<p>I want to go to a school in DC and right now I am trying to decide which is better between AU and GWU. I want to major in mass communications, and minor in international studies, because my ultimate goal is to be in some job where I travel internationally and do work in communications or journalism of some sort.</p>
<p>My question is which school would be better for that type of job? I know they both supposedly have great communications and media departments, but which would be better overall, as far as getting a job, and just the academics and so forth?</p>
<p>Tough question! My son recently went through this similar decision. Both schools in my opinion are very similar in the fields you are considering. </p>
<p>My son picked GW over AU due to very good financial aid and a presidential scholarship which cut the overall costs by 45%. Minimal FA from AU. The decision was therefore “easy” since he liked both schools.</p>
<p>When I asked the AU admissions officer on the CC website about their FA/scholarship awarding process, she admitted they pretty much use a combination of GPA and SAT (MA/CR only) score and work their way down until the money runs out. My son probably did better at GW due to his very high SAT writing score since they use all 3 subscores- who knows!</p>
<p>Personally, academically you can’t go wrong with either.</p>
<p>I agree with CJ Madison, you can’t go wrong with either for your interests. My daughter got excellent merit scholarships to both AU and GWU, and AU actually would have been a bit less expensive for us, but she loved GWU and didn’t like AU when we visited (twice). It really depends on where you feel comfortable and what appeals to you, so I would recommend visiting both if at all possible. Good luck!</p>
<p>Have you visited the schools yet? When you do you’ll realize both schools are very different, each appealing to different people. GW is much more urban while AU is more of a traditional campus. Depends which you prefer (I am a current GW student and love it here).
GW has the School of Media and Public Affairs. I couldn’t tell you any specifics but it sounds right up your alley.</p>
<p>Hello from the GW School of Media and Public Affairs! We would be happy to connect you to one of our journalism professors to get the inside scoop on the differences between GW and AU. Email us at <a href=“mailto:smpa@gwu.edu”>smpa@gwu.edu</a> and let us know the best time for us to reach you by phone. As the previous posters wrote, GW and AU are different kinds of campuses. GW is four blocks from the White House and right in the middle of downtown Washington D.C. We teach all forms of communications, but many of our professors are former political reporters and we also offer a major in political communication - the first of its kind in the world! </p>
<p>Check out our website at smpa.gwu.edu if you haven’t, and come visit if you can. For now, drop us an email and we can answer your questions more directly.</p>
<p>Samara Sit
School of Media and Public Affairs
George Washington University</p>
<p>I love GW. Although AU is still in the city, it is farther away while GW is just a few blocks from the National Mall and White House. GW also has better internships and if you get goo financial aid is totally worth it</p>
<p>I visited both in October, and found GWU to be much more my speed. Everything is more modern, current, constantly shifting and changing to meet the needs and wants of students. AU seemed out of touch with DC, definitely less aesthetically pleasing. GWU has beautiful dorms and fantastic buildings, the student center and gym are really nice. AU was definitely older, less kept up. The students also seemed a bit less professional/driven than GWU kids.</p>