In WashU's defense...

jaxmo
Fri, 14 Apr 2006 21:08:45 +0000

My son LOVED WashU after coming back from the Engineering weekend – unfortunately, he didn’t apply for any scholarships back in January, because he really thought he’d be going to UF (excellent science, pre-med, engineering, about 90 min from home, and FREE!). After seeing WashU up close and personal, he’s wondering if he can apply for some $$$ next year as a sophomore. My husband claims the scholarship $$$ is there for recruitment purposes only. Once they enroll – why offer any? On paper, he looks like a candidate: top 5% in class, stellar scores (35 ACT, 790 SATII Math 2, 790 SAT I Verbal, 800 SATII Bio, 5s on AP Chem/Bio/Stats/U.S. History. etc. etc) He’s also what you call a pretty good football player!!! He didn’t apply to any Ivies because we just do not appreciate the northeastern vibe. WashU was friendly, down-to-earth, and very impressive at the same time!

To pay $45,000 ++ per year – it’s a stretch. We have 3 other kids all in private school in north florida. Plus, the kid is planning on grad school, which is not cheap. He also got what amounts to a full ride at UMiami, which compares semi-favorably to WashU in terms of size and seriousness of the pre-med kids (aren’t they serious everywhere?) What do you think? I hear RAs get free room/board, and maybe a co-op would help defray the expenses.