<p>Hello all!</p>
<p>I've just finished up my first semester at GW. This board was particularly helpful to me when I applied/was first accepted under ED1, and I figure that now would be as good a time as any to give back. So fire away!</p>
<p>What do most people do on the weekends? Do people take advantage of the clubs in DC, or is it mostly dorm parties? Or do most people go to College Park?</p>
<p>How many people on average are in a class size? And is the work very challenging and difficult or easier than you thought?</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>do you know anything about the pre-med track and the class sizes for bio and chem ?</p>
<p>I heard there’s a lot of like rich and some mega rich uppity kids. Is that true? Apparently real snobby and stuff and look down on others.</p>
<p>Also - I made a thread on this forum about transferring to Elliot, can you please look at it and give me some of your feedback?</p>
<p>I see the safety updates on Facebook a lot with the descriptions of the crimes and the criminals (usually thieves), and they have me a bit concerned- how is security on campus? Do you ever feel unsafe?</p>
<p>Did you find it difficult to register for the classes you wanted to take? Is it more difficult in the ESIA?</p>
<p>Responses from another current student:</p>
<p>@saman42:
No one that I know of goes to College Park. Clubs are popular. Theres always stuff to do around campus, even non-party related.</p>
<p>@lostpatriot:
Most of the intro classes will have between 150-300 students in them, but don’t let that scare you. Then they typically drop down to either 60-90 or 40-50 with some departments being much smaller. I recommend taking a Dean’s Seminar Freshman year, which is a class of 25 students. How challenging the workload is will depend on your background. A typical college class does not have any mandatory homework or daily graded assignment. Instead its reading that you must keep up on. Then exams worth anywhere between 20% to 45% of your grade. This is typical of college, but for me it was easier than I thought.</p>
<p>@collegekidswag92:
Its a common GW stereotype and so it has truth to it, however snobby kids do not dominate campus life. I find its much more noticeable in girls then guys. </p>
<p>@historygirl123:
Security is never really an issue, but it is a city so you must be smart and use common sense. This is no state school campus that lives in a bubble from the world. There have been a lot of criticism of GW about notifying students about alerts, but it appears GW has improved (including adding a text message alert system). Also because it is a city, there is a fairly high police presence, both GW and Metro Police.</p>
<p>@ mak2012:
It is not hard to get the schedule you want, but make sure you are online and ready to go when the system opens. Also have a few backup plans that you can enter quickly.</p>
<p>how are the girls? night life? is it hard to balance partying and studying?</p>
<p>What’s financial aid like? Did you get any merit and/or need-based?</p>
<p>Is living in D.C. expensive?</p>
<p>What’s social life like? How’s the party scene?</p>
<p>Can you tell me anything about the music department - how are the ensembles? Are there many who major or minor, or is it mostly people from other fields who just enjoy playing?</p>
<p>Best freshman dorm? Looking to party 1-2 times a week, study hard the rest of the time. Afraid that thurston would be too crazy, but potomac too boring</p>
<p>@keabie, I heard Potomac is the balance between party and quiet. There’s a thread on freshman forms already.</p>
<p>@cricket123, from what I read they are cutting back on merit aid and increasing need-based financial aid. Using their Net Price Calculator, it seems they are very generous with need-based financial aid.</p>
<p>Also, depending on your major, you could be pleasantly surprised with a hefty amount of merit-aid. Their Engineering School has a scholarship ONLY for the Engineering students. That’s what I got and it was incredible!</p>
<p>@wmurphy126, That is fantastic as I would like to get need-based aid. :)</p>
<p>I’m applying for psychology and political science.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think there is a sort of “evolution” colleges go through as they become better and better by switching from merit-aid to need-aid. I’m not really sure what the thought process is there, but it happens to all of the good schools, from what I heard.</p>
<p>^ damn…</p>
<p>I heard that some schools are giving more need-based because their tuition rates are increasing but they still want to attract students and convince them to attend…</p>
<p>My daughter applied to Northwestern and they came right out and said they only give need-based aid, no merit money.</p>
<p>@collegebound617 I’m a girl so I probably can’t give you a good answer to your first question, but that being said, numerically straight guys have an advantage because girls outnumber the guys and there are a lot of gay guys (that’s not to say that if you’re a girl you won’t find a guy though). </p>
<p>The night life here is definitely fun, there are clubs, frats, and dorm parties, so there is usually a good amount of options on any given night from Thursday-Saturday. </p>
<p>It’s not too hard to balance partying and studying, as long as you remember that you’re here for school first and foremost. Most of my friends who got good GPA’s last semester were able to go out 1-2 nights a week. Obviously it depends on the person and the classes you’re taking, and during the week you need to be able to buckle down and focus. Maybe syllabus week you could get away with going out Thursday-Saturday, but you probably won’t be able to get away with that and keep up with your work throughout the semester. And when I say “go out,” you don’t just have to go to parties and stuff like that, I go to plays, see the monuments with my friends, and take advantage of everything the city has to offer.</p>