<p>If money is basically equal, what are the pros and cons of each?<br>
We have visited and know the difference in urban vs. campus-feel and dorm information – but what else? What about quality of academics? Small vs. large classes, teacher interest, internships, types of people who go there, jobs after college, etc.?
D was accepted to GW for Arts and Sciences and to AU for Communications. She is uncertain about major but possibly interested in some aspect of media.
Thanks for any insights…</p>
<p>GW has its own school of Media and Public Affairs which concentrates a lot in journalism and political communication, at the same time the communications major is really strong at GW. I have heard from a lot of people that GW academics are stronger than American, and that the students are more academically focused as well. GW and AMerican both have small classes, so there is no difference there. Internships at GW are much better, GW students are more attractive for employers since they are in the city, American had to cancel classes on Wednesday in order to make their students more competitive for internships, that should say something about it. I decided on GW, but deferred admissions for a year to go travel and will now attend in the fall.</p>
<p>^ i heard the opposite. American have great internships and it’s a real campus when GW</p>
<p>i finish my sentence, sorry… when GW is all around the city! you need to visit to have a better opinion…</p>
<p>i’ve visited both campuses, and GW is certainly not all around the city, it is not like NYU or BU at all, you know when you are on campus and when you are not, 90% of all the buildings in a 5x6block radius belong to GW, all the other ones are actually either restaurants or private apartment complexes where the students often live. When i went on the tour i def. felt a campus feel in the middle of the city, and if you are still not satisfied, they have the Mt. vernon campus which is more like a small liberal arts college campus in the rural area of dc, im so excited to be going to GW in the fall
i’ve also heard about a lot of people that got rejected or wait listed at GW and had to go to American</p>
<p>You mean they didn’t choose to go to American? What’s wrong with this picture Dorian?</p>
<p>I think it’s individual to each student. My S3 checked out both, loved the vibe at AU, didn’t like GW at all–especially Thurston Hall where it seems like most of the first year students live. Applied ED to Au, and done…</p>
<p>I’m an AU upperclassman in the College of Arts and Sciences.</p>
<p>AU’s School of Communications is very solid and well-regarded. I find it irritating when people say that everyone at AU “had to go to American” because they got rejected from other DC schools. (I feel like GW and Georgetown students like to say this a lot.) I know many people for whom AU was their first choice, myself included. </p>
<p>That said, it has to come down to which school feels right on a visit, which is the most important factor. Also, remember that most students change their major (sometimes drastically) within a year or two of arriving. I thought I wanted to be a journalism major, and now I’m in art history and design…</p>
<p>Also, I’m not sure what this is about schools “having great internships.” Everyone I know sought out their own internships, had great experiences, and then dealt with AU if they wanted credits for the internship. Simply being in DC and connected via the Metro taps you into all that DC has to offer in terms of internships.</p>
<p>American’s undergraduate business school is ranked MUCH higher than GWs by Business Week (28th vs. 65th), and ranks internship opportunities MUCH higher at American (30th v. unranked). Undergraduate IR are ranked exactly the same by Foreign Policy Magazine. American’s career center/advising is ranked much higher by Princeton Review (much of it having to do with finding/advising for internships.)</p>
<p>I have no doubt that GW is probably a better school for sciences, pre-meds, pure math, and maybe some other parts of the liberal arts. Entering SAT/ACT scores for each are virtually the same.</p>
<p>For my d., she preferred American to both GW and Georgetown. Others might feel differently.</p>
<p>boysx3, your son’s being put off by Thurston Hall at GW tells me he’s a very perceptive kid. My son lived there as a freshman for about two months before he fled to another dorm. It is indeed all freshmen, most of whom are looking to cut loose in the big city as their primary activity in college, so it’s one big party, which wears thin pretty fast if you aren’t a committed partier. There were constantly ambulances arriving to take over-alcoholed kids to the emergency room. My son’s final straw was when someone whose name he didn’t even know puked on his bedroom floor. He’s not prudish, he was just repelled by everyone trying so hard to be wasted all the time–he could have had that scene at our flagship state university for a lot less money. He also found that a lot of the weekend social life revolved around shopping and clubbing in Georgetown–that was what had attracted many of the students to DC in the first place. But he couldn’t afford that lifestyle and wasn’t especially interested in it anyway. It was a bad match all around, and he transferred after his freshman year. I would say that you have to be a real city mouse and very independent in order to enjoy GW. It’s big city life, and it’s fine for some, but not for all. At AU, you can choose to partake of the city or stay on campus and ignore it–I imagine most do some combination of both.</p>
<p>I just wasn’t attracted to GW, I didn’t apply… I’m going to AU though</p>
<p>What put my son off of Thurston Hall was not just the animal house atmosphere but also the fact that most of the rooms had so many students in them…even though they were nominally suite-style he felt he would never have even two seconds of alone time.</p>
<p>He’s a very social kid but also wanted to know that his room would sometimes be a haven–it’s hard enough to negotiate with one roomie much less 3 or 4–after all, each is entitled to have friends in the room which means that there will almost always be a lot of people in the room.</p>
<p>Also in talking to students he felt that the kids he spoke to at GW never mentioned studying as one of their activities. My son wants to be in one of the more social dorms at AU (Anderson or Letts, from what he has been told), but he also like the fact that these dorms have quiet study lounges on each floor and also are located right by the library.</p>
<p>Dorian, your comments are predicated on complete hearsay. Your opinion on AU is clearly prejudiced by your decision to attend GW. </p>
<p>1) “GW has its own school of Media and Public Affairs which concentrates a lot in journalism and political communication, at the same time the communications major is really strong at GW.”</p>
<p>AU’s School of Communications is equally regarded, if not more so; it is one of the university’s most famous schools, is highly ranked in the nation, and has produced many storied alumni in the fields you mention. </p>
<p>2) “I have heard from a lot of people that GW academics are stronger than American, and that the students are more academically focused as well.”</p>
<p>Tell that to the [ninth</a> student in nine years to win a Truman scholarship](<a href=“http://american.edu/americantoday/campus-news/20090326Truman-Scholarship-Kyrie-Bannar-AU-Honors-Program.cfm]ninth”>http://american.edu/americantoday/campus-news/20090326Truman-Scholarship-Kyrie-Bannar-AU-Honors-Program.cfm). She’s exceptional, but she’s no outlier.</p>
<p>3) “GW and AMerican both have small classes, so there is no difference there.”</p>
<p>Not quite – GW has twice the student body of AU. AU classes are on average much smaller. </p>
<p>3) “Internships at GW are much better, GW students are more attractive for employers since they are in the city, American had to cancel classes on Wednesday in order to make their students more competitive for internships, that should say something about it.”</p>
<p>What it says is that AU values internships enough to give students the chance to devote one day of the week to them. It doesn’t “cancel” classes, and some classes like languages do meet on Wednesdays. Also, employers couldn’t care less where students are located; they come to work, the work doesn’t come to them. Any internship in DC is fair game for all DC students.</p>
<p>Have fun at GW, but don’t try to take these silly potshots at AU. They only make you seem insecure about the choice you made.</p>
<p>“I have no doubt that GW is probably a better school for sciences, pre-meds, pure math, and maybe some other parts of the liberal arts.”</p>
<p>This idea that AU is lacking in sciences and math is a little overblown. In any case, no DC university is reputed for its science and math programs.</p>
<p>Go Dingledan!! - ur on Fireaa!!! ;D</p>
<p>To Dingledan, you are right, with the possible exception of GU’s NHS program. That’s pretty solid.</p>
<p>But to the OP, I picked AU over GW and here is why:
Better internship oppurtunities (including a wednesday off, for internships specifically)
Better campus (it’s a feel thing though)
Cheaper (for me at least)
Interdisciplinary program (thin walls between individual school)
Location which can be considered both a campus and in the city
Self-contained
Less snobby atmosphere
Better school spirit (IMHO)
Ranked better for my major (SIS)
Possible 5 year BA/MA plan
Study Abroad program is better
I feel like the teacher interaction will be better (it’s what I’ve heard, but i’ll tell ya in 2 years lol). </p>
<p>So those are my reasons.</p>
<p>(I asked this in another topic but it didn’t get a reply, so maybe an AU student might know…)</p>
<p>Help me understand the AP credits given. If an incoming Freshman has 30 AP credits and 120 credits are needed for graduation…can they basically graduate in 3 years? (Since 30 credits is ~one year). It would then only take 3 years to get the remaining 90 credits, correct? Does this make sense? If so, do many students do this? Doesn’t seem too hard to bring in 30 AP credits.
Also, on the other hand, if an incoming freshman had those 30 credits done, they’d then need to take some more difficult ‘sophomore’ level courses right off the bat; wondering if that might be difficult as a green/newbie freshman to college.</p>
<p>Lastly, when doing study abroad for a semester, do you typically have a 15 credit course load?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>FYI–Foreign Policy has AU ranked in the top 20 ( I believe tied for 17th) for undergrad IR, GW not ranked in the top 20 at all</p>
<p>I had liked GW. Then I visited AU yesterday, and I’m sold. GW is still a top choice, but I definitely prefer AU to GW. The campus has a totally different atmosphere.</p>
<p>yea, dingledan!</p>