Academics
Wide-ranging exploration and customized learning are the driving forces at Washington University in St. Louis, where students can design their own curriculum thanks to an “academic flexibility” that allows students to explore many different areas of study and find their passions. WashU focuses on the balanced student: “academically involved, part of many student groups, really immersed in the culture here.” The “collaborative culture” is apparent in all aspects of the school, and because students here are so dedicated to their studies, there are “many clubs dedicated to specific areas” of academics, as well as research opportunities. The school’s Center for Experiential Learning lets students put their learnings into practice and consult with actual companies or create mock business, and it is “easy to switch schools and majors” for students that find a new interest pulling them. Even first-year seminars “sometimes include out-of-class components like research or travel,” and the school encourages civic engagement like local service projects, even building them into some classes. Additionally, around 40 percent of students study abroad during their time at WashU.
Academics are “great, but incredibly difficult,” but the support systems in place for first-year students “help ease the college transition immensely,” and the administration “deeply cares about the well-being of the students.” For classes that need more resources (such as introductory courses like chemistry, biology, physics), there are “homework help sessions and tutoring groups that you can access easily.” Professors are similarly “wonderful” and “encourage building personal relationships.” Students particularly love the real world applications of their classes: “We get to work with real companies, choose semester-long projects that interest our teams, and enjoy the humor that our professors bring to lectures.” Best of all, for almost any program a student chooses to pursue, there is “flexibility so you can major or minor or take classes across schools without red tape.”
