Schools like WashU?

[Vertigo75]

@NiceUnparticularMan

Ursinus does not get a lot of discussion around here, but it is right outside of Philly. Drexel is also right in Philly.

Not trying to come across as nit-picky so please don’t take my post that way but Ursinus isn’t really right outside of Philly. It’s about 30 miles NW of Philly without easy access to the city unless you have a car. Even then the drive can take close to an hour depending on the time of day. Villanova and Swarthmore would be suburban schools that are closer to the city with much easier access.

Just don’t want people to think it is close by. It is a great little school, though! Kind of like a hidden gem.

[NiceUnparticularMan]

No, that is a good clarification. By my standards, that still counts as reasonably close, but you are right it is not as close and convenient as, say, the Main Line LACs.

[Vertigo75]

Yeah, I just know it after my years of frustration driving on 422 and 76.

[prezbucky]

WashU is the premier private university in St. Louis. Its close academic peer group – perhaps coincidentally – are also mostly in cities and enjoy similar stature:

Rice - Houston
Vanderbilt - Nashville
Emory - Atlanta
Carnegie Mellon - Pittsburgh
Georgetown - Washington, DC
Notre Dame - South Bend (outlier)

With respect to other private schools with strong academics but which are less selective, many good examples have been listed.

[HWilliamson]

@Mwfan1921

@NCmummers

but collaborative study body (not a pressure cooker)

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.

Just to clarify, it is the STEM / pre-med students who think WashU is not that collaborative? I know someone applying who thinks the same thing as the OP and wants to avoid a school with a pressure cooker reputation (eg like Cornell) and thought WashU was a good fit on the challenging but collaborative front.

[merc81]

Has anyone mentioned WashU’s athletic conference? This can offer consolidated suggestions of relatively similar schools:

University Athletic Association

[Publisher]

Great list except that these schools are not “less selective” than WashUStL.

Recommend that OP think about ED options as well as state flagship honors colleges which offer merit scholarships.

(Vanderbilt, Emory, Rice, and WashUStL are often lumped together–for good reason–as similar schools, but all are most selective.)

[NiceUnparticularMan]

@Publisher

as well as state flagship honors colleges which offer merit scholarships.

I want to second this advice, and also note different honors programs/colleges come in different flavors, with some being more robust than others. I think the ones where they actually are their own academic unit with their own classes (not necessarily full majors, but for a lot of the core/gen ed stuff), sometimes even with their own buildings, can perhaps have a lot of the feel the OP’s kid is looking for.

I know they are looking at North Carolina honors programs, but I know Clemson and South Carolina both have really well-regarded Honors programs. There have been a lot of mentions of William & Mary as a very WashUesque college to begin with, and then they also have the Monroe Scholars program. Again, just some suggestions proximate to North Carolina to maybe check out.

[NCmummers]

I appreciate all the comments and suggestions!

[12131488888]

My kid is a current WashU senior. The experience has been extremely collaborative and not “pressure cooker” in any way. This is in the business school, but the same is true of the pre-meds. Several friends have relatives at Cornell, and WashU is NOT at all that type of high stress environment.