Experienced AU Grad Open for Questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z American University
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<p>I posted this same message last spring and was able to help a few people who were considering AU at that time. Now, with a new crop of students interested for the coming academic year, I offer you the same opportunity:</p>

<p>I graduated from AU in 1995, so I have 12 years of post-AU experience under my belt. I can tell you what AU meant to me, whether/how it has affected me since, things I’d do differently, and things I wouldn’t change.</p>

<p>Basic background: I came to AU in 1991 from suburban Chicago. I intended to study political science, but after taking one economics class I decided to major in both political science and economics. I was an honors student and am a member of AU’s first group of Phi Beta Kappa graduates.</p>

<p>I’ve been in the business world since leaving AU. I earned an MBA from another university and have been employed in the telecommunications and commercial real estate (current career) fields.</p>

<p>Let me know what questions you have.</p>

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<p>Well thanks for taking questions!</p>

<p>Did you find it hard to double major at American. I am intending to double major in I.A. and chemistry. Did you think the work load was too much?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>How would you describe yourself academically? Were you a strong student in high school?</p>

<p>How rigorous did you find the math courses at AU? Did your economics courses use much calculus?</p>

<p>Did you use the internship program at AU, or did it not exist when you were there?</p>

<p>Did you join a frat?</p>

<p>Why did you decide to go into telecommunications? Did you use your political science or econ degree in your work?</p>

<p>What did you think about the professors at AU? Were they approachable? Did you have personal relationships with any of them? Were they interesting lecturers?</p>

<p>Did you find the GE courses something to suffer through, or did you find them interesting?</p>

<p>What were the dorms like? When did you move off-campus? Was it by choice, or because there was no space in the dorms?</p>

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<p>To Ricegal:</p>

<p>How would you describe yourself academically? Were you a strong student in high school?
In high school, I graduated third in a class of about 250 students; four years of English, math (including calculus), and science; National Honor Society; ACT score 33. At AU, honors program; dean’s list all semesters; Phi Beta Kappa; magna cum laude.</p>

<p>How rigorous did you find the math courses at AU? Did your economics courses use much calculus?
I took only two courses taught by the math department. I placed out of the required math class, but ended up taking an honors program statistics course; I also took a calculus class my senior year so that I would have it on my transcript when I applied to graduate schools. Two of my economics classes used calculus regularly: econometrics (the toughest class I have ever taken in my life), and a graduate-level economics class that I took my senior year.</p>

<p>Did you use the internship program at AU, or did it not exist when you were there?
This program existed when I was at AU, but I did not use it. I had to work to put myself through AU, so I couldn’t afford to work for free. But, in retrospect, I should’ve taken advantage of those resources.</p>

<p>Did you join a frat? No. Never rushed. Never regretted it. Ever.</p>

<p>Why did you decide to go into telecommunications?
Did you use your political science or econ degree in your work? My career in telecommunications was finance-based, as I worked on mergers & acquisitions activity. I did draw on my economics degree during that time, but I drew more on my MBA in finance.</p>

<p>What did you think about the professors at AU? Were they approachable? Did you have personal relationships with any of them? Were they interesting lecturers?
By and large, I thought the professors were good. I was in the honors program, so I tended to have access to the best, most experienced professors, and I tended to have relatively small classes packed with pretty smart students. I would say that I had personal relationships with 3-4 professors; I still exchange Christmas cards with one of them. I think the best professors were the best lecturers.</p>

<p>Did you find the GE courses something to suffer through, or did you find them interesting?
It depends. For example, I had (and still have) no interest in arts, so I took the easiest, least complicated arts-related courses I could. However, I took honors sections of economics, political science, and history GE courses, and they were challenging and interesting.</p>

<p>What were the dorms like? When did you move off-campus? Was it by choice, or because there was no space in the dorms?
What I say about dorms doesn’t really apply today. I lived in Anderson Hall for my first 3 years, and that was before Anderson Hall was renovated; I’m sure the dorms are much nicer than they were when I was at AU. I moved off-campus my senior year for financial reasons. We rented a nearby two-bedroom townhouse for $2,000 a month; the landlord told us we could have 4 people living there, but since he lived in California and we couldn’t afford $500/month rent, we crammed 6 people in there. That was a great experience!</p>

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<p>A double major in political science and economics is relatively easy because there is a lot of overlap in the subject matter. So lots of economics courses count toward political science credit and vice versa. A chemistry/international relations combination would be tougher because there is less overlap. However, if you plot things out with your academic advisors, it is achievable.</p>

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<p>pswillia: Thanks so much for your responses. My son matches your profile so I'm feeling better about him at AU. I hope he gets into the honors program.</p>

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<p>this is the thread i'm referencing...</p>

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<p>Has job placement been easier or harder because of your education at American? How has it (the education) prepared you for what you've wanted to do outside of school? Thanks for any input!</p>

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<p>To be perfectly honest, I think that having "American University" on my resume has had little direct impact on my career. Because my graduate degree (from another university) is more related to my career field and is better known where I live (Dallas), that degree has been more helpful to me. </p>

<p>However, you will find as you get older and have more experience that where you went to school--either undergraduate or graduate--has little impact on your career. People will be more interested in what you have accomplished in your working career than in where you went to college.</p>

<p>All that being said, my education at AU prepared me very well. First, it helped me get into the graduate school of my choice. Second, I found the classes and professors (mostly) to be challenging and engaging. Third, my overall AU experience--from living in the dorms to playing intramural flag football to eating Thanksgiving dinner on the National Mall--is something that I will always remember fondly.</p>

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<p>Thanks very much for your response!</p>

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<p>Would you say that even though American is located near a major city that it still has a small school feel? Do the class sizes, campus, student population, and just like general ambiance resemble those of similar institutions not in big cities?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance. :)</p>

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<p>SeniorSlacker,</p>

<p>Yes, I would say that AU has a small school feel. Although it is located within the DC city limits, the neighborhood that surrounds AU has much more of a suburban feel. Additionally, the campus is more or less self-contained and it's small enough that you can walk from one end to the other in 10-15 minutes, max. I certainly wouldn't recommend it, but you could spend 4 years at AU without having to venture very far from campus.</p>

<p>Classes are fairly small. With the exception of an intro economics course that I took (probably 100 students), the largest class I ever had was probably about 30 students. Most of my classes had 20 or fewer students; some of my classes had fewer than 10 students.</p>

<p>I can't really compare the feel of AU to the feel of other schools because I don't have experience with other schools.</p>

<p>Feel free to ask any other questions you have, either via this thread or via private messaging. That's an open invitation to everyone, not just SeniorSlacker.</p>

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<p>Do you think I will get in?
-3.3 out of 4.0 gpa in all AP or Honors classes
-1970 SAT
-75th percentile of my class
-Extracurriculars- 2 years on basketball team, not much else but very active in my church
-Lots of Volunteer work
-Fluent in Spanish and English
-Did very well on SAT subject tests in US history, Math 1, and Spanish</p>

<p>I know that I am not the most qualified person for the college but it is so far the only college I really like and I was wondering if you thought I had a good chance of getting in. Thanks in advance for any response.</p>

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<p>It's been 17 years since I applied for admission to AU, so I am completely unqualified to give you an opinion as to whether your stats and experience are sufficient to gain admission to AU. However, there are many other people who post on this board who have more recent experience--I'd recommend starting a new thread to seek input on your chances.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>phil~ is your GPA weighted or unweighted? taking all APs and honors is a wonderful thing, but i'd think that would increase your GPA? do you show leadership? the spanish and volunterring are good! SATs look ok, too, tho can't tell the actual differential on CR and math. good luck!</p>

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<p>ps,</p>

<p>You said you work in M&A now, were you interested in business coming out of undergraduate? If so, did you find it difficult to get a good job offer in business coming out of AU? Or did you go straight to graduate school?</p>

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<p>Actually, I used to work in M&A; now in commercial real estate.</p>

<p>I worked briefly between AU and graduate school, but I just continued in the job I had while at AU--I just went from part-time to full-time after graduation.</p>

<p>It was that job that got me interested in business--I worked for a group of doctors and realized that, even though they were great doctors, they didn't have a clue about how to make money. I figured that if I could be the "making money" expert, there would be a career for me in helping people who had good technical skills (e.g., doctors) but not good business skills. That thinking is what led me into finance in the telecom business--lots of smart engineers who know how to make things, but don't know how to make money.</p>

<p>All that being said, my ability to get the long-term job I wanted was a direct result of my graduate degree. However, my admission to graduate school (and the scholarship that came with it--I couldn't have afforded school without it) was a direct result of my success at AU, as reflected in grades, GMAT scores, and activities.</p>

<p>Thirteen years out of college, though, no one really cares where I went to college (or grad school) or what my grades were. They just care about my experience and whether they think I can help them. You will reach this point, too.</p>

<p>Sorry, short question, long answer.</p>

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<p>Does anyone know about Computer Science\Engineering department?</p>

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<p>Can you take courses at Georgetown or GW? AU doesn't have quite the course work my d. wants but loves the school.</p>

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<p>Yes you can, through the consortium. However, I believe you can only take courses at other universities if the course is not offered at AU.</p>