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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My HS junior DD LOVES WashU and I know she’d get a great education but is it worth paying full-price for? It has a good reputation, but not great. Where’s the line? [/quote]

I’m the PP who went to Wash. U.

I loved it there, and it does have some merit aid.

In my opinion, for undergraduates, for most programs, it’s probably roughly at the same level as UVa., UNC or Texas. Those are all great schools, and good graduates from those schools probably have about the same chance of getting into top grad schools and professional schools as otherwise similar Harvard grads, but no employer will swoop in and suck up the Wash. U. or UVa. art history majors with a tractor beam just to get into their contact lists.

Wash. U. probably has a lot less red tape than a typical state school, but it was big enough and cold enough that when I was there, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, anxious people had problems.

So, it was great for a serious student who wanted a flexible curriculum and a reasonably down-to-earth atmosphere, but it wasn’t necessarily any better than UVa. for students intimidated by the idea of going to a big school.

If I could figure out how to make it happen, I’d be open to paying $10,000 or $15,000 more for Wash. U. than my state flagship if the state flagship was known mainly for its sports teams. But I wouldn’t be quick to pay more for Wash. U. if the flagship was UVa. or UNC.

If I were willing to pay extra because I had a nervous kid, I’d focus more on liberal arts colleges than on a place like Wash. U.[/quote]

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