Washington University in St Louis Top Questions

When I came here, I knew that WashU was really good in fields like anthropology, biology, philosophy, psychology, business, political science, chemistry, English, etc., but I was not too sure about physics. Thankfully, I have been very satisfied with my experience in the physics department. The physics course I'm in right now is easily the best educational experience I've had of any type; the professor is funny and engaging, he explains things very clearly, and he emphasizes understanding. Additionally, he's always accessible after class and has very lenient office hours. It's been a great experience. I've done both physics and economics here, and I can say that both programs are excellent. I've had great professors in both departments and the courses have been very challenging. I have four academic advisors who give good advice about what classes to take. Research opportunities abound here; if you are interested, you have a very good chance of being able to do cutting edge research with professors here. Additionally, the students here are typically very cooperative; I haven't sensed any hint of competition among students within my departments. I understand that pre-med students may compete just to survive the curriculum, though. Nevertheless, students here are always willing to help others with homework assignments and study for exams.

One of the big plusses of this school is the scholarship policies. First of all, there is merit based aid available which was a big factor for me. If you apply to the university, make sure to apply for the scholarships! There are a lot of scholarships available, and so apply and do a really good job on the application. For me, it certainly paid off; I've got a full scholarship here with a stipend each year. Then, the policy for outside scholarships is great too... if you're a National Merit finalist, the school gives you money depending on what type of National Merit scholarship you get; I got a $2500 one-time scholarship from NMSQT, but Wash. U is continuing that for my sophomore, junior and senior years. Additional outside sholarships are also yours to keep; financial aid doesn't just sink your scholarship money towards your need based aid at all! That's huge. In fact, this semester the university wrote a check to me because I had more money scholarship money coming in than the semester 's tuition, room and board were costing. Of course, I have been very lucky and I worked very hard. I don't want to give the impression that everyone here has full scholarships or anything. All I mean to say is that need and merit based aid is very very reasonable at Washington University relative to other universities and that you should apply for scholarships! The people here are very nice; most the teachers do care very much about their classes and teaching well. In the big classes like chemistry, it's not very personal, but you can always go to help sessions, office hours, or talk to the professor after class. I like my smaller classes a lot more though, because you really get to know your professor and the other students. For example, my writing professor has individual conferences with us every couple of weeks. That may not sound that important, but I always leave more encouraged and ready to go write my intimidating essay.

I've done both physics and economics here, and I can say that both programs here are excellent. I've had great professors in both departments and the courses have been very challenging. I have four academic advisors who give good advice about what classes to take. Research opportunities abound here; if you are interested, you have a very good chance of being able to do cutting edge research with professors here. Additionally, the students here are typically very cooperative; I haven't sensed any hint of competition among students within my departments. I understand that pre-med students may compete just to survive the curriculum, though. Nevertheless, students here are always willing to help others with homework assignments and study for exams.

As a business student, 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of my classes were required to be outside of the business school, 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} inside, and 20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} were up to me to choose. This made it easy to fulfill my requirements. For Science I took DinoBio (Biology of Dinosaurs) - not a blow off class, but not physics. My double major had no overlapping Accounting/Finance courses, but with the core requirements I only took 4 extra Finance and 5 extra Accounting classes, plus one Accounting for fun. I've already finished my business requirements, so now I have 11 credits from outside the b-school to take. I only brought 6 AP course credits with me (Calculus 1 and US History). Unless you get 5's, don't expect much. You need 120 credits to graduate, so either get those AP credits in high school, come to classes in the summers, or take 15 credits each semester. I love my professors and fellow students. We are competitive, but the curve isn't killer like some people at other colleges might say. Most classes set the average to B/B+, while the hard classes set it to B+/A-. This semester I took the hardest classes ever and got A- in all of them. Pet peeve, though - the B-school is called "Pre-school" by the non-B-schoolers. We just think they are jealous. We don't have labs, and we have no long, painful classes. It takes a certain person to think business, and if you do it all makes sense. Finally, and more broadly, it also helps to befriend a professor or two, especially if they sponsor a student group, because they bend the rules for students they like. No one plays favorites, but they will understand if you need an extra day on an assignment if they know you work hard and care about the class.

Students here are really smart, and its not just in the classroom. People here talk about classes, academics, and current events all the time. At parties, its funny to hear people taking about their most recent chemistry test or some funny lecture they had. Its nice to have smart friends, whenever I'm hesitant or struggling with a subject, I can find any one of my friends who can help tutor me or help me completely understand the subject.

Human Evolution is the best class at WashU, but Prof. Richard Smith taught it for the last time this year. Anthropology is a great department and it's a pretty easy major. Pre-med classes are the most competitive.

The size of classes at WashU varies greatly, so that can effect your personal relationship with your professors. ALL professors hold office hours where a more personal environment is accessible if so desired. Most of the hardcore science classes (chem, bio) are very competitive (grades are on a curve based on how the entire 300 or so person class does) but most other classes are not very competitive. I study mostly the social sciences, where classes are usually discussion-based and a safe environment to share personal ideas.

Most intro classes are a pain. They are generally poorly taught because of the environment, and rarely will the teacher know your name. Granted, that is the case at just about every university. The smaller classes are much better taught, and teachers almost always know your name. The students here are incredibly competitive, but with themselves and not others, setting us apart from some other top schools.

Do proffessors know your name?: I have small classes, so yes. Favorite class: Drawing. My teacher is AMAZING! Least favorite: It would go to Writing I, except that I LOVED my professor. How often do students study?: ALOT. Are students competitive?: In certain schools. Not in the art school. Most unique class I've taken?: I haven't. My major/department: The art school rocks. Lovely teachers, non competitive/fun loving students. It's fabulous. But REALLY time consuming! Spend time with professors outside of class?: not really. no. office hours sometimes. Wash U's academic requirements: I'm fine with them. But it's crap that the engineering students can test out of writing 1 and art students can't. Wash U geared toward getting a job or learning? I'm only a freshman. I don't have any sense of this yet.

Professors know my name. The classes are wonderful, except for math classes. My favorite class was Survey of Latin American Culture (so engaging, wonderful professor, great readings). Students study a lot, and class participation is pretty common. Some Wash U students have intellectual conversations outside of class, while others don't. Students are somewhat competitive in the Pre-Med classes, but not so in other disiplines. I love my department and professors, and the academic requirements aren't too difficult. Wash U's education can be either practical or impractical, depending on major.

Most professors do know my name. My favorite class was taught by a graduate student - Formula Challenge Vehicle Design. Two least favorites - Engineering Mathematics, and Machine Design (could have been a fantastic class). Students study daily it seems. Class participation is average. Students do have intellectual conversations outside of class. Competition is very high. Most unique class was Personal Finance. My major is mechanical engineering and it's fascinating. The ME department is so so. No time spent with professors outside of class. Academic requirements are stringent, but should get more difficult so my degree is worth more after I'm done. Education towards learning for the sake of going to graduate school, not getting a job.

Yes --- --- Mostly nightly Oh yes Yes Partially --- Small, personal, friendly Not very much Just fine Depends on what you study

Tight.

all my professors know my name except for in my one large lecture class. besides that one, but next largest class is 17 students. i really like classes that are discussion based and thought provoking. the professors assign readings and guide the discussion to open up the students minds about new things or (more often) to think about things in new ways.i've learned so much in my 1 1/2 semesters here i feel like i've already learned more than in my 4 years of high school. students sometime participate sometimes don't. it really depends on the chemistry in the classroom and that depends on the personality and approach of the teacher and the relationship he or she has with the students. some of my classes everyone talks in others we're quiet. it just depends. i haven't decided on a major yet but i really want to take more African American studies courses. previously in my schooling i learned a little about their culture but now i'm more exposed to it and it seems interesting. WashU students always have discussions outside of class. i could go in the cafe and hear snippets of intellectual convos all the time. i think the requirements are useful because they force you to try things out that you might not have and discover something you like. in one sense but i do know someone who couldn't graduate on time because of one class and they were so similar but because they were part of two different schools he was stuck here. i think he eventually worked something out with his dean but still, thats bad. i think the education here in arts and sciences in more for learning to learn. in other areas its very obvious that its career oriented, but with the humanities and social sciences its not so cut and dry. that's for all colleges though, not just washu.

Most of my professors know my name. Class participation is common, especially in small language classes. WashU students have many intellectual conversations outside of class; sometimes I feel that everything is overly intellectual. Students are very competitive. The most unique class that I have taken is Physics 198 because it is a large lecture but is still based on class participation. I don't see professors outside of class usually. The academic requirements are not as rigorous as I had expected.

I think the most unique class I've taken at Wash U was called "Brave New Crops," and it was pretty much a semester-long case study about genetically modified organisms, the current debates around them, and the broader implications of using or not using them. The professor is a lot to handle in that he's pretty self-involved and constantly refers to his own work on the issue, but he also really knows what he's talking about and seems to have a pretty balanced perspective. He also invites you over to his house to have dinner and discuss the issues with guest lecturers that come in. These guest lecturers range from farmers to corporate managers to scientists, and they all have different things to say. While the class wasn't easy, I think about it a lot and have used it as a reference for other classes I've been in.

Professors don't know my name. There are some who do, but most of those aren't even professors, they're grad students or lecturers. I like the requirements at WashU because there is a lot of leeway in fulfilling requirements. The only issue I have with requirements is Writing I. When I took it, I felt like I was back in high school and I HATED high school. I also don't think that I learned anything from the set curriculum of the class. I got an A in the class, but I don't think I really took anything away from the class other than the "A" on the transcript. I think so far one of my favorite classes is Primate Biology with Prof. Rasmussen. I am having an amazing time learning about primates in the class. Prof Rasmussen often will share personal stories of his and primates, and he shows lots of videos taken of primates in the wild. One of the class assignments is to actually go to the zoo and study the primates there, which is tons of fun because you can see first hand the things that you are learning about.

It really depends on the class but my business professor and my theater professor both knew my name. Some of the bigger intro classes it's not that easy for professors to know your name but if your class is about 30 40 students there's a good chance that they will know your name. Students are competitive as you're taking some of the best and the brightest from around the country and the world. While students will have intellectual conversations outside of class, we also talk about some of the most random stuff ever. There's a spectrum of how often students study. Art and architecture students work the hardest out of everyone and it seems like those people in the business school work the least. Some people stay in the library all the time and study. Others go out and party almost every night of the week. The business school's requirements aren't that bad but the cluster system for Arts and Sciences is tough to manage. Some of what I learn is geared for a job while others is just for learning. My most unique classes would either be my theater production class where we designed actual shows or my story of murder class where we had guest speakers such as forensics scientists and police detective talk about their jobs and then we would write articles about them. My most favorite class so far has been theater production as the group of people was simply amazing. Though we would be working on a show late into the night, it was still a lot of fun. Class participation is common in smaller classes but not so in large several hundred student ones. My least favorite classes have been my math courses as they are boring and the teachers aren't that good.

-Professors.. there is certainly an ecclectic range of professors on campus, some more interested in getting to know you than others.. I'd say for the most part professors have known my name (except maybe in huge intro classes) and I've genuinely enjoyed a probably 80-90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of my professors -Class.. my favorite class was definitely Dinosaurs: Facts and Fictions.. I mean how often do you get to take class notes where the professor draws pictures of brontosauruses or T-rexes on the chalkboard? -Studying/Competition.. I think the amount of work equates to the high rank of WashU academics. you certainly have to do a lot of work and time management is key. Mostly pre-med is where the competition and largest amount of work come in to play. But campus has a lot of resources for students who are having troubles keeping up -Requirements.. the cluster system is phenomenal, it is easy to understand (other schools have for example 6 credit hours in section IX, part 5, letter a.. complicated!)

Euroean Intellectual History with Gerald Izenberg. Brilliant man. Unfortunately, too many kids here are pre-professional and not intellectual, though there's ample pockets of intellectually curious kids; you just have to find them...and hope they aren't cliche and anti-traditional fun.