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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a close relative who chose WashU over their highly ranked state flagship (not UVA) because they (1) lived too close to the flagship and (2) was a top student who applied and was rejected by the Ivies and frankly thought they deserved something better than the flagship.  Money was not an issue.

Now in a PhD program not particularly highly ranked, and with the benefit of hindsight and maturity, they mildly regret the decision and wished they’d gone flagship.  They now will tell you it was a foolish decision financially and academically driven largely by ego.  Had they stayed local, they think, not only would they have saved a ton for a better than perfectly acceptable degree, they likely would have performed better academically and gotten into a better program.  It’s not like the state flagship doesn’t hold sway with top graduate schools — many of the best ones do.

It’s hard to argue with their revised way of thinking.  [/quote]

I went to Wash. U. and loved it.

I had so much fun there.

I could have pretty much owned a radio station if I’d understood the opportunity. I got to sit next to T.S. Elliot’s great-grandson, because his family helped start the university as a pet project.

The professors who were famous were sometimes obnoxious, but they were doing their best to be good teachers. They weren’t a bunch of arrogant creeps.

The students and professors tend to be very liberal, but with enough conservatives to allow for real diversity of opinion.

I think the school was ranked about 22 when I was there, and that seemed about right. I then went to a grad school ranked a little higher and was stunned by how much meaner it was to the undergrads. My life was plush, but the undergrads had to wait in line all night just to sign up for classes.

But Wash. U. is very expensive. It’s a humble, hardworking school that does everything it can to earn its tuition revenue. It is worth $90,000 a year for people who can afford that. But it’s certainly not worth $50,000 per year more than Maryland, UNC or UVa. for a broke donut hole family. Maybe it’s worth $10,000 per year or $20,000 per year more for a student who wants to have an easy time switching majors or having two majors.

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