<p>I’m wondering about transfer admissions. As a freshman transferring into sophomore year, what are the chances of being accepted, as GPA will only be composed of first semester grades. I have a poor high school transcript (especially senior year) but by the way things are going, I should have straight A’s at a fairly competitive university by the end of my first semester. I have a great recommendation, good essay, and considerable ECs. What else can I do to consolidate a strong transfer application?</p>
<p>I know you said it’s difficult to transfer in, and that the best way to do it was with a hook. I’ll graduate from my local community college this year, 4.0 GPA, at the same time as I graduate from my highschool with a 3.8 so far. GW’s website says any college credits counts as a transfer. Do you think I should apply in as a transfer or a reg. student?</p>
<p>MPA/MPP admissions process takes into consideration unpaid internships as well as jobs.</p>
<p>Hi Gwgrad,</p>
<p>I am in the process of preparing my application to GWU, would like to find out one thing, i.e. is it true that GWU has an emphasis on social service ? Are the service learning courses and the Jumpstart really something great there ? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>@zoeyc12345 - </p>
<p>As an institution, yes, GW tries to emphasize public service and volunteering. You’ll find a lot of Teach for America, student charitable clubs, etc. Service learning classes are something that the school has tried to push, but aren’t all that popular from what I’ve seen. Most people take classes, and volunteer as extracurriculars. I forget what Jumpstart is…</p>
<p>@ sdirish</p>
<p>The good about living on Mount Vernon:
- Smaller, traditional style campus… you get to know your classmates/neighbors more
- Quieter overall campus, with trees
- Small cute library, Hand Chapel, the blimp sports courts, “The Pub” restaurant, etc. I like the atmosphere of MVC. If more classes were offered at MVC, I would recommend it.
- More “quaint” dorms overall. Usually smaller and quieter.
- Did I mention the nice quieter atmosphere and how people get to know each other more on Mount Vernon? Big plus.</p>
<p>The bad:
- If all your classes are at Foggy Bottom, you’ll be commuting back and forth. It’s about 10-15 minutes between Foggy and MVC. More if traffic. Sometimes it takes twice that. Usually you go to Foggy for the day— you can’t just go to one class at Foggy then walk to your dorm then go back to class. Commuting is a pain.
- Did I mention… commuting is a pain? There are more shuttles than there used to be, but sometimes it’s a hassle to get shuttles during “rush hour” (even around 9 when classes tend to start). It’s sometimes hard to find a shuttle coming back late from weekend parties.
- Distanced from Foggy. If your friends all live at Foggy, you’re the commuter. You miss out on Thurston “cram-a-million-people-in-a-dorm…let’s-party.” Commuting sucks.
- Anything you buy downtown DC or on Foggy you’ll have to bring home on the shuttle. Groceries can be a pain. It’s too far to walk to grocery stores near MVC, so you have to often shop at Foggy and take the shuttle back carrying groceries.</p>
<p>Do you want a more traditional college dorm that has more trees? If so > MVC.</p>
<p>Do you want a louder city college dorm? If so > Foggy Bottom.</p>
<p>@ Neat1837 - </p>
<p>No, white people only have white friends. /sarcasm</p>
<p>It’s pretty mingled. I haven’t taken much time to notice the races of my friends before… but it’s quite mixed. Lots of Jewish people from NY/NJ here. Seriously. Otherwise, I know some international students, a good number of Asians, a handful of Latin Americans. </p>
<p>I will say that there are some “ethic” clubs and an ethic greek group or two. If you’re friends with people in those groups, they tend to self-segregate more as they’re very into the culture or whatever. Otherwise, in general, students seem to blend pretty well.</p>
<p>@ transferstu2 -</p>
<p>If your GPA in high school was terrible, and you only have one semester of college with good grades, I don’t consider that a strong transfer application.</p>
<p>“Fairly” competitive university? Above or below GW? If you land a 4.0 at Harvard the first semester, that changes things. </p>
<p>If I was you, I would have taken summer classes, winter intercession classes, etc. and build more semesters of a strong GPA. Blowing high school then having one good semester in college isn’t that strong. Let’s face it: most people apply to GW with good GPAs, solid ECs, good recommendations. Solid work experience could help. A hook would help. Maybe even an essay about why your high school grades tanked if there was some abnormally challenging life circumstance. Perhaps some unique entrepreneurship or charitable project or unique travel experience you did would help sway admissions in your favor.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if you could apply as a 2nd year transfer, but I think your odds of transferring later would improve after more semesters of a strong GPA. Good luck.</p>
<p>@ Andpie1 -</p>
<p>How many college credits do you have so far?</p>
<p>College credits tend to “transfer” over if GW approves the transferring of credits, yes. </p>
<p>That’s different than asking what you should apply as-- freshmen or transfer student. So, are you coming in with 15 credit hours? 60 credit hours? Have you verified that GW will accept all of your previous college credit hours? There are limits on how many and which can transfer. You can’t, for example, transfer 80 credits into GWU, take 40 hours of GWU classes, then graduate with 120 total credit hours. Residency requirements (how many of your credit hours taken at GWU itself) matter.</p>
<p>@ amandasmom - </p>
<p>Admission offices always looks at jobs and internships (and GPA, extracurriculars, etc.), of course. But, being a photocopy intern and being VP of a startup tech company are 2 very different things.</p>
<p>Is it possible to double major in 2 different schools (such as the School of Media and Public Affairs and Columbian College)?</p>
<p>If I recall correctly, SMPA is a school in the Columbian College, so technically it would be a double major in the same. But really it depends how much they match up. For example, a double major in Biomedical Engineering and International Affairs ,than it would be probably be possible, but impossible in 4-years.</p>
<p>What about Political Science and Political Communication? It seems like that would be pretty common…</p>
<p>Yes, you can double major. You will have to have a form filled out declaring your second major and then have the head of that department sign off on it. You can definitely double major in two different schools however, they have different core requirements so you will have to keep that in mind to make sure you will have enough space (8 semesters) to fit them all. My only complaint that is worth mentioning is that I feel they do not offer to the students enough “required” classes in the spring. My daughter had difficulties both her freshman year and now this year finding five classes that fell within her core and concentration requirements.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>You can double major, but think carefully. Some majors overlap and some don’t. Frankly, it’s a BA. You don’t graduate with “2 degrees” if you double major. You simply graduate with 2 majors. It’s much wiser to choose one major that’s useful for your career than 2 majors that aren’t. Majoring in both Poli Comm and PSC sounds like a waste. I would say getting a double-major in IAFF and PSC together is a waste. Majoring in economics (for career purposes) and art (for fun, not career) might be more useful than majoring in 2 very related fields. I suppose I could see double majoring if you can’t choose a career path and what sort of graduate program you’ll need to attend yet.</p>
<p>If you’re majoring in computer science, then perhaps a communication double major could help build a skill set if you’re a techie who needs help in marketing/public speaking. If it were me, I would major in computer science and attend Toastmaster’s or join a marketing/PR club. Better yet, work at a tech company and try to gain some social media experience. Then, you have the tech degree that might be a base requirement for a job. And, you have real-world job experience in communications (social media). Having qualified job experience trumps double-majoring any day in most fields to employers. </p>
<p>If you’re, say, wanting to be a patent lawyer, then maybe majoring in PSC (the closest to pre-law) or IAFF and chemistry (or tech) might be useful as an academic background in both are needed in the career field. (I, however, would choose a quick BA, a respectable MA in Chemistry at a moderately priced school, and a top tier J.D.)</p>
<p>But, in general, 2 or 3 majors just in a BA program doesn’t necessarily springboard a career. A BA is a BA to an employer, whether you’ve got 1 or 5 majors.</p>
<p>Yes, I met the requirements for multiple majors and concentrations. It’s not that hard to do. Whether or not there’s a significant reason is what matters. Sometimes (often) you’ll run into classes not being available in a particular semester. Trying to have 2-3 majors complicates that further. I wouldn’t want to spend more than 4 years on a BA. I would rather gain useful job experience than spend extra time on undergraduate double majors. If your classes happen to line up for 2 majors, fine. </p>
<p>Instead of double (or triple) majoring, why not graduate early to save money? I’m usually against graduating early and missing out on the college/internship/social experience, but saving money makes more sense to me than collecting undergraduate minors. Or, why not spend the extra time at a career-relevant job during college, instead of taking extra classes for a second major? Patent law and similar situations excluded, of course.</p>
<p>I am aware that International students at GW make up around 10% of the overall student body, however is this number higher within the ESIA?</p>
<p>^Thanks for the answer. The only reason I want to double major is because political communication is perfect for my career, but I love political science so much I can’t even picture myself NOT studying it in college. It would have to be at least a minor.</p>
<p>I’m wondering about the environmental studies ba at gwu. what’s it like? i think i want to major in this but i want to learn more about it through an environmental studies student’s perspective</p>
<p>mmmgirl – </p>
<p>You don’t have to make it a minor to take some classes in that field that you like.</p>
<p>Why not just major in your desired major-- political science? Majoring in poli comm is NOT going to be your golden ticket to a career. It’s just a major for a college BA. Employers want to see proven work experience and success. Get an internship and work experience in some communications and social media during college. That way, you can major in whatever you want, and get hired because you 1) went to GWU (major being irrelevant in this case) and 2) have meaningful work experience (i.e., not photocopy intern). College majors really don’t matter that much if we’re talking PSC vs. PolComm, ESIA vs PSC, etc. I consider double “majoring” in the 2 pointless.Similar enough that it doesn’t matter, with the exception of if you want to continue on to get a Master’s degree in that field.</p>