<p>Are they comparable?
I keep seeing people who've applied to Wash U along with their list of Ivy's, and also plenty who've chosen to enroll into WashU over Ivy's after being accepted to both.</p>
<p>Also, does being accepted to Washington mean you have a pretty good chance at HYPS? Or are they in entirely different leagues?</p>
<p>One really has no influence over another. You may get rejected/waitlisted by WashU and get accepted by Harvard. Its just like you can get accepted at Harvard and be rejected by Yale. Its all “random” with college admissions, meaning that one school might love what you have while another doesn’t give you a second glance, or simply has “too many of you” in their applicant pool.</p>
<p>I can say that HYPSM are considered to be in a different (aka “better”) league than WashU. The latter is thought more of as a great school, but “its no Harvard.” Many disagree (mostly those who attend WashU) but it is nonetheless an excellent place to spend your 4 years as an undergrad. HYPSM are also harder to get into (they accept far less than WashU…MIT had ~10% this year, which is less than 1/2 of WashU’s) and there is definitely much more name-recognition with the Ivies/Stanford etc.</p>
<p>Now, just to clarify, when you start talking about leagues, you’re really getting into prestige. Its hard for a school like WashU to get into the HYPSM club when those schools have been exceptionally strong for more than 100 years. WashU has really just entered the competitive arena within the past few decades or so, and if it really is as good as say, Princeton, it will take time for people to adjust. Many people criticize WashU for “aggressive” ranking tactics to boost its reputation, but it will definitely not become part of any top tier acronyms unless it is actually up to that level, and as I said, even if it is, it will take time to be recognized.</p>
<p>In the end, choose where you feel you’ll fit in. If you dont jive with HYPSMCCPDB, but something clicks with WashU, you’re better off not just enrolling in the “better” schools and going with what you love. Best of luck.</p>
<p>I think in a couple decades, WashU can become the new Stanford, though it will never have quite the same “glow” as HYPSM + 5 other Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>What do you mean by comparable? You’ll have to be more specific.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the only area in which I feel WUSTL is lacking is name recognition. Other than the prestige factor, I don’t see much of any difference between the universities.</p>
<p>However, since name recognition is often one of the most important things for a person when selecting which college to attend, I suppose it’s a significant factor.</p>