<p>FJG~
i'll do my best to answer....my d. is an IR major, and still deciding on a minor. she's very linguistic, and has studied abroad, entering AU with college credit . UMD is an impressive, HIGE place, but here are some comments... UMD did/doesn't have an IR major..that was a significant point. it would appear they wanted my d. BECAUSE she could contribute this to their academic community. they offered her an internatinal dor, for example. UMD offers a more traditional college experience, with football, and all. but here was our view ( and we talked to many others)..
_ UMD TOO big, with large class sizes,
_ College Park unsavory( we were told never to take Metro alone at night)
_awful dorms(a little insignificant?) but my d would have had AC in the international dorm, had she accepted. very small as well.
_my d. loves the city and adores DC. college park is a WORLD away from the vibrations of DC.
so, to be fair...UMD offered her more money, and are LESS costly than AU. BUT, AU at this point for our d. is living up to their reputation for helping with work/internships at their incerdible career counseling center! her futre will certainly be helped along because of her AU choice. but as i said before, feel free to PM me if i missed something! best to you.</p>
<p>FJG~ arggg...typos.."HIGE" was supposed to be HUGE!!!!!</p>
<p>FJG~ sorry for all the typos at this hour! dor= dorm, etc.</p>
<p>Hi FJG, another Mom chiming in. My D is likely choosing AU over UMD Honors. Why? Size and location. And HCM is right, UMD Dorm's aren't great. UMD Honors kids are actually in an un-airconditioned dorm. Seriously. </p>
<p>For us it's a cost wash-- in-state tuition with a trifling 1 year scholarship vs. no aid for freshman year but tuition remission after at AU (I'm AU staff). </p>
<p>I think it really comes down to atmosphere-- the two schools are worlds apart in terms of climate yet both offer great educations. By sheer size, MD has more options, but AU offers a wide variety of majors. </p>
<p>AU's neighborhood is safe in an upscale, leafy suburban-urban area. College Park is, well, College Park. There have been random acts of violence on and around campus at UMD. Not a lot, but it does pop up in the news. </p>
<p>My D is looking more closely at AU and Dickinson next week and will hopefully have a decision soon. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Speaking as another AU parent, my S had the chance to attend Lehigh, but opted for AU (honors) and life in DC. He genuinely enjoys AU. Classes are challenging, wonderful professors and great opportunities. Study Abroad choices are also super! I consider American University a hidden treasure. Besides, what other school gives you the chance to go trick-or-treating at the embassies? :)<br>
GO AU!</p>
<p>Is this school full of mostly white rich kids from New Jersey?</p>
<p>huey~ not at all!!!! very high in diversity, however you define that. check its stats on this....</p>
<p>A large number of AU's students come from Mid Atlantic/Northeast region (NY, NJ, MD, PA to name a few). They may not be not all rich, but if they are here without scholarship/financial aid (which happens more often than not), you can infer that they are very well off.</p>
<p>Still, students of different socioeconomic background and other regions are represented.</p>
<p>"Is this school full of mostly white rich kids from New Jersey?"</p>
<p>I've met students from Alaska, Ohio, California, Israel, various European countries, NY, NJ, MD, PA, Texas, Florida..........and more.... Asia-- esp Korea and Japan.</p>
<p>Yeah... but most of the students are from NJ/PA/NY. It isnt quite as diverse as admissions makes it out to be but there are definitely students from other places(im from Georgia).</p>
<p>just a quick question .... why doesn't AU have a football team?</p>
<p>about the NY/NJ/MD/PA thing...most good schools on the east coast have the highest acceptance rates for these states, reflecting the extremely rigorous, competitive aspects in many of their high schools, including their public ones, as well as their private ones. so this geographical skew will be seen in most quality schools, again and again.
Groenveld~ if you mean football(and not soccer) it's because , being a city school, there's less room for stadiums, etc. AU does have 84 acres, which is sizable for a city campus, but it follows the likes of a GT,GW,NYU, etc. i think this is right, anyway?</p>
<p>yeah, well Gtown does have a football team i think, but the rest don't. ok thanks!</p>
<p>AU doesn't have a stadium or the facilities to support a football team. We simply don't really have the funds to start one up at this point. In addition, I think the school doesn't really put much emphasis on intercollegiate teams(academic or athletic) and this is really bad.</p>
<p>isn't AU Division I for swimming and basketball? we know people recruited for swimming, and the kid in question said AU's pool far surpassed many schools he'd visited, hence he accepted AU. their swimming is in ht ePatriot league, i think. they play Bucknell, Leihigh, and others i can't remember. a few years ago, AU had a swimmer make the olympic trials.</p>
<p>Wasn't Phelps from Cal ?</p>
<p>The swimmer in question seems to be Ethan Bassett from Potomac, MD:
<a href="http://www.american.edu/athletics/swim/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.american.edu/athletics/swim/index.html</a></p>
<p>AU national champion wrestler:</p>
<p>but that seems to be about it..... i mean eagle athletics are nothing to boast about really..... except that..... aaaaaand their facilities are actually quite nice i hear. weren't they used by several nations as a training complex during the world cup in 1994?</p>
<p>uum, Groenveld, isn't that enough? other than rah-rah football types, what's it missing? good to hear from those other posters! and beautiful facilities to boot!</p>