Washington University in St Louis

I really enjoyed my time at the school. Even though it is in the mid-west (I am a native New Yorker) I found plenty of great people from NYC. There are also lots of Californians too! Classes were good, though I thought there could be more grade inflation. If 50% of the students at Harvard are getting A's, then we should too since we have to compete with them in the job market (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1133702)

Student life is pretty good. People are friendly and not pretentious. Though people don't seem intellectual, even though our admissions stats are really high. From keeping up with the campus newspaper, they are getting a bit dry, which I find unfortunate. I wasn't in a frat, but frats were a real credit to the campus. 4 years ago anyone could go to a frat party, get free beer and have fun. It wasn't until I talked to friends at other schools that our frats were really great, friendly, open groups. Also, even though it isn't a big city, the area that St.Louis is in is very affluent and you get all the perks of that (great parks, shopping, resturants, botantical gardens, etc)

They keep building nice, new shiny dorms.. that's good. Also they just raised over 1.6 Billion fairly quickly. I think they engineering career service has to get a little bit better. Now that I help recruit for my company, I realize that lots of other schools career services have it together better than WashU. And they really need to promote the name more. If I didn't co-op (which I found on my own), I wouldn't have found a decent job.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2001

Faculty Accessibility: A+, Collaboration/Competitive: B

I cam to Washington University three years ago. I applied at 3 ivies (Brown, Cornell and Dartmouth), which, after considering my profile, was not much of a reach.

I had no other applications forthcoming, but, after visiting a friend at the WUSTL campus, I fell in love with it. I had been told that it is the best school in the midwest and south. Upon researching it, I discovered that Wash U was tied with dartmouth at 9th place. I remember being shocked because a) I had never even heard of the place discussed in a national context, and b) it seems, from people I know who have gone there and went on to Harvard and various scholar programs, it is the best undiscovered gem in the country. I remember my councelor saying their acceptance rate is the lowest its been in history, and, they really feel like they have a shot at coming into the status of a Duke or even Princeton in the next 20 years.

I love the campus, enjoy the thoughtful professors (who are really nice about observing religious holidays, deaths in the family, and treat you like a friend instead of a schmuck), and feel like I am ripping the system off. I have a full scholarship (academic+need) and will be attending Cambridge University for my Ph.D. I am studying manegerial economics and applied mathematics. I took a few difficult science courses for fun and diversification, and, I must say, Washu is cut-throat when it comes to science. i think our medical school must be top 3 or 5. We get more federal research money than Harvard and Yale.

I would suggest everyone to apply. We need to distill the intelligence of the students, and cleans the institution of the remaining dimwits brought in by certain methods, and make the acceptance so competitive that it shoots us to high international distinction. High marks for one of the best economics programs in the world, IMHO.

3rd Year Male -- Class 2007

Education Quality: A+, Social Life: D-

Note:
Sorry for the poor grammar and choppy wording, but I only took one writing course my freshman year. I write best train of thought, so bear with me. I do plan to take another writing class next semester, so I'm prepared for the real world.

About Me:
I am starting my last semester at Wash U in January 2005 and will graduate with majors in both Accounting and Finance from Olin. I can honestly say that this university was the best choice for me. The students are friendly, the population is diverse, the professors are stellar, and the campus is gorgeous.

Pros:
Each semester we have WILD - Walk In, Lay Down - an all day party with a big name band. I've never gone because of the crowds and the drinking, but you can hear the music from outside the Quad and it sure sounds fun.

In the Spring we have Thurtene - a huge carnival that attracts many in the city of St. Louis. (My only regret is that is takes up close to 100 of our valuable, and rare, commuter student parking spots.) I've helped TKE build and have enjoyed many rides, shows, and pulled-pork sandwiches there.

You can usually find free or cheap food on any given day - it entices people to attend meetings.
Wash U is majority liberal/democrat, but you will find plenty of conservative/republican outlets and student groups.

The campus is heavily Jewish and Catholic, so don't let that surprise you.
There are many places to find part-time work on campus - look into the STaRS program.
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.

Cons:
The Career Center is helpful, but more companies eye Northwestern in Chicago than Washington University in St. Louis - even though we are ranked the same.

Some of the freshman dorms are old, but they are building a new dorm each year. There is always construction on campus, but it doesn't usually get in the way and it keeps the campus up-to-date and beautiful.

Business School:
As a business student, 40% of my classes were required to be outside of the business school, 40% inside, and 20% 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.

Weather & Commute:

We also get 4 weeks off for Winter Break, which is nice because after 4 winters up here I hate snow. Dont be fooled though: St. Louis gets hot in the summer. I live in West County (30 minutes away) because housing is cheaper, the area is cleaner and newer, and there is more to do. Driving is snow is not fun, but neither is walking in it.

Housing:
Living on campus was great, but I live with my fiance (we met here!) and there are no co-ed rooms, only co-ed floors and dorms. The off-campus apartments are a joke: 50+ years old, shoddy, street parking, sketchy neighbors, and crime. Either live on campus al 4 years or find a nice rental in Clayton.

Pet Peeve:
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.

Grades:
I love my professors and fellow students. We are competative, 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.

Four Year Plan:

The biggest thing is to plan out your 4 years, as some classes are only offered in the Fall, or in the Spring, and have prerequisites, which are only offered in the Fall, or in the Spring. Figure out what class to take in which semester, or you'll cram it all in Senior year. I took the Intermediate Financial Accounting class at the same time as the Introduction to Managerial Accounting class so I wouldn't have to take any Accounting in the Spring of Senior year. I was one year ahead of people in my grade level, in terms of Accounting classes, but I made friends with the class of '04 and stayed ahead of the curve.

Profs:
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.

Summary:I hope this helps you decide on a school. Wash U is a great place. It has the ups and downs of any other school, I guess, but the people are great and the most important thing is to find a place where you fit in. I'm not the kind of person who will advertise my school with WASH U printed on the rear of my shorts, but I will gladly recommend it to anyone seeking a quality education and a great experience.

3rd Year Female -- Class 2005

Faculty Accessibility: A+, Collaboration/Competitive: A-