<p>Interested in govt, political science. Liked urban setting of Gtown but Charlottesville OK too. Concerns with UVA- 70% students from VA ( I am out of state) and may not have same internships available as Gtown in DC.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!</p>
<p>My D's in at both too. She liked the Georgetown campus and setting, and would choose it over U.Va. However, U.Va. is clearly one of the most popular schools in the country among students, and their ratings by students are through the roof. I'd enjoy the natural setting at U.Va., the rah-rah school spirit, football weekends, the classic college town ambience. But that's not my D's set of priorities.</p>
<p>Has your D decided on Gtown then?</p>
<p>She would have, but one of her reaches came through on Monday night, and I think she'll head there.</p>
<p>Why would you be concerned with 70% of students being from Virginia? Keep in mind that many of these Virginians (probably most) are going to be from Northern Virginia, which in turn means that many of their families are really from all parts of the country and around the world. Having said this, there is a certain good ol' boy culture that still survives there, mostly through the fraternity system. However, we are talking about a very large student population with significant diversity.
Don't know about relative internship possibilites between Gtown and UVa, but I can tell you that Uva is very strong in Government and Politics. I believe many graduate students make excellent contacts through the Center for Politics, I wouldn't be surprised if opportunities were available for undergrad Echols scholars as well.
Speaking of Echols Scholars, I don't know if things have changed over the years but the program used to be an outstanding opportunity for participants to design their own programs of study, do independent study, etc.
Charlottesville is of course much smaller than DC but there is still plenty to do there, and much of it is geared specifically to students (unlike Georgetown's surroundings).
I may be somewhat biased I guess, but I would pick UVa.</p>
<p>something to consider. the majority of Uva students are from the state of virginia, while Gtown students come from everywhere. The social scene at Gtown is going to be much more diverse and students there will be willing to make and establish new friendships/relationships from the start. On the other hand, many Uva students would have many friends from their h.s. to start w/ and it may be a bit more difficult to blend into the school social life. This happens to any state school, not just uva.</p>
<p>Weldon's got a good point. I'm from No. Va., and I was the only native Virginian I knew among my childhood friends. Everyone else had moved in. U.Va. is technically a state school, but in actuality it's sort of a hybrid. With only 13K undergrads, it's about half the size of most state flagship institutions. The State of VA provides < 10% of its operating budget, so it's in no position to demand that U.Va hold nearly all its spaces for in-state students. A 34% OOS contingent is rare for a public.</p>
<p>patlees88, strawberrymom- I hear what you are saying about State U students "having many friends from h.s.", etc., but honestly I don't think that generalization applies here. First of all, there won't tend to be a lot of people from any one high school, because UVa is pretty selective even for in-state students, so there just aren't going to be a ton of acceptances. Many that are accepted have records that allow them to pursue other options as well (such as, for example, Georgetown!) And secondly, in this case we are talking the Echols Scholars program. You won't find many pairs of Echols Scholar students in any one entering class from the same high school. And I know from first-hand experience, Echols scholars do not tend to be parochial-minded people, or have any particular tendency to hang with high school buddies. In fact I believe that many of them tend to form new and lasting friendships among other Echols Scholars as freshmen.</p>
<p>Diversity was main concern. As patlees88 pointed out- I think Gtown students are more diverse and probably willing to establish new friendships. However after learning at 34% of UVA studetns are OOS that is probably not such an issue.
Planning another visit to both to see which is a better fit all around.</p>
<p>I was rejected from Georgetown... I applied there because of the diversity, the proximity of government institutions (especially the embassies) and the fact that it has a separate school of foreign service...</p>
<p>I hear the echols scholar program is outstanding. It isn't like other honors programs, where you get that "honors" on your diploma, and that's it. I'm not sure of the specifics, but they definitely get special treatment.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your feedback- we are heading out to Gtown and UVA for another visit. Hopefully this will help in making a decision!</p>