Schools like WashU?

College Search & Lists
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My child (current jr) fell in love with WashU and is already planning to ED there (NPC cost is fine). I’m trying to make sure that we have some other options to apply to that also feel like a good fit.

We are in NC, and will also apply to honors at UNC, NCSU, and App State. However, she has said she’d like to go to school out of state and experience living somewhere else. Also looking to be in strong academic environment.

Here’s what she likes:
-Strong academics, but collaborative study body (not a pressure cooker)
-Large city and airport nearby
-Private (we have UNC and NCSU, so no need to pay extra for OOS public tuition)
-Loves the WashU neighborhood and the beautiful campus- so much within walking distance or a metro ride
-Likes medium size campus (3,000 to 10,000 undergrad seems like the sweet spot)
-Contained campus (didn’t like BU because the campus was so urban with busy streets amongst the campus buildings)
-Diverse student body that leans liberal
-Has zero interest in being Greek, so minimal Greek presence is a +
-No religious affiliation
-Doesn’t care about sports, so that will not be a factor
-We’d rather her stay within a day’s drive of NC - so west coast schools are out
-Accessible faculty, potential for research, and small classes beyond the survey courses (typical private school benefits)

I’d like to find some other schools for her to consider. I was thinking we’d visit Vassar, Wesleyan, and Skidmore- but I now I think they are too remote. We considered Case Western, but she changed her mind when she saw the lake affect snow totals. We still may visit. Oberlin is also too remote.

I think Wake Forest might be too conservative, preppy, and Greek for my quirky, liberal girl. We’ll still tour bc it might be a good fit for her very different twin who wants to stay closer.

Are there other private schools that might be good to consider that are little LESS selective than WashU?

Average Excellent student. She’s an IB diploma student 4.0 unweighted with strong activities. Interest in psych and neuroscience- most schools seem to be strong in these areas so not really picking by major.

Other schools that appeal to her are often more selective than WashU. We’ll tour Emory this fall- but Emory is another equally selective school.

Any other schools to consider? I’d like for her not to be so fixated on a single school when it’s so selective.

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I’d strongly recommend taking a look at William and Mary. It’s missing the “large city nearby” piece of her ideal school, but does a good job nailing the rest of what she’s looking for. It is an OOS public, but only has around 6,900 undergrads and prioritizes undergraduate teaching and research opportunities, so in many ways functions more like a private LAC. The admit rate is a little under 33%.

I plugged in some of the items on your wishlist into College Navigator (3k–10k students; admit rate higher than 10%; driving distance from NC; in urban/suburban/town environments; and a 25th percentile SAT score of 640 on each of the two SAT sections) and got this list of results.

For posterity,

  • Bucknell University – Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
  • Carnegie Mellon University – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Case Western Reserve University – Cleveland, Ohio
  • Emory University – Atlanta, Georgia
  • Georgetown University – Washington, District of Columbia
  • Lehigh University – Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Troy, New York
  • Stevens Institute of Technology – Hoboken, New Jersey
  • University of Notre Dame – Notre Dame, Indiana
  • University of Richmond – University of Richmond, Virginia
  • University of Rochester – Rochester, New York
  • Villanova University – Villanova, Pennsylvania
  • Wake Forest University – Winston-Salem, North Carolina
  • Wesleyan University – Middletown, Connecticut
  • William & Mary – Williamsburg, Virginia

You can click through to the College Navigator link above to play with the variables; you might find some other options that will work for you.

I’m interested in seeing what schools others suggest, as the “mid-size, with academicky nice kids and accessible professors” vibe is what my 2025 twins are looking for, so I’ve been keeping my eye out for schools in this vein. Right now WashU and W&M are the two “greater than 10% admit rate” schools at the top of their list.

@NiceUnparticularMan will have some good thoughts for you, as his S24 just started at WashU. I think a lot of the schools that resonated for his son are actually on the bulleted list above, but will let him speak to that.

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Emory was the first one I thought of! Since you are clear you want a notch less selective, it doesn’t quite fit that but it is similar in selectivity and meets the other criteria. So does William&Mary! Those would be my favorite two based on your goal to match WashU and stay within a decent drive.

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Thank you! William and Mary wasn’t on my radar. I definitely check it out!

I appreciate the list too!

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Rice, perhaps. Very good fit on nerdy, liberalish vibe, smart/ quirky and great for the areas she likes. Emory, also maybe Carnegie Mellon? Or is this too far a drive? Also, Vanderbilt is beautiful and in Nashville, she might like that one. Good luck! :blossom:

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These are all fantastic schools that would be a great fits. Many she has explored online since they tick all her boxes. Thank you!

Emory and Rice have both caught her eye. We’ll tour Emory this fall one day when her hs is off. We toured Vanderbilt and she definitely felt more at home at WashU. Carnegie Mellon is close enough and one we’ll have to take a closer look at.

The only thing is that all these schools are equally or even more selective than WashU. Even though she’s a great student, the acceptance rates concern me-all reaches for most students. I’d love for her to find a target school that has similar qualities that she can get excited about.

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Rice immediately came to mind. I guess it’s a long day’s drive from NC.

Maybe SMU. I was walking around the campus earlier this year and it didn’t seem all that religious.

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William and Mary was my first thought too. Also in VA, URichmond may be too small and Greek-heavy, but I do think there’s some vibe overlap with WashU there - could be worth a look.

Has she looked at Tulane? It seems to fit in terms of size, academic strength, and urban-adjacency, although the Greek presence may be heavier than she wants.

Have you considered GWU and/or American U?

Tufts isn’t an easier admit than WashU ED, but it’s in the same ballpark and could be worth an application - seems to fit her desired pattern more than BU. Maybe Brandeis as well - a little easier admit and seems to check the boxes. Possibly BC if you’re willing to flex on the religious affiliation - it’s quite liberal and inclusive. (Likewise Fordham.)

Wesleyan isn’t that remote - less than 20 miles outside of Hartford.

Would she consider one of the women’s colleges that’s in a consortium with co-ed schools? Bryn Mawr is academically strong, collaborative, easy access to Philly, and is right next to Haverford, with more than 3K students altogether (plus they’re in the Quaker Consortium with Swarthmore and UPenn). If you were considering west coast I’d say to look at Scripps and the Claremont Consortium (larger and more even combined gender balance than BMC+Haverford) but I understand not wanting to go that far. The MA 5-College Consortium schools are a bit more separate, but Smith and Mount Holyoke could deserve consideration if single-gender isn’t a deal-killer…

Lastly, maybe UMiami? It’s about 1/3 Greek but 2/3 of 12K undergrads is a lot of non-Greek students!

Fingers crossed for a WashU ED acceptance!

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Maybe Fordham? It’s Jesuit, but I don’t think it’s overtly religious. No Greek life, the Rosehill campus is lovely, there are plenty of ways to access NYC. My D22 loved mid sized universities in larger metro areas and this was one of her safety/targets. American in DC might also fit most of her preferences, too.

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Seconding Rochester and William and Mary (Fordham too, if she can overlook a bit of religious-ness.)

Bucknell, Lehigh, and Richmond have strong Greek life influence and can be tough social environments for those who aren’t participating (YMMV of course.)

I would try to get her to reconsider CWRU too. If CWRU remains out because of snow, Rochester will come off the list too.

All in all her constraints are quite constraining. I expect she’s going to get into NCSU and App state…if ok attending one of those, the rest of her list can be reaches.

I want to comment on this. I know many students who feel WashU is both of these, they can exist together. I also know a number of students who do not think WashU is all that collaborative…more so in STEM/pre-med than business.

If she is really averse to a pressure cooker environment, WashU may not be a good fit, at the very least I would encourage her to speak with more current or past students.

Good luck.

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Here’s an old thread in this exact topic. Worth a read.

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Our kids are very similar! My son is a senior, neuroscience theater kid and also has WashU on his list as a reach (he had his interview yesterday). We plan to visit if he’s accepted. He’s fallen in love with their PNP program (philosophy, neuroscience, psychology). He also seeks the unicorn that is highly academically curious student body without the grindy pre-med culture, near a big city, progressive but understanding that inclusivity means critical thinking and understanding different options, political persuasions etc.

Here’s our list:

Haverford: Also way up there as one of his favs, but probably too small for your daughter. He was looking at mid-sized schools but then we toured Haverford and it NAILED the criteria of academic without competitive and he fell in love.

The rest of our schools don’t meet all of your criterea but will share just for camparison sake: Case Western: yes, too cold for your daughter, Rochester, also too cold and not driving distance from NC, William and Mary: This was actually taken off his list because of the small town feel and lack of a nearby city, but it felt PERFECT in every other way with above mentioned criteria, Macalester: Might be too small and not driving distance but less of a reach than WashU, Vassar, Wesleyan, Drexel (too urban for you guys) and Fordham.

Good luck with this process!

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Adding several of these suggestions to consider/research. So helpful! Thanks so much!

I attended SMU 30 years ago and loved it. Sadly, I think it’s not a good fit for my daughter (too preppy, Greek, and conservative for her)

Wesleyan, CWRU, Brandeis, Rochester, Haverford, Vassar, Tufts, W&M, Macalaster are ones to add.

I thought GWU’s campus might be a little like BU- urban without a traditional campus quad feel. If that’s not the case, we will add that too.

Love the Claremont schools! But those are too far for us. The women’s schools suggested are great, but she’s not interested :frowning: Tulane might be too Greek and too big of party school.

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Take a look at the University of Rochester.

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GW does have a green area, but the school still feels pretty urban. If you are thinking DC might be a choice maybe check American - it should be an easier admit than the other schools on your list and it’s a little less downtown feeling. Georgetown also has more of a campus feel and is less in the middle of the city, but if you want to build the safety/match side of your list, I’m not sure if Georgetown helps you that much, it’s the hardest admit of the DC schools.

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U Maryland - College Park?

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Agreed—if she didn’t like BU, hard to imagine she’ll like GW. American is a good suggestion.

Just want to note that Macalester is more of a reach (significantly so) than Drexel and Fordham.

Wesleyan is not remote; it’s in a decent-sized town, and while it’s near Hartford and New Haven, I’m not sure either of those will check the “near a big city” box. New York and Boston are pretty easily accessible, but each is two hours away. Don’t get me wrong—I just dropped my kid off there, so I’m a big fan! And in pretty much every other way, it meets her requirements. But if big city adjacency is really important, it’s probably not what she’s looking for (same with Vassar).

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I think it’s important to allow for a few schools that are dramatically different from each other but have something interesting about them. Especially the medium-sized school criteria. These schools are few and far between, are often either very highly rejective or Jesuit or otherwise not in metro areas (we did a huge search for these kinds of schools 3 years ago). Kids change a lot their senior year and what looked good when they started isn’t what looked good at the end. My kid is at UCLA, a school she actually had no intention of considering (we are in state, she wanted to leave the state). She loves it. She wanted medium, she loved the vibrant energy of UCLA’s huge campus. She didn’t want Greek life, but UCLA’s huge population makes their greek life fairly inconsequential on campus. She also loved Kenyon, about as opposite from UCLA—and her original visions—in every way.

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Rice and Emory immediately came to mind for me as well. Maybe Case Western or Rochester if she is willing to go North?

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Boston College ticks every box except no religious affiliation, and it’s a very long day’s drive from North Carolina.

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