<p>hey i posted this in the GW forum but no one is responding! any suggestions? I was accepted to the International Affairs school at GW but i dunno 50K compared to in state UVA? any advice?</p>
<p>The clear choice here is UVA. This is not comparing UVA to W&M - two relatively equal schools. Nor is it comparing UVA to Harvard. There is no way you could justify spending $50k to go to GWU when you have the option of going to UVA instate.</p>
<p>UVA is the better school. and the cheaper school. GW is so incredibly (and unjustifiably) expensive. i know this probably reeks of bias, but really....i vote UVA.</p>
<p>definitely UVA...</p>
<p>UVA is CONSIDERABLY better school, more fun, and cheaper. ONLY reason to pick GW would be if being in a big city is a MAJOR factor to you.</p>
<p>UVA is CONSIDERABLY better school, more fun, and cheaper. ONLY reason to pick GW would be if being in a big city is a MAJOR factor to you.</p>
<p>You are on crack if you aren't at UVA. Even if you like "cities," UVA will own GW any day.</p>
<p>I just do not understand how people can compare UVa to GW, let alone the money issue? It is almost a blasphemy!</p>
<p>I favor UVA by a large margin also. But we must recognize that 1. GW is on the rise and 2. some students have a strong preference for going to school in an active urban environment like Boston, NY or DC.</p>
<p>UVa, for real.</p>
<p>UVA, obvi. I mean, c'mon, are you really going to turn down the beautiful campus, the beautiful people, Cville's adorable-ness, the amazing students, the wonderful professors, the nationally ranked sports teams, the active social scene, and the wonderful collegiate atmosphere at UVa (all for $7000) to pay $50,000 to go to a cramped, ugly, less social institution that isn't even regarded as highly? You'd be NUTS.</p>
<p>Woah, that's quite a lot for UVA. However, I don't think the difference is so clear cut. Unfortunately, it's probably well past the time this person had to decide.</p>
<p>The International Affairs school at GW is fairly good, and if that's what you really want to do it's probably better suited in that specific academic discipline. GW has better connections in D.C. (obviously), which is a critical factor in pursuing a career in politics. Being able to establish your connections and practice your personal skills for a longer period of time trumps education any day. Almost everyone you would work with or would potentially work with would know ELIA, so academically they're not going to say you're coming from a lower standpoint than if you told them you were coming from UVA. If you're out of state I'd give the edge to GW, but in state you would want to take into account the cost effectiveness and how much fin aid and scholarships you get.</p>
<p>sv3a, at the undergraduate level, departmental prestige is less important than institutional prestige. UVA's overall name value, quality and cost strongly outweigh anything GW has to offer.</p>
<p>ESIA isn't a 'department', it's a school of international affairs, which is somewhat uncommon in the US but they still exist. People in D.C. that you'd be working for know it's not a slouch.</p>
<p>Either way, at the undergraduate level, education is secondary to experience and connections in this field, something that GW would be able to offer on a better scale. GW may not get reserved spots for its intern/job seekers in many offices like Harvard does, but neither does UVA.</p>