How does campus diversity compare between WashU and Cornell?

Cornell offers the more visibly varied student-body experience for most students because it is substantially larger, its seven undergraduate colleges attract distinct academic and social communities, and its land-grant colleges include a major New York public-university component. WashU is also racially, internationally, and socioeconomically diverse, but its smaller, primarily private-campus setting can feel more compact and socially interconnected. At either school, inclusiveness will depend heavily on your particular identity, major, residence hall, and friend groups rather than on demographic breadth alone.

Cornell’s scale is its clearest differentiator. Students encounter peers in engineering, arts and sciences, agriculture and life sciences, hotel administration, industrial and labor relations, human ecology, and architecture, art, and planning, which creates more variation in career goals, hometowns, political perspectives, and campus cultures. There are many identity-based organizations and cultural communities, but the size and decentralized college structure can also make Cornell feel fragmented; finding a close community may take intentional effort.

WashU’s smaller undergraduate environment often makes it easier to see familiar faces across classes, student organizations, and residential life. Its multicultural, religious, LGBTQ+, and first-generation/limited-income communities are active, while St. Louis gives students access to a larger city beyond campus rather than a primarily college-centered setting. Some students experience that intimacy as genuinely welcoming; others may find that social circles can feel more established or less varied than at Cornell.

For assessing day-to-day inclusion, look beyond overall diversity language. Ask current students in organizations connected to the communities that matter to you how comfortable they feel in classrooms, residence halls, Greek life if relevant, and social spaces, and whether they feel campus administrators respond effectively when concerns arise.