George Washington or American

<p>I've been looking for reasonable match/safety schools, and both of these have popped up. I've done a cursory review of each school's website, and I can't really tell the difference between the two. Can anybody provide some good information about the differences between the two?</p>

<p>GW is more general, while AU is more polysci focused.</p>

<p>american doesnt require any supplments =)</p>

<p>In general, GW is superior for prestige and academics.</p>

<p>i have a question about gw as well; is it considered a “rich kid’s” school? Are many of the students very wealthy? From what I’ve heard, this is the case…</p>

<p>GW and American are both pretty wealthy schools. The fact is that they have very high price tags and are not famous for financial aid. That results in a lot of very well-off students. I noticed the wealth much more at American than GW in my visit. However, GW is very integrated in the city, which makes it expensive.</p>

<p>GW is larger than AU, and GW is in Foggy Bottom, which gives it a much more urban feel than AU, which is also in the District, but tucked into a pretty quiet corner of Northwest DC.</p>

<p>GWU is an urban campus like BU is in Boston. American is more suburban like BC is outside Boston but the campus isn’t nearly as majestic as BC. Like BC, American is in a residential area close to the metro.</p>

<p>One has a campus, one doesn’t. One’s suburban in character despite the Washington, DC address, one’s in the midst of the office buildings. If you visit, I’m sure you’ll have a distinct preference for one over the other.</p>

<p>AU is reasonably strong in international studies, political science, goveernment, and public policy. It also has a decent reputation in business, communications, and art. Otherwise, it is pretty mediocre, and is especially weak in the physical sciences. It is a residential school with a clearly defined campus, and is in the Patriot League (Colgate, Army,Navy, Lehigh, etc. ) </p>

<p>GW is larger and more diversified–although its strengths are similar to AU. It is clearly stronger than AU in the sciences and also has engineering, although no one would call it a science oriented school. It is an urban school like BU or NYU, although smaller than those. </p>

<p>GW is a bit more selective, although the demographics of the student bodies are pretty similar.</p>

<p>George Washington for reputation, whether or not you like the setting is up for grabs.</p>

<p>GW campus although not fully surrounded by a fence is very much a cohesive campus. The streets are narrow, the buildings are right next to each other, 3 1/2 blocks to the White House, right near the mall. great restaurants nearby and beautiful dorms. There are metro stops and little blue emergency buttons on every block. Lots of school spirit, great fraternity/sorority system…my daughter’s a poly sci major and having the time of her life…not to mention a very high paying part time job.</p>

<p>I have a friend who went to GWU with a full (or half?) scholarship last year. He is loving it there and is studying to become a lawyer. It is near the WhiteHouse, and he is always on top of the national political news (I think location helps) and is going to intern at one of the political centers in D.C.</p>

<p>I don’t know enough about American to comment, but that is what I know about GWU.</p>

<p>What do you wish to study? There are departments in each that differ in quality of resources, faculty and prestige. </p>

<p>Each of these campus’ has a different feeling, both urban but in differing neighborhoods of the city. I’ve seen kids love each one for different reasons after their visits. So much depends on you and your own “take” on the school.</p>