<p>Just visited Drexel today and thought it was great. Love that it's so immersed in a mini college town (next to Penn). I was offered decent scholarships and the honors college, but I'm not 100% sure if Drexel has the name/reputation yet of being a fantastic school. I was also offered admission to George Washington University, which is considered a "better" university for whatever reasons.</p>
<p>Anyone have some suggestions as to which place would be best? I plan on majoring in Business.</p>
<p>Hi Sam, I feel that I am somewhat qualified to answer since I have a D at GWU (who was originally admitted to the business school) and another daughter looking to attend Drexel. This decision is really hard because both schools are good. GW is in Washington which is a great college town but Drexel is career focused and has internships. Yes, GW has a great reputation but i dont think that Drexel is so far behind. Drexel could give you a head start on a career with the internships. You have to weigh all of the options and make your own choice based on your own observations. Trust your own judgement. You can’t go wrong. If you opt for GW, you willl love it. If you go for Drexel you will also have made a good choice. Either way, if you see a cute girl walking around, it most likely is my D! Best of luck to you with your choice, Sam!</p>
<p>Dear Sam,
There are more things to take into consideration. Have you received your financial aid offers yet? Does that need to weigh into the equation?
What was your high school experience? Were you a hard worker or did you get by with your brains?
How driven are you? Are you people-focused or book focused? How much support would you need from faculty and student offices?
As both a parent of a GW student and as a professor at a school competitive with Drexel, I have suggestions about what you need to consider. First, my child is a people-person. He is very smart, cheerful, and could sell snow to Eskimos, but his high school was not at all rigorous. George Washington came as a tremendous shock to him despite much mental and emotional preparation. Faculty were not accessible in the way he had expected. They are experts in their fields, and not necessarily all about the students. The work is WORK. It is challenging, something he never had to face before because he got away with reading The Economist every week, and not much else. But the financial aid package was utterly irresistible.<br>
He had a tough first semester. Though he made many friends from all over the world, he was stricken by the divide between the haves and the have-nots, and seeing himself for the first time in his life on the “wrong” end of it. The story is not over as he is sorting it all out. Whether he will stay is up in the air.
There are a lot of people who love GW and who do well there. It is a marvelous, wonderful school nestled in the very center of power of the entire world. But it will require mastery of your own time, resistance to temptation, and a lot of spare spending cash. You will do well if you are driven to work hard and are able to ignore the “gap.”
Drexel is better if you would prefer to relax a little or if you need more guidance. You know yourself best, no matter what anyone says. Do what you feel is right in your gut.
Much luck to you.</p>
<p>“Drexel is better if you would prefer to relax a little or if you need more guidance.”</p>
<p>???
Drexel is on the quarter system…there is no “relaxing” when you have exams every week. It’s a very rigorous curriculum, and you need to learn how to manage your time and become independent. Professors are required to have office hours, though, and they are accessible if you need them.</p>
<p>Drexel has been fighting the reputation issue for years. It is getting better, but I don’t think it will become nationally recognized for some time yet.</p>
<p>I believe Drexel is a very good school, with a top-notch co-op program which gives students a significant advantage over students from even nationally-ranked schools when it comes to post-graduation employment. Also the co-op assignments allow students to earn much needed money to pay for college. For our D the overall costs will be much lower than GW, and unless GW accepts our FA appeal it will likely be Drexel for her.</p>
<p>I live and work in DC. I can tell you that GW particularly for undergraduate is regarded around here as overrated and absurdly expensive. No one understands the appeal to out of towners other than that it’s in DC and easier to get in to than Georgetown.</p>