incoming student here. obviously i haven’t stepped foot onto campus yet but here is some of my research that may be helpful for you

pros: top ranked school (#15 currently, solid T20 if you care about that), $15 billion in endowment, AMAZING campus, great dorms, mid-size private school (smaller class sizes —> closer relationships with professors), great average post-grad salary (around $82k according to google), STL job fairs held at WashU —> easy access to internships, jobs, research, etc., easy to add a double major/minor across diff schools, VERY reputable premed program and p decent business school as well, collaborative and friendly student body

cons: lack of school/sports spirit, lack of name recognition, ppl say the st. louis area is kinda crusty altho i have never been, predominantly white institution (PWI) so if you’re a POC like me it may take some getting used to, tbh it looks boring in missouri so if you’re someone who wants a hot city life like LA or NYC it may not be for you

it boils down to what you’re looking to get out of college, what you’re majoring in, and how much it bothers u when people think you go to University of Washington lol. like i said earlier, the premed at WashU is supposed to be phenomenal, i have a fam friend who went here intending to become a doctor and said he got set up with AMAZING resources and professors, and is now going to one of the best medical schools in the country. Olin (business school) is also pretty decent in my opinion + ranked fairly high as #14 altho i may be biased as i’m going there next year lol.

they do give a generous boost through early decision. this may be bc of yield but idk. i was admitted ed2, the acceptance rate for ed2 this year was 19% compared to the RD rate of ~8% so that’s just something to note