<p>Hi everyone! I’m a student here at American that can answer any questions you have about life here at AU.</p>
<p>Here’s a little bit about me:
I’m a student from Massachusetts with no declared major, so I’ve spent my first semester studying many different topics! I’m also a student in the AU Honors Program, which I can answer questions about if you’d like.</p>
<p>Best of luck in your applications!</p>
<p>Do you live in Hughes? What is your perception on how, if at all, life in Hughes differs from the experience in other dorms?</p>
<p>I love living in Hughes. I find that it’s a really great community, and I don’t mean that in the “we never talk to anyone else” kind of way. I mean it in the way that if you are interested in an event or a topic, it’s really easy to find someone else who is just as interested in it as you are, and it’s not weird to just start conversations with others about random, intellectual things. I think that’s really the atmosphere at AU in general, but it is emphasized in Hughes because of the small size of each floor and the building in general. </p>
<p>Overall, I’m really happy I chose Honors housing, and it is in no way because I am “separated” in some way from the rest of the AU population. It’s just because I can always find somebody to go volunteer in the city with me on a weekend, or go to a lecture during the week. We had a huge group of kids go to the MLK Jr. Dedication (I can send you my blog about more opportunities we’ve had here at AU if you’d like!), and it’s really easy to organize study groups for honors classes because most of us live here in Hughes.</p>
<p>A lot of kids say South Side dorms (Anderson, Letts) are louder, which is true, but it’s just because there are more people. I’m really happy I got to live in Honors housing, but Honors kids who live on South Side are equally happy, if that helps :)</p>
<p>Hey i’m just gonna dump a few questions at once on you, sorry =P:</p>
<p>What’s your least favorite thing about AU?</p>
<p>How do they decide Freshman roomates?</p>
<p>How far of a walk is the Tenleytown metro?</p>
<p>I know you said your building is very sociable, but is there any divide between Honors kids and non-honors kids or kids that applied ED versus Regular?</p>
<p>I’m not bronte, but I know a couple of those answers.</p>
<p>Incoming students may select their own roommates or be matched basically randomly. There is the chance to meet and talk to other incoming students online, so you can try to find a roommate you’re likely to get along with. For information about how they did this last May, see this link: [First</a> Year | Housing and Dining Programs | American University, Washington, D.C.](<a href=“http://www.american.edu/ocl/housing/firstyear.cfm]First”>http://www.american.edu/ocl/housing/firstyear.cfm).</p>
<p>To walk from AU to the Metro stop on Wisconsin Avenue takes 15-20 minutes, depending on where you start and how fast you walk; the route is mostly along Nebraska Avenue. The shuttle bus is faster, but I’ve read some complaints from students that it sometimes runs late.</p>
<p>I’m also a freshman at AU studying Public Health in CAS and Law and Society in SPA. I personally have not noticed a huge divide between Honors and non-Honors kids. Honors students live in Hughes on the North Side of campus and non-Honors students live in Letts or Anderson on South Side. However, once you get involved in different clubs and organizations, you meet students from both. There is absolutely no divide between those who applied ED versus Regular Decision. I applied RD last year and a lot of kids on my floor applied ED, but it really is something that never comes up in conversation at all. </p>
<p>Good luck for anyone awaiting decisions in the next week or so and if you have any more questions, feel free to post them!</p>
<p>Wait, ebrincka, did you volunteer at Little Lights DC with the Community Service Coalition earlier this semester? If so, we’ve totally met!</p>
<p>Mikedog: </p>
<p>“What’s your least favorite thing about AU?”
-I don’t like the stigma from people outside of AU who think that I’m only at AU because I didn’t get into Georgetown. Actually, I didn’t even look at or apply to Georgetown, but people occasionally view AU as the second-rate school. However, this disappears when you arrive on campus and see how great the opportunities here are. On campus itself, my least favorite thing is the food, but I think you will hear that at every school.</p>
<p>“How do they decide Freshman roommates?”
-Sikorsky did a great job explaining. You can pick, or it’s random. I got randomly assigned to a triple and I LOVE both my roommates, so being randomly assigned can REALLY work out well. </p>
<p>How far of a walk is the Tenleytown metro?
-Yeah, the walk to the Metro is about 15 minutes, sometimes a little less. It’s not bad at all. It’s not an ugly or unsafe stretch of road, and it’s actually a pretty nice walk. A lot of buses pick up right from AU, too, so that’s an alternate mode of transportation (and also cheaper)!</p>
<p>“I know you said your building is very sociable, but is there any divide between Honors kids and non-honors kids or kids that applied ED versus Regular?”
-None. People have no clue who applied ED or Regular. I really don’t even know the application choice of one person here. The divide between Honors and Non-Honors is really only for the first week or so, since you become friends with people in your hall first, but it’s pretty much the same divide between Anderson and Letts or anything like that. It disappears pretty quick.</p>
<p>The only way I can think of in which there might be an ED-vs.-RD distinction is that priority for first-year housing is based on the date when you put in your deposit. The ED applicants will have deposited earlier than RD applicants (only the students who were admitted for fall 2011 and then deferred their enrollment to take a gap year will be even earlier), so they’ll have higher priority for housing, and they’re highly unlikely to be tripled.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that this distinction is important to anybody by…oh, the second day of classes.</p>
<p>I’ll add, applying RD won’t necessarily get you tripled, either. Last spring, my kid deposited on April 15 and was still assigned a double. Also, as bronte has said, kids who are tripled don’t seem to find it the end of the world–though I think it’s got to get a little crowded from time to time.</p>
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<p>Bronte, do you find this to be as widespread IRL as it is on CC?</p>
<p>What are the typical prerequisites for the Honors Program? What was your information as a highschool student, if you don’t mind sharing.</p>
<p>Sikorsky, I find that it’s sort of a joke around campus. Everyone jokes about being at AU because they didn’t get into Georgetown, but for many people that’s a very inaccurate assumption. I’d imagine the stereotype would be more present, however, on forums such as these, because the two schools are compared so much during the application process. However, once you arrive on campus, you find that each school has it advantages. AU is an amazing place, and I don’t regret at all not applying to Georgetown.</p>
<p>GreenGrassGrows, I have heard that the prerequisites are strong test scores, but that is just a rumor as far as I know. I am not quite sure how they select honors program candidates, but here is the following information I was giving by Admissions last spring about the class of 2015:</p>
<p>“AU’s applicant pool for Fall 2011 was the most academically accomplished in
our history. Simultaneously, efforts have been made to decrease the size of our
Honors program, with the aim of increasing the overall quality of the Honors
experience. Hence, competition for a position in the Honors program among our
admitted class was extremely rigorous, with invitations typically extended to
the top 7% of the applicant pool. Please be aware that students who perform at
a high standard in their freshman year at AU do have the opportunity to
nominate themselves for consideration in the Honors program for the following
year.”</p>
<p>Many students do self-nominate into the Honors program, because that is strongly based on success in the classroom and recommendations from College professors. It’s a great option for people who weren’t originally selected for the honors program (due to low test scores or something similar.)</p>
<p>GreenGrassGrows, I’m writing as a recent AU alum, but I self-nominated into the Honors program my sophomore year. It was a fairly rigorous process to be accepted (a minimum 3.8 GPA for two straight semesters), but I’m glad I went through with it. Some of my favorite and most memorable courses were the honors colloquia I had a chance to take, and while writing an Honors Capstone my senior year was a lot of work (the director of the program joked at graduation that it’s known as a “short excursion to hell”), I recently had the chance to present my paper at a national conference, and the research I conducted related directly to the job I got post-graduation. Others will say that they don’t feel the extra work is worth it for a few extra lines on your diploma, but that’s my perspective. I know you were more interested in the Honors admissions standards for incoming freshmen, but self-nomination is definitely a solid option if you do well.</p>
<p>This is sort of interesting. Look what you can find if you Google the words, “Simultaneously, efforts have been made to decrease the size of our honors program.”</p>
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</p>
<p>[Honors</a> Program](<a href=“http://www.american.edu/aupedia/Honors-Program.cfm]Honors”>http://www.american.edu/aupedia/Honors-Program.cfm)</p>
<p>Looks as if they may have been saying the same thing for years, and just updating some numbers each spring, doesn’t it? On the other hand, it also looks as if they may actually be reducing the size of the honors program.</p>
<p>Hey just got admitted for class of 2016 early decision 
So do you know if there are vegetarian options in the cafeteria there? I assume i’m not the first veggie to ever attend AU but i was just wondering if there was a good variety or if it was basically one thing and the same every day?</p>
<p>Leilanialexa,</p>
<p>Congrats on being admitted to American!</p>
<p>For vegetarian food, there’s a section of TDR called Cucina Verde that usually has vegetarian food. I am not vegetarian, but eat from there a lot. The only food that repeats every day from there is the pita chips and hummus. Otherwise, there is usually a rotation of vegan and vegetarian friendly food. Fire Wok, which usually has stir fry, is also a pretty good option, although the line is long during the main rush of lunch and dinner. There’s salad and Comfort Food, which has vegetables and pasta in addition to chicken. Outside of TDR, there’s also the Tavern, which accepts Dining Dollars and meal swipes and has vegetarian options as well.</p>
<p>Thank you! my mom is trying to convince me that I must eat meat again because I will “die of starvation in college” ha. I’ve been a veggie all throughout high school I think I’ll survive…</p>
<p>Leilanialexa, congratulations!</p>
<p>A year ago at an admitted students program, we heard the director of the AU dining program discuss the various dietary concerns they’ve addressed recently, invite students who had worries about their own dietary restrictions to contact her, and then say in front of a roomful of students and parents, “I don’t think there’s a student we can’t feed.”</p>
<p>I think you’ll be fine. If your mother specifically wants you to resume eating meat, she may be disappointed, unless you choose to eat meat on your own. If you look at this link [Food</a> Choices | Caf Bon Apptit](<a href=“Café Bon Appetit”>Café Bon Appetit), and then click “Visit my cafe” in the top right to browse some menus, I think you’ll find a lot of menu options, both vegetarian and vegan.</p>
<p>Leilanialexa, to build on what Sikorski said, AU won the “Most Vegan-Friendly Campus” award from PETA a few years back, and has done quite well in their annual online competition every year since (just being included in the field is pretty good recognition, since the actual contest is just to see who can get the most online votes). At least from my perspective, the vegetarian options they provided in the dining hall were always pretty good, and I’d often try them even though I’m not a vegetarian just because they were usually quite good.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! that makes me feel a lot better. Can’t wait to be an eagle/wonk! 
AU Class of 2016</p>
<p>Are the Global Scholars students in anyway secluded by or from the rest of the campus?</p>