<p>Thanks for the response, sportula. How are you liking Columbia? What are the main differences between the schools aside from the location?</p>
<p>One complaint I have heard is the state of GU's facilities due to the lower endowment situation. What were your impressions?</p>
<p>I will for the record, echo the issues of transport. "Only" a GUTS bus ride away neglects a lot of details. The bus may be on the other side of campus, you'll likely have to wait some time for it to arrive/depart, then actually ride the bus, an then it's still usually another block to the actual metro stop. All told, it generally adds about 20-30min each way to your travel time, compared to the maybe 5 or so minutes it takes to get from one end of the GW campus to the metro. Usually, I just walk across the key bridge to the Rosslyn Metro. It's only about a mile.</p>
<p>I might add a slight word about the clubs dominating the social scene. While it's good in that it creates a rather open, non-hierarchial community, it does make all the things that go along with "the social scene" a bit harder to avoid. So activities become "let's go phone banking for McCain; and then go drinking!" "Join Pep Band; and then go drinking!" etc.</p>
<p>I emphasize though, that these reservations are rather minor. If the worst complaint one can summon against the school is mediocre bus service, you'll probably be in good shape.</p>
<p>Brooetchen, the low endowment you speak of is a reality. But it's growing rather rapidly, so the university doesn't really feel the need to horde its resources. Most complaints I've heard about the endowment talk more about financial aid (to clarify, Georgetown has very good FA compared to most good schools, especially in that it meets the full gap between COA and EFC with minimal loans and work-study. Compared to Harvard, MIT, etc. Georgetown cannot go much beyond EFC for need-based aid, and unlike schools "lower" down the USNWR list, can't really afford to offer merit dollars). But I haven't heard many complaints against the facilities here. We're building two new buildings for business and science, and a lot of the campus buildings are either fairly new or recently renovated. We have spotty wireless in a handful of places, but I suspect that has less to do with the endowment than other factors. In short, I don't feel the endowment really affects GU facilities.</p>
<p>I agree with DCforme as far as the social scene goes. The most frustrating thing about it is when clubs pressure you into an environment you don't want. I was involved in mostly social justice clubs where that's less of an issue, but if you want to join Pep Band and The Corp (to name a few) you have to have a certain amount of willingness to join in the party scene. At times this really bothered me actually although I kind of forget about it now that it's past. There is room for improvement in that respect.</p>
<p>There's not really any comparison to Columbia, grad school is just a totally different scene.</p>
<p>Thanks to both of you for such great posts, sporty and DC -- very helpful.
One thing that gets GU a lot of praise, is its offering of great internships. Do either of you have any experience there, is that reputation justified? I.e. if a student is properly motivated, should they be able to get a decent internship through Georgetown? Also, any sense of career services and job placement after graduation?
Clearly, sportula has done well for her(?) self-- Columbia graduate program in any dept. is no mean feat...
How is the overall advising? Competent, helpful advisers or is one more or less left to figure it all out on one's own?</p>
<p>Just to clarify a bit of what sportula said, there are certainly different degrees of pressure from different groups. On the one end of the scale, the only groups I've really experienced heard about with almost no drinking whatsoever are mostly religious organizations. I imagine things tied exceptionally close to the University, like the academic council, also probably see exceptionally low levels, as do groups that are only very loosely tied together, like those meeting once a month or so.
But just about everywhere else, be it politics, social justice, more academic-esque societies, what have you, student groups vary greatly in their pressure. Some exert absolutely no pressure, but make it available. Others have a slightly stronger social norm towards drinking, but if you go to a party and don't want to drink, you will be just fine. The only groups that can be described borderline coercive are groups like te Pep band. So again, if you don't want to drink, it is very much possible to not drink. Just be aware that in many cases you will be around people who do.</p>
<p>broetchen, overall, Gtown has an advantage over non-DC schools, in that the quality and quantity of internships it has access to is great. I personally have only been here for two months, so I can't comment on how things work over the long term. In what I've experienced as a freshman, both this semester, and registering for classes next semester, it is somewhat difficult to make time in your schedule for an internship. The only reasonable way to do it is to have no classes for half of most days, or to have an entire day of; it's just a matter of transportation. Some people do this by not having classes on Fridays. Another one of my friends had a schedule where his classes didn't start until 12:15 each day (although even then, there's really only time for a few hours each day). Working this all out in your schedule is even more difficult if you have to fit in work study. It's certainly doable, usually by getting rid of Fridays, but it's a challenge, especially for freshman. This is a difficulty for all schools however, and it's not exclusive to Georgetown. Some other schools in the area provide a few interesting solutions. American for example, usually doesn't hold classes on Wednesdays (except for freshman), so people can go intern. GW, with its metro stop and central location, significantly cuts down on transit time. So in short, you can make it work if you really want to, but don't think it will come easily.</p>
<p>Again, I'm a freshman with little room in my schedule, so I haven't gotten a chance to work with the career center. Sorry.</p>
<p>what is a normal fri or sat nite for a georgetown student? it doesnt sound like there are many parties to go to.</p>
<p>I've known underclassmen who interned, but it's mostly the juniors and seniors. Pretty much everyone senior year it seems like is working or interning somewhere. I didn't intern until my second semester senior year. You kind of have to make a choice, are you going to be involved in lots of clubs or are you going to have an internship (I had friends who did both, I have no idea how)? It's actually pretty easy to manipulate your class schedule. My sophomore year I only had class on Tuesday and Thursday and then one class Wednesday evening, so I could have interned three days a week if I wanted.</p>
<p>As for tennishboy1005, there are lots of parties. Most Georgetown students would describe Georgetown as a party school. This is facilitated by the fact that the entire undergraduate population lives within like a half mile radius of what is already a really small campus, so people just hop from one party to another. The issue is if you don't like parties what do you do. Because there are so many student groups there are always plays, movies, cultural performances, etc...</p>