wustl vs other colleges

Colleges and Universities A-Z Washington University in St. Louis
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<p>I've been accepted by wustl, gtown, NYU, UMich, UCLA, vandy, and tufts (I applied a lot) and I really don't know where to go.</p>

<p>Now, I am leaning toward wustl, gtown, vandy and I really can use some good advices.</p>

<p>I am economics major and I will attend CAS.
Since I am an international student, I really don't know a lot about the 'actual qualities' of the schools and I will not be able to visit.</p>

<p>From what I've searched,
gtown seems to be more prestigious, and it has great location (D.C of course),
but it seems academically weak compared to wustl, and student body is not diverse enough.</p>

<p>wustl may be less renowned, but academically stronger and obviously, the quality of life is great. But frankly, I'm a bit worried about all the rumors about manipulating ranking system.(Not that the strategy is so problematic, but I just don't like it, it seems so sly. and about the yield rate rumor, why people don't choose wustl over other schools?)
And how's wustl's social science department? I can see wash u has excellent natural science programs but not so sure about social sciences.
(gtown seems to be just the opposite)</p>

<p>vandy seems great too, but I'm just not a big fan of greek life, so I'm a bit concerned.</p>

<p>The thing is I'm a city girl who has never left the big city before, so D.C seems to be the perfect place for me.
But I do take academic side very seriously.
Yes, social life is needed, but I don't want to party 24/7.
I am planning to take my Ph.D degrees in ivy league school, and I want academic challenges.</p>

<p>So any advice?
I am really confused :(</p>

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<p>hey keb9008, you have some excellent choices so congratulations! WUSTL is a great place for economics and they have some prominent faculty as they have really made great efforts to improve the department through a lot of big name faculty. Georgetown, well its a very good school but I don’t know how great it really is outside of SFS. Vandy, don’t know too much about economics there but from what I hear it’s not one of its strengths and if you’re looking for a truly academic atmosphere, I would avoid it. If you don’t like greek life, it may be hard to fit in from what I have heard.</p>

<p>About the rumors you hear all over CC, don’t buy them. There is plenty of evidence suggesting that WashU does nothing that other college don’t do when it comes to the admissions process. I will be transferring to WUSTL in Fall and at first, I was concerned about all the negative attitudes towards the school but after doing some of my own research, I found that they are essentially unfounded.</p>

<p>And in terms of PhD preparation, I am wanting to do the exact same thing. WUSTL seems to prepare you very well for a PhD program. They in fact have a math major track for people planning to do graduate work in economics or Investment banking. Definitely look into it. The advising seems excellent and it seems fairly easy to take a few graduate econ courses if you’re up for it.</p>

<p>Yeah, I’m a little biased but WUSTL seems like the perfect place for you! Ask if you have any questions. Though I don’t yet have any experience with the econ department, I have read up a lot about what the school has to offer for those going after the econ PhD.</p>

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<p>THEAjay89 Thanks for the input.
Yeah, maybe I should ignore the rumors, but do you happen to know the wustl’s prestige in the eastcoast side? I just got the feeling that wash u is only famous in the midwest area.</p>

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<p>^^ I’m east coast born, raised, and living for more years than Buddha.</p>

<p>WashU has an excellent reputation here.</p>

<p>Congratulations on all your acceptances. Nice going. :)</p>

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<p>WashU may not be known everywhere on the east coast, but the people who matter (the ones that will be hiring you, accepting you to grad school) know WUSTL well and acknowledge that it is an excellent school.</p>

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<p>Amplifying what kasiiaaa said, assuming you stay with your plan and go Ivy League for grad school, Wash U will not hurt you in the least, quite the opposite. Wash U grads are known for coming out well prepared. It is true that St. Louis won’t seem as “cosmopolitan” as DC, for sure, but neither will Nashville.</p>

<p>Unless you are just really into that particular “scene” that DC will have more than St. Louis (I would assume DC would have more clubbing, places that show obscure foreign films, and of course there are all the museums and monuments), you will be pretty busy with school most of the time. It would be silly to pretend DC doesn’t have all that and better restaurant choices (better in the sense of more that are high quality. St. Louis has some excellent restaurants of course, and the food on campus at Wash U is definitely better than Gtown, as are the dorms), so I guess you really have to decide how much you think you will really be able to take advantage of being in DC.</p>

<p>I think there is no doubt that your peers at Wash U will challenge you more. Wash U is extremely selective, nearly Ivy league in average stats. Good luck whichever you decide!</p>

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<p>10chars…</p>

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<p>Johnson, I think the full ride was the other thread, not this one :slight_smile: Anyway, you should still choose WashU. Disregarding the name factor (which really isnt a factor because WashU is an extremely high Ivy-feeder school) there are many, many people who fail come up with any negatives of WashU, discounting minor trivialities which are followed by a chuckle and a “but other than that, there’s really nothing to complain about. I love it here.”</p>

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<p>Yeah I realized that right before you posted.</p>

<p>Bit of a fail.</p>

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<p>lol now mine doesn’t make sense… whatever haha</p>