GWU vs Brandeis

I am posting this on both the Brandeis and GWU forums to get opinions from current students.

From the title you can tell that I am deciding between GWU and Brandeis. I got suitable financial packages at both, so money is not a deciding factor at either school. First I would like to say that I am studying political science in the hope of going to law school. In order to get into an excellent law school, I understand that GPA is a major factor. My main concern is which of the two schools would offer me a combination of thriving and learning. I want to get a great education, but I also want to make good grades. Right now I am leaning towards GWU as I know they have a great department, but I really like Brandeis as well.

If you’re set on law school, don’t feel like political science is the only way to go. If it’s something your passionate about then by all means. However, as you noted, GPA is everything. People can typically get the best GPA when studying something they’re truly interested in. With that said, GW all the way! (I’m obviously biased and don’t know anything about Brandeis for comparison, haha).

@NHuffer What did you think about the difficulty of GW, how hard was it to make good grades?

I think difficulty is completely relative to both the subject/professor as well as your intellect/study habits. That said, as an average GW student (I might have even been lower 25th percentile) I found most of my class work challenging. Even though I graduated with a 3.02 (physics program) I feel like an ‘A’ was possible in every class if I would have put more time into studying. I probably studied half as much as everyone else, so don’t be discouraged by my GPA, lol.

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idk if you already decided, since it’s may. but i just wanted to pop by and say that i had to face literally the same EXACT choice as you: gw vs brandeis. and i had received comparable awards from both schools, so money wasn’t a factor either. i actually sent my deposit on the very last day since it was such a tough, down to the wire decision. i ended up choosing GW obviously since im on the GW page. for me, it came down to the opportunities available in DC as opposed to waltham/boston. plus, GW was clearly superior for my field (international relations and political science), even though brandeis does have a slightly higher overall ranking. feel free to PM me if you have any questions