No longer simply a backup to the Ivies, WashU has emerged as a nationally competitive university with a wholesome Midwestern feel. Core strength in the biological sciences, but strong across the disciplines. Maintains low acceptance rate-and higher ranking-by favoring early decision and denying top applicants who it thinks will enroll elsewhere. Preprofessional orientation, yet encourages exploration.

Though it’s always been well recognized regionally, Washington University in St. Louis long ago established itself as a truly national institution-with a friendly, relaxed Midwestern feel that differentiates it from the high-strung Eastern Ivies. Applications have skyrocketed, and with a hefty $8 billion endowment, strong preprofessional programs, and an emphasis on research, it’s not hard to see why. An architecture major says, “WashU is a high-end, collaborative research institution dedicated more to the growth of its students than the growth of its own personal brand.”

WashU was founded in 1853 and given its name to honor George Washington and his service to the country. Its 169-acre campus adjoins Forest Park, one of the nation’s largest urban parks. Buildings are constructed in the collegiate Gothic style, mostly in red Missouri granite and white limestone, with plenty of climbing ivy, gargoyles, and arches. The state-of-the-art Knight and Bauer Halls are home to the Olin Business School and include classrooms designed to enhance student and faculty interaction. As part of a major construction initiative on the east end of campus, completed in 2019, the university built four new academic and multiuse facilities for arts and engineering, expanded the campus art museum, and added a new dining pavilion and the Sumers Welcome Center.

Undergraduates enroll in one or more of WashU’s five divisions-arts and sciences, architecture, art, business, or engineering. General education requirements vary by school and program. The university’s offerings in the natural sciences, particularly biology and chemistry, have long been notable, especially among those on the premed track. The outstanding medical school runs a faculty exchange program with the undergraduate biology department, which affords bio majors significant opportunities to conduct advanced laboratory research. WashU’s business, engineering, architecture, and design programs are traditional strengths as well, and biomedical engineering has become a specialty. Double majors are encouraged, and interdisciplinary majors, such as philosophy-neuroscience-psychology and business and computer science, are growing rapidly.

Each academic division offers options for incoming freshmen to acclimate to the university environment and explore their options. In Arts & Sciences, for instance, students may take first-year seminars on diverse topics, such as The Secret Lives of Plants and Introduction to Memory Studies. Similarly, the Olin Business School’s Foundations of Business Course, taught by senior faculty, focuses on a different topic each week. Students in the Beyond Boundaries program take team-taught, cross-disciplinary courses on a range of topics across the university’s five divisions in their first year, before moving into the division of their choice as sophomores. Those seeking even broader horizons may study in more than 50 different countries, and roughly a third do so, often through faculty-led programs during the summer. Students report that it’s easy to get involved with WashU’s extensive research projects. “When I declared my psychology major, I was handed a stack of papers with about 45 different research opportunities (in the psych department alone!),” a sophomore enthuses.

Students agree that while academics are rigorous, the university’s collaborative atmosphere is a major factor that sets it apart from its Ivy League competitors. “It’s not a competitive culture or a weed-out school,” comments an English and political science major. Those who are struggling will find plenty of help from teaching assistants (who conduct review sessions), academic advisors, study groups, and even a 24-hour peer counseling service called Uncle Joe’s. Sixty-six percent of classes have fewer than 20 students, and undergrads have uncommon access to one-on-one mentoring relationships with top faculty. “The professors are brilliant and extremely accomplished, but they are also extremely down-to-earth,” says an economics major.

“Most WashU students are really passionate about something but are rarely pretentious about it,” says a junior. Eighty-two percent of undergraduates are out-of-staters, with a large contingent from Eastern states like New York and New Jersey, and another 8 percent are international. African Americans comprise 9 percent, Hispanics 10 percent, Asian Americans 16 percent, and multiracial students 5 percent. “The Center for Diversity and Inclusion has become like a second home to me because of the great study space and the opportunities to have necessary dialogues with excellent professionals and fellow students,” says a sophomore. Students are engaged in social and political issues, especially racial justice and renewable energy, and tend to be moderate but left-leaning.

Academic scholarships averaging $15,100 are awarded each year, but there are no athletic scholarships. The university meets the full demonstrated financial need of admitted students. As part of its efforts to become more socioeconomically diverse, WashU has replaced loans with grants for students from families with incomes below $75,000, in addition to awarding them more than $3,500 in grants to offset costs like the purchase of a personal computer. A sophomore notes that, socially, “A person who is from a low-income background may have a difficult time fitting in due to the ‘spending’ culture at WashU.”

Seventy-two percent of WashU students live in campus housing, including the co-ed dormitories known as residential colleges. “The rooms are larger than your average dorm room, and we have Tempur-Pedic mattresses,” boasts a student. “If that doesn’t qualify us as best housing, I don’t know what would.” Freshmen and most sophomores live on the “South 40” (40 acres located just south of the main campus); freshmen are guaranteed rooms, and gender-inclusive housing is available as an option. Upperclassmen may live in university-owned apartments, and some choose true off-campus digs in the nearby neighborhoods of University City and Clayton, where apartments are reasonably priced. Meal plans may be used in any of the dining centers, which students say are excellent. “Dining Services offers a wealth of options, with international cuisine, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, kosher, halal, and more available at each and every dining location,” cheers a junior. Students give good ratings to campus safety, and a sophomore says, “Students are very well educated on all the resources available to address the issue of sexual assault.”

“The social life is as abundant as each student makes it,” says a junior, with ample options both on and off campus. WashU students pride themselves on being able to balance work and play, and on weekends movies, fraternity parties, and concerts tear them away from their books. Every spring, the whole campus turns out for the century-old Thurtene Carnival, the oldest student-run philanthropic festival in the country. Student groups-especially fraternities and sororities, which attract 26 percent of the men and 39 percent of the women-build booths, sell food, and put on plays; profits are donated to a children’s charity. Four student-led cultural shows-Diwali, Lunar New Year Festival, Black Anthology, and Carnaval-are always well attended. Another big event is WILD (Walk In Lay Down), held at the beginning and end of the academic year. Everyone brings blankets and inflatable couches to the main quad, assumes a horizontal position, and listens to big-name bands. Alcohol policies emphasize safe and responsible drinking, and students say that, in that regard, they are effective.

WashU offers robust recreational options because of its location abutting Forest Park: a golf course, an ice-skating rink, a zoo, a lake with boat rentals, art and history museums, an outdoor theater, and a science center are all within a short walk. So too are the restaurants, bars, shops, and galleries of the Delmar Loop. The St. Louis Blues and Cardinals attract pro hockey and baseball fans, and the city is also home to the addictive Ted Drewes frozen custard. The school runs a free shuttle service to parts of St. Louis not within walking distance and offers a Metro Pass for free access to the city’s bus and light-rail systems. “St. Louis is often described as the largest small town you will ever visit or the smallest big city you will ever see,” says a sophomore. “I appreciate St. Louis because there is plenty to do without it being overwhelming.” Community service programs such as Each One Teach One, in partnership with the city’s schools, attract a sizable number of students. The best road trips include Chicago, Nashville, Memphis, and Lake of the Ozarks, as well as Columbia, Missouri-home of the University of Missouri.

The WashU Bears compete in Division III, and women’s cross-country and track and field are recent national champions. Women’s basketball, soccer, and volleyball are national powerhouses as well, and men’s track and field and baseball were among the teams that claimed University Athletic Association conference titles in 2019–20. Three-quarters of the students play intramural sports, ranging from badminton, racquetball, and flag football to pocket billiards and ultimate Frisbee, and 35 club sports are popular too.

Word among high school counselors is that no one gets admitted to selectivity-conscious WashU through regular admissions-you are either locked in through early admissions or cherry-picked off the waitlist. But however they get there, students find WashU both academically challenging and personally supportive. As one senior reflects, “The atmosphere is not only about learning academically, but growing as a person.”

-Fiske Guide