Hi, I’m a senior and I have a few weeks left to decide which college to go to. I have narrowed it down to Wellesley College, a private women’s college in MA outside of boston, and to George Washington University (GW) , a private school in DC.
Just a bit about my acceptances:
Wellesley college: has given me 0 financial aid and I am currently waiting for them to get back to me after I appealed. I like the school even though it’s not co-ed because it is beautiful and I am really into the women’s empowerment aspect of women’s colleges, however, it is in a small town and they do not really offer what I was hoping to study- public health- which is okay because they have a minor in it and I was also hoping to major in psychology or neuroscience.
GW- has offered me a presidential merit scholarship of 22k a year to the Milken School of Public Health which is really well known. In addition, they have admitted me to
a special program from women interested in health/medicine which would allow me to visit conferences at NIH and GW med school where I one day hope to apply. I believe the program itself is called THE WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP PROGRAM and they have different sub-programs for anyone interested in applying next year.
While I like Wellesley , on paper, it seems as though GW is a better option for me but I am not sure how well I would fit in there. It is really hard to make a decision considering I have never been to either campus.
Would you please let me know what you think especially if you are a student at either school.
Looking at in on paper, it looks as though GW is the better option for you, as you acknowledge in your conclusion. However, it must be frustrating to only be looking at things on paper at this point.
Wellesley is very suburban and GW is very urban. Do you have a preference either way? Both are nice campuses in their own idiom.
I do not have a preference when it comes to location but I think I prefer Boston and its suburban outskirts to DC. I have also heard it is very difficult to find internships at GW because it is such a large school so there is a lot of competition.
I would not need to take on any debt because my parents have saved up some money but that would mean accumulating debt for graduate school (medical) however, I also have a scholarship worth 30k that i can use towards any school so 7.5 k a year which would ease the burden a bit. I am appealing to both schools for more aid.
Although it may sound a bit silly I am not a fan of their ‘vibe’ it feels very impersonal and as though the school is not very connected which is why I like Wellesley better in that aspect because they are a smaller school with traditions in place and a beautiful campus
For full transparency purposes I also have been granted admission to BU for Jan 2021 and to Macaulay Honors College at John Jay which means no tuition, any opinions on those two? I was also waitlisted at NYU, Williams, UMich, and Barnard College
Generally, it’s best to go to a school where you feel most comfortable.
However, medical school is extremely expensive, with very few scholarships/grants-it’s mostly loans. So keeping UG debt low is a good idea.
And isn’t it John Jay College of Criminal Justice? It does indicate a “pre-health” advisor but not sure the school’s empahsis-“Criminal Justice”-would resonate with medical schools; perhaps others are more familiar with that aspect of John Jay.
I would be surprised if this were true. The internships would be in DC and elsewhere, and students in the DC area would be the most likely to know about them and get them.
my D goes to GW and has never had issues finding internships and neither has any of her friends . The advantage is that you can get internships during the school year and not just the summer.