I’d like to hear from parents about the pluses and minuses of GW from your point of view. Any serious downsides or problems with the academics or anything else? My daughter was admitted to Elliott and the Women’s Leadership Program in International Politics. We’ve visited before but will be going to the admitted students day on April 8.
@bmcmom My daughter was also admitted to Elliott and the University Honors Program! We have also visited before but will also visit on 4/8 for the “Inside GW” Day! I have been in communication with Mrs. Pam Proctor, author of “The College Hook”. My daughter success, in part, was due to this book. She is college consultant who “loves the Elliott School”.
I hope both your families enjoy your day tomorrow. My husband and I have seen no downsides in our daughter’s experience. She is in the Elliott School and the Honors Program and has had many fabulous teachers - a few she has said are not so wonderful, but we know that would be the case anywhere. She followed her instincts and is very happy she chose GW. She came from a very rigorous high school and had college classes under her belt as well, so she entered with high expectations for the classroom experience. She loves the Elliott School curriculum, has really enjoyed the Honors residential life and classes, and has taken full advantage of being in DC, with an internship on Capitol Hill. She has expressed the sentiment I’ve also seen stated here, that the experience is what you make of it (true anywhere, but maybe approached differently at a smaller school?), and she has followed her interests in terms of extracurricular involvements, too. She has made wonderful friends. Additionally, she has said that the honors advising, career services, and study abroad offices have been great to work with. We are also quite impressed with the new Elliott School dean.
A family friend whom we’ve recently gotten to know graduated about a dozen years ago (Columbian College) and absolutely loved her GW experience and is still very close to her college friends. Good luck to your daughters with their decisions!
@Mom24242 Thank you so much for the information! My daughter actually committed the day she was accepted! GW-Elliott was her first choice. We/she is super excited about the “Inside GW Day” tomorrow (even after our 12 hour drive today) 
Any parent been to CI before? I will be taking my daughter and am wondering what parts (if any) I should really ensure I attend. This is our first child to go to GW, but not our first child in college, FWIW.
@yotommy
We are in the same boat as you. We will be attending the July 17th CI.
Oops June 16,17,18 CI.
@yotommy From what I understand the CI is actually like the Inside GW Day but gives the kids an opportunity to stay overnight. More importantly the kids get to choose their classes. We will not attend CI but we attended Inside GW Day. Because my daughter will not attend CI she meet with her University Honors Program advisor to choose classes and draft her 4 year plan.
We attended CI with our son and so did his two younger siblings. The sibling program was really great for them, they were still in middle school at the time. It kept them busy all day while we were in the parents’ sessions. They really cram a lot into the 2-1/2 days so we picked what we wanted to attend as skipped anything that we weren’t interested in. They had a regional dinner one night with other parents from our region of the country and the next night we had a choice of restaurants for smaller groups of parents to dine together. This was included in the cost of CI for parents. The sessions were very good overall They also had a parents social on top of the Elliott building one evening and a comedy show another. We only saw our son once the whole time, during the comedy show. Many parents do not attend and if you do you won’t be spending any time with your student.
@yotommy and @mommymetal A lot of Elliot students my daughter met during Inside GW are traveling to CI by themselves because the parents really don’t spend time with the kids during the event.
Thanks for the info. I have family, friends, and a branch office I can use in D.C. (and not a lot of vacation at the moment), so I’d prefer to skip things that are not critical. Sounds like it’s safe to skip the parent events.
Graduation is fast approaching and I’m not handling it well at all.
Can someone tell me what banks are in and around GW? (Chase maybe)
There’s a (slightly dated) PDF: https://internationalservices.gwu.edu/sites/internationalservices.gwu.edu/files/downloads/1.%20Banklists%20-JULY2014(WA).pdf
My dtr uses the PNC across from the White House.
I was wondering the same thing a few weeks ago. PNC Bank and Bank of America are both at GW. https://living.gwu.edu/atms-vending-machines
@HappyFace2018 Not sure if you worked this out yet but I am a new GW student and I opened an account with SunTrust while at CI-1 last week. There is a branch at 19th & K, just a couple blocks off campus, and numerous other branches peppered throughout DC. As a student, you can open an Essential Checking account with the monthly maintenance fee and minimum balance waived, which lasts for up to 5 years (or until graduation date), I believe. I know you can find similar student promotions at other banks but I did a lot of research beforehand and felt that SunTrust was the best option for me, personally. Hope this helps!
https://www.suntrust.com/personal-banking/checking/student-checking-account
@historyprof Thanks so much for the information. 
@HappyFace2018 May I ask why you’re looking into banks nearby? If it’s about account access, I’d argue that most things can be done via mobile banking nowadays.
@NHuffer Our local bank is Chase. We are looking for options which will allow her to withdraw money (if necessary) without incurring a few.
@NHuffer I meant fee.