American University vs Southern Methodist University

College Search & Selection
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Help!
Down to the wire and not really sure what to do.
Didn’t get into any of my top choice schools, so I’ve narrowed it down to these two.

My major is political science and legal studies with plans to attend law school. I’m currently involved in a civics group that focuses on constitutional law so I may want to continue that path- not sure.

I was offered half tuition scholarships at both schools, and my parents have a 529 that should mostly cover the rest of tuition. I will only need loans to cover room/board- so the cost isn’t a big factor because I’ll paying about the same.

PROS- AU
Opportunities in DC
Not sure I want to be in a sorority and Greek life isn’t huge at AU
Lots of like minded people as far as interest and academic level
Auditioning for the dance team as a way to get involved and meet people
Everyone there seems really smart so will I feel inadequate
More selective with their admissions

CONS- AU
I live in CA so its farther away
Everyone there seems really smart so will I feel inadequate
Conservative views so I’m not sure if that will be an issue in DC
No football team

PROS - SMU
Admitted to their Hilltop Honors program and selected for their Pre Law Scholars program
Pre Law Scholars program is auto admission to SMU Law School which is amazing
Grew up in Dallas so I’ve been to SMU campus lots of times and its familiar which might help with homesickness
Active Greek life if I decide to participate
Conservative

CONS- SMU
Lots of partying
reputation of being kind of snobby people
do honors students fit in there

  • it is already a familiar city to me, so that’s both a pro and a con
    High admission rate

HELP!!

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First off, these are two top schools - so congrats. And AU for politics is very good.

Secondly, if you want to go to law school, choose your interest. Do something different. Everyone does poli sci - there’s no required major for law school but you can stand out by being different - something STEM or philosophy, business - or something to stand out.

Half scholarship at AU is great - my daughter got $15K so we eliminated it. It was her top choice.

AU - it’s in DC - but it’s not in DC - it’s a 15 minute walk to the train station (Tenley Town) - it appears safe but never walk alone - and then you get on the subway. The campus - well it’s rated really lowly - I can see it. And if you want to be dissuaded - they have a rat problem (look it up) and the food - not good. They are de-emphasizing Greek life btw.

AU is known to be politically one way - liberal - and nothing wrong with that. And being in DC - there’s no better place to experience all the craziness that goes on in our great democracy.

As for your AU Cons - distance isn’t a con- you’re going home just a few times a year and Dallas or DC - so one is a 90 minute longer flight - so you shouldn’t consider that. Also, I would say kids at both schools are really smart - but AU is an interest and money school - meaning if you expressed a lot of interest and had a 24 ACT, they’d let you in. But yeah - there will be smart kids and a lot of politically motivated kids.

SMU - auto admission into law school - no LSAT or GPA required? OK - I just looked - not quite what you said but we’ll go with it…likely you’d get in with those #s anyway - to AU’s law school too.

  • Earn at least a 3.75 cumulative undergraduate GPA* and score at least 153 on the LSAT; or
  • Earn at least a 3.20 cumulative undergraduate GPA* and score at least 164 on the LSAT

So after all that- I saw your PROS of SMU and you say conservative.

You do know AU is rated the most liberal college in America.

So while I personally believe you can find your people anywhere, you might not feel so at AU.

Personally, I think SMU is a better school and I’d go there but I do see the allure of living in DC. But if you’re conservative, you might want to research more about AU simply due to it’s liberal reputation.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I appreciate your insight!

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Hi there. My daughter also did not get into her top schools (although is waitlisted at MANY) and is down between SMU and UCSB and plans to study business. We live in California too, but lived most of our lives in the DC area. I have to agree with the response above, I think SMU sounds like a better fit for you. The DC area is very liberal and I do think it will be hard to find like minded people at AU. My daughter is also very academically inclined and also got a large scholarship to SMU. Her hesitation is finding other kids who are wanting rigorous academics. She is also concerned about the big focus on greek life and the snobby reputation. We visitied two weeks ago and it did not seem snobby at all and most of the kids were in sweatshirts and leggings, but I’m sure it has that reputation for a reason. Have you visited both campuses? I always think that helps to get a gut feeling. I think you would have more fun and still lots of opportunities at SMU. My daughter is still trying to decide as well but I think is leaning towards SMU (as of last night)…
For what it’s worth, even though the acceptance rate at AU is lower, SMU appears to be ranked higher in US News & World Report https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/compare/1434-1328/american-university-vs-university-of-southern-california?xwalk_id=228246&xwalk_id=131159
Also, here is another fun website comparing the two: Compare Colleges: Side-by-side college comparisons | Parchment - College admissions predictions.

Again, best of luck to you as you make your decision!

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I think SMU is a really good school. It took some notches down, likely due to the football scandal way back and then sort of disappeared.

I assure you - your daughter will find academically minded people at SMU - especially given that they are buying kids getting into better schools. Yes, there are also many full pay - so you may have the opposite - but you’ll also have people drunk every night, failing out at Isla Vista.

Two great schools in both topics SMU/AU and SMU/UCSB.

Good luck to you both.