<p>Cafe Ole has a great menu. We had Sunday brunch there once–not traditional, but very good!</p>
<p>I’ve always wanted to go to a school where there’s school spirit regarding athletics. Obviously American isn’t an SEC football or BIG EAST basketball school but do people care at all about the eagles? The basketball team has done well recently and I know for certain i would be at the games. I don’t know exactly how to state my question, but do people care about varsity sports at AU/go to basketball games?</p>
<p>Does anyone travel from American to Philadelphia or NJ getting the metro to the train and then taking the train to Philly? About how long does it take you from DC to Philly?</p>
<p>@jerseygirl14 - It’s about 2 hours to Philly I believe, possibly less.</p>
<p>@Davidsjudo - It kind of goes up and down with how the teams are doing. In the fall soccer is fairly popular since they’re pretty good (still holds the record for longest NCAA soccer game with 6 overtimes at the 1985 national championship vs. UCLA) and regularly beat teams like Georgetown and Maryland. </p>
<p>Basketball season is where it really gets going though (it’s the only sport that really draws big crowd), and the team is looking pretty good for next season, with transfers from Georgia and Vanderbilt coming in. There’s one or two particularly big games per season, especially against our big basketball rival, Holy Cross. The student spirit group/fan club is called the Blue Crew, and for joining (which is free) you get a t-shirt, which are pretty ubiquitous around campus, a membership card that gets you discounts at local restaurants, and some other cool stuff. All the games are free and they’re a really good time. I’m at every game so I hope to see you there!</p>
<p>GO EAGLES!</p>
<p>Also shoot me a private message if you’d like a link to the blog I co-write with a recent alum about Eagles Basketball. :)</p>
<p>P.S. - We also have a few teams which are often nationally ranked, but don’t get big crowds, like volleyball, field hockey, wrestling, etc. At least two of those were Top 20 this year, for example. It’s too bad, but that’s the way it is everywhere for those sports.</p>
<p>Alot of people said in reviews that AU is pretty much homogeneous with mainly white, wealthy students. What about the minorities? The lower class? Do they tend to stick out? Blend in? I know D.C. is a pretty expensive place to live and i don’t know if it would be hard for a working, lower class student to fit in (if they go out to eat regularly, wear expensive clothes?) </p>
<p>And also, what is a typical week for an AU student? It seems like internships might take up alot of the kids time away from them just having fun and laying around. Or if they do have time, the other students are away at work.</p>
<p>Okay. AU has a stigma for being full of rich white kids. Not the case. Out of the 3 DC schools it accepts the most for lower-income families. There are minorities around, granted not as much as I’d like – but it’s a very international campus and they in no way “stick out”. It’s all about who you hang out with. If you want to be surrounded by rich, white people – they’re here and you can hang out with them. I hang out with people, none of whom pay full tuition, all of them have jobs, and some of them have more than one. They work 40-60 hours a week on top of a full course load. D.C. IS an expensive place to live: I go out to eat once or twice a week. Some people wear really expensive clothes, and some people you kind of wonder what they’re wearing because they made it themselves. It’s VERY hard to generalize the AU student body.</p>
<p>Here is my schedule for this week. I’m taking a 17 credit load and working.
MON:
8:30 - 9:45 Statistics
9:55-11:10 Literature
12:45-2:00 Comparative Politics
2:10-4:40 Chemistry Lab
5:20-6:35 Chemistry Class</p>
<p>TUES:
10:00-3:00 Work</p>
<p>WED:
8:30-9:30 Statistics
11:20-2:00 Pol. of Intervention in Iraq and Vietnam
5:20-6:35 Chem Class</p>
<p>THURS:
8:30-9:45 Stats
9:55-11:10 Literature
12:45-2:00 Comparative Politics</p>
<p>FRI:
10:00-3:00 Work</p>
<p>As you can see I have plenty of free time – granted, Monday is really awful but I group my classes because it makes me more valuable to jobs when I can work entire days as opposed to 2 hour blocks. Today after class I went and ate lunch on the Quad with some friends to enjoy the sunshine – sat and talked until 4 when they had class. I’ve never had an issue having fun or having time to lay around – my Friday and Saturday nights are free and as the weather gets nicer I do homework with friends outside.</p>
<p>My son took the train home Thursday night. The train left at 8:45 and he was in Metropark NJ at 11:31. Check out the schedule at amtrak - the acela are faster but more expensive. THe Metro is quick but you have to allow time to get the bus from AU to Tenleytown and leave a buffer, of course.</p>
<p>Concerning rich kids and clothes, I shop at Kohl’s (not an expensive store at all!) for my son’s clothes and he hasn’t complained about not fitting in. Maybe if he was a girl, there would be a bigger issue.</p>
<p>I have a couple of concerns about American:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>From other threads (a bit outdated, 2005) i’ve read that the classes at AU are quite easy (in a bad way) and not challenging enough. Is this still current, or has AU stepped up their rigor?</p></li>
<li><p>Can you petition a review of your application to get into the honors college?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>@sans_souci:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I believe I’ve read through those threads as well, and in my opinion a lot of those opinions are very five-years-ago. </p></li>
<li><p>I’m not sure if you can petition, as its largely based on test scores and GPA and there is no separate application. You can, however, self-nominate into the program, which is what I did my sophomore year. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>I really want to go to AU, and I loved it there, but there are a couple of things that make me worrysome.</p>
<ol>
<li>I am a very conservative girl from South Carolina. Is there much hate on the South there? And will people be wanting to cut my throat for being a conservative? I know it is a VERY politically active campus, but is it friendly politics or is it my way or the highway?</li>
</ol>
<p>I ask this, because I had a very bad experience at my own high school of only 150 students last year right after the election. (I go to a very liberal private school.) One student decided to make ‘fun’ of me in a very mean way for my views and I was in a very heated debate with others that didn’t turn out well.</p>
<p>And I live in the South and people hate on the south, so I just want to make sure that’s not a total issue in DC. I mean with Governor Sanford and Ms. Teen SC… You get my gist.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Does anyone know about the Air Force ROTC climate? I really would like to enroll in that program. I know that it is at Howard… but that’s about all I know.</p></li>
<li><p>How easy is the financial aid office to deal with? I am a super-low income student with a projected EFC as 0, so if I get in, I might have to appeal for more money.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I really hope that I get in. I really want to go.</p>
<p>Oh… and are there any scholarships for sophomores and juniors? I don’t have a strong record now, but if I go to American, I really want to work hard and get good grades.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>No hate for the South. If there is any hate it is for New Jersey. I would say the College leans left but not by much. Despite being a moderate Democrat, nearly all my friends are very conservative (not just Republican). The College Republicans are just as prominent as college Democrats on campus. You should have no problems. </p></li>
<li><p>Not sure what you mean by climate – they do go to Howard because of AU’s zero-tolerance for organizations that discriminate. As far as the students and professors go, ROTC members are well respected and well liked. They make friends amongst ROTC members and non-ROTC students. </p></li>
<li><p>Pretty easy to deal with as long as you’re the one who deals with them and not your parents. There are scholarships once you’re a student here – but they’re itsy bitsy as you apply for them through your school (like the School of Public Affairs). I would be hesitant about going here – since I don’t think you’ll be able to without some student loans/doing ROTC. An EFC of 0 without the probability of a Presidential Scholarship means some gap…even with an appeal. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Best of luck though – feel free to ask any more questions you may have.</p>
<p>Thank you for answering my questions.</p>
<p>And… As it is… I can’t really afford <em>any</em> school. I currently go to a private school and it is always a sacrifice, but we make it work. Basically, if I consider price into the situation, then I limit myself to basically community college. My parents told me to apply to schools regardless of price and just trust in God.</p>
<p>But, anyways. Thanks again for answering my questions.</p>
<p>I just want to throw out there that while I am a “damn yankee” from the “Godless North” (as my South Carolinian roommate likes to remind me), we proudly fly the palmetto flag in my apartment. No hate for the South here!</p>
<p>How easy or hard would double majoring in say PoliSci and Justice/Law be?
And I feel silly asking this, but does American actually live up to its gay-friendly reputation?</p>
<p>Why and What kind of HATE for students from New Jersey? My D will be attending in the fall, should we have concerns coming from NJ?</p>
<p>@edcrfv: Never said there was hate for STUDENTS from NJ – AU has a huge percentage of students from NJ and its those students who hate NJ. So you should have no concerns what so ever. </p>
<p>@Occitzer: Not really easy, not hard. You would be able to do it as long as you planned it out with your advisor at the beginning of you four years so that you can get as many classes as you can to double count. And yes, AU does live up to its gay-friendly reputation.</p>
<p>Hey hey :)</p>
<p>I’ve a quickie question to ask, I have came across some information about a link in the admitted student portal where we can post about our request to look for a room mate (preferences etc). Any idea where is it located?</p>
<p>Thankie for your help!</p>
<p>Hi I’ve looked a lot at AU and I really like it but I have yet to talk to a student there and there’s 2 things that have been on my mind.
- I wouldn’t say I’m a party girl or anything but I’d like to have the opportunity to go to them. How much would you say parties/drinking is involved in the social life?
- I’m thinking about going into international studies but I’m still not sure, do you have to apply directly to that your freshman year or do you decide (or can transfer into the program) after your freshman or sophomore year?</p>
<p>The classes at American are in general, not easy. If anything grade deflation exists with only a few A’s a reasonable number of B’s and C’s. If you don’t put the time and effort in, with few exceptions you will not do well.</p>
<p>@collegestudentmk</p>
<p>1) It all depends on your social life, and what you do with it. If you go greek, you’ll have a mixer or two per week and that certainly ups the amount of partying you’ll do. Some people just go out Friday night to a club with a close group of friends. Some people don’t go out at all. It’s all what you choose to do.
2) It is possible to transfer into SIS even if you don’t start there. But if you have any doubts, take as many Gen Ed courses as you can and make sure to keep your grades up. SIS requires the most credits within the major to graduate, and so if you dilly-dally around the other schools before making a decision, you could end up taking summer classes or adding an extra year to your time at AU.</p>