<p>What are the good and bad things about GWU that need to be stated regarding specifically:</p>
<p>Dorms
parties
Social life
Girls
Academics
Campus feel
Campus appeal,looks
Architecture
Classes
Greek Life
Surrounding city</p>
<p>And how do I major in pre med or is it a bunch of classes? Unsure how it works?
Thanks</p>
<p>My son is s sophomore at GWU in the comp sci program and loves it. </p>
<p>Dorms: Other than Thurston, which is only for freshman, the dorms are like palaces. As a sophomore, he’s living in what is essentially an apartment with 3 other students.</p>
<p>Social Life: He has made a lot of friends in the Engineering school. He doesn’t talk much about parties, bu he does spend a lot of time with his friends.</p>
<p>Academics: He finds the comp sci program very challenging, but the professors are excellent and accessible.</p>
<p>Campus feel: GWU is really the best of both worlds. It occupies a section of DC 3 by 4 city blocks wide. So, it has a campus feel. And, as you walk around, you see lots of people you know. That being said, there is almost no greenery. But, there is the Mt. Vernon campus, which is lovely and a much more traditional college setting and is only a short shuttle ride away.</p>
<p>Greek Life: He is in the Engineering fraternity, but it is not a traditional fraternity. It doesn’t have a house AND it is half women. He loves it and has made many friends in it.</p>
<p>Surrounding City: DC has to be one of the best cities in the world in which to go to school. It’s all very accessible, you can walk or take the Metro anywhere. There are lots of great places to eat and things to do. GWU is blocks from the White House, up the street from the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial and National Mall. It’s a fabulous location.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>This really cool subject because ihave visited a lot of school; interestingly Gw is a lot different it makes feel that you live in the world not only because you live in DC but because it is not like all you see day and night are students and teachers but you see real life engnieers, doctors, and homless people. In another word it makesa whole round person. </p>
<p>THe Mount Vernon campus is an amzing campus because if you are tired from the city you can just go hangout there. </p>
<p>This is going to be kinda long, but I hope it can be a resource for others with similar questions…</p>
<p>Dorms: You’re really not going to get into any spectacular as a freshman (unless you choose West Hall on the 'Vern) and quite a few freshman dorms are old. Even being old, they’re not that bad. As with all the dorms, the most annoying thing is the cusp or hot and cold seasons when one day requires AC and the next needs heat: you only get one or the other because of the way the HVAC system is designed, so there will be designated days in October and probably April/May where the university switches over. Until then, you’ll probably find your rooms a little cool in the fall semester and hot at the end of the spring semester (minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things but at the time you’ll be quite uncomfortable). Now, for sophomore and up dorms: they’re pretty amazing. There are a lot of new buildings that are apartment style, recently renovated, food shops on the ground floors, and amazing views. I spent my sophomore year in arguable one of the best dorm rooms in the COUNTRY, as it was on the 9th floor of Ivory Tower (now called Sherman hall, I believe) with a great view of the Washington monument right out my window (two large windows above my and my roommate’s desk, and some great snack shops in the basement (grilled food, salad/sushi bar, pitas, donuts and ice cream and 24/hr snack shop). So yeah, upperclassman dorms are pretty awesome.</p>
<p>Parties: There are never a shortage of parties. I only went to a few over my time there, but I constantly heard about them and saw them in passing. Some of the Greek houses have loud parties Thursday through Sunday. Some dorms will have parties spanning an entire floor. Parties can be super wild (underwear parties… really), themed (SuperBowl, election night, movie release), or just a typical college party. </p>
<p>Social life: It covers the whole spectrum. If you want to show-up to college and be a hermit, it’s easy to do that. You might get stuck with loud roommates freshman year, but there’s always an option to swap rooms. If you like sports, GW has a lot of great teams to watch for free or you can catch a professional game (Nationals, Capitals, and Redskins). If you like the night life, there are SOOO many great options: there are a few places on campus that you’ll eventually get bored of, but there are quite a few within walking distance; you can catch a cab from anywhere on campus and leave the area; you can hop the metro and go to popular night areas like Adams Morgan or Dupont Circle; you can walk or take a cab the Georgetown (the area of town, not the campus) which has a multitude of bars and clubs. There are a lot of student organizations on campus that span a wide array of interests, from ballroom dancing to College Democrats and Republicans. </p>
<p>Girls: If you’re a single guy, GW is a great place to be. Not only do girls outnumber the guys, but the number of available (and straight) guys is pretty low. The female population knows this and have even written a few school newspaper articles about it (I found them quite entertaining). As far as the TYPE of girl, there’s a pretty wide range (remember, GW is all about diversity). I’d say a large portion of them are attractive, quite a few trendy girls, artsy girls, conservative girls, international girls, and quite a few female athletes. Even if you don’t find what you’re looking for on campus, you’re right in the middle of D.C., not far away from other universities and young professionals.</p>
<p>Academics: I’d say overall they’re quite challenging, for one reason or another. There are some very popular programs at GW (international affairs, political science, economics, pre-med) that try to weed-out students early in the program by making the intro classes difficult (after all, these classes will have 100-250 people per class). Another reason why I found certain classes difficult was that not only was the material difficult, but the professor might not have been the most effective and teaching (could be a language barrier or a personality trait- I had both). On the other end of the spectrum, there are quite a few easy and/or fun classes as well, depending on your interests. My two favorite classes were EHS 1040 (a class to become EMT certified) and FA 1015 (Wheel-thrown ceramics). I loved the EMT course because I always enjoyed first aid AND the professor was amazing. The ceramics class was a very relaxing course for seniors that helped me to relax during a stressful time in my college career.</p>
<p>Campus feel, appeal, looks: Well, there’s nothing else I can compare it to because I don’t know of any other universities in the heart of such an amazing city. As far as the main campus (Foggy Bottom), the best word to describe it is ‘centralized.’ You are so close to so many great things that the city has to offer: monuments, museums, theater, great food, etc. It’s urban, so most of the buildings are 6-10 stories tall. It’s also quite bustling and seems like there’s always something happening. 23rd street is quite busy and constantly has ambulances on their way to GW Hospital, you’ll see diplomatic motorcades rolling through campus every now and again, and you can enjoy street musicians outside the metro by the hospital. The 'Vern, on the other hand, is a polar opposite. It has grass and lots of trees, is quiet unless they’re a soccer or lacrosse game on the field, and is located within a quiet residential area. I lived there for my freshman year, and although it wasn’t Foggy Bottom, there was still a lot to love, and it catered to the desire for a “traditional” college experience.</p>
<p>Architecture: Wide variety. You’ll have attractive older buildings (dorms and academic halls) that have been renovated, newer attractive buildings like Sherman Hall and Lerner Health and Wellness Center, older and (IMO) ugly buildings like Funger Hall, and a slew of types in between. Overall, I’d say it’s a mixture of ‘cozy’ and ‘modern.’</p>
<p>Classes: I covered some in academics, but as far as class size (if that’s where you were going) class can be as large as 250 students for an introduction class, to as small as 8 students for a specialized course in your major. You’ll have classes in large lecture rooms, labs, in the basement of the library, in the Health and Wellness Center, and maybe a few in the Medical School. </p>
<p>Greek Life: From what I’ve witness (I only rushed one frat), there’s a variety of Greek orgs that’ll appeal to just about anyone. There are frats and sororities that are for the partier, some for folks trying to be classy and sophisticated, some for religions and ethnicities, and quite a few that are for academic studies. There will be a Rush Week toward the beginning of the semester that will allow you to go out and chat with the different groups and figure out which ones you might want to rush.</p>
<p>Surrounding city: I think I covered this pretty well in a lot of the above :)</p>
<p>Feel free to ask more. As you can tell, I love talking about GW :)</p>
<p>^ could not have described it better than this. but I disagree about Funger… compared to Phillips it’s pretty nice…</p>
Hello! I keep seeing things about students going back and forth between the two campuses. Where I am from, that is very, very unusual–in fact, I’ve never heard of that. How common is that? How far away are the two campuses? Do some students have to go back and forth between the two?
@TutuEmily It is somewhat common for freshmen, not so common for everyone else.
According to GWU, the 'Vern houses 687 students; the 2014 freshman class size was 2,415, so roughly a quarter of the freshman class will live on the 'Vern (there are also transfers, Women’s Leadership Program (WLP) and Honor students on the 'Vern. For everyone that lives on the 'Vern, they’ll commute to Foggy Bottom for the majority of their classes via a shuttle (Vern Express) that runs every 5 minutes. The trip usually takes 10 minutes.
For the freshmen that DON’T live on the 'Vern, they’ll commute to the 'Vern for at least one class (University Writing). The 'Vern has a fair amount of other classes as well, so it’s totally possible to have to go there for a lab or recitation of sorts.
If you end up on the Vern, don’t fret. Most people that live there for a year end-up enjoying it. Just be sure to sign-up for as many classes on the Vern as possible in order to reduce the number of times you commute to Foggy Bottom. Overall, the Vern provides a nice break from bustle of downtown D.C. When you live on Foggy Bottom as a sophomore you’ll appreciate it that much more.