<p>I am interested in GWU, mainly because of its close proximity to the Capitol. I've always wanted to pursue some sort of Congressional Internship or something of the sort.</p>
<p>However, the price tag is pretty hefty. I found out today that GWU is the third most expensive college to attend in the nation (that is what my source said, at least).</p>
<p>I got accepted to UC Davis which was another one of my top choices, and as a California Resident, it wouldn't be much more than 15,000 for me to go there, as opposed to the staggering 50,000 that I'm seeing for GWU.</p>
<p>So, I'm looking for someone to justify that big price tag. WHY is GWU worth the money?</p>
<p>As an unrelated question, I'm curious if it is weird enough. I'm a pretty strange person and I surround myself with other strange, interesting people. I play Quidditch, embrace my nerd/geekdom and flaunt it, and still really enjoy playing in cardboard boxes, if that gives you any idea. Some admire me for this, and some do not. From someone who knows the campus feel and the average GWU student, is it weird enough? I don't want to be the only person making cardboard box forts, that would just be awkward.</p>
<p>Not going to lie, if you weren’t aware of GW’s enormous price, I’m not sure why you would have applied. Although they guarantee financial aid, you never know how much…Seems like Davis is the best option for you, but you essentially took someone on the waitlist’s spot.</p>
<p>GW is “worth it” because of it being in such a thriving, important city and it’s high rankings. Private education is very different than what you’ll get at Davis, and enormous seminars are not going to be as common. </p>
<p>I kind of feel like you should have done this kind of research before you applied/got accepted to schools?</p>
<p>Just for the record, it’s not like GW costs 20K more than other private universities- its a few hundred. [CampusGrotto</a> - Most Expensive Colleges for 2010-2011](<a href=“http://www.campusgrotto.com/most-expensive-colleges-for-2010-2011.html]CampusGrotto”>America's Most Expensive Colleges - CampusGrotto)
Highest Tuition 2010-2011
College Tuition
- Middlebury College $45,185
- Connecticut College $43,990
- The George Washington University $42,860
- Sarah Lawrence College $42,600
- Vassar College $42,560
- Bucknell University $42,112
- Wesleyan University $41,814
- St. John’s College $41,792
- University of Richmond $41,610
- Colgate University $41,585
- Union College (NY) $41,571
- Carnegie Mellon University $41,500
- Oberlin College $41,234
- Williams College $41,190
- Dickinson College $41,170
- Bard College at Simon’s Rock $41,160
- Columbia University $41,160
- Bowdoin College $41,150
- Bates College $41,120
- Franklin & Marshall College $41,090
- Carleton College $41,076
- Gettysburg College $41,070
- Reed College $40,940
- St. Lawrence University $40,905
- Hamilton College $40,870 </p>
<p>And I agree with Samsam- the price tag is nothing new- you knew it when you applied.</p>
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<p>For the record, this figure is a bit misleading. Middlebury has a comprehensive fee that includes tuition and room + board. As a residential college, Middlebury expects students to live on campus for all four years. If students choose not to live on campus, they are given a refund. This estimate of tution is the comprehensive fee minus the refund, which is kept intentionally small in order to encourage students to live on campus. Middlebury’s comprehensive fee last year placed it at #24 on the overall list. This year, the college limited the increase in the comprehensive fee to one percentage point above the Consumer Price Index.</p>
<p>[Middlebury</a> approves 2.5 percent increase in comprehensive fee | Middlebury](<a href=“Middlebury News and Announcements”>Middlebury News and Announcements)</p>
<p>Okay, so Middlebury isn’t more expensive. That doesn’t change the idea that this guy should have known about the price tag before.</p>
<p>I understand that GW’s price is fixed for the 4 years you attend the university - you pay what the cost is your freshman year for all four years, so you know up front the total you will be expected to pay. Therefore, it can be higher than other similar colleges, but over the 4 years you may make out if others raise their tuitions on a consistent basis. In the past, the average cost increases made GW comparable, if not a better deal, than other schools.</p>
<p>Get2015 - Tuition is fixed for 4 years, but not housing costs. You can expect that to increase, sometimes significantly, each year.</p>
<p>There are lists upon lists of Most Expensive. Try looking at Forbes list from Oct 2010. GW isn’t even on it! And it is fixed for up to 5 years - and increase per entering class is modest at less than 4%. So, do consider GW an affordable option!</p>
<p>[The</a> Most Expensive Colleges: Forbes List (PHOTOS)](<a href=“The Most Expensive Colleges: Forbes List (PHOTOS) | HuffPost College”>The Most Expensive Colleges: Forbes List (PHOTOS) | HuffPost College)</p>
<p>Hmm, so what I’m hearing is that I’m essentially paying for a lower class size and location? Lower class size is important to me (and GWU’s average class size is quite a bit lower) and the location is hard to beat (I think it is perfect for me), but I guess I just have to weigh whether or not thats worth an extra $30,000 a year.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if it is or not, yet. Are there any more remarkable advantages of GWU over Davis that anyone has?</p>
<p>And nobody touched on the weirdness factor either, haha.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses so far.</p>
<p>That is seriously one of the most valuable pieces of information that anyone has given me throughout my entire college application process. Hahaha thanks, schmo.</p>
<p>@samsam, I’d just like to clarify that I knew about the high price tag when I did apply, and now I’m just looking for someone to justify it. The price tag doesn’t make me less interested, but it may make me less likely to accept the offer if I can’t find any good reasons why it is more expensive.</p>
<p>You gave me a few, so thanks!</p>
<p>I am a wealth or useless info. Just ask anyone.</p>
<p>Haha, the useless information is the information that I need the most.</p>
<p>As an answer to the second part of your question, GW is not very diverse in its social expectations of others. You will be looked at as very different for some of your hobbies, probably more so than at some other schools. This is not to say that you wouldn’t make any friends here, but the general population is pretty “normal” if there is such a thing.</p>
<p>hmm…I don’t really like normalcy. Okay, thank you guys so much for your help.</p>
<p>If you end up deciding to go to UCD rather than GWU you can still take advantage of the UCDC program to get involved in DC. Do you know about that program?
[UC</a> Washington Center - Home](<a href=“http://www.ucdc.edu/]UC”>http://www.ucdc.edu/)</p>
<p>I had heard rumors but I hadn’t found it until now! Thanks so much for that link! </p>
<p>I think that’s probably what I’ll end up doing. I’m visiting UCD next week and going to the GWU accepted students thing on Sunday in Los Angeles</p>