My daughter is a junior in HS and she has a list of colleges to see. One of them is Washington U in St. Louis. I want to go this summer. We will be traveling from Akron, OH. My sister lives in Indiana and we thought we could combine the trip and take our parents for their 75th and 80th birthdays. My dad loves Casinos and mom likes almost anything. We like nature and museums. Sister and family like sports. Fisrt, has anyone been or attended this university and do you have any comments? Also, is this a good locale for a family reunion type trip that will have enough for everyone? I've done some research and it seems there is alot more than just the arch! Also, any suggestions on where to stay? what Casinos are good?
Thanks!

Hi, Wash U. is one of my alma maters, and it is a lovely school. It was first on my daughter's list, but they recently declined to accept her offer to attend there. I

St.Louis is a prime reunion town, partly because there are so many great free family activities: art museum, zoo, brewery tour. A great botanical garden. Then there are the Cardinals. Come early in summer, before the solstice, to avoid the worst of the heat and humiditiy.

Casinos galore, but I never go.

How many of you are there? Have you checked vrbo.com for B&B's? There's a nice guest house in the Central West End area, with hotels nearby.

Dear Stoke,Wow, alma mater! Cool! She found it on her own. I had never heard of it. I'm sorry your daughter was declined. Where else is she looking? We are going to go to Va this week to see UVA and C of WM. We'll see Williamsburg too. We've also looked at Miami of OH and C of Wooster. Back to the trip, there will be 12 of us. My BIL loves the Cardinals so he'll be happy. I read about the gardens too. sounds great. I looked at VRBO but there were only about 4 places downtown unless I should be looking at nearby suburbs? I also read about the loop. Is this a drive or is there trsnsportation like a bus or tram?

My daughter and son-in-law live in St. Louis and we'll be going there in April again. I agree...there are lots of free things to do as was mentioned. Love the botanical gardens...get donuts at the shop on the corner just outside. They recently made their debut on the Food Channel. Definitely go to "the Loop" and make sure to eat at "Fitz's" on the main street there. While you eat you can see them cap root beer in bottles! And make sure to order and endless one. Or better yet their Root Beer Float with vanilla ice cream. The museum under the Arch is wonderful. Also "City Museum" in the Loft District is a hands-on crazy place for kids (and adventurous adults)which is 5 floors, including a suspended plane!
For food: definately try Pho Grand on South Grand, a Vietnamese restaurant which is very inexpensive, popular, and the "best in St. Louis". Cool decor too. And this is my last favorite...frozen custard at Ted Drewe's! It's very, very popular and you'll wait...but it's worth it.
Enjoy your trip!

Hi, runnersmom,
The Central West End area is not downtown (that's where the carriage house is in vrbo, that unfortunately only sleeps 4 but walkable nearby hotel The Chase www.chaseparkplaza.com ) is well, central, walkable to the Metrolink system, restaurants, and charming old neighborhoods. Adjacent to Forest Park, where zoo and some of the museums are.

Up the street from Wash U is the Cheshire Inn, www.cheshirelodge.net on bus line and also very near Forest Park. Downtown Clayton is on Metrolink line, which would take you to Wash U's 2 Metro stops. Hotels in downtown Clayton also. Does Wash U provide a list of hotels? When I hosted a reunion here 8 yrs ago, we had some people stay in B&Bs, some camp in our yard, and some in a Red Roof for the budget conscious.

My daughter's rejection letter said 22,000 applied this year for 1,300 spots; around 7% sheesh. When she slept in the dorm the word was it was tougher to get into than Yale.

I just mostly wanted her nearby, of course, but really preferred a small liberal arts school for her. It's starting to look like either Beloit or St. Olaf; she applied early decision to both of them. Kenyon would be nice, and Grinnell, but we're still waiting to hear from them. We toured Wm and Mary last spring when we were in VA anyway for a wedding, because we know someone who teaches there. Lovely campus.
The whole college thing has been quite an education!

Let me know if I can be of any help.

Thank you both for the info. It was very helpful. Only 7%! Man! that is hard to get it! Well, ya never know I guess. You're right, this college hunt is an education in itself! Hopefully we'll have it down by the time our 2nd daughter goes 4 years later.

Good Luck to your daughter!

I just saw this and started grinning. My Senior daughter had her heart set on NYU. We toured there and Fordham and she loved them. When we got home, she started sending applications and never even sent them to NY. She decided that she needed to be closer to home (Louisville) and focused on the long haul (medical school) She first wanted Washington, but now has decided to attend St Louis University. I am so glad the search is over.We're going up there in 2 weeks and I am so excited.

Hi, runnersmom,
After filling in all the forms and financial aid things for 9 different schools, and wrestling with the good old College Board website, I told my younger dtr she could apply to maybe 2 colleges max.

LLinda, congratulations on St.Louis U. A very good school, and the med school, too. I hope she loves it here.

runnersmom, I suspect you and/or your daughter have already discovered the College Confidential website but in case you haven't, here's the link to its college forum:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...-universities/

There's a ton of great stuff on this site which you can find by going to their home page.

My nephew is a soph at Wash U and he loves it. He's majoring in Poly Sci and Computer Science.

I've lived in StL since 1979. The "Loop" describes an area of StL in University City which pretty much encompasses about 12 blocks along one particular street (Delmar Blvd). It's where a lot of the Wash U and "younger crowd" hang out. There are some neat things there for us older folks, too.

As far as where to put up 12 people, you're looking at a hotel and the choices pretty much come down to staying downtown or near Clayton, where Wash U is located. Clayton is about 8 miles due west of the downtown area. You can get between downtown and Clayton by car in about 15 minutes. Relatively easy drive. I'd suggest staying in the area where you'll be spending most of your time and can get the best hotel rates.

The Art Museum and Zoo, both excellent, are in Forest Park which borders Clayton. The Science Center is near Forest Park. The Botanical Gardens (world class) are located in between Clayton and downtown. The Loop is just 5 minutes north of Clayton.

Downtown has casinos, the Arch with its great Westward Expansion museum, the City Museum (fun for kids), and the Anheiser Busch Brewery which has a good tour.

Grant's Farm is great fun, too. It's a little south and west of the Clayton area. http://www.grantsfarm.com/

The Butterfly House is neat altho it's about 20 minutes due west of Clayton. http://www.butterflyhouse.org/visit/default.aspx

The Cardinal games may be sold out if you're coming here on a weekend. I'd check on availability ASAP if that's a priority: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/tic...x.jsp?c_id=stl

There's a brand new Drury Inn stategically located at I-44 and Hampton Ave which would be very convenient for Wash U, Forest Park, the Loop and it's just a 15 minute drive from there to downtown. It's not a place where you'd walk out the door and be in a neat neighborhood. It's right off the interstate. But as far as being centrally located, I'd strongly consider it. http://www.druryhotels.com/properties/forestpark.cfm

Hope some of this helps.

Here are some other StL threads which might be helpful:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35042998

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34853912

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34937023

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34883942

Dear dcd and Linda,
thanks for all the info. I will be printing it all out and researching! I would like my daughter closer to home too. And we do have good schools in OH but when they're in your back yard, they never even want to look at them. I don't want to limit her either. She has done so well for herself so far and I'm sure she'll do fine wether I'm near or far. I hope I'll know better which schools not to bother with after her. She wants a good liberal arts school,
preferably DIV III, nice town near by, recreational ski club, and a study abroad program. She has the Princeton Review book "366 best colleges", and has started a spreadsheet of all their qualifications. Can you tell she likes research?!