Academics
Wide-ranging exploration and customized learning are the driving forces at Washington University in St. Louis, where students can design their own curriculum thanks to an “academic flexibility” that allows students to explore many different areas of study and find their passions. WashU focuses on the balanced student: “academically involved, part of many student groups, really immersed in the culture here.” The “collaborative culture” is apparent in all aspects of the school, and because students here are so dedicated to their studies, there are “many clubs dedicated to specific areas” of academics, as well as research opportunities. The school’s Center for Experiential Learning lets students put their learnings into practice and consult with actual companies or create mock business, and it is “easy to switch schools and majors” for students that find a new interest pulling them. Even first-year seminars “sometimes include out-of-class components like research or travel,” and the school encourages civic engagement like local service projects, even building them into some classes. Additionally, around 40 percent of students study abroad during their time at WashU.
Academics are “great, but incredibly difficult,” but the support systems in place for first-year students “help ease the college transition immensely,” and the administration “deeply cares about the well-being of the students.” For classes that need more resources (such as introductory courses like chemistry, biology, physics), there are “homework help sessions and tutoring groups that you can access easily.” Professors are similarly “wonderful” and “encourage building personal relationships.” Students particularly love the real world applications of their classes: “We get to work with real companies, choose semester-long projects that interest our teams, and enjoy the humor that our professors bring to lectures.” Best of all, for almost any program a student chooses to pursue, there is “flexibility so you can major or minor or take classes across schools without red tape.”
Student Body
WashU’s population is “small enough to walk around campus and say hi to a lot of people, but you can still meet new people every day.” Everyone here is “passionate about something,” and that passion is “contagious and highly motivating, especially at such a collaborative environment.” There is a “diverse student body racially and religiously,” and they are the most “genuine, down-to-earth, driven, non-competitive, outgoing student population” on top of being “intellectually curious, multi-talented, and engaged with the world around them.” Above all, what really sets WashU apart is “what admissions officers call the nice factor,” where “students across all disciplines are collaborative in their work and kind to others.” People “build each other up here and cheer each other on, and it really creates a community.”
Campus Life
WashU is “the package deal. Great academics, amazing extracurricular activities, and the best people.” There’s “always funding for student groups, student initiatives, university-run activities, research, and the infrastructure is “unmatched”: “Dorms are five-star hotels, food is delicious with tons of variety, [and] the buildings are gorgeous.” The campus is also stunning, and “there is beautiful architecture, both historic and modern, and excellent maintenance of plant life.” Campus life is “exciting and lively,” and people are busy: “very few people do nothing for more than two hours per day.” The “library is always filled, people are always playing Frisbee on the open fields,” and “everyone is involved in multiple extracurricular activities.” On the weekends students will go to the Loop (a stretch of restaurants near campus) for dinner with friends, or “older students go out to bars or clubs.” The social scene is “largely Greek lifebased,” though big clubs or student groups also have “a very strong social aspect.” The greater St. Louis area is a destination in itself, and people will often run in Forest Park or go exploring things “like music festivals or the local food scene.” Brunch is a “super popular weekend option for getting off campus,” and all students receive a free train and public transportation pass to make getting off campus possible.
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