Not too long ago I was searching these forums for information on colleges that could help me with the decision making process. Now as a current George Washington Undergraduate student, I thought I could help some of you out by answering your questions.
So… what do you wanna know?? I’ll answer any question you’ve got 
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Anyone is free to ask or answer questions in this thread.
Hey! Thanks for making this post I’m applying this year and I have a lot of questions so please bear with me HAHA. I wanted to ask about the political science program here, are people really competitive about it (is it as cutthroat as it seems)? Who are some of GWU’s most popular employers for internships and jobs? Also, the Greek life at GWU, what’s it really like? Do they throw a lot of parties or have a lot of internal activities? What’s the party scene like, what do people usually do after classes or on weekends? These are just questions on the top of my head, if I think of more I’ll ask Thank you!!
Dont worry about the amount of questions… I’m here to help and really like talking about my school anyways
Is it competitive and cutthroat?
Lots of driven, alpha-type, movers and shakers come to GW in an attempt to burst into the political world. So yes, it is a competitive environment for political oriented majors. That being said, I wouldn’t describe it as “cutthroat”. That seems to imply that it’s dirty and unfair for some, which isn’t the case. Nobody is at a disadvantage when it comes to the internships/employment/networking opportunities. If you work hard and utilize the opportunities you get, you’ll succeed.
Popular jobs and internships
For political science, there’s lots of different routes people take. Most people at some point intern for one of their state reps or senators over on capital hill. Some work for campaigns during elections season. There’s lots of non profits that do work in DC where people volunteer. Some people do work at think tanks, and there are also lots of opportunities to work with governement agencies. Lots of polo sci majors want to to to law school, so there’s lots of interns at law offices too.
Greek life and party scene
Greek life is certainly noticeable on campus, but I wouldn’t say it’s a driving force behind the social scene. Most fraternities and sororities are known for their internal events and are professional in nature… not for their crazy mixers. I’m personally not a big partner, but there’s plenty of opportunities to if that’s your scene… be it at a frat, the notorious thurston hall, or out at a bar/club in DC.
Orher social activities
It’s hard to say what people “normally” do for fun, because there’s no such thing as a “normal” GW student… diversity is a big deal here. Most people join at least one of the hundreds of student organizations to hang out with like minded people. GW is consistently ranked one of the countries best schools for internships, so lots of people spend their evening utilizing those opportunities. Some (though not many) like to go to watch out sports teams play… bottom line: there’s lots of opportunities to socialize and have fun in DC. Once you find a niche, you’ll have no shortage of opportunities for fun. Be warned though, you’ll have to actively search for these opportunities… it’s very easy to hermit in your dorm and miss out on all kinds of opportunities.
Oh wow, thank you so much for the help! I think I’m going to apply ED1 for GWU so fingers crossed! Are classes at GWU hard to sign up for (i.e. since gwu is a relatively big school do a lot of people compete for the same classes)? Also could you just describe some of the typical students at GWU? I know that there’s a lot of diversity but I want to kind of get a sense of what kids there are mostly like. Thanks
Also are there some basics people should know or tips for applying as political science major? What’s the major like? Do students at GWU have minors or double major? Thanks again
Awesome on your decision to apply ED!!! Of course I’m biased, but I think you’ve made a good choice 
After your freshman year registration isn’t too bad (regardless of you major), and it’s not something to stress over. Even if the classes that you want fill up, there are ALWAYS other good options that will be available. Heck I just got an email the other day informing me of International Affairs courses that STILL have open seats for the fall… Including “Space Policy”, “Nuclear Security” and “The Politics of Northern Africa”. If friggin’ Space Policy is a class that they can’t fill up… there are clearly some awesome choices. Heck Senator Rand Paul is teaching a literature course this semester!!!
The admissions office at GWU really cares about you being a student committed to GWU, and also committed to your intended field of study. The admissions office will overlook some lower admissions standards if you’re a “good fit” with expressed interest. And likewise, GWU routinely denies a large amount of VERY qualified students who didn’t seem to be especially interested in their field of study nor GWU. This is especially true for the Elliott School, but also for political science and political communication majors as well.
As far as double majoring goes, you can absolutely do it so long as your two majors are at least related. You technically can pursue most every ridiculous combination, like electrical engineering and middle eastern studies. But realistically you can’t complete this. Nor should you want to. What good what that do for you?? For political science majors, most students who are smart with their organization can double major in history, international affairs, foreign language, economics, sociology, and other related fields.
Note that there are some majors that are completely barred to double major in however. Among the more surprising of these is journalism and business administration.
In case you couldn’t tell by my tongue and cheek tone, these are humorous stereotypes that are only kind of based in fact. But they will make any student/alum laugh and they do show some truths about the student body. If you need some explanation/translation on what I was going for with those I can elaborate more seriously haha
Thank you for this post. My S is torn between American and GW. Specifically, he is concerned that GW does not have a traditional campus although he loves the idea of being in the city. Can you talk a little bit about that?
@Riviera2016 I can absolutely talk about that!!!
It seems like your son is comparing the two schools wisely and accurately. American does have a more traditional campus, while GW is very urban, and in the heart of foggy bottom. GW offers more places to go off campus for fun, and is more vibrant and lively. On the flip side, American offers more abilities to play frisbee on a quad, lay out in the grass, and eat food at a cafeteria (we don’t have one of those at GW anymore haha).
I can’t speak in too much more detail about American’s social life and campus, but I can give the following 3 pieces of information to you and your son; which may help mitigate your son’s concerns about GW. I’m not trying to pitch my school over American, but these are a few points worth considering.
If city life seems overwhelming, there’s the option to “live on the vern”, as a GW student. GW has a remote campus called the mount vernon campus (aka the vern), where about 1/4 of all freshman live, and many upperclassmen live as well. There are also a handful of classes offered there, and every GW freshman has to take a writing course on the vern. There are shuttles that run between the two campuses 24 hours a day, and it’s a mere 10-15 minute ride. The vern has a beautiful campus with traditional style buildings, a quad with a fountain, a soccer field, a cafeteria, and many other aspects of a traditional college campus. It’s super peaceful and gives you a break from the city, and could be a way to mitigate GW’s crazy atmosphere if it’s too overwhelming for you son.
D.C. isn’t too crazy of a city. When compared to Boston, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, etc, D.C. looks like a suburban neighborhood. It’s rather easy to adjust to compared to the other big cities, and that’s coming from a guy who lived in a small town of about 9,000 people for part his senior year in H.S.
While we at GW miss out on some aspects of a traditional college experience, we still have a lot of fun, make awesome friendships, and keep ourselves busy. Just because our social lives aren’t traditional doesn’t mean they’re dull. We don’t tailgate or play frisbee and seldom wear blue and gold on gamedays, but we do get to play flag football on the national mall, take walks to the smithsonians, and go trick or treating at the Russian embassy.
Furthermore, it’s worth noting that GW’s internship and networking opportunities are superior because of its urban setting. It also attracts super high quality adjunct professors. Networking is extremely important if your son is planning on studying a political oriented major, as most of the opportunities in the DC are super competitive.
In short; If the ability to live out a movie-esc, traditional college life is important to you son, then American is probably a better fit. If he’d find it more fun to live in a city with more cultural exposure, restaurants, and professional opportunity, then GW may be the better choice. When the time comes in the next few months, he’ll have to pick which school would be a better fit, and weigh that factor against the academic programs and financial package.
Feel free to ask for clarity or ask other questions if you’ve got them!!! Hope this helps
Great information! And since you don’t mind answering questions, I have a couple more for you.
My son is not so much interested in political science or similar track. He is more into communication, English, and the arts even though he’s not looking to become an actor or anything like that. Do you think GW is a potential good fit for similar students?
Also, GW is a large school compared to AU. Does it feel large? Is it easy to get lost in the crowd of students?
No problem! I’m happy to help.
I wrongly assumed your son was interested in the political programs since the only schools I knew he was looking at are both D.C. schools primarily known for those sorts of programs. So my fault there.
But regardless… for English, the arts, and communications, I can’t offer much detailed knowledge on those programs, but I can attest to the fact that there are large groups of people interested in those fields of study at GW. GW is an interesting school because there truly is no such thing as a “typical student”. There’s big groups of political kids, computer programers, artists, business people, engineers, and everything else in between. The political kids and international affairs scholars are the most predominant because those are without a doubt the (relatively) strongest programs at GW, but the other groups aren’t by any means small or overlooked. I guarantee that if your son goes to GW and puts himself out there, he’ll find a niche and build a circle of influence that he’s happy with.
As for the size of GW, it never has felt large or overwhelming to me after my adjustment to city life. The enrollment is relatively big, at around 26,000. But that being said, once you eliminate the med school, law school, and graduate students, the UNDERGRADUATE enrollment is only around 11,000, while AU has about 8,000 undergrad students. Since the graduate students keep to themselves, and a large number of those students are professionals taking night classes, I think the 11,000 number is a more accurate way of gauging the size of the student body. I’ve also never felt “lost in the crowd”. Class sizes are kept small, there’s lots of opportunity for personalized advising and help from professors, and the center for career services are outstanding (at least for my major).
Thanks so much for offering advice from someone who just went through the admissions. I’m a GW alum '91 (Thurston and loved it!) and my daughter tells me it’s her ‘dream’ school. She wants to study social justice, which might include law and poly sci. But although she has a great ‘resume’ with top grades, lots of community service, leadership studies, etc, I’m more concerned about her taking on debt. I’m working the scholarship end of it for her - any tips on that?
In case you couldn’t tell by my tongue and cheek tone, these are humorous stereotypes that are only kind of based in fact. But they will make any student/alum laugh and they do show some truths about the student body. If you need some explanation/translation on what I was going for with those I can elaborate more seriously haha
In case you couldn’t tell by my tongue and cheek tone, these are humorous stereotypes that are only kind of based in fact. But they will make any student/alum laugh and they do show some truths about the student body. If you need some explanation/translation on what I was going for with those I can elaborate more seriously haha
First and foremost, hello fellow colonial!
I’m not sure what program your daughter is exactly interested in… there’s a “human service and social justice” major, which is basically a sociology program. But there’s very little poly sci involved.
But regarding debt… There’s no magical formula that will minimize debt. But there are a few things to be aware of.
Unless your daughter qualifies for a special scholarship (there’s a jewish one, one for DC area kids only, and a few others), then the only merit based scholarship she can get is the presidential scholarship. However, GW tends to give away presidential scholarships quite regularly, with annual awards ranging anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000. The presidential awards are given based on academic performance (GPA and ACT), demonstrated commitment to your field of study (i.e. a poly sci major who interned in a law office), and demographics (minority status, region of the USA, etc). So on top of your daughter maintaining her high grades, the only other thing I’d recommend her doing is getting involved with activities related to whatever major she will be applying under - if she hasn’t already.
GW is test optional. But while it’s not required to submit ACT/SAT scores, it is significantly harder to obtain a GW Presidential scholarship if you choose not to. And based on my observations at the admissions office (not empirical data, be warned), submitting test scores really only does you favors if you have a 30 ACT or 1400 SAT. So if your daughter hasn’t reached that benchmark already, I’d encourage her to study hard and retake it.
Applying Early Decision makes it harder to receive a merit award. It is possible, and its not at all rare for it to happen; you can browse old posts on these forums and look for yourself. But without a doubt, regular decision is the superior way to apply if you require a merit award.
Keep in mind that the “room and board” expenses listed on GW’s website are estimations and averages. The costs of the rooms at GW vary greatly. So if your daughter ends up attending GW, you can literally save a couple thousand of dollars of room fees each year (!) depending on your dorm. By staying at thurston my freshman year, I saved about $2,000 compared to the next cheapest option. Furthermore, there are no longer food plans at GW. We got rid of our cafeteria. Instead, we now only have a “G World” card that acts as essentially a debit card with food trucks, restaurants, and grocery stores around foggy bottom. Strategically planning your food and shopping at safeway rather than whole foods (apples shouldn’t cost $5 each man [-X ) is another way to save a LOT of money over the course of 4 years.
GW has a fixed tuition. So long as you remain a full time student, tuition will be the same for your first semester and last semester. This is becoming rarer and rarer among colleges, so enjoy that perk if your daughter winds up being my classmate in a year
Hope I was of help!!! Please let me know if I can assist you in any other way!!!
Hi! I’m looking into GW and I was just wondering if it’s hard to get into like, for example, the School of Communications or the School of Public Health, if I am going in undeclared freshman year. Should I go undeclared or pick a school and hope it’s the right one for me? Thanks in advance!
First of all, the School of Communications isn’t a thing at GW. Are you referring to the School of Media and Public Affairs, which houses the journalism and political communication programs?
Regardless, GW can be harder to get into depending on your major, as is the case with most schools. The Elliott School of International Affairs is the hardest school to gain admission to when applying, as it’s GW’s strongest program (consistently ranked top 10 in the country), and consequently attracts more qualified students.
Outside of Elliott, it can be harder to gain admission by applying under either the school of public health and the political communication major. This is because these two majors are called “limited enrollment” majors. In a nutshell, this means that these programs have very specific and unique courses needed for graduation. Because of the uniqueness of the courses, they aren’t offered in abundance. Therefore, the GWU admins cap off the number of people who they allow to major in those programs, so everybody can get the classes that they need in order to graduate. Because of the cap on the number of students, it can get more selective if too many people apply in a particular year.
In addition to political communication and public health, the rest of the limited enrollment majors are; regular communications, english and creative writing, finance, and journalism.
I’m not going to recommend you to apply one way or another, that’s up to you. But communications and public health are very different fields of study. I would recommend thinking more about what you want to do before picking which program you’ll apply under. As of now, it sounds like you truly are “undecided”.
Just wanted to chime-in and mention something that @gdubya didn’t (no knock, you’re doing a great job in here): if your son is interested in the arts, GW has recently acquired the Corcoran School of the Arts https://corcoran.gwu.edu/. That’s something that AU doesn’t offer, for sure.