<p>OCCTransfer, one of my favorite presidents – Bill Clinton – is also a Georgetown alum. He went to Yale Law School after being selected as a Rhodes Scholar. </p>
<p>Heh, I’m sorry Colm, I must be in a stubborn mood tonight. No hard feelings, really. Are you an alum of Amherst Colm?</p>
<p>Lol, no I’m not an Amherst alum Blackbird, but I have friends who are, and I respect the college. I also have a good friend who went to Georgetown, it’s a great school too … just a different cup of tea than Amherst, but still a fine cuppa. ;)</p>
<p>They both have weird mascot names-Lord Jeffs and Hoyas.</p>
<p>Having already graduated from college – and I loved my school – but if I had to do it all over again I would go to a larger college. However, both Amherst and Georgetown are larger than my tiny campus, so that’s a moot point.</p>
<p>However, if you are interested in government, Georgetown is a great choice for the location and the academics. Georgetown is a lovely campus in the heart of Washington, D.C. - internships galore! (One thing that I realized upon moving to New York for graduate school is that many, many agencies have half-time academic year internships that are not nearly as competitive as their summer time ones, because you have to live in the city to work them.) Amherst, while in a great town with a lot of prestige, doesn’t have the comparative advantage that D.C. will have for a government major. Like blackbird already said, Georgetown frequently has top law scholars coming through to give talks and seminars.</p>
<p>And Georgetown is well known for its programs in government and politics, and it already has a top law school where you could possibly take a class but could surely find a law professor and have a short chat. Plus, I personally love the city of D.C. and would drive myself crazy in a tiny college town like Amherst. In this situation I would likely select Georgetown.</p>
<p>Juliet and Blackbird make very good points, however, I’m the type of individual who would prefer the beautiful, nested, and supportive atmosphere of Amherst.</p>
<p>If you’d like an excellent school that blends in with a lucrative, yet problematic, city – then Georgetown may well be the choice. The solution for you depends on your particular personality and situation, OCCTranfer.</p>
<p>In any event, you will likely fare well enough at either of your fortunate choices. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>So as you can guess by my name, i’m a Hoya! I’m a current junior (rising senior wow) and I absolutely love Georgetown. Some people mistake Georgetown for being a big school with a big campus, but really, it’s a small school… I basically bump into tons of ppl I know on campus! Of course, it’s bigger than some LACs but I still consider Georgetown to be a really small school, which is pretty nice. Also, class sizes range from having big seminar/lecture classes of 150+ students, but also there are tiny classes of 10 or fewer students. Economics or History classes are huge, as they are very popular, but for some literature courses or other humanities courses, class sizes are limited to about 35 students max. I never had any difficulties/problems keeping in touch with my professors, who are always willing to help and are quick to reply emails etc.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say Georgetown has grade inflation, as it is still a very tough school, but nonetheless, an A in any Gtown class is reachable, as long as you work hard and show it.
I currently have a 3.8 gpa at Gtown, and the only semester I didn’t do too well was my second semester freshman year when I kind of didn’t know what I was doing. LOL</p>
<p>This is really long, sorry… but I’m just trying to say that Georgetown really is a great school and you’ll be missing out on a lot if you decide to go elsewhere! (Amherst is of course a wonderful school too though, so must be difficult!)</p>
<p>So many wonderful, intelligent guest speakers came to Georgetown. My freshman year, the former secretary-general of the UN Kofi Annan came to speak! And this year, President Obama came as well… Also, Madeleine Albright is a professor and lecturer at Georgetown for Poli Sci and International Relations. Sweeeeet.</p>
<p>Here are two recent ‘pros and cons’ threads from the Georgetown forum on CC:</p>
<p>[thread=682501]Pros and Cons[/thread]
[thread=652621]Downsides Debated[/thread]</p>
<p>… just to add a bit of perspective to the sales pitches.</p>
<p>i like how someone put potential for bomb threats as a con for Georgetown.</p>
<p>Amherst has successful representation at Harvard and Yale Law Schools proportional to that of HYPS, and Williams.</p>
<p>I would imagine that the quality of the education one gets at Amherst and the intellectual freedom the Open Curriculum affords are to account for its success with regards to representation at the best professional schools. It speaks to the sheer academic rigor and the higher intellectual expectations at Amherst.</p>
<p>The campus life couldn’t be more different. If you want the traditional college experience in a metropolitan area, I recommend Georgetown. If you’re an independent learner who enjoys the intimacy of close relationships with friends and professors, and who isn’t made or broken by the presence of a large city, then Amherst.</p>
<p>Amherst is a small yet exceedingly prestigious school that enjoys a close-knit alumni network. Of course, as is the case at every other college or university, you have to make the effort to reach out, but you can’t imagine how willing they are to help you with career decisions and opportunities.</p>
<p>Do you go to Amherst kwu? How are people coming on here and giving this much advice without ever having attended these schools. </p>
<p>“If you’re an independent learner who enjoys the intimacy of close relationships with friends and professors, and who isn’t made or broken by the presence of a large city, then Amherst”</p>
<p>The same kind of atmosphere exists at Georgetown too if you want it. It’s not all drinking and partying as some of you would believe. You shouldn’t discredit the Georgetown experience without knowing much about it.</p>
<p>EDIT*** I think I came off a little cranky in this post. I apologize kwu. I just have a lot on my plate at school :-)</p>
<p>One might be better taking a look at this from the specific perspective of a transfer student, rather than simply GT v. Amherst.</p>
<p>In that case, the open curriculum at Amherst will be a worthless consideration, as your last two years will be heavily filled up with meeting the qualifications of your major. The larger number of courses at GT may also be irrelevant, unless there are certain courses in your major that you really want that are simply unavailable at Amherst. </p>
<p>How much are in-term internships relevant to you? There are an order-of-magnitude more of these at GT than there will be at Amherst. The flipside is that more students will be spending more of their time off-campus, and hence, for a transfer, GT may as a result lack the closeknit advantages of Amherst.</p>
<p>Finally, urban v. semi-rural. Obviously, big difference. An argument can be made either way. Go where you are comfortable. (I’d choose Amherst; I know my d. would choose GT.)</p>
<p>Yes, I go to Amherst, and over 50 people from my alma mater are enrolled at Georgetown undergrad at any given time.
I myself researched, applied to, and received an offer of admission from, Georgetown CAS. =P</p>
<p>I have 50 pages to write by next Friday, as well as two final exams. Yet, I still find the time to make helpful and accurate generalizations on CC.</p>
<p>I wasn’t aware that the “traditional college experience” entailed “drinking and partying.” I wasn’t discrediting Georgetown in any way. I was merely offering the argument that given Amherst’s specific qualities as an elite liberal arts college, such an intimate learning and social environment occurs more naturally there.</p>
<p>Here is a California vote for Amherst.</p>
<p>If money is an issue, you are guarenteed to be in more debt from going to Amherst than going to Georgetown.</p>
<p>To kwu:</p>
<p>"I wasn’t aware that the “traditional college experience” entailed “drinking and partying.” -kwu</p>
<p>I don’t know where I said this statement, or anything that could be construed this way.</p>
<p>I really do think there are more pluses in the corner for Georgetown, and I have mentioned many of them already. As for Amherst, small classes won’t get you into Law school. A high GPA and high LSAT will get you in. Law school admissions is very much a numbers game, and not as much a school name game. Amherst’s and Georgetown’s ability to place students into top law schools is very similar. I’m not surprised that Amherst’s % placed into elite law schools is slightly better. They are a much smaller school, so law schools wouldn’t mind admitting a larger percentage (smaller absolute number), all to form a student body from diverse backgrounds and schools. No top law school wants most of their kids from only a few schools. As for the rigorous curriculum at Amherst, I think that’s actually a downside for someone interested in applying to Law school. I can’t emphasize enough how much admissions to elite law schools is a number’s game, and if Amherst’s rigorous curriculum is going to mean a lower GPA, this is bad. Don’t give me any of that “schools will know which schools have grade deflation”. Law school admission committee don’t care about how deflated your GPA is, they care about the average GPA they submit to US News to stay at the top of the rankings.</p>
<p>I think the pros given for Amherst aren’t going to help you get into a top law school. Hell, even Georgetown’s pros won’t really help you that much either. GPA and LSATs, that’s 90% of the admissions game. If you can get a better GPA from Georgetown, all the better. Plus, since the % admitted to elite law schools is roughly equal from each of these schools, you should be looking more at the soft factors of each school, and I think Georgetown winds hands down in this category (safe neighborhood, cultural hub that is DC, top law school associated with the undergrad, opportunities for tons of internships, and a lot more I could go on and on about…).</p>
<p>I really think a lot of you on here are blinded by rankings. I realize Amherst is ranked at the top of LACs, and it is an AMAZING school. I just think the OP shouldn’t be worrying about which is going to give him/her a better chance of getting into law school, because they both will help her equally. The OP needs to pick more on the environment and setting he/she wants.</p>
<p>Blackbird out…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The following was your response to my compliment to Georgetown, that one could find a more “traditional college experience there.” </p>
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</p>
<p>Well, there’s your statement and your implication that I believe that the “Georgetown experience”/a “traditional college experience” entails “all drinking and partying.”</p>
<p>As to your effort to discredit the legitimacy of rankings, I completely agree with you. Georgetown is just a good a school as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Amherst, or Williams, and I would not be very surprised if someone were to choose Georgetown over those schools. In fact, I myself know someone who chose Georgetown CAS over Harvard.</p>
<p>As to your cynical view toward law school admissions, I suppose I could concede that point. I would recommend, then, that the OP head to his local community college instead. I’m sure that if he can pull of the amazing feat of being admitted as a transfer student to both Amherst and Georgetown that he would be able to pull off a solid GPA there.</p>
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<p>Wait, what? I don’t know anything about financial aid at Georgetown, but Amherst offers some of the most generous financial aid of any school anywhere. On what grounds are you making that statement?</p>
<p>I’m a female, but thanks for your response kwu. So, if GPA is really what matters, which school is easier to get a near 4.0 GPA?</p>
<p>As for financial aid, both schools say they meet 100% of financial need. The only difference is that Amherst eliminated loans. </p>
<p>Mini, thanks for the information on the internships. It kinda hit me that I probably wouldn’t have the time or transportation to do an internship during a semester. </p>
<p>And I’m not thinking of the rankings at all because no one I know has ever heard of Amherst. </p>
<p>I really can’t decide. I might flip a coin</p>
<p>
Clearly Amherst is doing something right.</p>
<p>Yale Law
Amherst: 9
Georgetown: 7
[Law</a> School Students](<a href=“http://www.yale.edu/bulletin/html/law/students.html]Law”>http://www.yale.edu/bulletin/html/law/students.html)</p>
<p>Harvard Law
Amherst: 19
Georgetown: 32
[HLS</a> : Undergraduate Schools Represented in 2006-2007](<a href=“http://web.archive.org/web/20070531213708/http://www.law.harvard.edu/admissions/jd/colleges.php]HLS”>HLS : Undergraduate Schools Represented in 2006-2007)</p>
<p>This is despite Amherst being less than 1/4 of Georgetown’s size. Adjusted for the size difference, we have:</p>
<p>Yale Law: 7 Georgetown, 37 Amherst
Harvard Law: 32 Georgetown, 133 Amherst</p>
<p>Amherst sends 4-5x as many students (per capita) to HY Law than Georgetown.</p>
<p>“Mini, thanks for the information on the internships. It kinda hit me that I probably wouldn’t have the time or transportation to do an internship during a semester.”</p>
<p>At GT, you probably would, and they’d help you build your schedule around it, if that’s what you want. (My d. is doing the same at American.)</p>