<p>cpt, Mary Washington is in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on 95 south of D.C. Hood College is in Frederick, MD.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
UVA and Va Tech do have suburban VA campuses but I think they are mostly for Graduate students.
[/QUOTE]
Correct. The northern Virginia "centers" are not for traditional undergraduate students. </p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
I can't seem to much on CC about Trinity.
[/QUOTE]
Probably because of it's small size and mostly regional draw. The population is about 1600 students. It was still all female about 5-8 years ago...I haven't checked up on it to see if it went co-ed in recent years. The school is down/across the street from the main hub of Catholic U's campus.</p>
<p>Sorry, my mistake. I meant Frederickburg, VA and it is on the DC metro linen. I've never visited Hood which is in MD, though I lived in Baltimore for a number of years. I don't think Hood is that close to DC; it is barely commuting distance to Baltimore, if I remember correctly.</p>
<p>I meant Frederickburg, VA and it is on the DC metro linen. >>></p>
<p>Fredericksburg is NOT on the metro line; it is 50 miles south of DC. You would have to get to Springfield for the first stop - which is 39 miles from the exit to the campus.</p>
<p>There is Greyhound and Amtrak service from there to DC, but the schedule is somewhat limited. You couldn't hop on the train and ride into the DC for dinner and get back easily. And it is about $25 each direction.</p>
<p>George Mason is not on the metro line either, but you can take a Metro bus to the Pentagon station and transfer to the train there. I'm not sure how late the buses run, but I don't think it is very late in the evening - 8ish or so.</p>
<p>VA Tech and UVA are both about 3-4 hours away from DC. William & Mary is actually closer to DC than either of those, as are Christopher Newport and VCU.</p>
<p>If she wants DC, I wouldn't look much farther away than the George Mason radius unless she will have a car.</p>
<p>Just to clarify- you can catch the VRE (Virginia Railway Express) out of Fredericksburg and it links up to the DC Metro line - closest station south of DC at Franconia/Springfield.......</p>
<p>We were told that you could take the mass transit (train) to DC out of Fredericksburg to DC and that kids at Mary Washington do this frequently. This was 10 years ago. MW is a lovely college, and a tremendous deal in $$. I was impressed with the quality of classes I saw, the students there and the campus. The town and neighborhood were also nice. It is also D3 so that the OP's D may be able to do sports there. As to how close and how much time it takes to get to DC and how easy it is to get there, I guess they would have to check with the school.</p>
<p>Just to clarify- you can catch the VRE (Virginia Railway Express) out of Fredericksburg and it links up to the DC Metro line - closest station south of DC at Franconia/Springfield.......>></p>
<p>I forgot about the VRE. However, it does not run on weekends and also has very limited northern runs during the afternoon. And limited southern runs during the morning.</p>
<p>George Mason (Fairfax Campus) is very close to the final stop on the Orange Line (Metro) - In fact they now call it Vienna/GMU. The county connector buses run a shuttle line from George Mason to the metro. It may be free for students. The kids take the metro into the city all the time.</p>
<p>The only Virginia public university in the DC metro is George Mason.</p>
<p>Mary Washington is the next closest school on the list (if that makes sense), but it is by no means in the metro area and if someone said UMW students go to DC frequently, I think they were exaggerating. By train, the trip to Union Station is 1.5 hours each way and the schedule doesn't work for students. By car, it's an hour if I-95 is traffic free, which is rare. The trip to Richmond is a little easier by car. Amtrak connects all three cities.</p>
<p>That being said, Mary Washington students have good access to services and shopping right in Fredericksburg and they can ride the town's bus lines for free.</p>
<p>Here's</a> a map of all public 4-year institutions in Virginia. As you can see, we have many fantastic options here!</p>
<p>mamabear - I am just not sold on catering to geographic preferences, unless you can easily afford tuition anywhere and finances are not an issue. </p>
<p>I really think that most students are not sufficiently cost conscious - and the types of jobs available with a college degree today don't often easily service large amounts of debt. And if one comes from out of state to the DC area, there are not a lot of deals to be had here (although exceptional students or those with unusual skills will always find their deals). I say this not to negative, but I really think the next decade is one where except for the very, very high end (Ivies, Duke, Stanford, etc), students are going to be forced by necessity to deal with price and value issues in a very realistic way.</p>
<p>I'm not interested in a debate - you stated your opinion, I disagreed and stated mine. American offers rather large merit scholarships; GW somewhat less, but I have heard can be generous with need-based aid. The original question did not ask about cost.</p>
<p>Again, thank you for all of your great suggestions. I am now wondering if those of you middle class parents on a tight budget who've had children attend GW, American or Georgetown can share information about what your child's experience has been? I know that DC is expensive, but was not being from a wealthy, prep school background a problem (from a social point of view) for your child?</p>
<p>I have a daughter at American with signfiicant financial aid. Not wealthy. No prep school. Partially homeschooled. The experience has been fantastic thus far! (She took one look at Gtown and didn't even apply - she was clear she would be distinctly uncomfortable, and picked up some of the same vibe - though not as much - at GW.) And, yes, it being specifically DC was one of the main draws, and has been a significant part of her experience. PM me if questions.</p>
<p>Obviously American, GW, Georgetown, UDC, and Catholic University are all located in DC. Some are located in the heart of DC, while others like Catholic and American are not (American is in the suburbs). There are other schools in Maryland and virginia like UMBC, UMD (college park, eastern shore, etc.), U of Mary washington, George Mason, and UVA. There's william and mary which is in williamsburg, which is not too close by DC, but worth considering. i'd say like a 2 hour drive from DC. There's also st. mary's college of maryland, and mt. saint mary's. out of the ones i've mentioned, I think Georgetown or UVA would be the most selective followed by GW.</p>
<p>Even for out of state, MW is very reasonable, or it was, I should say. George Mason also is, I believe. UMD is over $30k for OOS. American and GW have merit but do not guarantee meeting 100% of need. GT meets full need, but does not give merit money. Baltimore is about an hour away by train and there are possibilities there, but I don't think kids who go to college there spend a lot of time in DC with the exception of JHU kids who get into the SAIS program; they end up in DC.</p>
<p>I'd be happy to answer any questions on DC area schools as well. I go to Georgetown, and have very good friends from my high school attending GW and Mary Washington.</p>
<p>As far as Mary Washington goes, understand that it is rather inconvenient to get into DC from there without a car. Heck, I feel it's a hassle to get into downtown DC, and I'm only in Georgetown. My friend (She, like me, is from Illinois FYI) who goes there has come up once, when they had "fall break" (4 day weekend) and stayed with a friend up here. She tells me that she doesn't know many people who come up to DC that much. During selection time, she praised the campus for its aesthetic appeal, which she seemed to value more than most. Personally, I don't think she's being sufficiently challenged, but that's neither here nor there. One thing that I definitely have to praise Mary Washington for is the amount of drinking. At Georgetown, the drinking culture, while not necessarily extreme, is rather pervasive. My friend at Mary Washington reports rather little drinking, and that there is is easy to avoid. Her main complaints concern the lack of things to do and poor cafeteria food.</p>
<p>To those concerned about cost, I can share my experience. I applied to AU, GW, and Gtown, among others. After merit and need based aid, my cost of attendance was nearly identical at all three schools.</p>
<p>At least at Georgetown, there really is no social bias against those not "from a wealthy prep school background." I've met a few people who have parents that are distinctly upper-middle class, but usually because both parents work, are lawyers etc., but the majority are from households that are not nearly in that level tax bracket. Honestly, if anything there is the opposite. There is general disdain toward privilege. I would not be able to be here if not for the very generous FA Georgetown provided, and can honestly say I have never once felt excluded because of my socio-economic background. It is quite simply downright false.</p>
<p>As far as expenses go, that's almost too variable by student to give a proper account of. Personally, since my meals and housing are taken care of, I don't have need for much stuff. A case of soda, the occasional metro ride, some batteries etc. The higher prices therefore, in simple dollar terms, don't have much impact on me. Others who buy more may be more affected. The one area that might be pretty price sensitive is housing. I'm not entirely aware of the scene right now as a freshman, but from what I'm told, housing around here is about equal to, or slightly less than, on-campus housing. That's important here since housing is only guaranteed for three years, but that's so variable by campus that I can't really generalize to DC at large.</p>