Is the Mt. Vernon campus a housing “option” or are some people forced to live there that don’t want to? I spent a full week back in September with a sophomore friend at his Foggy Bottom apartment over Whole Foods. I know for sure that I most definitely prefer the city would not want to live at the Mt. Vernon campus. Can I opt out of that Vern possibility?
No, there’s no way to opt-out. When you apply for housing, there’s a chance that you’ll get the Vern. The only “exception” is if you were a student athlete in one of the sports/programs where they house you all together. In those cases, I haven’t known any of them to be on the Vern.
As I’ve said to countless others before you, living on the Vern isn’t the end of the world. Sure it’s not for everyone, but even for those that don’t like it (hate is usually an exaggeration), it’s only one of their 4+ years at GW. Further, with the number of classes you’ll likely take on Foggy, you can easily swing it to where the only time you’re on the Vern is for your UW class and to sleep. If you make friends with others on Foggy, you could totally end-up crashing their place for studying throughout the day, or you can always kill time between classes/meals in one of the many hang-out spots.
Thanks so much. I’ve been asking everyone at the school and no one would just come out and say it. Guess they want to stay vague on housing specifics. It is kind of big deal to me though, because for me, the only reason I chose GW is that I want the urban campus lifestyle-- just taking classes and then taking a bus to the "off campus satellite is for sure not the same. The school heavily paints the Vern as a choice, however I never pinned them down on the issue while I was there. Guess I should worry first about getting in before I get picky about housing. 
Yeah, worry first about getting in. After you get in, THEN worry about housing. I don’t recall the exact percentage, but I want to say it’s around 25% of the freshman class lives on the Vern. That’s not a huge amount, and I’d say that most that end-up on the Vern either wanted it or weren’t necessarily opposed.