Had to throw in a response here even though the thread is old - I do think WashU is a secret to some, and I’m a case in point that has now come full circle!
I grew up in NC and went (in the 90s) to Princeton. Accepted Early Action - also received a Morehead Scholarship to University of North Carolina (which I declined). Only other schools I applied to were Duke and Dartmouth which I withdrew after the above decision. I did a whole east coast tour and never heard of WashU from a single resource in North Carolina back then. (To the original poster, maybe it’s a Southern/East Coast thing?)
Flash forward, my Princeton grad husband went to Stanford GSB, I went to Hopkins for a masters in history. Still never heard of WashU!
We moved to Maryland and had a daughter applying (in 2019) to college for Fall 2020 which is the FIRST time I ever heard of WashU. Some of the private schools here had some students there - was a dream school of a friend of hers that did not get in. (My oldest went to Davidson in NC. Also a “secret,” but that’s another post!)
A year and a half later, I visited with my younger daughter (peak Covid so no tour but we visited a classmate of my 2020 daughter) and we were BLOWN away. Had read that it was highly regarded and in top 10 of Universities but had NO idea that it was so beautiful (I’m biased but architectural similarities to Princeton make my heart happy), had so much to offer academically, the uniqueness of the South 40 and Villages living situation, the different schools, the cool vibe of The Loop. No idea!
So, as I said in opening, we’ve gone from no idea to completely impressed. My youngest is now attending WashU in Class of 2026.
(My completely personal $0.02 - I kind of think some of it is that WashU just set about building it’s own stellar university out in St. Louis and doesn’t care what the “old folks” (Ivies) or other top schools are doing. My DD loved how early WashU admitted women as compared to some of those on similar lists. Daughter is a Comp Sci/STEM student and in that regard, WashU just built and opened one of the only dedicated, new Comp Sci buildings we saw at many of these schools in the McKelvey Engineering area. It’s incredible. (Starbucks named “Bytes” in the lobby and on the meal plan!) She wants to double major with Chemistry which is in Arts & Sciences, which she can do - and there are several other dual comp sci programs incl with math and business. Beyond the Arts & Sciences and McKelvey School of Engineering, it has the Olin Business School or the Sam Fox School of Art & Architecture. Reminds me a little of Vanderbilt in its different school structures. Anyway, the uniqueness of the living community with the South 40, the number of food options was fairly unparalleled with the other east coast schools she considered. It had stayed on the list since we saw it - so I guess I’d encourage anyone with a curious student to consider it!)