Washington University in St Louis Top Questions

A lot of people are in theatre. There are also a lot of people in greek life. But, there are a lot of diverse activities and a lot to do on campus. I haven't experienced much of a dating scene. On a Tuesday, if I am up at 2am I am studying. Last weekend I went to the LYNF festival at Wash U and hung out with my friends and did some homework. I never drink and there is still a lot to do. So there's a place for every type of person.

At Wash. U., the single most important part of your social life in the fall of your freshman year is your freshman floor. Expect every door on your hall to remain open at all times, tons of cheesy bonding activities, and making lots of trips to the frats on the weekends as one massive group. I met my two best friends through my freshman dorm, and now, as a senior, I still live with them. For most underclassman at Wash. U., whether or not they decide to go Greek, the frats provide the most significant source of a night life on campus. For the upperclassman, especially those in fraternities or sororities, the frats continue to be a part of the night life, but local bars -- especially those on the Loop or downtown -- tend to be more popular. As a member of a sorority, my weekends are typically taken up with mixers or date parties, as well as trips to bars with my friends. Other parties occur in dorms (for underclassman) and off-campus apartments (for upperclassman). There's no normal number of times per week for a Wash. U. student to go out -- some rarely do, and some do every night -- but the student body is fairly social, and if you want to go out, it's never hard to find something to do and someone to go with. For me, Greek life has been a crucial part of my experience at Wash. U. I've made some of my best friends in my sorority, as well as some of my happiest memories at the school. However, I know many people who aren't Greek, and for them, being in a sorority or fraternity isn't necessary. There are other things to do on campus than going to frats, including our biannual concert, W.I.L.D., as well as attending our never ending roster of impressive guest speakers, a capella performances, and, of course, sports games. The best-attended athletic events are the men's basketball team's games. The football games attract a decent crowd from the school and the area, but the basketball games get so crowded that it can be hard to find a seat.

I think the most popular groups are culture groups. Asian student groups have lots of activities and free foods throughout the year. And also, Greek organizations are popular too. On weekends, many students go to fraternities in groups. The largest event on campus is called W.I.L.D, short for "Walk In Lay Down." It is held once a year. It features many pop music bands. More than one thousand students attend every year. It's the time when we hang out with friends, sing songs, and drink beers and free ourselves totally.

Greek life is big, but not too big. It provides most of the social life and parties on campus, although off-campus activities can be found downtown, and in other areas, that are unrelated to greek life. I'm in a sorority, which I joined the second semester of my freshman year. It made a HUGE difference on my social life, I went from being rather unhappy at WashU to being very happy with so many new friends and social activities. Now, all my best friends are in my sorority. However, I still have girlfriends that are in other sororities, or aren't in greek life at all. Most of my guy friends, similarly, are in fraternities. Greek life at WashU is far different from what I hear about at state schools. It isn't very time consuming for girls, but is very time consuming for boys. There is no hazing for sororities, but I think there is some hazing for boys (as I think there are at all colleges, unfortunately). WashU tries very hard to eliminate hazing, but actually tries a lot harder for the girls. Sororities are kind of a side activity, but you can be as involved or as uninvolved as you want, which I love. It's a very easy way to get involved on campus! Two of my best friends aren't in Greek life, and belong to another extracurricular called EST, which is a completely student run emergency service that's on duty 24/7 on campus. That too, is a great organization, which I really recommend if you're interested in anything medical related. Students live in dorms until their second year (usually) on an area called the South 40, until their junior year when they typically move across campus to "the Village" to live in on-campus apartments. I lived in two very nice, new dorms my freshman and sophomore year, and lived in a less-nice on campus apartment my junior year. Housing at WashU is difficult, although I've personally had a very positive experience with them. I've gotten my first choice for housing all three years, which is extremely lucky, because most of my friends often get their second or third choice. Housing is rather unaccommodating if students don't get their first pick, which as a huge complaint among the student body. Some traditions that happen on campus include WILD, a biannual concert, which is so much fun. WILD, or walk in lay down, is a concert, that happens all day. It's the one day when WashU parties like a state school, which is about all we can handle. Past performers have included Shwayze, The Cold War Kids, Passion Pit, Method Man and Red Man, and even the Black Eyed Peas way back when. It's a lot of fun. Guest speakers are big at WashU. We held the last VP debate in 2008, which I really wish I had seen! A big comedian comes once a semester, including Seth Meyers, and Donald Glover. Shows are free...but have INCREDIBLY long lines, so come early and be prepared to wait! It's really cool having famous people perform for free at our school (for students, at least), and I really recommend going to some of the shows. It's a big drawing factor, since WashU is highly respected among many people. Next semester, Sofia Vergara from Modern Family is coming. Unfortunately, I'll be abroad, so I won't be able to see her! There are also many clubs and other activities, as well as volunteering opportunities and political activism opportunities, that are presented in a fair in the beginning of the Fall semester. I recommend attending the fair if you're interested in becoming more involved, which I also really recommend!

A Cappella and the performing arts in general are really popular. You have top notch talent (auditions are very intense and selective) for a cheap price (most concerts are FREE).

There is everything. Literally everything. Campus is so inundated with groups and activities that there is no way to figure out what the most popular ones are. There's groups for theater, investing, salsa dancing, pre-med, politics, stand-up comedy, kendo, ultimate frisbee, butter churning (seriously - not making this up), mock trial... everything. There is greek life although it's not overbearing. If you join it, cool. If you don't, you're not going to be lacking a social life in any way. It would be downright bizarre if you could not find something to do with people who share interests with you.

Even though the students here aren't muscled and huge, many people do work out and are on club or intramural sports teams. I do club tennis, which is huge here. The team has about 60 members, even though only 6 to 12 people can generally go to the tournaments. The tournaments are awesome, and we go to other universities about five hours away and stay at hotels for a couple of nights. The football team is terrible, and nobody goes to the games. The dating scene is a lot more prevalent than random hookups. People pair off quickly, and since our school isn't huge, it can be annoying for those single and ready to mingle. Some notable events are W.I.L.D., in which students literally go wild and go to a concert by a mildly-famous singer or band, and Vertigo, which is a huge dance party with a light-up dance floor made by the engineering students.

Social life at Wash U is fantastic. Freshman and Sophomore social life is heavily dependent on the fraternities, while Juniors and Seniors tend to venture into St. Louis more. If the frat thing isn't for you, there are always other things going on, like movies, hangouts at Ursa's (a great late-night eating place with tons of flat screen TVs and board games), or even water fights (which turn into mud fights...) St. Louis has a bad reputation, but the area Wash U is in is fabulously wealthy (I think the average home price in Clayton is around $600k). A short walk from campus is the Loop, which is a cool, young street with bars, fro-yo, restaurants, and shops. The Central West End is an upscale area with great places to go as well, and the MetroLink (which is free to Wash U students) has a stop there and one right by campus.

The weight room and gym.

Volunteering is big on campus. Greek life does it, we have a community service office, and there is a place called the Campus Y that has 20 different programs to volunteer through. I am invovled with the Campus Y as well as play club frisbee (Wash U Women's Ultimate- WUWU) which invovles practicing three times a week, going to tourneys all over the Midwest and South, and partying together on the weekends. Everyone seems pretty invovled and 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the campus is in Greek life. At the beginning of each semester there is an activities fair where you can find out about and sign up for everything on campus. There are guest speakers every week (called the Assembly Series) and of course many departments have speakers come and you get on the email list to find out about those. The dating scene- plenty of people are in relationships, plenty are just "hooking up", and plenty are single. You will find a variety. I think as you get older, you may be more inclined to be in a relationship. People can meet in classes, activities, parties in Frats, other parties, or at the bars. People tend to party on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Some people go out on Tuesdays as well. It all depends on you, your friends, and how much you devote to studying and how much to partying. Frats and Sororities are definitely noticable on campus but only 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} are invovled and you are not excluded if you are not part of Greek Life. If you don't drink or party, you can certainly go to concerts in St. Louis, go to the movies, go to the Loop, etc. While many people seem involved in partying, there is definitely a mix and you can find other things to do.

One of the great things about being at a school with such dedicated peers is the broad offering of activities and groups available. There are many, many organizations on campus that are active doing whatever floats their boat. WashU does a great job of promoting this through funding. The school basically gives out over 2 million dollars every year to fund student group events. Most parties happen Thursday through Saturday, though there's things going on all the time. St. Louis has a decent nightlife, and students (mostly upperclassmen) like getting off campus to clubs or bars. On campus, especially during freshman year, most students will find themselves at frat parties. Sure, it may not be original, but it's a good time. What I've found impresses friends from other schools the most is that the eater by the dorms is open to 3am on weekends. Most students don't appreciate it until they're starving at 2:30, but then they realize what a gift from God this is.

there are lots of groups on campus, it's kind of insane, there are lots of people who play sports. people get to be really close with the people who live on their freshman floors where a lot of people keep their doors open, in upper class men dorms less people keep their doors open unless they know each other already but people are all about meeting new people on their floors. i met my closest friends during transfer orientation (i'm a transfer student), i hung out with only transfers first semester but second semester i became really good friends with he people on the floor of my dorm (most lived together the year before) and now i'm dating one of them. if i'm up at 2 i'm probably doing homework because i was hanging out with people for too long. we have a concert where everyone gets drunk all day and then hangs out twice a year and a giant water balloon fight every spring. i usually party on weekend nights unless i have too much homework or a test coming up. if you don't want to drink i'm sure you'll make friends with other people who don't want to drink and you all hang out

I'm on the cross country and track teams. Even though WashU is a Division III school, the sports are pretty intense. We practice at 6:45 am in the fall. Many of our teams are really good. In the 2007-2008 season, our men's basketball and women's volleyball teams were national champions. Our women's cross country team was #3 in the nation. Women's outdoor track is currently ranked #1 (the season is still in progress). Considering how talented many of our athletes are, it is kind of sad that athletic events are not very popular among the general student body.

I live off campus and attend the KSA.

Greek life at Wash U is awesome! It is not as cliquey or intense as bigger state schools. It's really easy to find the sorority or fraternity that is right for you. There are ton of Greek events like Greek week in the fall and building facades for thurtene in the spring. People who are Greek are also really accepting of students that aren't greek. it's really easy to mingle across group lines. The only athletic events that are very popular are men's basketball and women's volleyball. But those games are really fun to attend if you like sports. This school doesn't really have the school spirit through athletics though. Most students go out and party on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturday nights. Fraternities are popular hang out spots for underclassemes and apartment parties or the bars on the landing are popular amongst upperclassmen. Morgan street is the place to be on thursday nights if you're 21. Dating doesn't really happen at Wash U. Most people are either hooking up or in a relationship. Lots of people at Wash U are also in long distance relationships with people from home and most of them seem to be pretty succesful if they last past freshman year. There are so many activities to get involved in at Wash U. I think there is a club for anything a person could possibly be interested in from student government and community service to juggling and cooking. My favorite campus activity is the Campus Y. They have like 26 different service programs! They also have a really great space on campus to hang out. There are couches, a tv, a kitchen, and the entire Y staff is super friendly!

The location of Wash U is really beautiful. Perhaps people from green areas might not find it that special, but I am from a dry area of the country and I am so excited by all the trees and the beautiful fall colors. Wash. U is right beside Forest Park which is an enormous green park full of trees, a free art museum, and the free St. Louis zoo. It's a great place to wander around in when you're sick of studying. In fact, last month, there was a big hot air balloon event and my friends and I went and saw all these huge colorful hot air balloons getting lit up. Now, I hope I do not sound falsely positive about Wash. U... I just am enjoying being here so much and I really haven't found anything bad about the school. I never expected college to be so inspiring, full of so many good smart people, and so beautiful. The academics are extremely challenging, but it helps to be in a place that constantly reminds me that I am getting an super excellent education.

There's a ton of EC's here, more than 200, each benefiting from the Student Union's budget of about $2 million per year. It's pretty easy to start up a club if it doesn't exist when you get here. NCAA athletics aren't that popular here; this is a D-III school with only a few really competitive teams, like volleyball and soccer, and students generally don't go out to sporting events that often. The social scene here is good; students tend to work hard during the week and then go out and have a good time on the weekends.

There are tons of things to do in Forest Park, downtown, on in The Loop. The MetroLink is going to open two stops on campus in 2006 on the route to the Galleria Mall. It also goes to the airport for under $5; a cab is over $20.

The Greek system here is BIG. As a non-Greek, its hard to fit in sometimes. For younger students who aren't 21 and cannot go to bars, you pretty much only go to frat parties. The frats here are surprisingly nice compared to other frats at other schools I have seen-they are clean and new. They are fun-lots of dancing and a lot of free beer for those who drink. I love going out to eat, and St. Louis luckily has a pretty good restaurant scene, with places within walking distance of campus.

Yes, students leave their dorm rooms open. There is not much of a dating seen...more hookups than anything. Athletic events are not very popular at all... basketball gets the most attention. Greek life is pretty popular, and most social life revolves around it. WILD is a big weekend.