i’ve perused the washu website quite a bit as well as asked my mother (attended for her psychology bachelors in the last 2 years I believe?), but i’d like some other opinions on a list of pros and cons of washu. my mother is currently an employee at washu and is elligible for the tuition payment, but i’m also unaware of just how much it covers (haven’t looked too into it). costs for housing, food, textbooks, or whatever else the tuition payment doesn’t cover would be greatly appreciated!
Your mom’s HR representative is going to be able to explain to her how the tuition benefit works. None of us has that information. What will your textbooks cost? We don’t know- are you majoring in English Lit (so you’ll be reading lots and lots of novels, most of which you can buy second and third hand and get out of the library) or majoring in Chemistry in which case the books are expensive and you’ll want to own them, not get out of the library because you’ll need them all semester.
So get a handle on your tuition benefit and then take a look at the Wash U page on the website where they outline the basic cost structure.
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Even if the benefit is limited to just tuition, WashUStL tuition free is an outstanding opportunity.
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The campus is gorgeous. For a small/mid size footprint, it’s like Disneyland - and well organized.
I’ll never forget walking the path to the residential side.
So obviously it’s top notch academically but I also think it would be a “happy” place environmentally.
And then obviously St. Louis is a great city.
The flipside is, it’s where you live (I assume) and some like to get away.
If you’re able to attend there, it’d be a great option for any student.
Best of luck as you pursue your education.
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We have a first-year there, so here are some thoughts. I have sort of matched pros and cons in a way I think might be useful.
Pro:
Many excellent schools and departments and a very flexible curriculum that encourages exploration. Many kids end up with multiple majors and/or minors.
Con:
WashU doesn’t necessarily have a brand name as a “top few for X” school for many values of X. Maybe for pre-med, but I actually don’t think that is really that important for pre-med. My two cents is all sort of next step gatekeepers are well aware WashU is a good school in general, but if you are looking for “the best” in some one area, WashU might not be it.
Pro:
Really lovely main campus, excellent housing particularly for first couple years, and many upper class students living in very nearby apartments in nice neighorhoods.
Con:
I think for some students it can end up having a sort of bubble feel where you are very much wrapped up in WashU for social life and events and so on. Which leads me to . . .
Pro:
St Louis is an interesting historic city, and there are some great amenities right near WashU, including historic ethnic neighborhoods with great restaurants, and Forest Park, which is seriously one of the best large urban parks in the world. There are also a couple Metro stops basically right next to campus which make it easy to get around further.
Con:
I think a lot of kids coming in can be some combination of intimidated or uninterested by St Louis, and so stick to the WashU bubble and do not make much use of St Louis.
Pro:
The kids are smart and active and at least the older kids we have met seem mostly to have bought into the idea of a balanced life and not needing to do things just to score prestige points and such.
Con:
I don’t think all the kids start that way. Some, but WashU also attracts its fair share of kids who were looking for a “prestigious” college that will help them get into a “top med school” or “top financial firm”, or similar, and some of those kids may need some time to really settle into a more healthy and productive mindset. Which again leads me to . . .
Pro:
There is a lot of funding for all sorts of different student activities and clubs, and so there are lots of opportunities to do something fun and/or meaningful with older students who can help serve as mentors and such.
Con:
So many choices can be a bit overwhelming, and some of those kids I was referencing might be in the mindset of trying to identify the “best” activities. I think most first-years end up not thinking that way, but it is something to know.
Overall our S24 has had a great year, not least thanks to finding a couple club sports and also because he likes St Louis and is comfortable with that sort of city. But hopefully all that gives you at least some idea of how it can work in practice as a student.
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I have read that first year students attend campus and live in one of ten different housing plans (The South 40 if I’m remembering right), so I’d assume that, for first year students, it’s necessary to live on campus? I couldn’t find it on the housing website, but maybe I’m just not reading it well enough. Thank you very much for your input, it’s greatly appreciated!
Again, that is information your mom should be able to easily ascertain if it isn’t available online. Many colleges allow local students to commute.
I had the pleasure of visiting WUSTL a number of years ago and had a very positive experience. I was impressed by the facilities, the location, the faculty who I met (just a couple of professors – one in particular but I will not name him), and the students who I interacted with.
I saw a lot of Pros.
I only was aware of two Cons. One is that it is hard to get admitted. Of course if you to get admitted this problem goes away all at once the day that you get your acceptance email.
The other Con is that if you are full pay then it is, like most private universities in the US, expensive. It sounds like you have a tuition benefit that at least helps quite a bit with this.
I think that you should find out, possibly from your mother’s HR representative, what the benefit will cover in your case. You should also figure out from your parents what you can afford.
Separately you should think about what you want in a university, and whether WUSTL would be a good fit for you. Part of this, but only part, will depend on what you are likely to want to study.
I am confident that employers throughout the US and graduate admissions at pretty much any university anywhere know how good WUSTL is.
When students have attended university close to home, sometimes they live on campus, sometimes they live at home, and sometimes they live on campus for one year for the experience and then live at home for three years to save money. In terms of attending university very close to home, if you live on campus it is still like being in a different world compared to living at home. If you live at home then you can save quite a bit and be in a familiar situation, and can still participate in campus activities.
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To my knowledge the official WashU policy is that ALL of their regular admission, full-time undergrad students must live on campus for the first year. See here:
All full-time degree-seeking undergraduate students are required to live in the residence halls their first year. This requirement does not apply to incoming transfer or incoming exchange students.
There is actually also a clause to that effect in the housing contract–see II.A. here:
However, does that mean there are never exceptions? I don’t know, but in my experience with universities there are almost always SOME exceptions to policies like this, for a variety of special cases they just don’t want to put in some public policy statement.
So I agree if this is important to you, you should work through your mom and her HR reps to see if you could get an exception. No promises, though, as to whether that would work.
Edit: By the way, being on the South 40 is a big part of the first year experience at WashU, and really a significant part of the general pro of WashU having a very good housing and dining reputation. Whether you can afford that luxury (if it will cost you) is a different question, but I do think part of the logic of the requirement is it gives their students this common experience that really is a big part of building their student community.
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