I have only gotten 3/12 of my decisions, but it might come down to WUSTL and UW.
I don’t know how to organize this, so I’ll just list MY pros/cons for each, and if you could please add in here and there?
UW
Pros:
- 200 miles from home
- I like Seattle and its culture
- One of the best public schools
- I’ll have lots of friends/people I know there
- Strong sports (sorta? lol at least its div 1)
- Beautiful campus
- Seattle is a big city, but not too big
- I’ll be able to travel home easily if anything comes up
Cons:
- 40,000+ students
- Some crowded classes
- Area immediately around campus not perfect
- Dorms not the best
WUSTL (I honestly have done little research on it until now)
Pros:
- Received $60,000 scholarship + pell grant
- Highly regarded school
- Apparently has the best dorms
- Small class sizes
- Beautiful campus (from pictures)
- One of the best medical schools in the nation (medical is my eventual goal)
- It’s private
- Prestige?
Cons:
- 2,000 miles away!
- St. Louis seems really small, I was intending to go to a bigger city
- Not familiar with anyone or anything
- Not sure if my quiet personality would fit
What do you think? I had my mind set on UW (even though I applied to a bunch of schools), and I am happy with it. But then I actually got into WashU. Thought there was no way I could afford it, then I got the big scholarship. I am still not sure. I’ve done so much research on UW, visited, talked to my friends/family about it. Then the acceptance from WUSTL got me all confused…
Net price at each? Debt, if any, at each?
@ucbalumnus Pretty much full ride to WashU with some work-study, expect about the same from UW. So no debt most likely
WUSTL is a fabulous school. I’ve never thought of St. Louis as small. You will want to consider the expense of getting to/from campus. My children went 2000+ miles away for school and they couldn’t come home for Thanksgiving, since it was too expensive for us.
Just looked it up - according to Wikipedia, the Seattle metropolitan area is 15th largest in the US, while St. Louis is 19th. So St. Louis is smaller, but still a pretty major metropolitan area.
Yeah, on paper, but still Seattle is a much bigger city by itself, and the area around it is much nicer (and expensive). While St. Louis is ranked as the second most dangerous city by Forbes once…
With the scholarship? WUSTL.
With that scholarship? WUSTL.
The university organizes SO MANY things for students that you’ll be unable to do even half of them on any given day. WUSTL is NOT dangerous. The resources are unmatched - your scholarship will take you abroad, you’ll meet young people among the brightest, most driven in the nation. You’ll get support when you need it and opportunities that no public university, no matter how amazing, can match - you’ll get internships, etc.
As for medical school, first you need to focus on your first year. The fact there’s a med school on campus at WUSTL or UW shouldn’t matter. However, if you show initiative and don’t overload your first semester, you could find some research work in a lab on campus. (Not overloading first semester is KEY. Many premeds just “retake” whatever they already took before.)
Did you get a “bridge” program at either university - those are really helpful to hit the ground running.
Since you got a full ride scholarship, WUSTL may be even cheaper than UWashington, and in any case they should invite you for their admitted student days (typically this would be free for you, ie., they pay for your plane ticket, food, etc.) If you’ve not received an invitation yet, inquire. You should absolutely go and visit. You’ll see for yourself that your fears are unfounded.
If cost is equal, WUSTL and don’t look back.
The area near the school is very nice with a large park and museums and a great zoo. Parts of St Louis are sketchy but the area bordering the campus is fairly upscale.
My understanding from the WUSTL acceptances thread is that the university offers you a ticket to come and visit. Go check it out. It will give you an idea of how it is to travel there as well as a chance to experience the campus and surrounding area.
I don’t know if any of your negatives for WUSTL are really that negative:
- Being away from your family isn't all that bad. With the marvels of modern technology, you can call and Skype them all you want, including when something comes up, as you mention. Also, not having the option to run home to the fam can actually force you to get better at dealing with things yourself. Plus, you'll see them pretty much every break, unless you decide to stay at college or go somewhere else.
- As previous posters have said, St. Louis isn't all that small, and can be a kind of nice place to be. In a city that size, you should be able to find things to do off of campus. Assuming that you're from the Pacific Northwest since you live around 200 miles from Seattle and speaking as a Seattlite who went elsewhere (also to the Midwest) for college, I find it refreshing and interesting to be in another region of the USA both culturally and natural-environmentally.
- Many if not most students and many colleges, especially those with nationwide draw like WUSTL, will come in knowing nobody, and I think the vast majority of them do just fine and find ways to fit in socially.
- I don't know if you'd fit in personality-wise since I don't know your personality just as I don't know the people at WUSTL (except one person from my high school, but I barely knew her then and haven't seen her since). However, at high-caliber schools like WUSTL, you're likely to find many types/personalities of people and chances are you'll be able to befriend some of them.
As for your UW Seattle cons list, I disagree with number three:
- The Ave gets a bad rep, but I don't think its that bad all. Yes, there are some homeless people, but not very many and they're not out to get you or anything. Plus, on the Ave, there are lots of student-friendly (good food for cheap) restaurants and stores, and there's even an improv theater nearby (and its gooood). Plus, you're right near the water, the campus border on the Burke Gilman trail which can get you anywhere from Ballard to all over the Eastside and Northeast Seattle to Seward Park down south if you change trails. Plus, the campus is beautifully wooded (as you brought up), and with the new Link light rail stop, you can get downtown super quick. There's more too, but I think I've listed enough. If you want any other Seattle tips, just PM me.
@MYOS1634 @mamaedefamilia I am going in April to visit.
@thatrunnerkid yeah you are right. It hit me that I couldn’t really think of a con except that it’s far away. It’s not that I am worried I won’t be able to deal with things (I usually like dealing with things on my own), it’s that I may have to interfere with my family if you know what I mean…
@FireBallsDJ I can’t say I know exactly what you mean, but I think I get the general idea, and I get where you’re coming from. Playing Devil’s Advocate though, they might get better at managing when you’re gone? I don’t know. Family dynamics do change when a child leaves, as mine did.
- UDub has a top 10 medical school too, and is #1 in primary care.
- St. Louis is no where as much fun as Seattle.
Is your scholarship renewable for 4 years?
Not sure what your intended major may be (pre-meds can be any major), but Washington has a large number of majors which are restricted or which require competitive admission to enter (although maintaining a pre-med-worthy GPA will make it easier to gain admission to most majors).
http://www.washington.edu/uaa/advising/academic-planning/majors-and-minors/list-of-undergraduate-majors/
No idea if any major at WUStL has any such restriction.
Get the University of Washington T-shirt, but go to WUSTL.
You’ll get some interesting looks!
You have two strong choices, but I always think that college should be a time to stretch and grow. Most of your concerns about WUSTL seem to be about familiarity and distance, and I guess I would view those as potentially positive. You will get to experience a different area of the country, meet people from all over the world and attend one of the best universities in the country at WUSTL. I also think that the people I’ve known at WUSTL are kind and welcoming, and I think that even someone who was quite shy would find a compatible group of people to hang with.
And I wouldn’t worry about St. Louis - as others have stated, the area around the school is gorgeous, there are lots of interesting parts of St. Louis, and there is so much going on on campus that you’re unlikely to feel the need to go to events in the city constantly.
“Yeah, on paper, but still Seattle is a much bigger city by itself, and the area around it is much nicer (and expensive). While St. Louis is ranked as the second most dangerous city by Forbes once…”
Irrelevant to a WashU student. The area surrounding it includes an upscale “downtown” in Clayton and beautiful old houses that you should be lucky enough to live in one day. The rough areas aren’t near campus at all.
@ClassicRockerDad lol I am debating whether to wear my UW jacket to Washu when I visit. It does say Washington.
Not sure where you live, but it is fairly cheap to fly in and out of St Louis on Southwest and an easy transfer from the airport. Overall costs are lower in St. Louis and have have closer access to the rest of the country, and Chicago is not too far away for a weekend. I expect you will have a better experience at WUSTL. The only downside for both schools is you will be in earthquake prone areas.
@TooOld4School The plane tickets Washu got me for the visit was around $400 for the whole trip, not sure how much cheaper it would be if they were bought sooner. Yeah, I do want to visit Chicago.