Is WashU where fun goes to die

[Anonymous]

I went to Wash U and loved it- amazing academics and super fun social scene. I was involved in greek life but had plenty of friends who were not. It's definitely not a 'party school' but kids work hard and play hard. I went many years ago, but we do have several friends with kids who have graduated over the past few years and one friend with a sophomore there and they all love it. They are bright, hard working, well rounded kids, and they definitely party too.

[Anonymous]

It's become a UPenn spill over school with super grindy kids who think inside the box and are wealthy. I know three kids who transferred and a couple who are there now and one loves it (but plays a sport) and one doesn't like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's become a UPenn spill over school with super grindy kids who think inside the box and are wealthy. I know three kids who transferred and a couple who are there now and one loves it (but plays a sport) and one doesn't like it.

DD transferred from WashU to USC for this exact reason. Felt very out of place with the student body, who are very invested in grind culture and constant work, while DD was looking for a balance between hard work and community/exploration. The education was amazing, but she just couldn't find like-minded students who weren't obsessed with doing anything for school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Np here. I hear the same concerns from my senior dd. I dont really understand, because in the past, I used to hear washu kids were happy. Now I just hear it's grindy no fun, kids struggle socially, etc. I know they dont have sports, but Aren't there active frats and sororities? Is this negative view just on social media or is it reality? I would also like to have more info on this topic.

What are you talking about? Wash U is a Division III school, OF COURSE they have an athletics program. You sound like an idiot. https://washubears.com

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are washu and hopkins similar from a social/academic vibe perspective?

Honestly, I think Hopkins is more fun. They have more Greek life and lacrosse is d1, which promotes school spirit. But as I said earlier, not all kids need parties to have fun. Wash U seems to be for more introverted, studious kids, much like Emory.

So bizarre. No college students are going lacrosse games.

You obviously didn’t go to a school with a top lacrosse team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are washu and hopkins similar from a social/academic vibe perspective?

Honestly, I think Hopkins is more fun. They have more Greek life and lacrosse is d1, which promotes school spirit. But as I said earlier, not all kids need parties to have fun. Wash U seems to be for more introverted, studious kids, much like Emory.

So bizarre. No college students are going lacrosse games.

You obviously didn’t go to a school with a top lacrosse team.

I very likely did. Actually, I checked and I went to a college with the best lacrosse team: Princeton. No one gives half a damn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this true? My dd applied despite hearing this. When we visited she felt like the students looked miserable, which surprised me because I have heard of happy students there. She was thinking of switching her app to ED2 but now has second thoughts.

Not at all true, it is as much or more fun/less stress than most T15/ivy types. It was ranked in the top 15 quite recently and belongs in the same grouping and is close enough to an ivy peerwise. None of the private T20ish are tons and tons of "fun" if you mean crazy drinking all the time and can easily go out 3 nights a week and study only a few hours on sunday and still make Bs. These schools are filled with high achieving students. WashU is no more grindy than any other school and is less grindy than MIT, CMU and a couple others. Students have a reasonable amount of fun yet also study hard and care about school, and are involved on campus. However only your student will be able to assess whether it is a good fit for them.

This attempt to make it sound fun makes it sound very not fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are washu and hopkins similar from a social/academic vibe perspective?

Honestly, I think Hopkins is more fun. They have more Greek life and lacrosse is d1, which promotes school spirit. But as I said earlier, not all kids need parties to have fun. Wash U seems to be for more introverted, studious kids, much like Emory.

So bizarre. No college students are going lacrosse games.

You obviously didn’t go to a school with a top lacrosse team.

I very likely did. Actually, I checked and I went to a college with the best lacrosse team: Princeton. No one gives half a damn.

I guarantee you that lacrosse games are well attended and even nationally televised, clearly you know nothing about the sport or who goes to games. You were probably in the library on Saturday afternoons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Wash U and loved it- amazing academics and super fun social scene. I was involved in greek life but had plenty of friends who were not. It's definitely not a 'party school' but kids work hard and play hard. I went many years ago, but we do have several friends with kids who have graduated over the past few years and one friend with a sophomore there and they all love it. They are bright, hard working, well rounded kids, and they definitely party too.

It’s definitely no longer a play hard school, but it’s still work hard.

[Anonymous]

OP, almost all of the top 20 schools that used to be “fun” are now grindy and competitive. The top schools that are fun in 2024 are USC, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth and Chicago.

[Anonymous]

Vanderbilt is definitely fun an amazing education but the grade deflation and girl cliques could be stressful for some.

[Anonymous]

Anyone have experience with the business school, Olin? More or less grindy? Fun?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt is definitely fun an amazing education but the grade deflation and girl cliques could be stressful for some.

There is not grade deflation at Vandy, actually the opposite.

[Anonymous]

Vanderbilt def has grade deflation. It’s gotten better but it’s a known thing. So do wash u and Lehigh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are washu and hopkins similar from a social/academic vibe perspective?

Honestly, I think Hopkins is more fun. They have more Greek life and lacrosse is d1, which promotes school spirit. But as I said earlier, not all kids need parties to have fun. Wash U seems to be for more introverted, studious kids, much like Emory.

So bizarre. No college students are going lacrosse games.

You obviously didn’t go to a school with a top lacrosse team.

I very likely did. Actually, I checked and I went to a college with the best lacrosse team: Princeton. No one gives half a damn.

Princeton Mlax was good in '90s and recently rebounded, but had a lot unranked years in between. Still, 6,000 people go to rivalry Mbasketball games at Jadwin Gym, 5,500 for football at Powers Field, and 2,500 go to rivalry lacrosse games at Class of '52 stadium, but probably only 25% of crowd is undergrads at all 3. So yeah, not a lot of Princeton students at athletic events in general.