My daughter is URM (Native American), rural, geographic diverse, first gen, EFC $0, high achiever interested in engineering. She’s a Duke TIPs kid and we are looking at Questbridge and College Horizons. Her school generally has 5-10 Gates Millennial Scholars annually out of a class of under 100 (GMS is going away and I don’t know what will replace it.) They generally sucked up 5%-10% of the available GMS just from this one school.
We are looking early to narrow down the list, maximize the fit and the money. Cornell is quite interested but she would prefer a smaller engineering school, less snow, more urban.
So GW has popped up on the radar. I have just spent a frustrating hour plus trying to get answers out of GW regarding merit and need-based aid, fly-in programs, paid internships, pre-engineering camps, minority retention and graduation rates. I spoke to Admissions, Financial Aid, Engineering (two people), Office of Diversity and people were clueless and wouldn’t look up any information. Seemed to have no knowledge or interest in my questions. Finally I was given an email for a regional admissions rep and told everything goes through her.
Purdue, Cornell and Stanford seem to have their act together on this types of programs; what’s with GW?
If it’s this way before they get your money, what is it like once you are admitted? I got the feeling I was dealing with a very expensive, very bureaucratic state school.
Anybody have a different experience? I would love to hear that it’s so.
Believe me, I hunted a lot of these things on the website and only then called them.
The Engineering student had to google my questions and could not find answers.
The Diversity office could not give me student enrollment numbers, retention, graduation rates, or any info on fly in programs.
The Financial Aid and Admissions department could not give me answers about what maximum merit aid was available (the website only says “merit aid is available” - you have to contact them for details (unlike OU or Alabama, which will tell you what package you get based on scores AND that you can carry over the extra to their med and law schools.)
And the fact that you referred me to the website ASSUMING the information was there, even though it clearly is not, pretty much tells me all I need to know about GW.
Do a search on “diversity” on the GW site and you find they care about it in med school admissions and faculty hiring, otherwise they are silent on the subject.
D was admitted to GW two years ago. She applied to get merit aid and was awarded $25K/year. Going elsewhere now. We visited during admitted students days. My impression is that it is a college that is very aware of its rankings and taking steps to move up. Their honors program sounded very interesting. Strong native american students are the most desired demographic just about any admissions officer would die to win over. Consider Cooper Union or Franklin W.Olin
Thanks for the advice. I gather that your daughter got the maximum amount of merit aid available at GW. They hinted that they could possibly make up the COA with financial aid plus alumni money (endowment?) but certainly weren’t helpful with information. I do know you can’t attend GW with $25,000 merit and Pell money plus Pell loans, but I don’t have a clue how to make up the difference. At OU, TU, TAMU, Alabama, AZ State, UK they fall over themselves to tell you about the packages they have for outstanding students, no matter your background or what state you come from. Just put a bad taste in my mouth that they either won’t or can’t be straight with you.
“Strong native american students are the most desired demographic just about any admissions officer would die to win over.”
Yeah, not at GW.
They told me they treat everyone the same, made it sound like a numbers game. Caltech and MIT can do that secure in their rankings, and at least if you get in there, no matter who you are, you can afford to attend and graduate. I didn’t think GW could afford to be that picky yet.
First of all congratulations on raising an outstanding student. You are correct in saying your student will be wanted in “ALL” the schools. You are also correct in saying that some schools are better organized in promoting/marketing them self to prospective students. You are also correct in saying that GWU website and student information is not the best for parents/students who are looking for specific answers, which is likely to turn off a lot off students/parents who are aware that they will be sought after by lot of schools and who know that they will be in the drivers seat [they should be] when it comes to college admission.
If your daughter is looking for engineering schools, I am not sure GWU is the best fit, there are a lot of other great engineering schools. GWU is mainly known for its Foreign relations program, all others are secondary.
If you are looking for 100% tuition waiver there is a list in CC that tells you which school gives 100% tuition waiver [Alabama is one of them] then you can choose a school from that list. I can tell you GWU is not one of them. So, it is really your call.
If you get other scholarships like Questbridge [provided the school participates in Questbridge] or Gates etc then you know no matter where you go, how much you will have to end up paying there.
But once you are admitted to GWU, my impression was that the school is very helpful in answering parents/students questions and concerns esp during the orientation. For a such a large school they seemed to be genuinely concerned about the students/parents questions and concerns [may it was the few people we ran in to during orientation and may not reflect the whole faculty/university].
At the end of the day, it is your call, if GWU is not meeting your needs, receptive to your concerns there are a lot of other great schools that are better prepared in marketing themselves to all students [not just URM], it is their gain and GWU’s loss.
Again congratulations on raising a good student and best wishes.
Well, I wouldn’t call GW a “smaller engineering school,” although the engineering program is relatively small. GW has a lot of great programs, but as someone already stated, it’s known for it’s International Affairs and Political Science arenas. With that said, I’ve known a few engineering majors that loved their time at the school. They characterized their time as very challenging, but with support from great professors. That was also before the new Science and Engineering Hall was built, so I imagine it’s even better now. But back to the quote: there’s definitely less snow than many of the other urban campuses.
Now, the administration… I have to echo some of the frustrations with that side of the school. I had issues with the FinAid office on a few occasions, and also an issue with general academic advising office. However, I think the overall experience was worth the rare headache. Would I have thought the same about other schools? Who knows- I can only explain my time at GW. For me, GW was the perfect fit due to the location (I wanted to be in D.C.), opportunities (internships and preparation for grad school), and it was very veteran friendly.
As far as merit aid, you said you don’t know how the difference would be made up. I assume (based upon experience) that the rest would be subsidized and unsubsidized federal Stafford Loans. I had a very small EFC as well, and also received a very fair amount of aid. However, I still had to take out $15K in loans both my freshman and sophomore year. I don’t know how your experience would compare, but at least you have something to think about.
Overall, it’s going to depend on what your daughter wants in a school and what all she has available. It’s really hard to justify spending $30-60K in total at GW if you can go somewhere else for free. I mean, the D.C. experience is amazing, but there’s definitely a financial limit to where it stops making sense.
I assume that you are looking for more than a yes-or-no answer to the question, “Does GW have its act together?” My daughter was able to get all the info she was seeking; some directly from the website, some from the regional rep, some from friends who are enrolled there.
Of course we don’t know the exact things you are wondering, but numerous facts and statistics are available on topics that you mention (e.g., graduation rates, financial aid) through the Common Data Set, which is a valuable resource for most schools. See the [Office of Institutional Research & Planning](Office of Institutional Research & Planning | The George Washington University).
@NHuffer You are an awesome alumni spokesperson go GW! My sweet girl is absolutely loving everything about GW! She loves her Thurston 6, The Elliott School and the University Honors Program advisors! You were right on point with the GWorld Card dining cash and colonial cash. I can see we’ll have to add some funds to both before its all said and done but it’s all good. Thank you so much for the advice
@Helen13
My son attends GWU and I had spent some time on the phone with admissions and financial aid personnel requesting information about merit and need based aid. While at times I found it frustrating that they could not give me a definite answer regarding admissions and merit aid criteria, I came to understand that GWU does not rely on “cookie cutter” formulas and cut-offs for admission or awarding merit aid. Many of the state schools will provide you with a specific dollar amount based on GPA and/or SAT/ACT score benchmarks, but GWU clearly looks at all the student’s credentials in making those decisions. I cannot comment on minority enrollment/retention rates because I did not research those areas. I can tell you that they do have their “act together” but will not provide certain specifics because they don’t use a cookie cutter chart for their admissions and merit awards.
@wenronian Your answer is spot on. I can say, without hesitation, that GW definitely took a holistic approach in reviewing my sweet girls application. As I briefly mentions above, she applied to GW test optional and was admitted to The Elliott School and University Honors Program. She also received a substantial Presidential Academic Scholarship. What I didn’t mention is that she is African American and has an outstanding résumé which includes strong essays and an IB Diploma. When GW went test optional in August 2015, I called to discuss her chances and merit. They advised that a student who applies without test scores must have a “very very” impressive resume to include very rigorous high school academics and an impressive GPA. I rattled off some of the information on her resume, her full IB curriculum and her 4.16 GPA and they were definitely impressions. They would not promise a particular merit number but they ultimately came through big time =D>
My daughter is a senior majoring in systems engineering. GW is trying to build up their engineering program and they were very generous with my daughter’s financial aid. She receives a merit scholarship, an alumni grant (she doesn’t have to pay that back), two subsidized loans, and work study. I agree with previous posters who stated there isn’t a cookie cutter formula for scholarships. If your daughter visits, and likes it, she should apply and see what the financial aid package is. It might end up being perfect.
Hi @MSNDIS my son is a freshman studying civil engineering. He also recieved a very generous financial aid package. How does your daughter like the engineering program at GW? Did she take a semester to study abroad? My son likes GW so far!
