Deciding on D.C. Area Colleges

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I recently visited American and I absolutely loved it. I want to double major in journalism and international studies, environmental studies, or political science, and American has strong programs in all the aforementioned areas. I liked that the campus was in the city, but it still has lots of green spaces, and the wide array of international students on campus as well as the extensive study abroad opportunities. The city of Washington D.C. is fantastic, and I would like to have some back up options in the district, in the event I do not get sufficient financial aid from American. Georgetown probably will be a bit of a reach (although you can judge by my stats, below), and it doesn't offer journalism to my knowledge, while I like the school overall. GWU is also well-known for its journalism and political science, but it's campus is a bit too urban for my tastes, coming from a semi-rural area. Catholic University has slightly lower tuition, however, I don't know much about the quality of its programs. I also am not Catholic, and I am not sure how well I would fit in not being a drinker (I have heard quite a bit about the popularity of drinking on its campus). Howard is in a more run-down part of town, so I would be concerned about safety, and I also have heard quite a bit about the bureaucracy of its administration, although it does have a good journalism program/publications. I know Howard is now integrated, but I would like to have a more heterogenous population of people from a wide variety of races/nations than Howard currently offers. </p>

<p>Judging on the above commentary, what option besides American would be the best fit for me? Should I consider Georgetown or do I have very little chances of making it? Which DC college(s) are the best value and/or offer the best financial/merit aid?</p>

<p>Weighted GPA (school didn't give me UW): 4.1</p>

<p>Percentile: Top 3% </p>

<p>AP US: 5</p>

<p>AP Comp: 5</p>

<p>SAT's (I only took once thus far) Verbal: 700 (I'm aiming for a 750+ next time) Writing: 650 (I'm aiming to get at least a 700) Math: 540 (I have a math learning disability, so I'm looking for a college that would take that into consideration when evaluating my application and not rule me out because of one bad score). </p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>-Features Editor of multi-award winning school newspaper. I have written about a wide variety of topics including the effects of the recession on the local economy/educational system, technology's role in helping the English language evolve, and the process of Amish integration into mainstream society. In each of these pieces, I have interviewed at least one professor with national recognition. This upcoming year, I will be Opinion Editor of the paper. </p>

<p>-I was selected by my principal to participate in a regularly-meeting committee of students who suggest changes to school policy and evaluate the current offerings of the school.</p>

<p>-I am a member of a nationally-recognized environmental organization at my school, and this summer, am serving as a group leader for their children's environmental awareness camp. </p>

<p>-I played a comedic role in my school's play, a satire of several popular theatric works.</p>

<p>-I was the public relations manager for my school musical which entailed organizing/completing paperwork, creating a musical webpage, photographing musical rehearsals, and designing musical advertisements. </p>

<p>-I am the founder and leader of a cultural awareness club, which I created (as a high school student) for my local middle school. Participants have the opportunity to play multicultural games, enjoy international food items, discuss current events, and learn about cultural mores.</p>

<p>Employment:</p>

<p>-Pool refreshment services </p>

<p>-Supermarket cashier</p>

<p>Awards:</p>

<p>-First place in my county's science fair--I completed a project assessing the effects of age and gender on natural and artificial sweetener preferences. I also evaluated the toxicity of these substances, determining which the best sweetener based on both taste and safety.</p>

<p>-Three-time winner of my school's geography bee, two-time state geography bee participant.</p>

<p>-My artwork was chosen to appear on a health-awareness calendar for a national corporation. </p>

<p>Other:</p>

<p>-I am currently planning a community-wide international festival which will feature local vendors selling ethnic foods and crafts as well as multicultural folk acts. All proceeds will benefit an international charity (which I am in the process of choosing).</p>

<p>-I am a graduate of my state's Free Enterprise education week.</p>

<p>-I am volunteering at a local archaeological site.</p>

<p>-I am the co-founder of a freelance greeting card company. I am using my drawings, paintings and photography to create greeting card designs, and I am sending them to nation-wide greeting card companies looking for freelancers</p>

2

<p>I think you are a good fit for Georgetown, and if you’re seriously considering international studies, you can’t go wrong with that school. It’s also more insulated, so you won’t have that overly urban feel on campus. The question is, how serious are you about journalism? And if you’re worried about aid, I’m not so sure that picking GWU would be a good choice.</p>

3

<p>Journalism is somewhat of a dying career as everything is going digital these days. Rather then majoring in journalism, it might be wise to major in a topic you would enjoy covering, and do internships throughout college with newspapers or other forms of media. International studies would be a good choice. </p>

<p>That being said, you have a good chance for Georgetown, and are most likely in at American. I know nothing about Howard. I wouldn’t bother applying to Catholic with your stats–you could do better for a safety school. </p>

<p>Since you like the DC area, have you considered JHU or UMCP? Both are conveniently located, but not as urban as GWU.</p>

4

<p>Let me preface this by saying the following is from six years ago. Since you ask about merit/financial aid, let me share my son’s experience. He wanted to go to school in DC to study polysci so he applied to AU, GW, and UMCP. He did not apply to Georgetown as they did not have merit aid and we would not qualify for FA. All three offered merit scholarships (ironically they all had the same name, the President’s Scholarship). AU’s was for full tuition, GW’s was for 1/2 tuition, and Maryland’s was around 5-10,000 (we are out of state). Given the differing sticker prices with the scholarships included the costs ended up GW>UMCP>AU with pretty significant differences between them. Of course, other people could have different outcomes and I have no input on need based financial aid, but for us AU was by far the most generous.</p>

5

<p>I won’t dismiss a college if it doesn’t have journalism, so long as it would allow me to have one (or more) journalism internships at quality publications. Since the field is so difficult to break into today, ideally, I would like to have at least a journalism minor or experience on a reputable college newspaper/magazine. That being said, if a college has a journalism major, but it lacks rigor and relevance, then I would definitely be better off majoring in another field, rather than wasting my time relearning the elementary components of journnalism, which I was taught in high school.</p>

<p>JHU is definitely an excellent school, and I have heard it has a very popular international studies major. Does anyone know about it’s financial aid? Ideally, I’d like to be in DC so I can explore the city whenever I have an extra hour or two, and not just on weekends. But I haven’t ruled out schools like JHU or UMCP that are near by. Does anyone know if these schools have shuttles to DC or if there is nearby public transport?</p>

6

<p>UMCP has a DC Metro station nearby.<br>
[Metro</a> - Rail - Businesses near College Park-U of MD Metrorail Station](<a href=“http://www.wmata.com/rail/station_local_maps.cfm?station_id=79]Metro”>http://www.wmata.com/rail/station_local_maps.cfm?station_id=79)</p>

7

<p>My vote goes to Georgetown. Not only is the school amazing, but it’s in an awesome area. </p>

<p>Have you checked out the Virginia side of DC? George Mason is up-and-coming and would be a great safety school for you, I think. There is at least one Metro stop on campus (two if the Metro map isn’t telling me lies) and is about a half hour outside of DC in Fairfax (a nice area, if boring). </p>

<p>Howard is one of those schools you either really, really love or absolutely cannot stand. You really do have to check it out. It is a US News Top 100 National University (~93), but I’ve noticed that the course offerings aren’t as diverse as those at other schools. You could get bored with the course selection very easily; I certainly would as history major. Financial aid, if that matters to you, would also be a problem unless you could secure a scholarship - the aid would either suck or you would have fight tooth and nail for it. With your stats, though, getting a scholarship will probably be on the side of guaranteed. Howard would be a safety school, in any chance.</p>

8

<ul>
<li><p>AU has the lowest tuition (which is laughable, but out of DC schools, that’s saying something) and highest percentage of students receiving a higher amount of aid than both GWU and Georgetown. It also has a Top 20 Career Services office which I think would be really beneficial to someone as internship driven as you.</p></li>
<li><p>That being said (and I’m an AU senior), I would totally try for Georgetown. What’s the worst that could happen! Just keep in mind two things: 1) Georgetown ‘strongly recommends’ 3 SAT II tests when you apply, so you’ll have to squeeze those in. 2) Since AU has the highest amount of students attending with a pretty substantial amount of aid, they have more students from a wider array of economic backgrounds than Georgetown, which has a reputation for being a bit stuck-up. So I would visit them and see if you ‘click’ with the kids – but as far as the campus, and programs there go, they’re pretty unbeatable.</p></li>
</ul>

9

<p>I would think Georgetown isn’t realistic based on your math SAT score. 680 is their 25th percentile. It’s really a shame that even when planning on majoring in a field where little to no math is required, the better colleges don’t take this into consideration for admission.</p>

10

<p>^If the student has a math learning disability and there is paperwork sent to the college informing them about this along with the application, then they will take that into consideration.</p>

<p>I’m fairly certain of this because my girlfriend has a math learning disability as well and her score was in the low 500s and she was still admitted to all 10 schools she applied to. Not Georgetown level schools, but still schools where the score falls well below the median.</p>

11

<p>SvenskanFish,</p>

<p>You said you would be interested in a school with a reputable college newspaper. Well UMCP’s newspaper was ranked as the #3 college newspaper in the country by Princeton Review. I also know that the Journalism School at UMCP (I believe it’s called Merril) is ranked in the top 15 and the school recently constructed a new building on campus specifically for the Journalism school and it looks amazing.</p>

<p>So you should definitely check out College Park and see if you like it, because it seems to me that it would be a pretty good fit for you.</p>

12

<p>I agree with CaliDreamer, I think UMCP is by far the best choice here.</p>

13

<p>Apply to all of them and see what happens I would recommend visiting AU, GT, and GW and see which student body you like the most.</p>