the other, and I was wondering which one is held in higher regard, thanks. Feel free to add anything you want as well in just comparing the two schools...</p>
<p>this is a classic example that demonstrates the seeming disconnect between selectivty and prestige. Some schools have both of course (i.e. Harvard, Yale, Stanford). Others have both but often in various forms. </p>
<p>For instance, Michigan is more prestigious than its selectivity would indicate.</p>
<p>Cornell is hands-down MORE prestigious than Wash U. Cornell is an ivy and is internationally known.</p>
<p>However, with that said, Wash U is a smaller school and is MORE selective (almost 1/3 of Cornell's size and offers substantial merit money). After all, how many other top schools send a huge brochure with scholarship applications? </p>
<p>Wash U is more selective than Cornell when you compare sat scores and acceptance rates. However, one could argue that Cornell applicants are statistically stronger than those at Wash U--so it might be harder to get into Cornell. Wash U might be able to enroll 'stronger' students because it offers merit money and has a smaller class to enroll.</p>
<p>I think if you're undecided as to major, this is again, a "fit" question and shouldn't ride on prestige alone. I wouldn't dispute that Cornell is more prestigious and generally better known than WashU, particularly in certain disciplines. If you're focused on a future in the NE, or in certain professions, then I think Cornell is a better choice. </p>
<p>That said, I again go back to fit. My S last year was accepted at both WashU and Cornell CAS and had no interest in returning to Cornell for an accepted student visit. Didn't like the size and scope of the campus or its location (particularly traveling from CA). As an undecided, he thought he'd get more flexibility at WashU to change majors or to double major with A & S or to double major in more than one college (Business and A & S, for example) was appealing.<br>
I don't know much about ED at either school, as he applied RD to both, but I think ED gives better odds wherever you apply.</p>
<p>jazzymom: how does your son like WashU?</p>
<p>He likes it a lot and I know because I asked, pointedly, about his first year experience and if he still believed it met his needs. </p>
<p>My H and I have no qualms about S attending WashU and graduating from there, but also wanted him to know that IF he was thinking that he ought to transfer for any reason, that we would support that. He gave me one of those where-did-that-come-from looks and said, "no, I really like it there." Frankly, I was hinting that UCLA and UCB have really great programs in some of his areas of interest if he wanted to transfer there as an upperclassman....and be closer to home and then there's that in-state tuition... but no go on that. </p>
<p>He likes that it's a medium-sized campus and that it's not real spread out. There were several LACs I wanted him to consider, but he wouldn't even visit if the enrollment was under 3,000. He likes that the immediate area around campus, within walking distance, is city-ish (certainly, it's not Cambridge but there's apparently enough) and that there's a metro line stop at several points near campus which allows him to easily get to the airport and back on his own and to go places in west St. Louis --- movies, concert venues, homes of some friends --- without a car. </p>
<p>He likes that none of his classes had more than 20 students and some fewer. Notably, though, he is not a pre-med student taking weed-out type courses. What attracted him to WashU was a couple integrated majors (at first it was the PNP for Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology and then it was, finally, the IPH for Integrated Project in the Humanities) which have small classes and a lot of close contact with professors. He might do a minor or double major in math; he is still undecided. I think he's doing well academically; so-so the first semester, but Dean's List for the second semester. There is a lot of the oft-touted personal attention in the academic advising and he's had no trouble getting the classes and even the specific professors he wants (unlike friends he has at UCs.) </p>
<p>He likes the work-hard, play-hard thing, and he doesn't mind that there's not a big-fanfare sports atmosphere. He likes the on-campus concerts and the frat parties that are open to all even though it's only about 20 percent who join. Two of his best friends pledged; he did not. He likes the ultimate frisbee team (a lot) and has hinted that he may look into writing for the newspaper this fall. He's made friends and feels comfortable there. He is already eyeing off-campus housing near the A&S classrooms but is content to spend one more year in soph on-campus housing --- despite some sturm und drang over housing placements --- in a "modern" four-person suite. It's not like he really tells me much, but I can see from the photos that he did deign to share that he enjoyed the dorm BBQs, the Halloween costume party, the other dorm holiday parties that incuded both Christmas and Hanukah, the organized outdoor intra-dorm mud fight, the dorm birthday parties, the group trip to St. Louis Mardi Gras and whatever band it was that came to play at the WILD (Walk-In, Lay Down) outdoor spring concert. </p>
<p>To answer your question, he's likes WashU and does not seem to be gazing at greener pastures elsewhere.</p>