Washington University in St Louis Top Questions

The school is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. The services it offers students from the food, to the gyms, to the rooms, to the architecture, to the biweekly bathroom cleaning services are all top notch. The size it perfect. Large enough that I will never meet or get bored of everyone on campus or in my grade but small enough that a walk across the school will cause me to run into a familiar face. St. Louis kind of sucks. There are small cool things to do, but its really only for people who want to look for those things. It's very easy to comfortably never leave campus.

Although all students are disappointed with the school's lack of name recognition, WashU is a great university with awesome rankings, staff, and people. The administration is great, and I am continually pleasantly surprised to see how quickly people respond to emails. If there is a problem, big or small (for example, your floor's sink is clogged), it will most likely be fixed within 24 hours. St. Louis is a difficult town to get around without a car, despite WashU's free UPass, which gives students access to the underground railroad system and bus routes.

The best thing about Wash U is all the people. Everyone is really awesome and talented, but most important nice and friendly. The one thing I'd change is name recognition; however, when people know about Wash U they are super impressed. I think the school is the right size. When you walk across campus, you see a lot of strangers, but you also see a lot of people you know. St. Louis is a great place with a lot of cool places and it's not that dangerous. There are dangerous places, but if you are smart then you'll be fine. There is not a lot of school pride. The biggest complaints are from the pre-meds with those classes. Gen Chem Lab is the worst/hardest class and that brings a lot of complaints.

Coming from a small, New England, prep school, I was looking for a mid-sized University outside of the Northeast. For me the size is perfect -- big enough so that there are always new people to meet, and small enough so that no matter where you go you'll see a familiar face. Usually when I tell people where I go to school, they respond with one of two things: "So how do you like Washington?" or "Wow, that's a great school." One of the most frustrating things about going to Wash. U. is that not everyone knows what it is. However, the people that do know the school know how competitive the academics are. Wash. U. has been trying to boost its reputation for a few decades now, but it definitely still has room for improvement. Going to school in St. Louis has been surprisingly fun. Everything is affordable, it's easy to get around, and there's a pretty impressive night life. There's somewhere to go out almost every night of the week, and wherever you go, you'll be sure to run into a crowd of Wash. U. students. That being said, it's no secret that St. Louis isn't the safest city to live in. Although the area around Wash. U. is much safer than East St. Louis, it's still not a good idea to walk around alone at night, except on campus. The school tries to make the campus as secure as possible, and does a pretty good job at it, but the real safety issues for students lies in the off-campus neighborhoods. As a student who lives off-campus, I'm frequently frustrated with the lack of attention paid to security around the off-campus student housing. Wash. U. isn't well known for its athletics (except for our basketball teams -- their games draw huge crowds). Our school pride typically comes from our academics and our events. Every semester, the school brings a popular musician to campus for everyone's favorite day, W.I.L.D. The weather is usually beautiful (it's always in the beginning of fall and the end of spring), we either haven't started classes or have just finished them, and all of the frats open their doors to throw huge parties. As an upperclassman, I spend most of my time off-campus, but with all of the on-campus events (like W.I.L.D), I'm still on-campus more than most upperclassman at other schools. Wash. U. has an incredibly close-knit and supportive community, one that I've enjoyed being a part of for the past 4 years and look forward to continuing to be a part of in the future.

Coming from a small, New England, prep school, I was looking for a mid-sized University outside of the Northeast. For me the size is perfect -- big enough so that there are always new people to meet, and small enough so that no matter where you go you'll see a familiar face. Usually when I tell people where I go to school, they respond with one of two things: "So how do you like Washington?" or "Wow, that's a great school." One of the most frustrating things about going to Wash. U. is that not everyone knows what it is. However, the people that do know the school know how competitive the academics are. Wash. U. has been trying to boost its reputation for a few decades now, but it definitely still has room for improvement. Going to school in St. Louis has been surprisingly fun. Everything is affordable, it's easy to get around, and there's a pretty impressive night life. There's somewhere to go out almost every night of the week, and wherever you go, you'll be sure to run into a crowd of Wash. U. students. That being said, it's no secret that St. Louis isn't the safest city to live in. Although the area around Wash. U. is much safer than East St. Louis, it's still not a good idea to walk around alone at night, except on campus. The school tries to make the campus as secure as possible, and does a pretty good job at it, but the real safety issues for students lies in the off-campus neighborhoods. As a student who lives off-campus, I'm frequently frustrated with the lack of attention paid to security around the off-campus student housing. Wash. U. isn't well known for its athletics (except for our basketball teams -- their games draw huge crowds). Our school pride typically comes from our academics and our events. Every semester, the school brings a popular musician to campus for everyone's favorite day, W.I.L.D. The weather is usually beautiful (it's always in the beginning of fall and the end of spring), we either haven't started classes or have just finished them, and all of the frats open their doors to throw huge parties. As an upperclassman, I spend most of my time off-campus, but with all of the on-campus events (like W.I.L.D), I'm still on-campus more than most upperclassman at other schools. Wash. U. has an incredibly close-knit and supportive community, one that I've enjoyed being a part of for the past 4 years and look forward to continuing to be a part of in the future.

Overall, Washington University seems dedicated to maintaining a high quality of life and an enjoyable learning environment. One of the best things about Washington University is the abundance of easily accessible help on campus: advisors, disability resources, professors, mentors, and teacher assistants. The faculty is very prompt when responding to emails, and everyone seems to genuinely want to help one another. Alumni maintain the same passion for the university, and donations and tuition are constantly recycled right back into the school for things such as new student centers with hot chocolate bars and dormitories equipped with Tempur-Pedic mattresses. Wash U is a very centralized, medium-sized school, so the university works hard to carefully watch for long lines and crowds in order to determine what changes will make every experience more efficient and enjoyable. For instance, a large eating center was recently built in one of the main residential areas to decrease lines and increase food variety. Now, made-to-order stir fry, Indian cuisine, and seared crab cakes can all be ordered under one roof. Many students from New York City or Los Angeles frequently say that St. Louis is not the most active or vibrant city. The university is about a 15-minute drive from downtown, which has bars, shops, and restaurants but is not as walkable as Manhattan, and about a 5-minute drive from Clayton, a suburb of St. Louis dominantly filled with a young professional crowd. Although St. Louis is not the epitome of a "college town," other St. Louis schools such as St. Louis University are close by and feature other student-targetted burger joints and sports bars. However, for the student who prefers to not explore the city, everything you need can be found right on campus.

In my opinion, the best thing about Wash U is that we can really learn what we want. Although we have many schools, such as the School of Arts and Sciences, the Business School, and the Art School etc., students can choose courses across school divisions. We can double major across schools and we can transfer very easily if we want. Overall, the academic policies are amazingly flexible, which is different from many other colleges. And the foods are of quality. There are various kinds of cuisines in dining halls and they taste delicious. Thirdly, I have to mention the living experiences here. Wash U is proud of its dorms, especially the modern dorms. They are like rooms in fancy hotels. And the facilities in there are great. We have many residential halls. Students living in their respective ResHalls really get to know each other through many nicely designed group activities. I spend much of my time on my floor, with my floormates. Academically, we are strong in Pre-med, Biology, Chemistry, History, Political Sciences etc. And the language departments are mostly great. Among them, German Department is one of the best in the states.

I really wasn't sure I wanted to go to the mid-west when I first started looking at Washington University. However, once I went to visit the campus, I knew I was hooked. You immediately feel a collegiate atmosphere, and the entire student body seemed actively involved around campus. One of the things I now love about campus, is that I find it the perfect size. It is great because you are constantly able to meet new people, yet you're always going to see a familiar face walking to class.

Washington University is the Stanford of the Midwest. It should be in the Ivy Leagues. Seriously! We rank close to if not higher than them on several colleges lists. I have a higher wor load as a theatre major than some of my pre-med friends at Harvard or Yale. Wash U is severely underrated.