Hi, I’m a rising senior from New Jersey, and I’m trying to finalize the school that I want to apply as ED or EA.
I have visited both Michigan and GWU and loved their campuses. The problem is that Michigan is a really high reach school in terms of grades and test scores, whereas GWU is a normal reach for me.
Although I don’t have a good chance at Michigan, it is my favorite school and I love their programs and the college atmosphere. GWU was also an amazing school, with so many job and internship opportunities around the school, but it didn’t have a lot of school spirit and atmosphere that Michigan had.
(Also Michigan isn’t located near a big city, so my parents thought GWU was better in terms of jobs after college… )
Bottom line, Michigan is EA but GWU is ED and although I’m leaning toward Michigan, I can’t weigh between Michigan’s program, school atmosphere, with GWU’s programs and proximity to the capital.
I’d really appreciate if I can hear some feedback on this, or if anyone attended these two schools, It’d be great if I can see what you guys think about.
Thank you
GPA 3.9
SAT high 1900s Planning to retake in October
AP Language and Comp 5
Not a lot of extra curriculars but have a lot of hours for music volunteer
I’m planning to appeal through my supplements essat how much I want to attend Michigan…
Thank you!
For anything related to International Studies, you would be within GW’s most acclaimed programs. However, program-specific analysis should not, as an opinion, usually be the determining factor in the choice of an undergraduate college. So if you generally prefer Michigan’s atmosphere, you might do well to choose it for this reason.
Why not take the ACT? Michigan decisions come out in December and your updated SAT score may not reach there in time for EA. You could take the September (and possibly October ACT) in time for Michigan EA. Your GPA is certainly within Michigan range.
merc, just because international studies are GWU’s forte does not mean it is better than Michigan in those disciplines. Granted, GWU has a strong undergraduate International Relations program (Michigan does not offer an undergraduate degree in IR), but Michigan’s Political Science department is considered among the top 3 in the nation, and has a large number of International Politics courses and faculty.
Also, the Ford School of Public Policy is pretty up there (I think only Harvard Kennedy beats it for Social Policy).
Ford offers focus areas which can be leveraged for a career in IR (like Middle Eastern Policy or Development Policy in Southeast Asia, as described on their website: http://fordschool.umich.edu/ba ).
@yikesyikesyikes
I’ve been in a non profit orchestra for the past five years. We hold benefit concerts
Also I’m pretty sure my schools GPA is out of 4.5, the reason why I feel like Michigan is a high reach
My GPA seems too short from what they want?
There is no need to decide now, especially since you classified both schools as reaches. Apply, see where you get in, see what is affordable and then make a final choice. You may also want to look into American which is slightly less competitive admissions wise as compared to GW.