A hidden gem no more

When Bethany Ehlmann first started thinking about colleges, she'd never even heard of Washington University in St. Louis. Ehlmann, who grew up in Tallahassee, Fla., was a superstar in high school--a National Merit Scholar with a 1590 on her SAT s. Her sights were set on a few of the usual suspects: Princeton, Duke, and the University of Chicago.

So what's so great about Wash U.? Students say there isn't much not to love about it. Ninety-eight percent of freshmen and 88 percent of sophomores live on a campus populated by nearly 6,000 full-time undergrads and about the same number of grad students. The school is the perfect size, says 2004 grad James Ward: "Small enough to walk to class and see people you know but big enough you don't see the people you don't want to see." Even the climate is agreeable. "We have sunshine enough for sentiment and snow enough for courage," as one chancellor put it.

Wash U. may be a major research university, but its students have the pampered glow of undergrads at a much smaller school. Professors are widely praised for their accessibility. "There's almost never a class where eventually the newborn baby pictures don't come out," says Juliet DiLeo, a recent grad. A faculty adviser is assigned to each freshman dorm floor; many meet students weekly in the dining hall to chat informally about math or philosophy. And senior and junior faculty really teach; grad students running classrooms are almost unheard of.

What do students do for fun? "On most weekends," says 2004 grad Jennifer Semon, "I [could] be found swing dancing with the Swing Club." Downtown St. Louis is only a 20-minute drive away, but students seem to linger closer to campus--if they have time to linger at all. "I mean, I'm working 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day," says Matilsky, between classes, gymnastics practice, sorority activities, and her duties as a student government representative. "It's so hard, but it's so fun. I love going full-bore." The biggest controversy on campus seems to be whether the old dorms, with communal bathrooms, are better than the new ones, which have private bathrooms. That is troubling to some. "If there's anything that bothers me," says Ryan Lawson, a recent grad, "it's that we work too hard--that we're too coddled."

Then again, a school whose biggest problems are overpampered students and low name recognition may not really have any problems at all. Oh, but there is one thing that worries the cream of the crop here at Wash U.: As undergrads watch the classes behind them clamoring for admission, says senior Langley Snyder, "none of us think we could get in anymore."

Washington University in St. Louis

Undergrad enrollment: 5,912 full time, 1,276 part time; 53 pct. female, 47 pct. male

Tuition, 2004-05: $30,546

Room and board: $9,640

Combined SAT, 25th-75th percentile: 1320-1480

Acceptance rate: 20 pct.

•	A hidden gem no more U.S.News & World Report, Monday, Aug. 23, 2004 Byline: Justin Ewers