Why so much WUSTL/WashU hate on DCUM?

[Anonymous]

^ PP.

The NE believes that “the best” are smart AND hyper-ambitious. They are hard chargers. Did you see the Social Network? The movie depicts Zuckerberg’s rise from Harvard to Facebook. You can’t watch that movie without thinking, “Zuck is a d*ck.” Yet, the NE loves that kind of personality. Once you understand that, you’ll understand why posters on here say that the best are at the Ivies and everyone else couldn’t get in.

I disagree. My kid was Ivy-qualified, but never applied. He’s not cutthroat. Didn’t want to put up with d*cks, no matter their smarts. I applaud him for showing the courage to be true to himself and having an ethics of kindness and collaboration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ PP.

The NE believes that “the best” are smart AND hyper-ambitious. They are hard chargers. Did you see the Social Network? The movie depicts Zuckerberg’s rise from Harvard to Facebook. You can’t watch that movie without thinking, “Zuck is a d*ck.” Yet, the NE loves that kind of personality. Once you understand that, you’ll understand why posters on here say that the best are at the Ivies and everyone else couldn’t get in.

I disagree. My kid was Ivy-qualified, but never applied. He’s not cutthroat. Didn’t want to put up with d*cks, no matter their smarts. I applaud him for showing the courage to be true to himself and having an ethics of kindness and collaboration.

+1, I had to learnt his as someone who grew up in California. People here find it strange if you don’t try to reach to the absolute max level of ability/talent for your chosen degree/field/etc. Most people I knew growing up cared about what would give them the best experience first, given that most of their options were pretty solid. It’s why you see a lot of kids choose UCLA over Berkeley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beautiful campus, one of best dorms & food & professors (Source: Niche), which means a quality lifestyle for undergrad

Consistently ranked in the Top 15 National Universities and Top 20 on USNEWS until this year due to the ranking methodology changes, and good weather.

Other than the lack of laymen's prestige and the location of St. Louis (which is invalid because it's actually in Clayton), why is it looked down upon on DCUM? There seems to be a lot of misinformation being spread, like a 40% acceptance rate ED1/ED2 which is comically fake and untrue.

My Senior DC with high stats from a competitive high school got rejected ED2 but got into UVA, VT, Purdue. Kids from Midwest & West Coast are dying to get into schools like UofChicago, Northwestern, Rice, Washu, ETC, but East coast seems to dislike WashU specfically.

It's a great school academically, with a bright, collaborative student body. My DS's friend is very happy with the school. The part of town the school is in is pretty boring. But St. Louis still has more to offer as a town than the towns where Middlebury, Vassar, Hamilton, Dartmouth, Grinnell, Purdue, etc. are in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s because of the location. No one wants to be in Missouri these days and STL has never been a hot destination. It’s better known as the murder capital of the US. And before anyone corrects me that washu is in Clayton. Thanks I know that. I’ve spent a lot of time in STL and Clayton. WashU is a nice little bubble just outside of a really troubled and depressed city.

This.

Plus, the WashU grads I know are all a little off in various ways.

How exactly?

One guy on my block can't / won't make eye contact and grew his hair to his butt crack during Covid, I guess because he could? But he makes a good salary and comes from UMC privilege, so there's that. The other WashU grad on my block is very disciplined and sweet but socially awkward as hell and tends toward neuroticism. She too comes from great UUMC privilege.

Instead of judging WuStl on its ROI or its Wall Street feeder status, just think about having the grades/test scores to get into a college in the top 20 or so, which means they could get into a lot of really interesting, nice, fun schools in great locations in the top 75. U of Florida, Michigan, UGA, BC, BU, etc.

And with all those options, they pick Wash U.

So, what can we induce? They are likely not interested in sports very much. They probably prioritize academics over fun & being around a variety of lively people. They probably don’t intend to go off campus much, because most other colleges in the top 75 have more going on in the surrounding area. And perhaps most revealing, they almost certainly have an odd ambivalence about spending the rest of their lives explaining to hundreds of puzzled people that they went to college in ST. LOUIS, not Seattle, DC, Lexington VA, or Chestertown MD. There probably isn’t a college in the country that takes more words to explain. It would be like trying to explain the popularity of Howie Mandel to a Martian.

This last one alone would be enough for me to scratch it from my list. Life is short & I just don’t have time for that, no matter how great the academics are.

But the people who choose Wash U DO have time for it, which means they are different, & have unusual priorities. And we shouldn’t be surprised when they turn out to have only one oar in the water, or are otherwise ordering from a different menu from the rest of mankind.

My whole life when I'd tell people I went to college at Penn they say "Penn state?" and I'd say no I went to UPenn and it's different and blah blah to confused faces. It's fine. You don't always get name recognition. Pick the school you want to go to. Penn is an ivy but most people I talked to confused it with Penn State so there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The haters always have a NE bias. So, start by considering the source.

Have you ever asked a NYC person what they think about the Midwest? They speak about it pejoratively as “flyover” country. In other words, there’s no reason to go there. Period. That means Michigan, Northwestern, Chicago, WSTL, Vanderbilt, and others will never get the love that NE schools get. It’s distaste by definition.

It’s also distaste by culture. The NE prides itself in Type-A competitiveness, big city culture, name-brand elites, and prestigious Wall Street and consulting firms. The Midwest offers something else, but whatever it is, it’s not good-enough for NE hard chargers. The Midwest and its colleges might have smart kids, but they’re not as cutthroat as NE students, and for that, the NE marks them as “less than.”

No, Michigan, Chicago, and Northwestern are very well respected in the NE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ PP.

The NE believes that “the best” are smart AND hyper-ambitious. They are hard chargers. Did you see the Social Network? The movie depicts Zuckerberg’s rise from Harvard to Facebook. You can’t watch that movie without thinking, “Zuck is a d*ck.” Yet, the NE loves that kind of personality. Once you understand that, you’ll understand why posters on here say that the best are at the Ivies and everyone else couldn’t get in.

I disagree. My kid was Ivy-qualified, but never applied. He’s not cutthroat. Didn’t want to put up with d*cks, no matter their smarts. I applaud him for showing the courage to be true to himself and having an ethics of kindness and collaboration.

LOL. Your kid eliminated several top schools because of a movie about Facebook. Maybe he’s not quite “Ivy-qualified”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WashU is for kids who can’t get into Ivies. Washed Up.

Your inner-poison is showing.

[Anonymous]

I have a thing against Ivy back ups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ PP.

The NE believes that “the best” are smart AND hyper-ambitious. They are hard chargers. Did you see the Social Network? The movie depicts Zuckerberg’s rise from Harvard to Facebook. You can’t watch that movie without thinking, “Zuck is a d*ck.” Yet, the NE loves that kind of personality. Once you understand that, you’ll understand why posters on here say that the best are at the Ivies and everyone else couldn’t get in.

I disagree. My kid was Ivy-qualified, but never applied. He’s not cutthroat. Didn’t want to put up with d*cks, no matter their smarts. I applaud him for showing the courage to be true to himself and having an ethics of kindness and collaboration.

LOL. Your kid eliminated several top schools because of a movie about Facebook. Maybe he’s not quite “Ivy-qualified”.

The post didn’t connect those two. Bad reasoning on your part. The movie mention was only illustrative for readers. No mention that the movie impacted the kid’s decision whatsoever. You’d score poorly on the LSAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The haters always have a NE bias. So, start by considering the source.

Have you ever asked a NYC person what they think about the Midwest? They speak about it pejoratively as “flyover” country. In other words, there’s no reason to go there. Period. That means Michigan, Northwestern, Chicago, WSTL, Vanderbilt, and others will never get the love that NE schools get. It’s distaste by definition.

It’s also distaste by culture. The NE prides itself in Type-A competitiveness, big city culture, name-brand elites, and prestigious Wall Street and consulting firms. The Midwest offers something else, but whatever it is, it’s not good-enough for NE hard chargers. The Midwest and its colleges might have smart kids, but they’re not as cutthroat as NE students, and for that, the NE marks them as “less than.”

No, Michigan, Chicago, and Northwestern are very well respected in the NE.

Nice try, but they’re still seen as Ivy rejects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The haters always have a NE bias. So, start by considering the source.

Have you ever asked a NYC person what they think about the Midwest? They speak about it pejoratively as “flyover” country. In other words, there’s no reason to go there. Period. That means Michigan, Northwestern, Chicago, WSTL, Vanderbilt, and others will never get the love that NE schools get. It’s distaste by definition.

It’s also distaste by culture. The NE prides itself in Type-A competitiveness, big city culture, name-brand elites, and prestigious Wall Street and consulting firms. The Midwest offers something else, but whatever it is, it’s not good-enough for NE hard chargers. The Midwest and its colleges might have smart kids, but they’re not as cutthroat as NE students, and for that, the NE marks them as “less than.”

No, Michigan, Chicago, and Northwestern are very well respected in the NE.

Nice try, but they’re still seen as Ivy rejects.

No. Healthy, happy, knowledgeable people don’t think that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The haters always have a NE bias. So, start by considering the source.

Have you ever asked a NYC person what they think about the Midwest? They speak about it pejoratively as “flyover” country. In other words, there’s no reason to go there. Period. That means Michigan, Northwestern, Chicago, WSTL, Vanderbilt, and others will never get the love that NE schools get. It’s distaste by definition.

It’s also distaste by culture. The NE prides itself in Type-A competitiveness, big city culture, name-brand elites, and prestigious Wall Street and consulting firms. The Midwest offers something else, but whatever it is, it’s not good-enough for NE hard chargers. The Midwest and its colleges might have smart kids, but they’re not as cutthroat as NE students, and for that, the NE marks them as “less than.”

No, Michigan, Chicago, and Northwestern are very well respected in the NE.

Nice try, but they’re still seen as Ivy rejects.

No. Healthy, happy, knowledgeable people don’t think that way.

Totally agree, but supporters of WashU are also in the healthy, happy, knowledgeable camp. Yet, they get crapped on. No way an Ivy-or-bust personality from the NE gives Michigan, Chicago or NW a pass. It’s just the mentality.

[Anonymous]

Look, plain and simple, no NE/Ivy person is ever going to say that any US school is better than an Ivy. They just aren’t. And whatever kind words they say to your face, they’re sneering inside. That’s why it’s best to avoid these people. They have misplaced contempt.

Trump. Zuckerberg. Musk. Altman. All Ivy. All contemptible. Successful? Yes. Rich? Yes. Smart? Yes. Decent human beings? You gotta be kidding. Of course, other schools have their crazies, but the Ivies mint these crazies in droves.

[Anonymous]

I taught at a couple Ivies, Wash U., and another peer school. If their kids got into Stanford, MIT, or Caltech then DCUM snobs hate the Ivies. If their kid barely got into one Ivy, then they hate Northwestern. If their kid got into Northwestern or Chicago, then they hate Wash. U. They don't want to share status.

USNews rates some Ivies as low as #15. The next private National Universities are Rice, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon, Wash U., Emory, Georgetown, USC, NYU. So Wash. U. is solidly in the second 15 schools. Georgetown has great placement in finance and probably State Department, but Wash. U. has better STEM and a suburban campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I taught at a couple Ivies, Wash U., and another peer school. If their kids got into Stanford, MIT, or Caltech then DCUM snobs hate the Ivies. If their kid barely got into one Ivy, then they hate Northwestern. If their kid got into Northwestern or Chicago, then they hate Wash. U. They don't want to share status.

USNews rates some Ivies as low as #15. The next private National Universities are Rice, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon, Wash U., Emory, Georgetown, USC, NYU. So Wash. U. is solidly in the second 15 schools. Georgetown has great placement in finance and probably State Department, but Wash. U. has better STEM and a suburban campus.

Totally agree, but it begs the question why the status accrues in the first place. As you said, some Ivies consistently rank below non-Ivy schools. What say the Ivy hounds? There’s higher and lower Ivy.

What’s really being prioritized by “Ivy” is smarts and ADHD-level ambition. Not everyone who attends an Ivy is like this, but those who standout, do.

It’s not that ambition itself is bad, but pathological ambition is bad because it routinely runs over people and institutions and leaves society with the fallout/consequences.