Safety

“With St. Louis appearing at the bottom or close to the bottom on national safety rankings, I think it’s fair for prospective students to have questions about the important issue of their personal safety. First, keep in mind that many well known big cities rank close to us on these same lists but do not have the stigma and reputation we have acquired here (Fort Lauderdale, D.C., Philadelphia, Orlando, and Denver, to name a few). Second, the truth is that similar to these other cities, somewhere around two-thirds of the crime that contributes to these staggering statistics in our city is targeted violent crime concentrated in a small area of the city. Life as a WashU student means being in safe surroundings. While of course bad things can happen anywhere, especially big cities, if you are aware of your surroundings and make common sense choices (walk with a buddy after dark; lock your doors), you are statistically very unlikely to be a victim of a violent, stranger-on-stranger crime. I would, however, be mindful about theft, particularly vehicle break-ins in the CWE; keeping your car uncluttered and free of valuables can help.”