Washington University in St Louis

About washu: washu is a very, very insanely friendly school. We don't have that awesome east coast name recognition and people never know where we are located (ps its st Louis) but we are some damn nice people. Washu tries ridiculously hard in your freshmen year to make you feel supported. I'm not saying it always works, but between orientation, a program called first 40 days, and the general bonding between you and your floor, I believe washu does an excellent job of the transition between high school to here. The downside to this is that you kind of feel a sophomore slump, as the newness and excitement fades and the "oh shit, this is school" realization sinks in. But all the same, there are so many resources and people to reach out to, that I think washu excels at building a community. Oh and we were ranked 2nd for friendliness according to huffington post.

The student body is diverse in talent and personalities, and to a lesser degree racially, but not so much socially economically. I think that's a problem a lot of expensive private schools have but it doesn't make it any less unfortunate.

The Academics here are tough especially if you are pre-med. I am a pre-med English major, and even without having to fulfill a bio major, I find the courses challenging. Challenging does not mean hopeless or unfair, but so many freshmen come in thinking, "well I got a 5 in AP chemistry so I'm sure genchem will be fine". Well, it might be fine, but genchem 1 has very little to do with what's taught in high school chemistry and a lot more to do with quantum mechanics. My point is, it is absolutely possible to do well in pre med classes but don't expect it just because you did well in high school. Sooner or later, everyone comes to a class where they realize it's harder than anything they've come across and theyve got to put in real work. If you come in knowing that you are going to be challenged, you will already be ahead of a lot of your classmates.

The food and the dorms here are awesome. Everyone gets sick of the foodsoon enough, including myself, but I know that we have it betterThan a lot of places. Um, besides that....VISIT WASHU!!! I did not have even the faintest inkling that I'd want to go here until I visited and then once I did, I was sold. So I highly recommend visiting, not just washu, but all of your options. I also wrote all of this on my phone so sorry if there are a ton of typos!