Hi - hoping some of the regulars will weigh in with their opinions (especially @happy1 and @NHuffer). My son has narrowed down his choices to 2: GWU and Fordham.
Background:
He has loved bio, chem and physics, but had no exposure to engineering at his high school, so he was thinking it would make sense to apply at liberal arts schools where maybe engineering was a possiblity so that if he took a class and loved it, he could do more. He was waitlisted at Lehigh and accepted to Lafayette, but with no FA at Lafayette, that’s a no-go. He wanted to be at a research university as he did some at a medical college over the summer and really enjoyed the experience. He’s wondering if law school might be a possiblity down the road as well. Awarded scholarships at both schools (a more generous one at GWU) but in all honesty he really doesn’t know what he wants to study.
Originally didn’t want an urban school as he’s worked and volunteered with the nature conservancy and enjoys being outside, but ok with Mount Vernon at GWU. He loves to run and hike, not all that interested in football, would consider professional greek clubs, likes to have fun but not necessarily a party animal, and not really preppie or hipster - you’ll find him in a t-shirt, shorts and sneakers 24/7 (varsity sprinter on track team).
Thoughts:
On the pro side for Fordham:
school is an hour away from home
Jesuit (12 years of Catholic school so he's comfortable)
traditional campus
NYC internships
at least 20 kids from his school go there every year
no greek life (Oh wait, that's a pro for me - lol :)
Fordham Cons:
no engineering per se - engineering physics major only with a 3+2 engineering program with Columbia, but scholarship money doesn't transfer for 4th year and Columbia would be full whack year 4 and 5
seems to be less flexible curriculum, i.e. majoring across schools
more expensive
no health insurance program offered
GWU Pros:
DC area offers internship opportunities you won't find elsewhere (Homeland Security, World Health Org, etc)
has an engineering/applied science school if he decides to go that route
more generous scholarship and scholarship guaranteed for 5 years not 4 (hope he doesn't need a 5th year tho!)
fixed tuition
easier to transfer between schools
possible to double major outside of school
Mount Vernon more like a contained campus with green space
offers health insurance
GWU Cons:
far - not easy to "pop" home for birthdays or special events
no real campus
no actual dining hall
all of the students who spoke on the admitted student day were political science majors - that second visit kind of felt like the school is all about the poli sci/international affairs.
Lastly, he’s a kind kid who is respectful of other peoples’ point of view, but I wonder how he’d fit in as a libertarian/moderate republican at either of these schools?
Sorry for the long post, but wanted to give some background too. Any thoughts, suggestions, and feedback on either school is GREATLY appreciated as he’s got 7 days to go before we have to send in a deposit!
Seems GWU offers the best $$$ package. We live in Virginia and I don’t like GWU’s campus too many homeless people. As a BostonU grad (hated their campus after seeing my kids colleges wishes I had gone to a real campus).
Would he live on campus at Fordham? If not then that’s saving four years of housing. I see both schools to be similar when it comes to campus and education but if he wants engineering GWU would be the choice (although having that Columbia option is nice if affordable)
Good thing both my kids had one choice or I’d go crazy trying to decide
The combo of finances and more flexibility in changing majors, along with the easier access to an engineering degree gives GW the edge, IMO.
I am partial to Fordham, see a lot of pluses in the familiarity factor, and don’t see how health insurance is a factor in this picture. But I think he’ll find connections among GW students, and this bigger change in pace could be a great opportunity for him. Many of my kids’ friends have gone the GW route as well as Fordham. He can’t lose either way, as both are great schools
It sounds like he could be happy at both schools. Here are a few comments in no particular order:
–For full disclosure my S went to Fordham and loved it. He grew and developed on every front (academically, socially, intellectually etc.) My S was in Gabelli and was pretty focused on accounting from the start. It sounds like Fordham would be a very comfortable choice for your S (and your family).
–That said it sounds like GW has the advantage of a better aid package, health insurance, and an engineering school if he wants to explore that option (he would need to see if it is possible/how one would go about transferring into engineering if that is the path he follows).
–Has your S indicated any preference? If both are affordable don’t discount gut feel as part of the decision.
@airway1 - Yes, he’d live on campus at Fordham (and that’s not a terrific area either!). With regard to the homeless situation in DC, is it all around the campus? I don’t remember it being bad, but maybe I was just so focused on not getting lost that I missed it?! Beyond our visit, I am not at all familiar with the area - is the school in a really terrible area?
@cptofthehouse - I agree with you that GW offers more options, but I guess deep down I think my husband and I were secretly hoping for something a little closer to home. The health insurance is a big deal as he will age out of a state plan at 19 and he has a complicated medical history (that’s one of the reason’s we were hoping he wouldn’t wind up going too far away - but I acknowledge that’s our own insecurity). We’re both self-employed and pay for our own insurance - right now our plan is outrageous. To add him to my plan is an additional $1,000+ a month, so if the school offers it’s own more reasonably priced health insurance plan, that would definitely be a plus. Fordham’s site specifically mentions that they cannot not offer insurance plans to domestic undergraduate students because “Federal and state compliance changes recently impacting the insurance industry have made pricing of plans with voluntary enrollment prohibitively high.” Yeah, I know all about prohibitively high lol . . .
@happy1 - I asked for you to weigh in as I had read other posts that your son went there! Fordham would cost about an additional $50,000 as their merit scholarship is less than GW’s, so I think he’s definitely taking that into consideration. He’s a logical, analytical kid, and I think if Fordham had come in at the same net as GW - we’d already have an answer. We did go back to Fordham to see if they’d reconsider his award, but no luck. If we could only move GWU to the Bronx I think we’d be done already
Any decent college – and bot GWU and Fordham are way above that threshold – is good for law school. Just earn A’s, and lotsa of them.
If you have the cash, $12k per year for Fordham is worth it, IMO. (Big fan of Jesuit education, a Core curriculum, and traditional campus.) Plus, it sounds like the $ delta is not that big after you factor in health insurance. Probably need to run the COA for both places.
Not sure having an eng school nearby is of any value. You either start in Eng or you don’t. The curriculum is so jam packed that its extremely difficult to add it later. (And if you do stay for a 5th year, any cost advantage disappears.)
btw: DC internship opportunities are available, but a gazillion kids are gunning for them. They are competitive. To me, that is a nice-to-have as his interest does not appear to lie in public policy. (In fact, as a libertarian…) OTOH, NYC is also chock-full of internship opportunities.
There aren’t homeless people all over the GW campus. This is ridiculous. Foggy Bottom is very nice. The Fordham area requires much more street smarts as Fordham likes to say.
For specific concerns about medical issues if your son would choose Georgetown, check out what is available at that university hospital, and work outward for information about other local resources: https://www.medstargeorgetown.org/
@bluebayou - Someone told us recently that if law school is the ultimate goal, he’d be better off in something other than a physics or an engineering major as it’s all about the gpa for law school. If they don’t care that you majored in basketweaving rather than biology (lol), it would make sense not to put himself through 4 years of torturous classes trying to maintain a high gpa. And I think you’re right - he’d have to decide very early on if engineering is where he wants to be to squeeze the requirements in as a 5th year just wouldn’t make sense financially. We’ll run that COA one last time.
Although I haven’t had kids at these schools, they were both on my D’s top 5 list and we looked deeply into both of them. One difference to your son: she likes urban campuses (she was interested in LC rather than RH at Fordham). I’m not sure how important the extra $50k is to you. If you honestly wouldn’t miss it, and your son would feel happier at Fordham, then do that. I personally would think the cash plus “proper” engineering at GW tips the balance, but overall I don’t think there’s all that much in it. Both are good colleges in fabulous cities. One caveat for GW: the students who stay at mount Vernon do complain that in rush hour it can take a long time to get between there and Foggy Bottom.
Oh, and I think being libertarian/moderate Republican would be totally fine at both these schools.
Thank you everyone for your feedback, insight, and pm’s @txstella. The kid went with GWU last night! Glad to have it over and done with
For anyone reading this next year and facing the same insurance dilemma with a student ageing out of a CHIP policy, or a regional policy that doesn’t cover your student outside of your area, or facing an exhorbitant premium increase, GWU offered a pretty reasonable health insurance policy that can be used all over so when your student comes home, or does an internship anywhere else besides DC, they’re covered. I was told it even covers them during their study abroad - you’d have to pay out of pocket and then submit expenses to be reimbursed. Since health insurance is mandatory at GWU, apparently it’s also a qualifying 529 education expense too (but of course, you should do your own due diligence). Going with the school insurance will be a savings of approximately $36,000 over the next four years, which is nothing to sneeze at!
