<p>Now that my son is done his freshman year, I can see he had a great time, did well in school, made lots of friends and all in all had a good experience. AU worked out well for him. </p>
<p>I’d give it an 8 or 9 on a scale of 1 to 10.</p>
<p>What your rating of the last year’s experience?</p>
<p>Over the course of the year, D changed her roommate, changed her major, and did a lot of changing herself, growing more independent and becoming adept at meeting various challenges she encountered (to say nothing of learning how to navigate a new city). She stumbled a bit academically first semester, but just got her last second semester grade today and completely redeemed herself (she’s been beaming all day). She likes her friends, is excited about her new field of study, enjoys her extracurricular activities and feels very positive about AU and living in DC. I’ve appreciated the individualized attention she’s gotten from administration and faculty when she needed guidance and support. I do think she would also have had positive experiences at the colleges she declined, so I can’t say AU was her one true shining star (especially since she chose it primarily for the major she abandoned), but it was all in all a positive year. So If I had to give it a number, how about a 7.5?</p>
<p>I know this is likely meant for parents, but I hope no one minds if a current student chimes in as well. :)</p>
<p>Just finished my junior year, and it was overall pretty darn good. Found some faculty mentors who really helped me solidify what I want to do post-graduation, and had some great classes that helped as well. Found a fantastic internship, saw an important new building on campus come to completion, and survived the “snowpocalypse” that canceled 4 straight days of classes. Sadly our basketball team did not go to the NCAA’s for a third straight season, but, as always, next season is definitely “the year.” </p>
<p>Overall, I’d give it an 8.5/9.0 of 10.</p>
<p>A bit off topic, but the folks on this thread might know–
do you ever hear of students throughout the course of the year who are worried about meeting their GPA requirement for merit aid? Or who fail to meet it?</p>
<p>Just finished my junior year (or junior year redux as I’ve been calling it since I completed my junior year before I transferred) and it was pretty good. I’ve been feeling more comfortable at the school, made some great new friends mostly through being trapped in my dorm for almost a week during Snowpocalypse. Got more involved on campus, was invited and inducted into two honors societies, secured a summer internship that is finally something I might actually want to do, and a summer apartment where I get to live alone without (completely) impoverishing myself. </p>
<p>So I’d also give it an 8.5 or 9/10.</p>
<p>my D just finished freshman year! she had a great time at AU, she made a lot of friends and she made the Dean list twice with an 4.0 gpa this semester! i give AU an 8.5/10!</p>
<p>@lspf72- My S just finished his sophomore year. He is trying to maintain a 3.2 for his merit scholarship. Freshman year he made Dean’s list no problem. First semester sophomore year he struggled through a couple of challenging courses and was worried about dipping below the 3.2 and jeopardizing his scholarship. He does worry about it because without that scholarship he would not be able to continue at AU. Thankfully he has not gone below the 3.2 GPA but he does worry about it.
As for his overall experience. He has a double major and loves them both. He has a work study job on campus that he enjoys and gives him an opportunity to work with professors. He loves being in D.C. He did have roommate issues freshman year but that could happen anywhere. Did have a problem getting into one of the courses for his major freshman year (an intro course) which I was unhappy about. He likes his professors and there is lots of opportunity to get to know them. We did have one disappointment regarding study abroad as there was no program for the country he wanted to study in that had courses required for one of his majors so he is unable to travel to that country. This was a big disappointment for him. I guess overall I think we would give AU an 8.</p>
<p>Thanks, zinniamum. The 3.2 was a concern. It wasn’t that we thought S couldn’t maintain it, but like you, we could not afford American without the merit aid, so it was a worry.</p>