Which one do you think is better and why?
This is a closed thread, but it might give you some helpful insights: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/george-washington-university/1687230-current-gw-student-accepting-any-questions-p1.html
AU is a joke, way out of the way in north DC and inferior in every way.
in terms of like academics and prestige and facilities etc etc
Which one is better in polisci? and by how much?
If you are going to DC because you want to BE IN DC - then you have to go to GW.
This is something only each student can answer for him or herself. As a parent of a recent GW grad you might think I am biased, but my son was accepted to both GW and American in 2009 so we had to make this choice. Since we are from the Midwest, we really didn’t know much about either school so it was easier for us not to let any preconceived notions get in our way.
We attended both accepted student days in April of my son’s senior year. Previous to these visits, we visited GW in his sophomore year of high school (we had never heard of the school before). We had not previously visited American but had heard of the school.
Our observations about GW at the accepted student day were it was a very energetic school, right in the city and close to everything. Despite it raining that day, everyone was nice and cheery (not snobby like we expected after reading some reviews on college confidential) and the program was well run. Our son is a high energy but down to earth Midwestern so this was great for him. We met students from all over the country so this was important to him as he did not want to feel like an outsider.
The next day we visited American and he was invited to a multicultural overnight (he is mixed race). I spent the day with him and then he broke off around dinner time to spend the night with his host and had a full day of activities planned for the next day. During the day we attended a luncheon with other accepted students. It was very uncomfortable as the other students did not really know how to communicate. We are friendly and talkative and tried on every level to engage with them, but it didn’t happen. A faculty member then sat at our table and tried to engage the table as well. This faculty member was in charge of some leadership program and after talking to the students at the table honed in on my son. She basically was trying to recruit him into the program as It was apparent he was the only one with any social skills.
Afterwards, we took a campus tour. We just felt like the current students were just staring us down the whole time and judging us. Again very uncomfortable. At one point a couple of American students cut right through our tour group instead of moving to the side which I thought was really rude. It was like the red sea parting. I couldn’t believe it. Needless to say my son did not have a good time at the overnight either. His host basically abandoned him to go party and he was locked out of the dorm room until 1 a.m. At 8 a.m. the next morning he called me and said, “Get me out of here! I don’t want to go here.” We made an excuse that we had a family emergency and couldn’t stay for the day and bolted. We went straight back to GW and made our deposit. Now this was our personal experience. I know others love American, but it was not the right place for our son. Why is GW better than American? Because it was a better experience for our son. The cost was the same for our family at GW or American so that was not a deciding factor for us. My best advice would be to visit both of them. Only you can decide if GW or American is better.
It became obvious that most of these replies were biased and uninformative so I’ll give you the truth. If you are studying international relations, business, or even communications and want a college that has a campus (quad) instead of buildings here and there, then go to American. If you are majoring in any natural sciences go to gwu. Simple as that. Ignore the idiots who just tell you gwu or American.
Good luck
But you are just as biased as a user who goes to AU and calls their honors program “prestigious” in the AU forum. There is no doubt that AU is a decent private school, but in almost every way GW is superior to AU, and that’s not only in academics but in reputation(even more prevalent). I got into both schools last year and chose GW, and everyone I’ve met in DC so far (from all over the city) are well aware that GW is just on another level than AU, similar to how GU is on another level than GW in most areas. However, if you really really can’t see yourself enjoying a more city campus, I would suggest looking into AU.
I find your idea that au is a level below gw just as gw is a level below gu hilarious. All of dc knows GU is greater than AU and GW by a long shot. AU and GW are on par with each other. So No GW does not have the same gap to AU as GW has with GU. And just as you have seen GW students (including yourself) choosing GW over AU, I have also met more than enough students who chose AU over GW.
If you are torn between these school I would advise you visit each. I would also advise that you stop reading these forums because opinion is an opinion and those above, including myself are biased. The school that’s best for you must be chosen by you. Choosing a school can be difficult and opinions like these can help ease that difficulty, but don’t let these opinions determine your choice. Choosing a school of another’s opinion is an avoidable mistake. good luck.
I haven’t chimed-in to this post yet as I’ve thought plenty of good has been said. However, I wanted to clarify something about the above message: there is nothing wrong with choosing a school based-up another’s opinion. Who better to tell you about a school than someone that actually went there?
The problem lies, however, in a GW student’s opinion on other schools (unless, of course, they attended there prior). This forum is obviously biased as it’s a GW forum, but I’m hoping most that come here will realize that. I don’t mind giving my opinions about Georgetown and AU as they are perceived by others or based-up facts online (rankings, etc). For example, when people ask me about the difference between them, it’s usually the reputation and the campus feel that stand out the most. Saying that, I don’t think it’s a “long shot” by how much greater Georgetown is than GW. Is it better? Sure, rankings will show that. However, GW has some programs that are stronger than Georgetown, so if someone were interested in that particular area of study, GW would be a great option.
@NHuffer - just curious what programs at GW are superior to GTown?
@ClarinetDad16 GW has an excellent physician assistant program (#3 in the country) along with other excellent public health-related degrees. They are also ranked above Georgetown in Public Affairs and some social sciences (not GW’s coveted Poli Sci and International Affairs- Georgetown is a few ranks above). I’m sure there are more but those are all I’m aware of.
I don’t know if your question was an attack or genuine curiosity (online hides tone, obviously), but if it was an attack, I never said GW was better overall, but just that there are some programs that are better than Georgetown.