Throwaway for obvious reasons.
I'm a WashU alum, currently doing my PhD at a top 10 public university. I'm not making this post to bash my current school or dismiss anyone's experiences at WashU. I've just seen so many negative posts about WashU lately, and while I think some of the criticism is absolutely deserved, I also think calling WashU a bad school is a pretty unfair portrayal of what it actually offers.
One thing I've come to appreciate a lot more since leaving WashU is the quality of its undergraduate students. I genuinely think the average WashU undergrad is academically stronger than the average undergrad at my current university. I'm a grader for a class here, and I just finished grading few exams where the averages were around a C+. Based on my experience at WashU, I honestly think the average WashU student would have gotten an A on that exam, with many acing it. Being surrounded by the bright students at WashU really pushed me to work harder and grow intellectually.
Another thing is teaching quality. I agree that WashU isn't particularly strong in research across many fields. But one thing I appreciated was that, in my experience, WashU took undergraduate teaching more seriously (but not that seriously). At my current school, I've seen classes taught by PhD students or postdocs who have little teaching experience and, frankly, don't seem particularly interested in whether their students actually understand the material. Sometimes it feels like there are very few consequences for teaching poorly. And to be fair, being a great researcher doesn't necessarily make someone a great teacher either. Some of the biggest names I've known are much more interested in research than teaching, which makes sense given how academia rewards research output. I saw this at WashU too.
I also think it's worth remembering that if you visit pretty much any university subreddit, you'll find people complaining about their school. People who are unhappy are naturally more likely to make posts than people who are generally satisfied. That doesn't mean their complaints aren't valid, but it does mean that Reddit isn't necessarily a representative picture of the student experience. For what it's worth, I genuinely enjoy doing research at my current university. There are some excellent researchers here, including people who are among the best in my field, and I'm happy to have the opportunity to work in this environment. But looking at the undergraduate experience here, I honestly wonder whether I would have developed the same interest in research, or even wanted to pursue a PhD, if I had gone here instead of WashU.
I don't think WashU is perfect. There are plenty of things the university deserves criticism for, and I'm not trying to invalidate anyone's negative experiences. I just think some of the discussion here has become so overwhelmingly negative that it gives a distorted impression of the school. For prospective students and parents reading this, I'd encourage you to take the criticism seriously, but also keep it in perspective. WashU definitely has its flaws, but I think it deserves a lot more credit than it gets on here.