<p>A good suggestion came up that the thread be located here to make it easier to find. I’m so happy that my son will be attending AU. He was admitted to several schools, but AU offered the most in terms of opportunity, location and merit aid. I’ve heard great things from parents about their childrens’ experiences. Please share your experiences, good and bad, with future AU parents.</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread! My son will be headed off to AU this fall (unless he is, by some miracle, called off of Harvard’s waitlist). AU was the lowest “ranked” school that he applied to- but the location, fabulous merit aid, internships and highly regarded IR and PolSci departments won him over. He turned down UVA, USC, WashU, Brandeis, NYU honors and several others to take advantage of what AU has to offer.</p>
<p>He has registered for orientation in late June, we are combining it with a family vacation to the the capital. We are skipping the parent orientation in favor of touring the sites with our younger children.</p>
<p>I am very excited for him!</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing that information. I too, feel that AU offers wonderful opportunities for students, especially those majoring in IR and Poli Sci. (and others I may not be familiar with). My son was admitted with merit aid to other schools, but chose to attend AU. I don’t know why AU isn’t ranked higher than it is by USNWR, but I know that the IR ranking surpasses many other schools. Good luck to your son in the fall!</p>
<p>Two years ago, my son also turned down higher ranked schools to attend AU and we have had no regrets. The small class sizes, accessible profs, and DC location have been perfect for him. I hope all of you enrolling in the fall also have a wonderful time at AU.</p>
<p>I am so glad my D ended up chosing AU. She turned down BU, Mt Holyoke and others for the location, campus, merit aid, and the small program…not to mention the DC Reads program and the internships. I am hoping, and expect, that it will be a great experience for her.</p>
<p>Hoverson just completed his freshman year at AU and is the proud owner of a 3.5 average. He started in the Washington Mentorship program and did very well first semester. I was somewhat (!) concerned about second semester, as he would be taking courses with regular (non-WMP) freshmen as well as upperclassmen. To my relief he stepped up to the plate and has made AU his own. He’s looking forward to taking Farsi next year and will be exploring internships as well. While he has some gripes about the quality of the food, overall he’s very happy and wouldn’t consider going anyplace else.</p>
<p>I found a interesting website— walkscore.com that shows the walkability factor of any given location.
It’s interesting to see that AU rates well in “walkability” to needed or wanted diversions!</p>
<p>Have any of your incoming freshmen applied for University College?</p>
<p>yes i did and i got into “sustainable earth”. what about you?</p>
<p>D was offered University College but did not like the options. A health/life sciences something would have been a nice option…there is so much going on in health sciences in DC.</p>
<p>My son found out he’s in Explorations</p>
<p>^ fantastic! i can’t wait to meet everybody!</p>
<p>My son will be in the macroeconomics seminar…he is looking forward to it.</p>
<p>My daughters want to look at American for next year(they have a free bus trip with a summer program the end of the summer to DC) They are worried about the logistics of moving there, the traffic, distance, (for us 5 hours) and other little things. They have an aunt in DC that complains of the cost of everything when they see her although she loves working there.
We had a pretty nice 2 hour drive with my son to NJ the last few years and most of the time it was uneventful. I know for us, the train to DC is so expensive, but if they get great aid, that will be factored in. I would hate driving there although I love what I read about the school and what they offer the students in many areas.
How is everyone planning on getting the dorms set up and where does everyone come from?</p>
<p>Debruns, we also live about 5 hours away from American. We’ll drive there to move D in, after that she’ll take the train whenever she comes home and we’ll do the same when we visit her. (She already did the trip on her own for Freshman Day.) Amtrak stops in our town, and the Metro line that goes to the Tenley stop is right under Union Station, so it’s very convenient. The train fares are high, but Amtrak offers a student discount card that helps, and trains that run at less appealing times of day are cheaper. Hopefully she’ll be able to store stuff locally during the summer breaks or ship things home, so we don’t have to do the car trip again till she graduates.</p>
<p>S spent freshman year in DC (at GW). I suppose the cost of living in DC is relatively high, but college students live and eat on campus at a fixed cost you know going in. Beyond that it’s very much in the individual’s control. S didn’t go clubbing or shopping and ate inexpensive street food when he got bored with the school fare, so he didn’t feel pinched.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>Just found out that AU has short term storage over the summer, or long term storage if the student is going away for a semester.</p>
<p>[Basic</a> Storage](<a href=“http://www.austorage.com/austorage/basicstorage.html]Basic”>http://www.austorage.com/austorage/basicstorage.html)</p>
<p>That’s a good thing. I would think that would be mostly for clothes, room items, (re lamps, supplies, etc) but what about refrigerators, TV, things like that?
My friend has a son in a VA college and she paid 200.00 to store his things (mostly his whole room minus summer clothes) for the summer months at a place a mile away from his campus. She had to pack and drop it off but it still saved some time and aggravation when she had to pack it from CT and bring it down.
My niece does save some money with a train discount but sometimes tells her mom that she just can’t home because she doesn’t have the extra money that week. My sister usually drops 400.00 visiting her because of the train fare and taking her out to eat, but taking the train beats driving 6 hours the way she had to do in her undergrad years. I guess nothing is perfect, but I commend my D for at least thinking of the logistics ahead of time and not just how big her dorm room will be. : )
I look forward to her review when she visits this summer.</p>
<p>Hi,
Regarding travel, there are now several competing bus companies servicing DC & other major metro areas. Not the bus rides of our “old days”, but rather WIFI access, wide, comfortable seats, AC, rest rooms, movies, etc. Check out “Bolt Bus” for example. Significantly cheaper than the train, easier than driving, my S has used it many times. Makes travel to & from DC a breeze if you live in an area on their route.</p>
<p>Hi Debruns,
I believe I was talking with you when my son was considering DU in NJ. He decided on AU and we’re very pleased with his decision. I too, know of students who take the “alternative” bus line or have an Amtrak student discount to their home towns. I also heard there are “ride share” boards for kids to carpool. I believe that their is frig and/or microwave rentals at AU, but have no idea of the cost. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Hi hello5, I’m so glad your son is doing well and to hear of alternative transportation. I told my girls, nothing is as bad as waiting to fly (something they entirely ruled out) and if they really like it, “where there is a will, there’s a way”. I think they were worried because we have 2 older cars and limited funds, but if they get great awards there, we can do it even if we rent a van.</p>