Little apprehensive about accepting admission from washington University in st louis due to its location (St. Louis: crime rate, transfer)

[harleen58]

Hi,
I got admission letter from Washington University in St. Louis. I am an Indian citizen.
I know university has good rankings. Everything is fine with the university.

But My parents came to know from a relative of ours who lives in US( seatlle) that St. Louis is not good place to live. It is underdeveloped. That it has higher crime rate. It does not even have direct airport link. You will have to travel a lot to get there. And if I want to work part time: the compensation would not be good. It has ill paid jobs.

I am totally confused now. I do not want to loose this opportunity. But if the above things are true, my parents won't allow as I am their girl child and they are very protective in this sense.

Please give sincere advise.... I will not have any one there to look after me. I would be by myself for the first time..

Thanks a lot.

Harleen

[Dawn10am]

We were just discussing this same issue actually:

//www.city-data.com/forum/st-lo...nderstand.html

Here's the short version:

1. I don't understand what they mean about "underdeveloped." St. Louis is only a bit smaller than Seattle. We have 9 Fortune 500 companies, 3 major professional sports teams, 2 national universities, a world-class zoo, and more museums and theatres than I can count.

2. Most of the violent crime is concentrated on the north side of the city. Washington University is in a very safe area and the neighborhoods surrounding it are all very nice. You shouldn't have a problem.

3. Our airport is international and is connected to the heart of the city by the MetroLink light rail. You probably won't have a direct flight straight to India but you'll probably only have to transfer once to get here.

4. The pay rate here is not as high as it is on the coasts, but our cost of living is also much lower. That pretty much evens things out. Believe me, you get a lot more bang for your buck in St. Louis than you do in a lot of cities.

Washington University is a fantastic school and if you have the opportunity to attend I wouldn't let fears about St. Louis hold you back. WashU has a ton of international students that are in the same boat as you and will be more than capable of dealing with any issues you may have.

[harleen58]

Thanks a lot. I do not want to leave this opportunity. But my relatives have raised such apprehensions in my family's mind.

My relative says that people there are very poor. And their daily wage is about 5 dollar. I could not believe such a white lie.

Actually my parents would be paying for my education. But I will have to work for my daily living related chores. And my relative says that the earning there is too low.

[harleen58]

And, yes I checked some other posts about St. louis too.
The thread of third world St. Louis accelerated my fears.

[Dawn10am]

Hahaha. The thread about "third world St. Louis" is ridiculous. NO city in the US is even remotely close to being third world. The fact of the matter is that every city in the US has areas of very concentrated poverty (although the people make considerably more than $5 a day if they do work). There's no escaping it. I don't know what your relative means when he/she says the earnings are too low. Most of the 2.8 million people in Greater St. Louis manage to make a decent living just fine. And if you just need enough to cover daily living expenses you don't really need a 6-figure salary anyway. You could probably even work at WashU and make enough.

If you have an opportunity to come and visit before you decide I'd strongly recommend it. A visit would most definitely put your fears to rest.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by harleen58

Thanks a lot. I do not want to leave this opportunity. But my relatives have raised such apprehensions in my family's mind.

My relative says that people there are very poor. And their daily wage is about 5 dollar. I could not believe such a white lie.

Actually my parents would be paying for my education. But I will have to work for my daily living related chores. And my relative says that the earning there is too low.

That's a lot more than a white lie; it's wildly untrue. The average income in the St. Louis metro area is $55,000/year.

Metro St Louis Salaries | Simply Hired





Certainly those pictures don't look like that of the 3rd world do they?

Washington Unicersity is in an adjacent suburb to St. Louis called Clayton, which is extremely upscale (the mean housing price is more than $600,000)

You can see their crime rate here: //www.city-data.com/city/Clayton-Missouri.html it's about 1/4 of the national average. It's extremely safe.

Frankly, Seattle-ites would wish to have a university as well respected and highly ranked as Wash U -- it's one of the best schools in the country -- congratulations on garnering admission. It's highly competitive as I'm sure you know!

I hope you can convince your parents that your family who lives more than 2,000 miles away doesn't really know what they're talking about.

Look, here's an article from the Seattle Times about visiting St. Louis and all it has to offer: Travel | For a good time on the cheap, meet someone in St. Louis | Seattle Times Newspaper

[harleen58]

Its just I don't want huge burden on my family. Will I be able to earn that much for daily cost?

Then another thing what my parents say is that when you will be free in breaks(like 3 months summer break) if you were in other city, you could earn a lot. That you are a girl. You cannot keep oscillating among cities. You should have stability.
Concentrate on studies in semester and work in break...

[harleen58]

Thanks a lot..
Lets see what I can do to convince them...

[aragx6]

There will be so many job opportunities for a Wash U student you'll have to choose between them; I can almost assure you of that. It's a very well connected alumni group. Very well connected.

Wash U has a nice page dedicated to St. Louis and all it has to offer as well. Definitely worth checking out (and perhaps showing to the parents as well!) About St. Louis | About | Washington University in St. Louis

And like I mentioned above, it's one of the best universities in the U.S.: Washington University in St. Louis | Best College | US News

[marigolds6]

Originally Posted by harleen58

Actually my parents would be paying for my education. But I will have to work for my daily living related chores. And my relative says that the earning there is too low.

I took my job here because I was offered better cost-of-living adjusted pay than a similar offer with Google. And there are plenty of very well paying on campus jobs at WashU.