Hi,
I really want to transfer to American University and major in International Relations, but I wanted opinions about the program, and the school itself.
The workload for SIS? I heard its challenging, and don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for something easy. I am so willing to put in the work because it’s something i’m passionate about. But, I just want to get an idea of how hard it would be, how much work per week etc. I know its one of the best in the nation, which is what drew me to it of course but I want to know what I’m getting into.
Diversity? I’m African American and come from a working class immigrant family so I was wondering about diversity as in cultures, ethnicities and socioeconomic standing which bring me to my next question…
Financial Aid? I know American does not give out a lot of financial aid, but how bad is it? I figure that I would hopefully get close to enough but I don’t know.
Social Atmosphere? Is it fun on campus? I know there’s a lot of things to do in D.C. but are there events on campus? Are people friendly? I was also thinking about joining greek life (either the panhellenic or historically black, but more than likely panhellenic) how active is greek life on campus, are the panhellenic sororities diverse etc?
Campus itself? Is it it nice? I will probably live in a dorm so are they nice, spacious etc.?
I know I said opinions but I want it to be as unbiased as possible, just straight up answers. I know it’s hard because everyone’s experience is different, but it would just be nice to get a feel about the school. I’m not sure if if I will visit anytime soon so this will be very helpful. Thank you so much!!
New question, maybe this will get something started- would it give me better chance to apply as undeclared or should I go ahead and apply as IR? I figure I could transfer later.
@blue1996 – since no one else is responding I’ll take a quick stab. Please excuse typos since I’m writing this quickly:
Workload for SIS varies depending on professor and your own subjective guide to how difficult you think college should be. Honestly, it’s not that hard… more busywork/group projects in lower division classes, more final papers/less busywork in upper division classes… about the same as any other school
Diversity: I come from an Asian American working class immigrant family so I think I understand partly how you feel. I’m involved in Asian American student orgs on campus and have close friends involved in the African American student orgs on campus. One thing is clear: diversity, as it relates to minority communities, is severely underrepresented at AU. On the other hand, diversity and acceptance of people’s opinions is very accepting (just wanted to note). The African American community largely sticks together and has created their own niche community here at AU, as do other racial and ethnic groups at any college. AU is working on doing more to accommodate, but I think the issue simply stems from the low numbers of minorities represented at AU and how conscious it makes students feel about their privilege, status, and how they relate to other students on campus.
Financial Aid: You’ll really never know how much you get until you apply (and I’m sure you knew that). In recent years there has been talk about how AU is shifting significant amounts of money from merit based aid to need based aid to accommodate for more students who need the financial aid. Unfortunately, if you transfer, I think you are at the bottom end of those who are considered for need based aid since all the regular decision applicants go before you.
Social Atmosphere: Like I said above in #2, there are minority-centric events like the “Black Out” dance party that African American students put on last year, but for the most part AU students head out into the city for events on Friday nights and weekends. There are lots of African American student orgs like Black Professional Association, Black Student Alliance and the international focused ones like African Student Organization and Caribbean Circle. They collaborate to put on these types of events, but it rarely happens. Recently African American students hosted a protest on Ferguson and a follow up teach-in with professors. For frats and sororities that are historically black, I’m pretty sure AU has chapters of AKA and Deltas on campus (or I could be wrong and they might have just pledged via another nearby school), but the general consensus is that African American students pick the one they want to pledge and, more often than not, they are located off campus b/c clearly AU doesn’t have a large African American population. I think African American students at AU have found other avenues of creating their own niche community.
I’m not sure if I should answer “how fun” AU is or “are people friendly” because that’s too subjective for me. It’s about as friendly as anywhere else I would say.
Campus dorms: It’s complicated since AU has upgraded some dorms and has made them nicer, but in general AU still charges way too much. You can go and find an apartment nearby with your own room for the price AU charges you. But some still like the convenience of being located on campus… Pick your poison.