WashU vs Penn

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
1

<p>I've narrowed down my ED choices between these two schools. I wanted your guys' input on what which school is better (I'm posting this on both forums to get a full look) and which would be a better fit. I thought I'd state what I liked and disliked about each school:</p>

<p>WashU - When I visited it, I loved it (although the weather was great and it was the first school I saw).
Good:
How easy it can be to double, or even triple major.
The amount of advising that you have as an undergrad.
The focus on undergraduate and undergraduate research.
The academic freedom (no required courses, once you get into the school you can transfer to any college).
The student environment.
Food and Dorms!
Great pre-med.
Small classes for the most part.</p>

<p>Bad:
St. Louis weather :(
Slightly worse academics in the fields I am interested in (Comp Sci, Ancient History, Economics, Poli Sci)
Not need blind.</p>

<p>Penn - When i visited it I really liked it, but I didn't fall in love with the school.
Good:
Amazing campus.
Strong academics in the fields I am interested in.
Ivy League.
Double legacy.
Maybe having sectors of knowledge (7 in total) will make me a more rounded student.
Food options seemed good.
Great pre-med.
I love Philadelphia.
Very generous with financial aid.</p>

<p>Okay:
Student environment. Have heard conflict reports on the competitiveness between students. Can anyone shed some light on this?
Decent Dorms.
Slightly larger class sizes.</p>

<p>Bad:
Student environment may be too competitive.
Harder to double major.
Less academic freedom.
Hard to change between college if I change what I want to pursue.</p>

<p>What are your guys' thoughts, and if anything I said was wrong can you please correct me.</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p>Clay</p>

2

<p>Clay–My daughter also considered and visited both schools last year. She is pre-med and initially tried to parse the objective merits of both but ultimately the decision was made based on subjective factors. She felt that neither school held a material advantage over the other academically or reputationally. I will say that the flexibility of Wash U was a big factor for her but mostly, though, it came down to one word–comfort. The fit at Wash U was, for her, the difference. She felt totally at home there and felt that, although the kids and faculty she met were quite obviously high achievers academically, the overall vibe was “Hey, we’re all in this together.” For her, this was a clear point of differentiation between the two schools. Many people thrive in a more aggressive, edgier environment; she felt stress from it. In the end, she applied ED and was admitted to Wash U. She did not apply at all to Penn. </p>

<p>Although it is a major decision, don’t forget that how you feel in each environment may very well be the best determining factor in a race between two schools that have little to separate them objectively.</p>