<p>I definitely love this school.If I got into all the ivies I think I would still choose it.
But why, people every where say wustl is overrated. in that "U-Mich' forum, when somebody asked whehter he should go to umich or wustl,most of the people suggested u-mich, saying that wustl is the most overrated school in the country.(u can find this thread on the top of that forum)
not just from that thread, i have heard a lot of criticism on the school from different places. it seems to me that, they just HATE wustl.
but strangely, those who say wustl is overrated never give a reason.
so...what do you guys think?
why is wustl thought to be overrated?
and..which school do you think most share the same level with wustl? brown? dartmouth?</p>
<p>xuhailun, most of the WashU bashers are people who felt they should have been accepted but were waitlisted. Many of these people were accepted to Ivy League or equivalent schools and are insulted that WashU didn't accept them even though they had no intention of attending WashU. They see other candidates who they believe have weaker stats than them getting into WashU and it really ticks them off! Some schools like U of Michigan accept students using a formula, so Ivy students use schools like Michigan as their "safety" school, usually get accepted and then turn Michigan down. This is what these students want WashU to do and it kills them that they WashU isn't interested in being their "safetly" school! </p>
<p>As for the overrated comments, as I explained in a previous thread, people love to criticize WashU for waitlisting rather than rejecting large numbers of students and for their heavy marketing to attract students and applications. They believe that the school is manipulating their yields and admissions numbers. However the fact is that even if you believe that to be true, it can only impact 1.5% of the USNWR rating ( only 10% of the student selectivity rating is based on admissions percentages, and student selectivity in total is only 15% of the total USNWR rating) 90% of USNWR's student selectivity rating is based on student body SAT/ACT and high school top 10% ranking. When it comes to student bodies, no one will dispute that WashU has attracted an incredibly impressive group of students which rivals and even exceeds some of the Ivy's. So, those who bash WashU as overrated simply don't know the facts or don't understand how the USNWR ratings are actually developed.</p>
<p>xuhailun, congratulations on your acceptance. You will love the school and have a wonderful undergraduate experience!</p>
<p>nervous1 - You make some very good points. WashU bashing seems to be an annual event that usually takes place shortly after admission decision come out. The WL always seems to be a major problem for people. Although it makes sense for WashU, since it allows them to fine tune their freshman class. They also seem to do a decent job of identifying the best prospects for attending. It should really not be a problem, since nobody is forced to accept a position on the WL. Like mtldad stated on another thread - students at WashU don't just like WashU - there is almost a cult of "I love WashU". But then again, I am sure that most students end up quite happy at their final choice of school.</p>
<p>Well.....I'm just sad (and insulted) to see so many students turn down Wustl for Ivies.Seems that Wustl just cant attract top students (tell me I'm wrong!)</p>
<p>Xuhailun, WashU does attract top students. There are plenty of threads which compare average SATs/ACTs across schools and WashU's scores rival all the top schools and are higher than at least one of the Ivies (Cornell).</p>
<p>There are a number of amazing schools which attract top students that are not Ivies--Stanford, MIT, Univ. of Chicago, Northwestern, WashU, Johns Hopkins...etc. Don't get caught up in the Ivy designation. They are only 8 Northeastern schools that compete in a sports league which was put together many years ago.</p>
<p>People love to compare, but they usually forget important issues that put one college above another: 1) location! Not everybody likes the Midwest; 2) financial aid. Harvard attract those 200k and less incomes; Wash U isn't need blind. Wash U is one of the best schools in the country, even with those cons.</p>
<p>I agree with the theme of this thread, I believe that WashU is actually one of the best Universities in the nation. I think that the problem is that WashU is not well known on the East or West Coast so it takes flack for being overrated, just as Duke is known for basketball and often considered overrated. Schools such as these are simply left out of many of the elite lists, so when people do research and find how strong they truly are they simply decide their research must be wrong.</p>
<p>...the problem that I see with WashU is that you guys are so concerned with how other schools perceive you. Rather than be content with your own identity as a good school, you waste so much time comparing your worth using the yardsticks of other schools. I see the dumbest facebook groups that my WashU friends are in which include, "no you f***ing ignoramous, WashU is in St. Louis!" or "Non-ugly people at WashU" and I just can't help but think about how many insecure people there must be floating around the campus. </p>
<p>Why would you equate your schools rank solely on sense of "elitism" and/or give up on it because not everybody has heard about it? You all need to realize that colleges are just like businesses, they market at you but what matters is finding a college where you fit the profile, it doesn't matter if it's got programs ranked right below Duke and just above UChicago. I have nothing against WashU itself, but against how much of an inferiority complex its students have.</p>
<p>Well, keep in mind that people that are 18-22 years old attending WashU are very proud of their school and their love for it....so, they do get frustrated when, for several years now, WashU gets significant recognition by USNWR and , as well, has a tremendously loyal and successful student body.....and, then, this silliness over where WashU arises. The fact is that the school is widely recognized for having a great and successful student body, has an absolutely beautiful campus and an academic environment that does everything it can to help its undergrads achieve success.....with a huge endowment that it will now use to, amongst other things, help high-achieving students (a la Harvard) that can't afford the tuition.</p>
<p>I've said this in other posts....you have to look at schools within "tiers" and go where you'll be happiest. A happy student will be a successful student.</p>
<p>Our S is a freshman at WashU.....with all respect to Michigan (and everyone that I know that has ever gone there just loved it), our S was accepted there in their honors program.....but, he chose WashU over it and others and has never looked back. He is definitely part of the "I love WashU" cult (as are his parents!).</p>
<p>Don't get caught up in comparisons.
WashU is, simply put, one of the very best universities in the U.S. Its academics are first rate, its campus is beautiful, and its students are very happy (most of them seem to absolutely love it). A lot of people suffer from a certain higher ed myopia - an east coast snobbery where schools are concerned - but that has no basis in reality. Chicago, WashU, Northwestern and Stanford are among the absolutely top universities not in the east which stand up pretty well against just about any east coast university.</p>
<p>Michigan is also a first rate school, but it offers a very different experience. It is a large, Div I, public university. Its academics are probably about equivalent to WashU's, but its atmosphere is very different.</p>
<p>People should go where they feel they belong, not where they think OTHER people think is better.</p>