<p>WashU students, families, and faculty, tell me what makes your school unique compared to Northwestern, JHU, Cornell, and the like. Please avoid any glittering generalities; I know that WUSTL has great academics, a convenient location in a big city, and lots of research. I would prefer to know about the specifics (good and bad), such as social life (how centered is it around sports), the differences in strength between different departments in the undergraduate colleges, etc. </p>
<p>Umm…Not trying to be rude, but when you want information you should be A LOT more polite in asking. They are doing you a favor by answering your question, they don’t even know who you are, so they aren’t trying to convince you. Step off your high horse for a second and ask nicely.</p>
<p>I am a Fr at WashU. I choose WashU over JHU and Cornell (where both in my final list of schools that I visited). </p>
<p>Not trying to slam the other two schools. The differences to me (could be just the opposite for someone else):
JHU - I took a class and stayed there for 3 weeks one summer; didn’t like the area right around the campus (safety); even Inner Harbor in the middle of the week in April had trouble; dorm rooms were small and old; felt some of the cut throat rep during visit</p>
<p>Cornell - out in the middle of nowhere (it took forever to get to); COLD weather; larger school; unsure about overall student level because it is a NY state school.</p>
<p>WashU - felt comfortable with really students when I visited; beautiful campus; had the ideal major for me; great dorms (new and big); great food (the best). </p>
<p>You need to visit a final list of schools to get your personal opinion. It could be much different and is the only one that matters. As an example, I don’t care about the athletics and that could be important to you.</p>
<p>CollegeBound - both you and onecot are correct, but I’d imagine onecot may have been looking at one of the state-side programs.</p>
<p>Of the seven undergrad schools at Cornell, 3 are funded by the state of NY and have different standards of admission: Ag. & Life sciences, Human Ecology, and ILR. I think the Vet School may also fall under that. These schools are typically referred to as Cornell “state-side” by NY residents.</p>
<p>I knew the difference between the two types of colleges (didn’t think I needed to explain that). The colleges mix and it gave me a feeling that the student population wasn’t at the level of WashU or Hopkins.</p>
<p>I’m a parent of a freshman at Wash U. My son loves Wash U for all the reasons stated above. It’s an amazing school full of brainy, but down-to-earth kids. However, as a New Yorker, I feel compelled to correct the record about Cornell, which is a land grant school. The state-subsidized schools give priority admissions to New York residents and these days, it’s really hard for anyone to get into those schools because far more top New York students are seeking out in-state options to save money. The Cornell state-subsidized schools are rejecting and waitlisting lots of New Yorkers who are getting into other top-tier schools. Mixing with students in those three schools, means mixing with a brainy bunch of kids. I know kids who got into U of Chicago and Brown but were rejected or waitlisted from ILR. That said, Cornell is in the middle of nowhere, and that alone was a deal-breaker for my kid, so he didn’t bother to apply. But had he applied to any of Cornell’s schools, state-subsidized or fully private, an acceptance letter would have been far from a sure bet.</p>
<p>Good point on NY applicants. I enjoyed the students that I met at Cornell. Cornell had accepted two students from my high school the two years ahead of me. Both were minority students that were not top students in our high school (ranked 15th and 20th). The most recent year the #3 student (not a minority) was rejected and #20 was accepted. I knew both students and they weren’t close including ECs and test scores. It turned me off a little.</p>
<p>My daughter just graduated from Wash U and I can’t say enough about the school. She had multiple opportunities along the way for internships, small classes, active social life, excellent dorms that “graduate” to apartment living, friendly kind and smart classmates. I also teach gifted students and many of my students have attended this school. All who got in were the nice, hard working, smart kids that I enjoyed teaching. My daughter was also accepted into Cornell, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Emory, but once she visited Wash U, there was no turning back. Be sure to visit and stay overnight if you can. We loved Cornell when we visited, and it seemed to be similar to Wash U, but larger and more remote. I have also had many students attend Northwestern who have liked it, but we did not get the sense of community from our particular visit there. The weather is more moderate in St. Louis as well.</p>