Would you choose Wash U over Yale?

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

<p>I'm faced with this dilemma. My top three choices are Yale, Wash U, and JHU. At the latter, I was accepted into the BME program and have been offered a significant merit scholarship. (I applied for a few scholarships at Wash U but did not receive any offers.) I'm trying to whittle down to two colleges, because I can only miss so many days from school to visit colleges. JHU will be one of the final two for obvious reasons, so I'm really trying to narrow down between Wash U and Yale (from which, like Wash U, I have no financial aid). Yale has a few features that (as far as I know), Wash U can't claim to - e.g. residential college system (I know Wash U also has "residential colleges," but the systems seem to be quite different) and "shopping" period. Does Wash U have draws that Yale can't claim to?</p>

<p>(if it makes any difference, I'm likely to major in some field of biology, and will probably be pre-med)</p>

2

<p>Why don’t you just go to JHU??? It sounds like you have an AWESOME deal there, and a pretty raw one at all the other places. JHU is also tops in BME.</p>

3

<p>Well, the reasons why JHU has not been my 100% automatic decision are: a) I will be able to afford Yale/Wash U even without scholarship $ (though matriculating at JHU would mean more savings leftover for grad school), and b) I am not necessarily set on the BME field (and would like to have room to explore outside it) - BME would obviously be my major if I attend JHU, but I may well choose a different path if I attend Yale or Wash U.</p>

4

<p>BOth WashU and JHU are excellent in BME.
All other things being equal, I would choose WashU over JHU, because I think it offers a more enjoyable overall college experience, but it is a close call (and a very subjective one).
I would choose Yale over all comers. The “Yale” on your resume will open doors; it’s the ultimate eye-catcher. After all, it’s Yale. No school in America can claim to be its superior.</p>

5

<p>No offense to either of the two latter colleges, but if you have no financial burdens Yale should be an easy choice.</p>

6

<p>Yale. I have 2 dear friends who went there ages ago and two other friends kids going there now - have seen them flourish and happy. Just an awesome place to be as a student.</p>

7

<p>I think we have a transfer from Yale this semester.</p>

8

<p>I just wanted to respond to the original question about what draws Wash U has that Yale won’t have. They are very very similar schools on paper (size, academic/social balance, overall amount of opportunities).</p>

<p>Wash U does have a “shopping period.” It’s the first couple weeks of every semester. I’d imagine it works in much of the same way, if not exactly the same way, as Yale’s.</p>

<p>Wash U has more “city” opportunities. Yale will be about 2.5 hours each from Boston or NYC, so you really need to make a day trip out of it to explore a real city environment. New Haven is very college towny. Wash U has Forest Park right across from the front of campus, tons of free activities and museums, the Loop takes about 12 minutes to walk to, and you get free Metro passes to ride the Metro to downtown and all the cool neighborhoods in between.</p>

<p>Wash U has lots of freedom with the residential college system. You’re not assigned into a res college for your existence, and you don’t eat in the same dorm with the same people day-in/day-out. Maybe it’s me, but that sounds nice and all family-oriented, but I think it would get really boring and constricting after awhile. Wash U has tons of dining locations, with one main one for all people on the South 40. With that said, the freshman floors and the dorms are very tight, but you never feel like “I’m stuck with these people!”. I think this is a BIG personal preference and can see why some would like the Yale way better, but I would personally feel suffocated. Furthermore, at Wash U, you have freedom to swipe into any dorm on campus, and live in any res-college you want after freshman year (it is somewhat common to stick with on [especially freshman -> sophomore year], but the freedom to choose where you live is invaluable, to me). Again, with housing, Wash U has amazing University-owned apartments right near campus. Or, since STL is a big enough city, you can find your own apartment with friends and they’re still going to be close enough to walk/bike to campus. If you get sick of the dorms (which would happen only if you crave independence, because the Wash U dorms really are quite palatial), it says something to be able to find plentiful and equally nice apartments nearby. </p>

<p>Wash U allows for a great deal in exploring many academic fields – read: double major, minors, etc. The education is pretty individualized when compared to many schools (like Columbia, Harvard, Yale). There are some areas you need to take classes across, but the don’t take up a huge amount of time. I know VERY few people with only one major. Most people have two majors, or at least one or two minors. </p>

<p>Wash U is currently tied with Yale for bio program ranking, and is a couple spots higher in med school rankings. I don’t think you’ll find a tangible difference in quality between them, at this high level. I really don’t imagine you would notice differences in academic opportunities (amount of classes, research, amazing professors, etc) between the two.</p>

9

<p>^^If it matters, to get from New Haven to Grand Central Station in Manhattan would be about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours (depending on whether you get an express train).
Definitely shorter than New Haven to Boston.</p>

10

<p>Yale hands down</p>

11

<p>Yale. As shallow as it might be, Yale has the Ivy League branding. the BIG THREE branding to boot. When people hear Yale (or at least when I do…), their jaws drop and they start freaking out, going awleighaslighawghag omgosh wowzas.
However, the name doesn’t make up for the differences in undergraduate experience in any one of those colleges. If I were in your situation, I would definitely go with JHU. To get merit at such a great school is fantastic, as well as the fact that they have the BEST BME program in the nation. If you don’t feel secure in your position, you could always transfer out of the program and pursue other interests. I can understand what you’re going through because I’m going into a direct admission pharmacy program- a 6 year dedication to a very specific field. Even now, I’m not sure if pharmacy is the best fit for me, but I figured that if they’re giving an opportunity that I can’t transfer into, I might as well give it a shot. If I didn’t like it, I could always transfer out of the program and to a different school if I truly wanted to. I would have the same attitude going into a program such as BME and JHU. </p>

<p>I don’t know if this helped much, but good luck with your decision! :slight_smile: You have amazing choices to pick from!</p>

12

<p>I did meet one Wash U parent who had a child at Yale and a child at Wash U. She said Wash U child was having a better experience. Also child at Wash U was much happier with dorms. Yale dorms not so good she said. Just a thought in case you want to give Wash U a closer look.</p>

13

<p>Yale dorms not so good… I’m inclined to say that is false.</p>

14

<p>I don’t really know much about Yale, but I’m a junior in St. Louis and I personally would pick Yale easily, though this is because I want to get out of Missouri and experience stuff. The WashU location is absolutely perfect. There’s sooo much do right around it. You may get a better college experience at WashU but I don’t really know thats just my opinion.</p>

15

<p>JHU for BME. You can’t beat Hopkins for BME and then if you do well, I’m quite certain you’d be able to get into Yale for graduate school.</p>

16

<p>Congradulations, you can’t go wrong, but if you can afford it Yale!</p>

17

<p>–Current student–
My top two choices were WashU and Yale. Either way, I dont think you can go wrong, but I haven’t regretted my decision once. I love it here. Its a top-notch school in a primarily non-competitive environment. Other advantages have been described above, but above the beautiful campus and great food and dorms, the people for me just put it over the top.</p>

18

<p>honestly, in your situation I may have been pulled in by the “yale” name. I think it’s very respectable that you haven’t been. That being said, to answer your question, Wash U has some amazing attributes. </p>

<ul>
<li><p>60% of all students double major!! This is truly unique among the top schools, and to me one of the best pieces of Wash U. The academic flexibility and possibility are so huge. I was also told that the school really works with you to do whatever you want. </p></li>
<li><p>Yale is in a majorly sucky area. St louis isn’t exactly a rager, but the people in the area are so much friendlier (coming from someone who grew up in NJ and MA), and you get free public transportation- big plus!</p></li>
<li><p>The average Wash U kid is SO much happier than the students of any other top college I’ve visited. I haven’t been to Yale, but I live next to Harvard and spend a lot of time there… the kids are nowhere near as friendly, happy, or passionate. </p></li>
<li><p>The main focus of Wash U is pre-med and it has a better med school than Yale, so in your case, the Wash U name may actually carry more weight. If you apply to med school, Wash U will probably be more impressive than Yale. Med schools and med-related employers will know the rankings, not to be distracted by the name like other people will be.</p></li>
</ul>

19

<p>OH and I need to second what others mentioned: Wash U dorms are great and THE FOOD IS AMAZING. </p>

<p>think about how much happier great food would make you :)</p>

20

<p>Yale’s BME major is not ABET accredited and they don’t have any current plans to pursue that. If you need or want an ABET accredited degree (e.g. to meet the requirements of a scholarship), they recommend you double major in their ABET accredited EE program as well as the BME.</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins has a reputation for being cutthroat, although I have no direct knowledge to confirm or debunk that reputation.</p>

<p>WashU’s modern dorms are certainly very nice, but there are still the older traditional dorms around that are not as nice. They are slowly being replaced, but freshman and sophomores can still end up in them. You do get a price break on housing if you live in a traditional dorm.</p>

<p>I vaguely remember that at Yale the dorms on the outer edges of the campus had iron bars on the windows of the lower floors.</p>