Ask a second semester Freshman anything!

Shah95
Sat, 14 Feb 2015 04:49:13 +0000

1. The coursework is very heavy for everyone. For example, engineers will be piled with science courses as they don't have much leeway. The people in the Art school will have project(s) that they need to do every week that are very time consuming. But, it really depends on your study skills. If you can manage your time, you can balance a social life, organizations, and academics. Planners really help. Without one I would have dropped out already!

2. The environment is very collaborative. Students are always working together on labs and studying together. Pre-med courses are minimally cutthroat in comparison to other top Universities. Honestly, I've never been intimidated by the academic atmosphere at all!

3. Greek life is what you make it. Around 30% of the campus participates in Greek life. There are social fraternities/sororities and then there are the profession fraternities/sororities. Social frats here don't just party on the weekends, but they are also very philanthropic in nature which makes the experience very self-reflective.

Anyway, greek life won’t make or break your social life on campus. There will be parties at frats most weekends, whether they’re closed or open, and if you’re in one of these chapters then you will find that you’ll be spending a lot of time with your brothers/sisters. Mixers and social gatherings are large parts of greek life. But this doesn’t define a social life here. You can find anyone who shares your interests. If you’re not one that drinks, you will find people who will just like to hang out or go down to the Delmar Loop for food.

There are also a ton of other student organization parties and clubs that go on, so joining a fraternity/sorority shouldn’t narrow you into a choice.

1. Honestly, the sports teams here are great to watch but the turnout are abysmal. I hate to say it like that, but it's true. The running joke is that more people attend Model UN than go to sports games, which is sadly true. However, school spirit as a whole is really strong. The students that go here generally love every aspect of Wash U and wouldn't go anywhere else.

Events that Wash U hosts generally have great turnouts and people are very excited for them. WILD being one of them, a night long concert. There’s also Residential College Olympics which is an entire day when all the dorms participate in competitive events to see who does the best. Students absolutely love showing off their skills :)! Also, getting involved with College Council was the best decision I made here. You get to host a ton of events, like bringing RJ Mitte from Breaking Bad to speak, which students appreciate, especially since these are run by their peers.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions you might have!