<p>hjung21o: After 45 credits are earned in for ex, Columbian, (equals 3 sem or so), you are forced to declare a major. It is not that difficult to transfer, but if you plan to do so from scratch, you’d better think of what courses you are to take so you don’t waste time and/or money. If you are not planning to transfer, then you have a few electives, to determine what areas you like the most. However, you are to be surrounded by politics and world issues/topics all day every day, and if you are planning not to do anything in that field, it will make it more difficult to tolerate your environment. That is what I meant when I said it is more than a regular college, it is a career school. I hope it helps</p>
<p>Question re: social life-
This may have been answered before, but what might freshmen do on a typical Saturday night? Are school events well-attended or do students just head out to parties? Much is mentioned about night life in D.C. – is this ever a problem for students who are on a tight budget?</p>
<p>Sat nites are not as big as Thursday nights! A lot of my friends go home during the weekend, so Thursdays are the night to go out. On saturdays, we party at other friends dorms, or go out to eat, but nothing really wild. Not to say we don’t have wild people at the school, I guess I am just avg normal. Frat parties also are a biggie, beer pong is the thing.</p>
<p>Multitasker,
You mention a lot of your friends go home during the weekend. Is GW a commuter school? Why don’t students stay at school on weekends?</p>
<p>Thanks. Thursday nights were actually a big deal when I was in school too, a million years ago… 
Are frat parties open to all?</p>
<p>Mother bear: It is not that it is a commuter school, but a lot of the students are from NY, Ct and, Va NJ. So, if they have the option of going home for a couple of days, they do.
Theay are many wealthy students from Fla as well, who fly home for the weekend. Some of us, we still wait for the Spring Break or long holiday to make it home. Being from NC, it does not make it easy for me to leave.
SO we get together, and we do what other people of my age group do, without traveling.
lspf72: yes. but you have to know somebody who knows somebody. they are pretty open to meet new people.</p>
<p>motherbear: we’re from CT & S has only come home during breaks. He would not describe GW as a commuter school.</p>
<p>lspf72: As with most colleges, the primary on-campus social scene revolves around drinking, whether it’s in frats, dorms, or off-campus apartments. However, that is not the only thing to do on the weekends. Students also frequently attend political events, plays, concerts, clubs, etc. I myself have no problem striking a balance between going out and having movie nights with friends in my dorm. With such a big campus it’s difficult to describe a “typical” Saturday night, although I agree with Multitasker, in that Thursday nights are probably the biggest party nights. As for the budget question, there is a lot to do in DC that is cheap or free. Keep your eye out for events that have student discounts…it really adds up! In terms of students going home, I actually have the opposite experience of Multitasker. I only have one friend who goes home on a frequent basis. The campus is never empty, and with the exception of breaks, my friends don’t tend to go home on the weekends. I definitely would not think of GW as a commuter school by any stretch of the imagination.</p>
<p>Thanks again Carly. Sounds like there’s a ton going on. Lucky kids. Glad to know it’s not all clubbing and whatnot.</p>
<p>Carly,
Can you tell me more about the political communications major? What’s the work load like/
My D will be required by her scholarship to audition in every production for the Theatre Dept. I’m wondering if that’s too full a load.</p>
<p>Carly, how easy is it to double major within the Honors Program? Do a lot of people do it?</p>
<p>Also, is it easy to get credit for AP tests? I’ve taken 5 tests so far and I’m taking 6 this year, so will I be able to work that into an easy double major?</p>
<p>1sttimemom: I have two very good friends who are Political Communications majors. Both of them are “A” students, in the Honors program, and manage to engage in a plethora of extracurricular activities. Regardless of major, keeping your grades up and maintaining a life outside of classes and homework comes down to the ability to utilize your free time effectively. If your daughter is able to focus on her studies when she has free time during the day, I don’t think she will feel terribly overworked. Procrastination, more than anything else, is what leads to being overwhelmed and stressed.</p>
<p>octopod: It can be more difficult to double major within the Honors Program because students are required to take two Honors courses per semester their freshman and sophomore years and write a thesis their senior year, all of which cuts into course flexibility. I don’t know of many students who are double majoring, but many of my friends in the Honors Program are pursuing a major and at least one minor. Here is a link for matching up AP exam scores with the corresponding credit that GW awards: [Advanced</a> Placement (AP) Credit - The George Washington University](<a href=“http://www.gwu.edu/apply/undergraduateadmissions/applytogw/bringingcredittogw/apcredit]Advanced”>http://www.gwu.edu/apply/undergraduateadmissions/applytogw/bringingcredittogw/apcredit)</p>
<p>Multitasker, I was accepted into Columbian, but am now having second doubts as I’m kind of interested in the business area also. (How’s the business school there, by the way?) I’m sure I’ll have to call the admissions office for this, but do you think I will be able to transfer before the new school year begins? I heard it’s a complicated process, especially at GW. I’m just afraid I might not like the path that I chose to take. A bit insecure I guess.</p>
<p>Which brings me to another point- double major programs. Do alot of people take it? </p>
<p>I’ll be visiting on Thursday and I’ll be asking tons of questions to the tour guide too…</p>
<p>Have you been to Pelham? How are the rooms? How is the dorm overall? And what do you think of the Vern??</p>
<p>I’m deciding between Pelham, Madison, and Potomac House as my 1st choice…any comments/suggestions would be great :)</p>
<p>Still waiting on financial aid, so D has not sent in deposit, therefore not NetId and can’t get into housing website yet. </p>
<p>It sounds like housing registration opened today? </p>
<p>If she’s hoping for Crawford or Madison - is she likely to be out of luck if she doesn’t register in the first day/two/three?</p>
<p>hjungj21o: Although I would ask admissions to make sure. I am pretty positive you can’t transfer until you have a certain number of credits. However during that period of time as I said earlier, I would try to take the courses relevant to the major/school you really want. Make sure you know some classes require prerequisites which could use up an elective or two.
1st time mom: I have registered for housing the last day available and I still got what I wasnted. I am not sure if it was luck, but I think they don’t make the selections till the last of the students have made their choices. So no,you are not out of luck! -Good Luck though!
Oscar: All of those choices are great. As long as you don’t mention Thurston or MV, your chances will increase if those are the ones you want. Although I have never lived in the Vern, those who did loved it and they were never isolated in any way from the rest of campus life. HAving Pelham now, it helps tremendously on the popularity of the campus. I love going there bc I play soccer, and the fields are great too look at during practices. All the oudoor activities are there.</p>
<p>octopod - the max AP/IB credits you can get is 24. More than that won’t transfer. I don’t know if courses can “double count” if you double major. Maybe someone else can comment on that.</p>
<p>Multitasker - were you ED or RD for purposes of freshman housing priority? My “S” is RD and doesn’t think he has a chance @ Madison, Potomac, Crawford. Appreciate any input you might have.</p>
<p>I will offer that it is a bit of a crapshoot. My daughter was RD and applied to a variety of freshman dorms at the time. She got assigned to Potomac, which at the time was sophomore housing and couldn’t even be selected. They opened up 2 floors to freshman, and it seemed to go to the late appliers. I wouldn’t give up on anything.</p>
<p>CJ: I was RD, and in the Freshman yr went Madison. I did not write Thurston in my selection though…</p>