<p>How different are these two D.C. universities?
Academically and socially -- internships?</p>
<p>Many thanks.</p>
<p>Georgetown is more prestigious, and a lot harder to get in. GW is right in the middle of the city, and has no campus at all, while Gtown is in a more residential neighborhood with a beautiful campus. I'm not sure about the social life, but you can get great internships at both schools, especiall relating to poli sci and IR. If you want to know more about these schools check out the GW and Gtown boards</p>
<p>"...and has no campus at all"</p>
<p>No, I disagree. GW has a distinct campus within Foggy Bottom. It isn't spread out, and that area is pretty much all owned by GW. GW has gotten really competitive, but it isn't nearly as hard to get into as Georgetown.</p>
<p>Georgetown is located in the area of DC called Georgetown. It isn't as urban as GW, but by no means is it in "a residential area," IMO. Georgetown is very fast-paced, and right in the city. AU is more residential, btw. </p>
<p>Also, GWU is more liberal, while Georgetown seems to be more conservative. Gtown is about half-catholic, while GW doesn't have a religious affiliation. </p>
<p>There are internships galore at GW, and probably at Gtown also. From what I heard, both schools have a good mix for a social life. There are different crowds within the universities, so you can find people who don't want to drink, and others who do. I know that GW has a really, really good night-life, and Gtown does too, but Gtown is a little more low-key.</p>
<p>George Wasington used to be known as Georetown's reject school. However, now that really isn't the case. Georgetown is located in the Georgetown area of D.C. A beautiful area/ GWU is right in the middle of the city and it has virtually no campus. There is another campus (Mount Vernon) that has more of a residential feel. Georgetown is much harder to get into then George Washington. Socially they are pretty similar and as far as internships go they both have many many available for their students.</p>
<p>So Georgetown is the best academic institution in D.C. and I personally think located in a nicer area then George Washington. Georgetown has many catholic students their while GWU has no religious affiliation.</p>
<p>GWU is much easier to et into then Georgetown. GWU is located smack in the middle of D.C. They do have one campus that is in a more residential area though.</p>
<p>I'd say if you can get into Georgetown and want to be in D.C. for sure don't think twice about it. Georgetown is the better school.</p>
<p>If you can't get into Georgetown but still want to be in the D.C. area. Then go for GWU also another nice school.</p>
<p>I have to disagree that GW "has virtually no campus." If you have visited, in my opinion, it's a distinct campus. It isn't spread out throughout DC like NYU. It is urban, but it really does have an obvious campus owned by GW, in a really beautiful area called Foggy Bottom. Here's a map: </p>
<p><a href="http://www2.gwu.edu/%7Emap/imap/%5B/url%5D">http://www2.gwu.edu/~map/imap/</a></p>
<p>And as everyone said, GW is much easier to get into than Gtown. By no means is GW easy, but Gtown accepts less than 20% of its applicants, making it harder or just as hard to get into as the ivies. GW accepts about a third of its applicants, and has an average SAT of 1315. It's not too tough, but not a cake walk either.</p>
<p>I don't think you should be able to speak on this matter if you haven't visited both campuses. GW does in fact have a real campus.
Also I think saying a university is better because it is slightly more selective is ignorant.
The differences are GWU :
-More liberal
-Not affiliated with any particular faith
-More urban feel</p>
<p>My D looked seriously at both. Hoo has it covered pretty well.</p>
<p>I'm so appreciative of all this info. Does anyone have an idea about typical
class sizes at both schools? What the dorms are like? Cafeterias? Libraries?</p>
<p>TIA</p>
<p>Whatever, Gtown is by far better than GW. There is no comparison in prestige and placement. GW is a good school on the rise, but its much more NYU or BU than one step below Ivy (Georgetown). I have spent a significant amount of time at both. Georgetown has a much stronger community and real campus (with grass, trees, quads, etc) compared to GWs city campus.</p>
<p>Thank you, again.
My son is a full-fledged political wonk -- all the way.
Beyond DC schools, which Northwest or West Coast schools
could offer the best opportunities/classes for him?
TIA</p>
<p>I've taken tours of both campus, and to me it didn't feel like GW had a distinct campus, at least not a traditional one like Georgetown. The tour guide's idea of a "campus" was "everyone on this side of the street is under 25, and everyone on the other side of the street is over 25"</p>
<p>Honestly, I think Georgetown is pretty much the best school for budding politicos. Johns Hopkins has a pretty good political science department as well.</p>
<p>GW isn't in G'town's league but it's up and coming and you could do far worse than go to GW if you didn't get into G'town. G'town's admissions stats are getting pretty ugly and GW's aren't a cupcake.</p>
<p>Schools in the West. I dunno. Among other things, I'd check out the details of the various internship-in-Washington programs. The problem with the UC's is that they're 10 weeks (quarter) instead of 15/16-weeks (semester)...not as much impact where time of immersion is important.</p>
<p>My D goes to an LAC in the northeast and I was impressed at just how deep the internship program was, highly structured, giving 14 units and providing seminars while in D.C. as part of the program. And while I love the campus of her LAC, I think the whole "GW doesn't have a traditional campus" thing is very overblown. Funny thing is that my D liked GW, hated NYU...neither has a traditional campus.</p>
<p>No one ever said that GW was on the same level as GW. I think Hoo and The Dad did a good job explaining the vastly different admissions statistics for both schools. GW is pretty hard to get into, though. It's just that Gtown's SAT is in the 1400s while GW's is in the 1300s. </p>
<p>I applied ED to GW, and it's a really awesome school. I visited Gtown, and quickly realized within 5 minutes that I didn't like it. I probably wouldn't get in anyways, but it just seemed really elitist. I don't know, that's just how I felt walking away from the tour.</p>
<p>However, GW, for me, at least, was super friendly and helpful, and it seemed more diverse. I liked how it was only 2 blocks from the w. house, and how urban and bustling it was. I felt like it did have a campus community within DC. Maybe not as obvious as Gtown or AU, but it's definetely there. I mean, once you step on campus, pretty much all the buildings/dorms are owned by GW. Plus, my tour guide told us that GW owns the 2nd most property in DC, so that's really cool.</p>
<p>Another thing people really don't realize is the Mount Vernon campus at GW. I almost didn't visit, because I thought it was in VA or something. However, this campus used to be a small liberal arts womens college, that was bought over by GW, who thus turned it into their second campus. </p>
<p>The Mount Vernon Campus gives(if the Foggy Bottom doesn't) a very traditional campus within a residential area of DC. It is still inside DC, and the second you step off campus you are in the city, but it feels like you are in a park/small town college for the time you are there. Plus, it's only a 10 minute shuttle ride away. O, and I remember the tour guide saying that classes at MV were much smaller(about 20 students each), so that was really cool hearing that.</p>
<p>O well, both are great schools, the differences are obvious once you visit. Gtown has always been considered "better" than GW, in selectivity and academics, but they are two different schools for different types of personalities/interests. The academics at GW are really strong, especially for Econ, Poli Sci, International Affairs, Journalism, Law, and most liberal arts programs, while I would say the same for Gtown.</p>
<p>I applied ED to GW, also. I really wanted an urban campus, but I like the way GW's was in a specific area and not open like others. Suprisingly, I thought GW was close-knit. The students were really cool, and I had no problem talking to them. As a girl, I felt pretty safe, which is pretty nice in such a big city. I agree that Gtown seemed snotty. It's a very great school, but the students acted like they were better than everyone else.</p>