I am considering going to WashU next year. (I'll be a HS senior this year.) I eventually want to be a personal trainer. I know WashU does not offer a kinesiology or exercise science major, but they are a great health/medical-type school. What are you're thoughts on me going to/applying to this school. I got a 35 ACT, 4.0 GPA, 1st in class, decent ECs, so I'd at least have a fighting chance to get in. Would it be a good education to set me apart from other good personal trainers? Thanks.
A good education is always beneficial, though do note that if you're also interested in the name prestige that is associated with attending a top tier university, WashU's is hit or miss. In the midwest/south, WashU's pretty well known, but that starts to fetter out once you go to the coasts.
I'm not sure if you'd be following the WashU pre-med track or a bio track for what you want to do, so you might want to ask a dean or an advisor if you plan on visiting this summer. I'm not too familiar with how WashU's pre-med track works, since I'm an engineer. But it sounds like the standard bio classes + other classes like principles of the nervous system will be sufficient for what you want to do.
This is kind of blasphemous for me to say, but you should probably look elsewhere if you want to go into that. I have a friend who had the same plan as you, and his advice is to go to a school with a big sports program and that has those kind of majors. And sadly, that's just not washu.
I agree somewhat with Johnson181, unless you are planning on focusing on nutrition or on psychology or something with a more science-y side. But, on another note, if you really love Wash U, I suggest that someone with your stats should make sure to show lots of interest. It seems like the better one's stats, the more interest the person needs to show. This may be purely coincidental, but I wouldn't risk being rejected or waitlisted because you didn't email your counselor (obviously visit and/or interview if you can).
Thanks for the answers. I'm more concerned about a great education than a prestigious name (I know they often come together.) The reason I am not planning on going to a big D1 sports school is because I plan on playing college basketball. This would limit me to the D3 and possibly D2 schools. Any other suggestions for schools?
I won't know for sure how much aid I'll receive, but the average amount is just short of $30,000. I should be able to pick up the rest, especially if I can get more scholarships with my stats. (Let's hope anyway!)
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You can certainly get in, I think. (Although they waitlist a bunch of qualified people every year for reasons I can only speculate on.)
But they're not that generous on aid. If you apply for and receive a merit-based award, you'll be lucky - otherwise you can count on taking out some loans. But scholarships will be limited as many of them are major-/program- specific.
You can look at all the schools in the University Athletic Association. This is often called the Division III Ivy League: UChicago, WashU, Carnegie Mellon, CWRU, Emory, NYU and Brandeis.
@rmldad Thank you. I have been looking at these schools. As I continue to research, I believe a business/economics type major would be good for me along with the science-y major. Any UAA schools that would fit both of these criteria? Thank you.
You can look at all the schools in the University Athletic Association. This is often called the Division III Ivy League: UChicago, WashU, Carnegie Mellon, CWRU, Emory, NYU and Brandeis.
Thank you jandjdad. Any of these schools fit both my criteria (exercise science/kinesiology/sport science AND good business/economics/entreprenuership)? Thanks.
NYU, Emory, WashU and Carnegie Mellon have solid undergrad business programs and Rochester just started an undergrad b program to go with their grad program. I don't know about the exercise science program at any of them
