<p>I am currently in the process of finalising a US university to go on exchange to for the academic year starting next August/September 2014. I applied to: Georgetown, Richmond, George Mason, Goucher and Roanoke. Unfortunately Georgetown only had 2 places available and these went to the two highest-achieving students in the School of American Studies and Richmond only offered 1 place which was awarded to the first person to apply to it. I can either go to George Mason in Fairfax, VA, Goucher in Baltimore, MD or Roanoke in Salem, VA. I know little about these schools and they were only in my top 5 due to the close proximity to DC.</p>
<p>I have heard that George Mason has the best history department so as an American studies student focusing on history this is important. Goucher and Roanoke seem fairly mediocre liberal arts colleges - am I right in thinking this? The actual exchange is called "Dissertation Year" and wherever we go we are supposed to collect research on a topic of our choice to write our dissertation on. I am hoping to write mine on the Civil War or perhaps US foreign policy and how it has changed. All of these universities offer me a great opportunity to research it, however, the reputation of each institution is alarming. I wish to go to law school after I graduate and the university I study abroad at must look good on my CV.</p>
<p>If anyone knows anything about George Mason, Goucher or Roanoke could you please comment on this thread. I prefer the first two because George Mason is not far away from the Vienna metro stop which is on the same line to the Smithsonian stop in DC and Goucher is just north of Baltimore which allows me to travel into DC easily via light rail. Again, this decision is going to be based on both the reputation and vibe of the school. I'd imagine it will boil down to whether I want to go to a large school, like GMU, or a smaller LAC like Goucher and Roanoke. I have heard GMU is a commuter campus and this is worrying me because if I were to go to the US, I'd like to make some good friends and I doubt this would be possible with 75% of students being commuters. Goucher and Roanoke offer more of a community from what I've read on College ******* and College Confidential, and it's likely I will make good friends here. However, from rankings, GMU surpasses them in history rankings. I'd imagine reputation between these isn't particularly important. It's unlikely UK employers have heard anything about any US universities aside from the Ivies, NYU, Georgetown, Stanford, etc. I am considering going to grad school in the US to get an MA in History - I have been looking at Chicago and GWU.</p>
<p>In short: I am stuck between choosing from GMU, Goucher and Roanoke. Each university has its pros and cons, but Goucher and Roanoke - although not as good as GMU (which I have inferred from rankings) - has more students on-campus and is more of a community.</p>
<p>What do you advise me to do?</p>
<p>NB: I must make a decision in the first week I return to my home university (Week starting: 30 Sept 2013).</p>
<p>You’re right to discount reputation for your purposes. Check the individual school’s course catalogs for classes and professors of interest. Unless you find a compelling academic reason to choose GMU or Roanoke, I’d go with Goucher as the best combination of location and smaller community. It would be difficult to get to DC from Roanoke without a car. It would be difficult to get around Roanoke without a car.</p>
<p>The city of Roanoke is in a valley near the Blue Ridge mountains, quite a beautiful part of Virginia. Roanoke has struggled economically since the demise of rail. If you like outdoor activities such as rafting, hiking, etc., they are well-situated (assume RC has an outing club which organizes weekend trips). There are a couple of museums and several other colleges in the area, and the city has some good restaurants but not much nightlife. My understanding of Roanoke College (which you may have noticed is actually in Salem, but it’s hard to tell where Salem ends and the city of Roanoke begins) is that social life is somewhat fraternity-oriented. Not sure how easy it would be to make some good friends when you’re only there for a year.</p>
<p>One final note: DC has such a lively college student & young professional scene that even if GMU is largely a commuter school, if you are outgoing & make an effort to join some clubs or teams, do some volunteer work, etc. you have the opportunity to meet lots of people.</p>
<p>I would jump at the chance to go to GMU in your position. If you have one year to live in the US, you want to be able to take advantage of everything DC offers and its huge community of college students. You can make friends at any college if you make the effort. Will you be permitted to live on campus? Take advantage of that option if you can.</p>
<p>Yes, I will be living on-campus wherever I go :)</p>
<p>I am still unsure for the following reasons:</p>
<p>Roanoke has such a beautiful campus and a community feel, however, it is far away from DC and has a sub-par reputation.</p>
<p>Goucher is close to both Baltimore and DC (and some civil war sites) and has a community, however, it is not very well known and not that close to DC.</p>
<p>GMU is close to DC and has good history department, however, it does have a lot of commuters and less of a community feel…</p>
<p>I would not hesitate to attend Goucher, which is very strong in Political Science, International Relations and History.
The school has a focus on being ‘global’ with their coursework, and requires (and assists) it’s students to do study abroad.</p>
<p>One of the other assets is that the president of the school (impressively smart guy) is a former DC journalist, and has made great strides in raising both the academic accomplishments of the students, as well as the visibility of the school.
Another added plus is that the train station in Baltimore (taking you to DC) is a deco beauty.</p>
<p>Perhaps you should email either the departments or individual professors at both GMU and Goucher, to see if their curriculum would enhance your proposed studies.</p>
<p>Good luck.
P.S. I do not have any affiliation with the school.</p>
<p>GMU has plenty of kids that live on campus these days. It has commuters ,of course, but also lots of kids that stay in the dorms . It would be very different that either Goucher or Roanoke .It seems to be gaining in programs and reputation. It is much bigger than the other two, has engineering, also has NCAA D1 basketball. Pretty close to DC and there is a Metro stop outside campus.</p>
<p>Public transportation near Goucher is good. See the MTA.Maryland link below. In addition to the Baltimore area city buses, there also is a free shuttle that runs between the many universities in the area during the academic year. When you get in touch with the people at Goucher, ask about taking classes at some of the other universities in the area. I know students there who also take classes at Towson University (about a mile away), and other arrangements may be possible.</p>
<p>The MARC commuter train runs between downtown Baltimore and downtown DC during the week. I have heard rumors that there are plans to expand to a weekend schedule, but don’t know details. At the present, weekend connections between Baltimore and DC are either by AMTRAK, or would involve taking the light rail from Baltimore to BWI airport and then connecting to a bus to one of the DC Metro lines - not optimum, but doable in a pinch. </p>
<p>GMU is convenient to the DC Metro system, which means relatively quick trips into DC proper. Try to get a notion of where you would be living, then use the WMATA link below to find out what the connections could be between your residence, and wherever it is you might need to be in DC.</p>
<p>Don’t choose Roanoke, too far away from DC and you should use your time in the US to explore DC and the surrounding area, not a small town in southwest VA. You’d be better off with one of the other two.</p>
<p>Disclaimer - I work at GMU part-time…however, I can tell you that it is a vibrant, bustling campus with lots of activity. My nephew is in grad school here - but he lives off campus. He seems to enjoy it. There are a lot of international students and we have a new President who is emphasizing the international nature of the university. There is a shuttle that runs to the Metro station, for pretty easy access to DC. GMU is definitely not the same commuter school that it was a few years ago. However, being such a large school (35,000 students), you do have to work at connecting with students of similar interests to make it feel smaller. GMU is ranked as the #1 Up and Coming University in the US by US New and World report last year (if you care about such things).</p>
<p>Personally, I’d pick Goucher over GMU, in part because you’ll have a real “community” feel but also because you’ll need support for your research project. Profs at Goucher do that routinely because it’s a small private school and it’s part of their contract, due to the student:faculty ratio being 9:1 (to give you perspective, it’s the same as Cambridge’s). GMU is a large public schools - it doesn’t have the funds that Goucher does, and its student faculty ratio is 16:1 (roughly the same as Hertfordshire or Exeter).
While Goucher will likely have fewer upper-level classes, it’ll give you an opportunity to take classes outside your major (in American political science, American Studies, etc). Finally, during the Spring, you may be allowed to take a class at Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>GMU is more diverse, more international students, close to DC. Unless you are specifically looking for a small college experience, GMU may be your best bet. Good luck with the decision.</p>