<p>Several parents, myself included, posted college visit reports on the DC schools this year. Go to the old CC archives and search on the Parents Forum for them.</p>
<p>Look into George Mason, it's really good and very underrated. The professors are top-notch. Also look at UMCP because I think you would do very well there. You may want to look into Mary Washinton College because that is a phenomonal school in the DC area.</p>
<p>GWU and American are both very similar. Academically they are both about equal. I wouldn't say one is better then the other. Location wise GWU is in the city and American University in a quiet suburb just outside with a campus and a quick drive into D.C.</p>
<p>"GWU and American are both very similar. Academically they are both about equal."</p>
<p>Uhh...no they are not. I think I explained why before. I think AU is a good school and everything, but GWU is ranked way higher and much harder to get into.</p>
<p>I am not sure that you have an excellent chance of being accepted at U Md. Their average GPA is 4.0-4.1 weighted and average SATs are 1300.</p>
<p>Hoo_29 get off of cloud 9 with GWU. You go ahead and pay your 45K or however much per year and have fun. More power to you if you like GWU I hope you have fun. However, GWU is very similar to AU in terms of academics. GWU is larger and located right in the city. AU is smaller and located in a nice quiet suburb just outside of D.C. GWU is not that much harder to get into. If you have money and are somewhat intelligent GW will let you in probably. You don't need a 1300's sat score or a 4.0 to get into GWU. American is a very good school just like GW. It's campus is well suited for those who want to be near a city but not have their campus BE the city. In terms of academics and admission GWU and American I personally think are on just the same level. It just depends on what location and other factors are preferred by the applicant.</p>
<p>OK let's compare: </p>
<p>GWU:
SAT range: 1240-1390
Percent of students in top 10% of HS class: 65%
Acceptance rate: In 2003, 39%, In 2004, 34%</p>
<p>American:
SAT range: 1130-1320
Percent of students in top 10% of HS class: 36%
Acceptance rate: In 2003, 59%, N/A for 2004</p>
<p>Alright, both of these schools are great, but honestly, someone could go to a much better school than AU without paying so much. It's ranked 86th in US news, and IMO, that's not worth 40K.</p>
<p>Also, GW gives scholarships to many applicants, making it very affordable. </p>
<p>I am not "on a high horse," you are just plain wrong. Just like you can't say that GWU is the same as Georgetown, AU isn't on par with GWU.</p>
<p>quick question. I thought GW's acceptance rate was at 39% not 34%.</p>
<p>"In 2003, 39%, In 2004, 34%"</p>
<p>In US news, it is 39%, because that was the acceptance rate in 2003. Last year, however it was 34%. For more information, check out a nice fact page on GW's website. </p>
<p><a href="http://gwired.gwu.edu/adm/more/facts.html%5B/url%5D">http://gwired.gwu.edu/adm/more/facts.html</a></p>
<p>"The Freshman Class </p>
<p>The freshman class of 2,300 was chosen from an application pool of nearly 19,000. </p>
<p>GW is one of a small number of private institutions that admit fewer than 40% of their applicant pool. </p>
<p>We are among the 16 private institutions with applicant pools over 15,000 </p>
<p>65% of our freshman class rank in the top 10% of their high school class, while 92% rank in the top 25%. </p>
<p>The middle 50% of admitted freshmen have SAT scores which range from 1240 to 1390 </p>
<p>The demographic breakdown of our freshman class: </p>
<p>·
African American/Black
4%</p>
<p>·
Asian American/Pacific Islander
10%</p>
<p>·
Latin/Hispanic American
4%</p>
<p>·
Native American
< 1%</p>
<p>·
White/Caucasian
65%</p>
<p>·
International
4%</p>
<p>·
Unknown/Not Reported
12%</p>
<p>The geographic distribution: </p>
<p>·
Mid-Atlantic
48%</p>
<p>·
New England
17%</p>
<p>·
Southeast
11.5%</p>
<p>·
West/Northwest
10.5%</p>
<p>·
Central
8%</p>
<p>·
Puerto Rico, Guam
1%</p>
<p>·
Outside the United States
4%"</p>
<p>Okay, it seems like you've gotten plenty of opinions, but I've visited both campuses so I figure it can't hurt to give you one more. As far as I know GW is harder to get into than American, but not drastically. GW's main campus isn't really a campus at all it's mixed right into the city, however they do also have a suburban campus, but I'm pretty sure it only has residence halls for women. The area of the city where GW is located is very safe as its located so close to the White House. As far as I know GW has a pretty good IR program and an excellent Political Communications program in which students learn by doing on the set of Crossfire which is right on campus. GW is also a great opportunity for internships. I know a freshman there from my hisghschool and he already has an internship with a Senator. Now as far as American goes it has a suburban campus on the outskirts of the city. Theres a shuttle which runs to a metro stop so students can get around the city fairly easily. If your looking for the traditional college campus and frisbee games out on the quad American is probably the better choice. They also have a great Journalism department and are known for getting great apeakers on campus. One thing I didn't like about American were that the buildings were pretty ugly for a suburban campus. Also, the best dorms of the two are at GW hands down. One good thing about American is that the student body seems more diverse with a good number of international students. GW seems more like a school for upper class white kids, hence its hefty price tag. Anymore questions just let me know.</p>
<p>AU also has a LOT of good merit scholarship money, if that's something that's important to you applicants</p>
<p>i was wondering exactly how much do students pay in tuition...i know its in the 40's, but with financial aid and everything, does anyone know around what it comes down to? i feel like if i go there i would be paying the bulk of it, bc we make enough money so that i don't think they would give us much aid, but not enough to where 40 k isn't going to put a dent in our pockets. and based on my academics, i don't think i'd receive that much merit aid...ahh..if only it wasn't so expensive...</p>
<p>We visited American, GW, and Georgetown when the D was looking at schools. </p>
<p>All three of us--D, TheMom, and I--didn't like American at all. It felt like an overgrown community college. "Academics" was seventh on the list of things that the administrator giving the info session talked about; more stress about how fun D.C. was, how safe AU was, and they seemed particularly proud of the fact that they not only had police arrest students for marijuana but had the students expelled. The only thing positive that really caught my ear was that AU apparently really does have a strong International Business program and they have lots of foreign students on campus, so they are rich in that regard. The dorms were among the worst we saw in our three years of college visits.</p>
<p>My D really liked GW despite its lack of a traditional campus. I think she would have been in the running for one of their major pperforming arts scholarships but she decided the on-campus ballet was too weak and the time penalty for getting to/from Washington Ballet was too big for a busy student, even though when there she took class with a major ABT dancer. GW's proximity to the White House was a plus and both GW and Georgetown have very good internship prospects on Capitol Hill..</p>
<p>Looking at your stats, I think GW is a reach for you but not hopelessly so.</p>