Best departments?

<p>Which fields is the GWU good in besides international affairs and poli sci?</p>

<p>Is poli sci highly rated or is this anecdotal based upon location and adjunct faculty? Is poli sci ranked in the top 30 depts in the country? How does it compare to medium sized universities such as U of Rochester, Georgetown, Emory and Northwestern?</p>

<p>The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Law School, and graduate programs in health and public affairs were ranked among the top 25 in the latest “America’s Best Graduate Schools” issue of US News & World Report. It's law school is ranked #20.</p>

<p>GWU has a top 15 International Business ranking by US news and WR.
Has an awesome Physical therapy, speech, and audiology programs. Also a top 100 med. school.</p>

<p>If anyone has the US news grad school P.S. rankings, that could answer your question, but I don't have the $.</p>

<p>It's journalism program is kick ass too.</p>

<p>How is there china studies?</p>

<p>How about the liberal arts college?</p>

<p>...and what about the Computer Science department? I have to think that it would be good given the proximity to FBI, CIA, NSA, etc.</p>

<p>dspringer - don't know too much about China studies, but I can tell you they just made a couple of million $ investment in Asian studies. And their Japanese program is excellent.</p>

<p>The engineering/CS is the only sub-par program at GW. I am so proud of my education here, and GW's academics are incredible, but the engineering isn't anything special. Honestly, VT or Auburn would be just as good prestige wise. The main reason is because this program is very new, and it hasn't gotten "off-the-ground" quite as much as the other departments.</p>

<p>i've been both impressed and disappointed by GW academically.
last year i actually chose gw over a prestigious liberal arts school, a decision i don't regret, though i can't say i don't occasionally think to myself "what if" sometimes. however, i think every freshman feels that, and honestly i can't imagine being anywhere else. GW is an awesome place and i've made friends that i know i want to be friends with for life.
so- to answer the question- yes, the poli-sci and int affairs departments are good (duh), and the psychology department is very strong as well. the 7 yr BA/MD program is very competitive, and there are both stellar and not so stellar professors in the liberal arts. i should note, though, that the Maori author- can't remember the name right now-of the book Whale Rider (that inspired the movie) has been chosen to teach at GW this year. so that kind of stuff is exciting. also, joel trachtenberg (GW prez) is a big cheese in the business/real world, and has amazing connections to all sorts of powerful politicians. john kerry and howard dean have spoken at GW, and CNN crossfire is filmed at GW, so gw students can attend for free every day if you want (frankly, i'm with jon stewart and tucker among the other hosts of crossfire annoy me, so i pass on that offer).
i'm actually in the school of media and public affairs (SMPA) and applied completely on a whim. in fact, i sent the application a couple of weeks late when i realized i needed more safety schools. i had no idea what the caliber of SMPA was in the arena of media and journalism- only since i got here have i been informed of how competitive it is and that it's not common to get accepted into SMPA as a freshman. what made me ultimately accept GW's offer was a presidential scholarship ($20 grand) plus generous grants. GW has been very good to me, so i don't have much to complain about.
i'm still not too sure <em>how</em> good SMPA is, i don't even know if i really want to major in journalism, so i guess i'm pretty ambivalent about the whole thing and maybe you shouldn't judge by me. but then i've only completed a semester so we'll see how the courses past the introductory course are like.<br>
however, one key thing that canNOT be overlooked about SMPA is the <em>opportunity</em>. intern at crossfire, with national geographic, US news and world report, etc etc etc. if you want to go into political communications or journalism, THIS is the place. no doubt about it.
if you have more questions concerning good departments or just GW in general, i'd be happy to answer them.</p>

<p>"...and what about the Computer Science department? I have to think that it would be good given the proximity to FBI, CIA, NSA, etc."</p>

<p>As a CS major, the Engineering School does have its benefits. For one thing, we get free printing, even though we don't write papers. Also, SEAS is doing a good job of getting internships/summer jobs for alot of the students. Almost every day I get an e-mail from the job coordinator about open positions - a lot of which are from SEAS alumni. The Dean's goal is to get every single person who wants an internship the chance to get one. A lot of the juniors/seniors I know already have government jobs such as the White House, Secret Service, non-profits, etc. Another added benefit is that if you declare a CS major, there are a number of concentrations that you can specialize in such as digital media (basically making video games), information assurance (computer security/hacking), pre-med, and one of the hotest fields -- bioinformatics. Also, I believe that there will be a new concentration offered in business. IMHO, I think SEAS is really turning out a great CS program for its students. All of the faculty know the students on a first name basis and even though it is the smallest school at GW, it makes it easier to make friends. Good luck!</p>