DC trip arrangements for AU/GWU/UMCP/Goucher

Parents Forum
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<p>I'm doing some advance planning for a DC trip at the start of September for D1 to look at American, GWU, UMCP and Goucher. The tentative plan is to arrive in DC from upstate NY on the Wednesday night before Labor Day weekend, do two schools on Thursday, two schools on Friday, and fly home to the west coast on Saturday. All but UMCP offer interviews, all will be in session. Would it make sense to do American and GW one day and then UMCP and Goucher the other? Any advantage to leaving some time on Saturday for a more additional strolling-around on a campus that especially appeals? </p>

<p>Before anyone asks, no Georgetown (she'd like it, but says she has no chance of getting in, and doesn't want to waste the effort on the app), and Johns Hopkins is not on her radar (and would be similarly reachy). </p>

<p>My general feelings about cars in DC is to avoid having to drive and park them. Would it make sense to have a car for the Goucher/UMCP day, and use the metro and taxis for AU/GWU? </p>

<p>D1 will pick one Hillel to sample for Friday night Shabbat services/dinner, but her final choice may depend on how she feels about the schools after she tours/interviews. </p>

<p>Thanks for any pointers and wise counsel. Or well-intentioned counsel, for that matter. :)</p>

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<p>Having a car for Goucher is a very good idea since it is in Towson. If I were your daughter, I would choose Goucher to have the Shabbat services because of it’s high Jewish population. </p>

<p>American and GW are accessible both by the metro (I think GW has it’s own stop.)</p>

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<p>There is a shuttle from the Metro to American. Or if you are staying at one of the local hotels (Holiday Inn - Georgetown is one that I know of), they will offer a shuttle to the campuses.</p>

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<p>We toured GW and American on the same day…it was not a problem.</p>

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<p>American is fairly close to the Tenleytown metro stop - maybe a 15 minute walk or a quick cab ride. GWU is at the Foggy Bottom metro stop. Agree that seeing these 2 in one day is feasible and that Metro/cab is the way to go.</p>

<p>All of these schools have active Hillels - it should be fun to compare.</p>

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<p>You could do all of these schools in the time allotted, but I think you and your D will have a better experience if you add another day (or two). If you leave time to explore the neighborhoods, see the city, and do more than the official tours and info sessions, you’ll have a much better feel for what differentiates these schools and where your daughter would happiest. And interviewing is stressful: Two in one day is a lot to prep for.</p>

<p>Some of my fondest memories with both my kids were doing the college tours together. We added some sight-seeing and hanging out, ate at each school, S or D sat in on a class…Not only did we share some good times, but when they had to write their essays, they had material that reflected a very personal reaction to each school.</p>

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<p>I’d think twice about trying to see UMCP and Goucher on the same day. It might work if you do Goucher first thing in the morning then head to College Park for the afternoon. But, I wouldn’t count on being able to rush through your UM experience and get to Towson on time. UM is such a big campus that you’ll probably want to linger.</p>

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<p>I am with DougBetsy.</p>

<p>UMDCP is huge compared to GW and AU. If you want to see classrooms, dorms and the Stamp, you will not be able to do it in less than 2-3 hrs, and that is just to see a small portion of the campus, to see Byrd stadium, their mall to touch Testudo’s nose (think DC, not stores) and talk to someone in administration you are looking at a couple of more hours. </p>

<p>You can take the metro from DC to UM, but expect it to take 45 minutes, and then another 5-10 minutes to hoof it to campus. </p>

<p>If you drive you need to truly time it because traffic is horrendous on 95/495/695 at certain time periods. For example, we live in No Va 50 miles door to door from our house to his dorm. I made it yesterday afternoon in 1 hr (left at noon). On the way home it took me NO LIE 2 hours and 50 minutes! The reason why? I left UMD at 4:10.</p>

<p>Friday, Labor Day weekend I would rather stick needles in my eyes than be on any road in this area.</p>

<p>The final reason not to drive to UMD is parking is a pain to find unless you park at the administration building. And if you drive around the campus you will surely get lost, plus there are so many kids crossing everyway that it takes you longer to drive than to walk!</p>

<p>I would consider taking an additional day and fly out Sunday. Do Goucher on Thursday. GW and AU on Friday, and then on Saturday go to UMDCP by metro. They may or may not have a game, but IMHO opinion, a classroom is a classroom. You can tour the campus on your own. You could also just Metro it out at night and tour it that way.</p>

<p>I know that our DS’s last yrs roommate was involved with Hillel, and he loved it. They have a very active group of students there.</p>

<p>I will say this if GW and AU are on her radar because she likes the look and feel of the campus on line, than she will probably not like UMD. The campus is night and day, along with the town. It really is a “true” college campus. So much so that 3 movies have used them…St Elmos Fire’s opening scene is their Frat Row, National Treasure 2 is their main campus, and Legally Blond is their sorority houses. </p>

<p>UMD also has the traditional college town attached to it, it looks nothing like DC. It is basically 2 blocks by 2 blocks and the big dinner night out would be going to Applebees.</p>

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<p>I concur that GWU and AU are easily doable in a day. We stayed at a Doubletree near the Foggy Bottom metro stop (I think it was on New Hampshire Avenue). It was literally a block or two from GWU campus (and in fact we wandered onto the campus without realizing it when looking for a place to eat). In addition, you’re within walking distance of a bunch of different restaurants. From the Foggy Bottom metro stop, it is super-easy (IMO) to get to American University via the Metro. I would suggest doing AU in the morning and GWU in the afternoon. If you like GWU, you can also visit the Mt Vernon campus (a bus ride away); if not, you can cut bait.</p>

<p>Also, there is a Whole Foods at the Tenleytown metro which is a convenient place to grab breakfast and/or snacks for the day. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Even though AU and UMD are completely different, don’t discount that your D will like both. They were both in my D’s top 3 picks (she’s actually attending her other top pick). And isn’t the idea of visiting the opportunity to see what your D will like?</p>

<p>Great idea to spend a Fri night with Hillel. We just did that last weekend at the school my D will be attending and it was awesome!</p>

<p>Another idea – if you want a tour at one of the schools, but their official tours don’t fit into your schedule, contact Hillel ahead of time and they will see if they have someone who can show you around (and give you some inside info). We did this at a school that we toured on a Sunday when there were no admission tours and a couple of Hilllel freshman showed us around. It was awesome for my D - they were informative and she really connected with them.</p>

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<p>Great suggestions! I’m probably not going to be the parent doing this trip (D1 would like the OTHER parent along, for a change, harumph :slight_smile: ), so I will ask if adding on time to wander on Saturday and flying out on Sunday is possible. We are very much a family that is more inclined to use public transportation whenever possible along with 15-20 minute walks. The point about not being on the road on Labor Day Friday is an excellent one. I’d entirely forgotten about the idea of having Hillel students serve as tour guides, which would especially make sense for UMCP. </p>

<p>D1 was in DC last Dec for a week on a (non-college) program, during which she met a lot of UMCP students, and really liked them. She likes the vibe she gets from Goucher students on Facebook. A GC recommended AU given D1’s interest in politics, and I threw GWU into the mix because they give National Merit money. D1’s feeling right now is that she will end up applying to two DC-area schools out of the four, but who knows what she’ll say post-visit? </p>

<p>

b&p, wait, that was Caltech! It amuses me to no end to watch that film and see the campus so entirely out of character. :D</p>

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<p>This is why the students there get on the Metro and go to DC when they feel like it. It’s easy to do. There is even a shuttle for students from the campus to the Metro.</p>

<p>UMD is the classic flagship state university located in a very non-classic location – within easy reach of an attractive major city. There are few other examples of anything like this – and most of those are in California.</p>

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<p>I approve of this thread. :)</p>

<p>Note GW, in addition to a hillel, has a Jewish Learning Initiative (I think thats what its called) chapter, thats a Modern O on campus national org. The Hillel house there used to be host to Fabrangen, a well established DC chavurah, but I think they moved out. </p>

<p>IIUC, the freshman residences at AU are in a seperate campus a bit further from the metro, but if you like to walk that shouldn’t be a problem, and I think there is a shuttle bus. </p>

<p>My DD has a very good friend who now attends AU, is j (masorti) , and likes AU very much. </p>

<p>I also think the idea of going to a friday night dinner is good, not only to see the J community, but also as a way to informally meet students. We went to a seder at Lehigh, and DD hooked up with a young woman majoring in Arch who showed her around the arch building the next day.</p>

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<p>Marian I agree UMD is a classic flagship university. It really provokes the feeling of this is what a college campus should look like. You can go anytime, any season, any hour and you will see kids sitting under trees reading books, playing frisbee on the mall, riding bikes. All set in a surreal world. I say surreal because as soon as you drive off onto to RTE 1 you go HOLY CRAP Where Am I?</p>

<p>I make no bones about it I am not a GW or AU fan, but it is because of the campus. It just feels like Rutgers or even UNCCH. It is a campus that is within the city, it is not a city that is within the campus.</p>

<p>You need to address that issue. Our DD loves UMD not only because of the scholars program and AFROTC, but because it has that traditional campus feel. He spent a summer at JHU as a hs student and hated it, the program also required taking classes at GW, he hated it there too. To him it was a city, not a college. Trust me JHU is drop dead beautiful, and IMHO it had a college feel, but to him it didn’t.</p>

<p>The feel should matter too. Our DD would rather cut off her arm then go to UMDCP because to her she doesn’t like the feel. (Luckily she feels that way because we are OOS). She is going to VA Tech because to her that feels like home. Each school is equivalent, and honestly UMD is higher ranking, but it is important that this is her new home and where she wants. IMHO Kids don’t fail college because of lousy professors, they fail because they don’t like where they are living.</p>

<p>Like I said earlier a classroom is a classroom, a dorm is a dorm, but now I will say you will see it in their eyes. There is something in their step that says to you they found home. Easiest way to really determine ask if they wantthat school is to stop by the book store after the tour to get a tee shirt. If they empathetic about getting one, than there’s your answer. If they ask to get a tee shirt without you prompting than there’s your answer too!</p>

<p>FYI instead of taking a tour of the campus through the traditional route have you thought about contacting the Hillel at the college to see if they can hook you up?</p>

<p>As far as legally blonde movie maybe it was Sydney White? I know they did film a movie in the last few yrs using Sorority row, but since they are all turn your mind off and devour popcorn I lose track of which one is which.</p>

<p>I would suggest that you also go onto the UMD forum on this site and pm Astrophysicsmom, she has a DD who is a tour guide. She is a freshman in scholars, her sis will graduate this yr from honors. They too are OOS so can answer the OOS questions. I don’t know if they are jewish. </p>

<p>Good luck</p>