So I originally was not planning to attend AU, but I got rejected from UNC, bad financial aid from University of Miami, and waitlisted at George Washington U. I’m trying to work out things with Miami but they seem to not care if I can attend or not, so I’m probably ending up at American. I keep reading reviews and experiences at the school and I just can’t get myself to like it. I hear that the social scene is super lame, that the people are cliquey/not friendly, that straight girls have a hard time bc there are few guys there in general, let alone straight/non-metrosexual guys. I like the location and academic aspect of the school, but I cant imagine attending a school where I hate the social aspect. Is AU really fratty, nerdy, no straight guys for girls, unattractive, cliquey, not friendly, and etc? Everyone says the social scene is awful unless you’re a jewish northeastern male or a frat boy. As a black girl from the North Carolina who hates greek life and is REALLY into meeting guys (haha) im scared.
Please don’t give me some long comment about how I should “focus on studies” and not care about the social life. I am content with the academics already, but I don’t want to look back and realize I never enjoyed or had fun at college.
My sense of Greek life at AU is that it’s like the campus Republicans – around, but not at all prevalent or dominant. Miami, however, is said to be very heavily influenced by Greek life. It’s true there are more women than guys at AU. That seems to be the case at a lot of schools, particularly private ones that are more into liberal arts, but AU is 62 percent women. (GW is 55 percent women. You’d have the best stats that way at Miami, although a lot of those guys would be Greek 
)
Cliqueish? Hmmm, that seems to be a complaint at a huge number of colleges whose reviews I’ve read – particularly smaller or even medium-sized private ones. Students at small/medium private schools seem to be grumpiest about their social lives, at least online. For “fun college life” my instinct is that big schools just have more options and will be less influenced by micro-climate, like who’s in this year’s freshman class or even whether there are a lot of Greeks. (So Miami is heavily Greek, but if you somehow magically got more money there, you might find it didn’t matter.)
But yeah, the male-female ratio is unfortunately not in your favor. I turned down Sarah Lawrence many moons ago for the same reason, so I don’t think you’re being silly at all. Nothing you can do about that, though, except hope it turns out alright. You WILL enjoy college and have fun, wherever you go. It’s unlikely to match the whole culturally promoted idea of “best years ever! Fun fun fun!” and you’ll grump and complain (because such is life and human nature and everyone grumps and complains in college), but you will have fun. Life at both AU and GW pretty much revolves around getting out and about in DC and heading to Adams Morgan and so on, which is certainly fun
D was accepted to AU and visited AU. She’s deciding between Emory and Tulane for a variety of reasons (mostly she hates the cold) but AU was a strong third place contender. The students at AU seemed very happy. She has friends there and they are not in fraternities and they love it. Lots to do off campus and on campus. Beautiful campus, happy students, and amazing DC. You’ll be very happy. Good luck! 
Hey I’m from NC too. I got waitlisted to UM and would of definitely gone there if I had gotten accepted. I’m worried about the same thing if I decide to chose AU. I have not heard much positive reviews on the social life. I know a girl that goes there and she told me everyone is pretty friendly but kinda keeps to themselves a lot and there aren’t plenty of fish in the sea if that’s what you’re looking for. She loves the environment and atmosphere though because it’s located in DC. I would definitely go to UM if I were you. Good luck!
It’s in DC. At worst, if AU’s dating scene isn’t good, you have GWU and G’Town, plus lots of places (house parties, etc).
You have some valid concerns. MomOnALaptop stated that you will enjoy college and have fun and that is what I told my daughter when she began AU because her first choice school gave her no financial aid. She didn’t believe it would happen, but she absolutely loves AU. I can’t say if this will be the case for you or anyone else, it was lucky that it worked out for my daughter because four years is a long time to be miserable. Are these the only four schools you applied to? Do you have other options to consider? What made you apply to AU to begin with if you had these concerns? Maybe you are feeling down on the school because you are disappointed that one of your other schools did not work out for you. If you really like Miami, pursue getting more aid. It is possible. Attend the accepted students day at AU if you can, that may make you view AU more positively. Go to campus and speak to students there. That is the best way to see if you are comfortable in the environment and will find people you wish to be friendly with. Good luck.
Looks like you have a pretty good understanding of how the school is portrayed by a few people.
I had the same perception when I entered as a freshman. 4 years later and I can say that the reality runs in the opposite direction.
As others have said, where AU lacks, the city makes up for it. You’ll be fine.
Thanks for your answers you guys. I talked to UMiami and they can’t work with my financial aid so I have to go to American or GW if they take me off the waitlist. Just an update!
*** my last comment sounded like i was waitlisted at both, just wanted to clarify that I was only waitlisted at GW.
And to the one commenter whose username i forgot, i applied to 13 schools, got into 6 and waitlisted at 1, absolutely do not want to attend three of them & penn state/umiami gave horrid financial aid.
Okay then… deposit at AU then. If you get off the WL in May or June at GW, you’ll be able to revisit this.
My S a freshman there from California. He is now in Greek life and enjoying it–he NEVER thought he wanted Greek life but then got asked to a couple of things and it has actually been a good support to him. He came from having fallen to very low self-esteem senior year, despite being very accomplished. That probably did not help. I did not realize how “Northeast” the school was until he got there, though that is changing. Its acceptance rate, per the school, dropped to 35% this current admission season. It’s becoming more national and international, and I know from the school talking to me to help is trying to cultivate more ties in the West . I think perhaps it still being predominantly Northeast did have an impact on my S for awhile–I have heard, and it seems to be true, that many from the Northeast are a bit more aggressive and abrupt (not meaning to be mean, just their way), and coming from California that’s a little shocking (I’ve been shocked by some Northeastern parents myself who attend our high school etc and they just say what’s on their mind kind of abruptly (generally speaking, of course). He also came from private school, so used to a pretty small environment (but wanted larger). Overall, though he really loves it, the campus, the location, and most of the people. Seems like he’s gravitated to a lot of Pennsylvania, Texas, and California kids. PS he’s a straight male, so let me know if you get there. He’s handsome, bright, and kind, but a bit shy with girls!
@lynjobes what is his major? We are from the Bay Area and just visited AU yesterday. My S is an accepted HS senior in business and entertainment.
CLEG (merged major of communications, law, economics, government). He was accepted for business but changed just before he accepted to CLEG. We are in the Danville area.
Ha! We are from the other town in SRVUSD!!