<p>Well said, SerendipityRing! I totally agree with you!</p>
<p>Very fair and objective judgment, SR! It's great that you may be coming back next semester.</p>
<p>SR--I do agree that there are many extremely bright students at G-Dub. I know kids who got into Ivies, but choose G-dub because of its "city feel." G-dubs defintely work hard! The diversity (ethnically) at G-Dub is questionable...but nonetheless it is pretty diverse compared to other schools.</p>
<p>"At gw, it really seemed as if people <em>liked</em> or respected you for being different. That's how I felt, anyway :-)"</p>
<p>BINGO!!!!! A very good point!</p>
<p>I defintely had a name in high school, (not trying to brag) so that's probably why I don't dig the social scene very much, but G-dub is a great school. The education is top rate on the real.</p>
<p>Thanks! I am so excited... It's weird because I used to be so critical of some aspects of GW (like you all said, the price and cliques and stuff), but after attending three schools in one year, I've realized that 1) the negative stuff can be found at most schools and 2) the positive stuff <em>can't</em> be found at a lot of schools. I don't want to name specific schools, but there is SO MUCH grade inflation crap and babying that goes on at other colleges. It's insane... like my fall semester, when I was a visiting student at an "elite" liberal arts college, people would whine about getting a B+ and then demand the professors change the grades -- and they would actually give in to the students' demands. You don't grow up nearly as much as you do by going to GW, I think. Also, while I was a student at GW, a lot of my friends and I volunteered at a DC public school. When I asked people at one of my colleges this year about similar opportunities, they looked at me blankly and asked, "Huh? Why would you want to do that?" </p>
<p>About the diversity -- well, I guess it's questionable compared to NYU or something, but I grew up in a super-intolerant town (think Boys Don't Cry) in the midwest, so to me GW is definitely very diverse.</p>
<p>I understand your thing with the social scene. My best friend was popular in high school. She transferred for a semester (and then came back to GW) because at first, she was extremely unhappy with her social life. She was the homecoming queen, cheerleader type in high school, and she was not pleased at all that she couldn't fit in with many of the cliques at GW. However, she spent a semester at another college and came right back because she realized what she was missing :-)</p>
<p>Interesting SR... I went to a pretty racist high school myself. I mean, a lot people knew who I was because I was constantly "bucking the system" and fighting for some equality, you know. I was definely an indivdual. People loved me or hated me...but EVERYONE knew who me and silblings were!
However, I do feel a lot of the kids are a bit overzealous in terms of fitting in. Like you said, VERY, VERY few kids at G-Dub were "popular" so I feel that some of them get involved in a bunch activities Freshman year, meet a bunch of peeps, but get caught up and become toolish...it's strange. I mean, I know people who became Greek just to make friends and "be cool." G-Dub kids are ambitious--that's wonderful! But it's the extremity of quite a few of them that makes it, imho, socially off.</p>
<p>Oh, definitely...I've met many um, odd people myself. But aren't they like that at all elite/semi-elite colleges? The majority of the cool people from high school ended up at community college and the smart, odd people ended up at good colleges. I understand that there are exceptions to that, but I think in GENERAL most good colleges = socially awkward people. </p>
<p>About the toolishness... It's the revenge of the nerds! In all seriousness, that's an exaggeration, but I do think it's a good thing that people get so involved freshman year and try to be the leaders they were too afraid to be in high school. Why shouldn't they? It's probably the first time for them that things like that are acceptable. I think it's great that people branch out and go for what they want.</p>
<p>As for the greeks, don't get me started... A lot of my friends became greek, but I've never been one to participate in that stuff. But hey, if it makes them feel better, whatever... It's not like GW is a big greek school either way.</p>
<p>Are there a good number of black students at GW? I visited the campus yesterday, and loved it. I really like the school, but I really want to go to a diverse high school. I know you said it is semi-diverse, but I am currently at a really diverse high school and wouldn't want to go to an all-white college.</p>
<p>On my tour they made it seem like every room has their own shower...true or not??? (this would compensate for the cost of housing for me!)</p>
<p>It's not an all-white college. We have a sizeable, active and involved black student body. </p>
<p>If you live in a singles building (Mitchell or Strong), you won't have your own shower. Other will have a private bathroom in each apartment.</p>
<p>"Oh, definitely...I've met many um, odd people myself. But aren't they like that at all elite/semi-elite colleges? The majority of the cool people from high school ended up at community college and the smart, odd people ended up at good colleges. I understand that there are exceptions to that, but I think in GENERAL most good colleges = socially awkward people."</p>
<p>Well, this statment kinda lost me, SR, because I know quite a few "popular" kids from HS that ended up at good, strong universities. G-Dub is defintely was an adjustment for me, especially socially. But I do deal...and reap the benfits of going to such a top university! </p>
<p>NJBoy--How do you define diversity? It's true that G-Dub has a very active black student population. The SA (Student Assiocation) presidents have all been black for the past two years. Our newly elected preisdent is a young, black male whose quite the character, to say the least! I'm a black student at G-Dub and am willing to shed some light on the black community at G-Dub. Just PM me.</p>
<p>I'm not saying NO popular kids end up at good colleges... But that top colleges are generally known to be filled with smart and socially awkward (or otherwise odd) people anyway. Step onto Harvard's, Swarthmore's, Mount Holyoke's, or Oberlin's campus, and you're not going to see a school full of "popular" types. </p>
<p>It is definitely not a GW thing. Again, there are exceptions (such as Vanderbilt and Notre Dame), but the majority of the highly selective colleges are filled with weird ass people who are smart but lack social skills. </p>
<p>If I sound like I'm trolling for GW, I'm not -- I recognize that not everyone would fit in, but I just don't think the social scene is exclusive to GW; it happens at tons of good colleges.</p>
<p>I'm at a Big 10 state school this semester cuz I'm saving up to go back to GW. The people here dress more "down to earth" and aren't as involved in extracurriculars, but I don't exactly see them coming up to me and asking me to do stuff with them out of the blue. If anything, I thought the people at GW were more open to random **** -- I've hung out with and befriended tons of strangers at GW!</p>
<p>Alright so I've got a lot of questions about housing.</p>
<p>[ol][<em>]What do you guys think of the dorms at GWU?
[</em>]Is it true they're revamping how housing is done this year? Like all the houses will have themes and such?
[*]What do you guys think of Somers and Fulbright? What do you guys think of the room sizes and stuff?[/ol]</p>
<p>I mean, SR...To each his own, dude. It's definitely all good, even though my opnion stands strong. Let's agree to disagree, okay. You're coming to back G-Dub anyway, holla!</p>
<p>GW halls are pretty sweet. In some buildings, having a bathroom in the room is really awesome. I lived in a building which is no longer a freshmen option, but if I had to choose, I'd pick Potomac House.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about the themes. No matter where you live, you'll run into a lot of different people with varying interests. It's a way to ensure that the person down the hall from you has similar interests - another way of building community.</p>
<p>Fulbright has kitchens in the rooms which is a very nice plus, but I find Fulbright lacking in space. If you choose to live on MVC, Somers is the way to go in my opinion. Newer rooms with a large bathroom for two doubles.</p>
<p>hey guys-
ive just been reading the posts on this, and i wasjust wondering... could anyone kind of explain what you mean by socially ackward? and... where do people go to partyif they aren't 21?</p>
<p>to break it down for ya, dear...
ex.1
let's say that me and classmate walking together from a class. We're talking about the class and it into a nice non-class related conversation. Things are cool, until a friend of the classmate sees and stops us. (which is all good, most def.) Then he or she will start talking to the classmate/friend without introducing his or herself and they end up talking and you try to get into the conversation, that's impossible because they're talking about peeps you don't even know... They end up walking by together, leaving you alone to ponder on life.</p>
<p>ex. 2
You're at a school function ran at a Student Org and it's great until it officially ends. You go to ask the E-board members a couple of questions and before you're talking him/her, he or she walks away before you finished.
*Note--This is happened to me a number of times. </p>
<p>ex. 3 Another personal experience
I invited a couple of friends in my dorm (We were getting to know each other better at that time) to watch a movie with me one day. Apparently, they forgot that we were going to watch the movie, but they said we can do dinner with didn't bother me. So we had dinner and they were talking away and was totally left out of the conversation. However, one of them gets a call from a friend at Georgetown saying that this huge party was going down and invited her to come. She was like "Hell yah!" So other friend was like, "We're going to the party and you're coming with us, okay." I was so down with that and went back to my dorm to get ready. An hour or so later, I hear knock on my door. It was the girls. They were like, "You look so cute. Where are you going?" Quickly, my heart sank. I made up some excuse saying that I was to my sister's play (I'm from the area). So they decided, without telling me in advance that weren't going to the party. One of them decided to study and sleep afterwards and other went to the movies with another "good" friend. </p>
<p>I have a bunch more stories/examples, but hopefully ya will get my point.
Though, I'm still friends with these girls today because their slight to me was really unintentional. One of them is very serious and reserved and the other is EXTREMELY flaky, but they are good girls/people. Like my buddy SR says in his/her previous posts a LOT of G-Dubs weren't social butterflies in HS, but that doesn't they are bad people--just a little too cliquish/inconsiderate at times and it can get frustrating.</p>
<p>Again, I've met some FAB peeps at G-Dub, but you really gotta look and put yourself out there. If your a nice, outgoing, FUNNY and social person--kids will LOVE you because you stand out and can socialize easily. For instance, I'm the kid who cracks jokes in all of my classes and says "Hello or What's up?" everytime I walk into class. At first, no one responded for awhile and looked at me funny, but as I kept doing it, kids began to loosen up and chill and we all had a good time. </p>
<p>So I guess it's a Catch-22 thing, you know.</p>
<p>Main G-Dub Party Stops for youn'ums--
Pearl
Karma
Platitum
Love (Very Popular spot!)
Lulu's (R.I.P. even though that place was a dump!)</p>
<p>I feel bad that Hellobaby had those experiences, but sometimes people just have a lapse of judgement and not introduce people. It's college. You'll meet tons of people, especially freshmen year. You'll definitely find a nice tight group of people that you feel comfortable with and those relationships will grow. </p>
<p>Hellobaby, were you going into college thinking it would be the same social landscape as it was when you were in high school? I came from a very tight-knit group of high school friends. I'm the only one from my high school here at GW. In fact, I've experienced scenario #1 a couple of times, but it doesn't bother me that I wasn't introduced to that person. I know that, if that person is a friend of a friend, I'll definitely see them at a party or something. </p>
<p>My biggest piece of advice to everybody particularly the incoming freshmen is: be yourself. If you start impressing people with by acting the way you think they want, you're obviously being fake and they'll pick up on it. GW's all about individualism and college is all about starting anew, live it up!</p>
<p>Well, how is the campus like?
I know there are a few campuses( no idea exactly how many).
I don't have a chance to visit the campus since I am international.
and also in which campus is the Seas?</p>
<p>Question for a current student....I've been all over their website trying to find something about this, but I figured personal experience would be better anyway...
How flexible is the core curriculum? And when exactly do we declare our major? On my app I said I wanted to be a political communication major, which you have to apply for seperately once you're accepted (but they still made me write an extra essay for it on the app??). Basically I want to know if I'll have to take any math classes...because my scholarship requires me to maintain a B average and math could seriously screw that up for me (haha, sad but true).
Anyone?</p>
<p>At Columbian College, you'll have to take two math classes. One can be statistics/logic, though.</p>