<p>I attended an Open House at GW yesterday, and I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed. I am trying to decide between NYU, GW (w/ a half-tuition scholarship), and Emory. The day before, I went to an NYU reception and left feeling very impressed and seriously considering the school again (I thought I had ruled it out).</p>
<p>If anyone else can comment on this, maybe someone who was there as well, the "Intellectual Life Panel" at GW was disappointing... faculty from engineering, business, and theatre/drama discussed their programs, but there were no reps from CCAS or the Elliot School. Before visiting GW, I was leaning towards the school b/c of its great reputation for Political Science/IR, and I got no real sense of this strength in my time visiting the University. Furthermore, my tour guide was not charismatic or enthusiastic and did not do a great job "selling" the school to me and my family.</p>
<p>Although my open house experience was not amazing, I did visit GW last year and really liked it, so I am trying not to base my opinions solely on this one day. However, it was my mom's first time at GW and she was not very impressed by the academics. (We both love the campus, though).</p>
<p>A few questions...
--The info session made the study-abroad program sound weak... is this true?
--The varying students who spoke focused solo much on internships and jobs, which I recognize are important, but they didn't mention their professors or how engaging the classes are, etc. How is intellectual life at GW (I know, a very broad question)? Is the work rigorous and challenging? Are students more motivated by learning and gaining intellect, or by the prospect making money w/ their education?</p>
<p>Hey, that is unfortunate about your open house... Just remember that it is put on solely by the admissions office and their representatives, which you will NEVER have to deal with after you come :-) Your tour guide is just one of many, many GW students. I think it's <em>insane</em> that they didn't highlight the poli sci / intl affairs departments. Those ARE the "star" departments of the school and are some of the strongest programs. Ask anyone, and they will tell you that GW's political science / international affairs programs are amazing.</p>
<p>Also, about the jobs/internships, no matter how they played it, Gw is NOT a vocational school. Yes, a lot of people take advantage of the internships, but that's not all we have to offer. I assure you that there ARE a lot of serious students at the school who put academics first. </p>
<p>"Are students more motivated by learning and gaining intellect, or by the prospect making money w/ their education?"</p>
<p>I really think that we have the best of both worlds. Yes, most of us do care about making money after graduation -- you will NOT meet many GW students who bum around after graduation in the basements of their parents' homes. On the other hand, while there are many pre-professional students on campus, that does not mean that they are only in school for the payoff. Most people I know ARE genuinely interested in academics (in fact, I was actually quite resentful my first semester of <em>how serious</em> everyone was about world events and the things they were studying... but it's definitely something I've grown to like about the school). </p>
<p>There are of course a lot of uber career-oriented freshmen who come into GW claiming they know exactly what they want to do: business, law, or medicine. I can honestly tell you that over the years, they tend to develop their intellectual / career interests and sort of "find" their own unique paths. </p>
<p>Finally, about the courseload -- it is DEFINITELy challenging! There is absolutely no bull*****ing or grade inflation at GW... Which is kind of a bad thing for people like me ;-) but probably good for you!</p>
<p>We have a wide array of study abroad program to the more casual to the very academic. My friend is in Berlin and she's taking some of her classes in German. The semester before she was at the Warsaw School of Economics (I'm not too sure of the formal name). I have a handful of friends at Oxford's Pembroke College. </p>
<p>You definitely have the option to take more intensive study abroad programs or less intensive. It's a personal choice.</p>
<p>The fact that so many internship opportunities makes GW and DC very unique. I'm sorry that you got that impression. The student body is very diverse. You'll have students who want to get all the professional experience they can. You'll have students who want to learn and pick each of their professors' brains. We have the best of both worlds. </p>
<p>At GW, you can both get internship experience as well as research experience.</p>
<p>I got a different impression than you did. I went last Friday (the 21st) to the accepted students open house, and I left with only great thoughts about GW. I think it had a lot to do with the lunch they had for SEAS prospective students with current students and professors. All the students I spoke to had nothing bad to say about the engineering programs and they had great things to say abouth the individual attention they received from professors. I thought the speeches at the beginning of the day stressed that GW has one of the best abroad programs available, so it must have been the professors that spoke on your day.</p>
<p>There's not a school out there that doesn't encourage study abroad. In fact, it's part of their housing plan! The question is how much they emphasize it, and how easy they allow it to be. Small LAC's allow it, but you might have to do a lot of your own homework, or a little, depending on the school. Large universities always have the programs, and how much of your background work you do depends on your school. </p>
<p>Typically, schools with good foreign language or cultural studies programs make studying abroad very easy. GW definitely fits that category, with a very strong foreign studies program - not just the IR dept, but their Arab studies and East Asian programs are extremely good. So GW has a separate dept of the university devoted to helping students study abroad, and are very helpful with all the planning, background work, visa procurement, etc. Very easy.</p>
<p>My S and most of his friends are doing study abroad programs right now. They're all over the globe, from China to Germany, from France to Japan, and South Am and Africa.</p>