<p>@Humboltd -></p>
<p>What sets Wash U apart from the pack is the collaborative atmosphere. From all the schools I visited, and my friends at similar schools (and ones ranked higher), we have it SO nice here. It’s just the type of student that chooses to attend Wash U… you’re more low-key, you have a great work-life balance, and academics don’t define your college experience.</p>
<p>I mean, you will work hard, and you will be challenged. You will need to work hard to maintain a good GPA. Which is good — you are going to college and should not want a cake walk! But, at Wash U, people WANT you to do well. The people you’ll meet on your freshman floor, your advisors, your professors, and the Cornerstone center which is a GREAT resource to use.</p>
<p>There are going to be those outlier people who focus WAY too much on studying, but you’ll find that at any Top Tier college. I just think that Wash U has much fewer of these people than other similar schools.</p>
<p>One of the primary reasons I chose to come here was because I knew that the academic atmosphere was more laid-back (while still being challenging and intense), and I haven’t been let down since. You can infer a lot about a school where 2/3 of people have more than one major. The academics aren’t so cutthroat where you just spend all of your time struggling to do well in one major. At Wash U, the curriculum is so much more flexible than most places, and you have enough time and energy to devote to more than one concentration. </p>
<p>A lot of it comes down to what you choose to major in (pre-med will clearly be more intense than political science, for instance), and your work habits. As long as you have solid work habits coming in, know your own limitations, and are willing to ask for help — then you will be very successful here :)</p>