<p>So for months Georgetown was my number 1 because the SFS program is so incredible and it sounded like such a Work Hard/Play Hard school, just basically perfect. I visited though, and everything felt very disconnected, the people weren't very friendly, and the campus just didn't seem to go together... Any thoughts differing or agreeing with me? Anyone want to convince me to give it another shot?</p>
<p>Well, I haven't visited, but I had the same problem when I visited the University of Chicago. I mean I figured a short visit can't be too representative of what it's actually like, and I also think the fact that it was a crappy rainy day and I felt sick influenced my impression. Though I understand that the impression you get from the place is important I would recommend still applying.
Although, again, I haven't seen it in person, so I'm only drawing from a similar experience at a completely differen place.</p>
<p>I visited and absolutely loved it. I got the impression that people there are very original and unique. Maybe you confused that for the disconnectedness you felt? Gtown has a huge sense of school spirit.</p>
<p>salpert: Georgetown is what it is. I can relate to where you're coming from. After all, an outside perspective of Georgetown may reveal a bunch of students, each with their own specific agendas, dashing across campus, getting from point A to B, etc. May seem as if Georgetown is filled with Type A personalities who are way too busy, and unfriendly. Lauinger is a sore sight for eyes, while campus is sort of clumped together, with little open space aside from Healy/Copley lawns... SWQ too. There are apartments off campus, townhouses, etc., a bit too much if you took the on-campus tour, and seemingly disconnected if you just visited sans the Blue and Gray tour.</p>
<p>That just about describes my first week at Georgetown. I started asking myself if I picked the right school (I hadn't had an opportunity to visit Georgetown beforehand, since GAAP weekend conflicted with finals -- my HS had a weird academic calendar). During SFS orientation, I was sitting in a room full of students who had their entire lives planned out -- I remember someone in my peer mentor group was already talking about designing an independent major... I thought to myself, "I may be in a little over my head here." New South (freshman year hall) was on one end of campus, while the student health center, Vittles, etc. were on the other end. NSO was okay, parts of it were a little awkward, but I still felt as if I really didn't belong. </p>
<p>The people I met throughout the course of the next few weeks/months (especially those who lived on my floor), really changed my misguided impressions and helped shape ... pretty much the rest of my Georgetown experience. I mean, the campus could be better designed -- for instance, the distance to Yates from... anywhere is a workout in itself. But with every class of students, whether it's the Class of 2009 or the Class of 2012... comes a collection of minds and personalities that I personally think is unparalleled elsewhere. No matter what your interests, personality, etc., there's always a spot for you in the Hoya family. </p>
<p>Not to wax poetic, but I feel confident that if you decide Georgetown is the place for you, you'll scrap any negative impressions you may have picked up while you visited Georgetown within your first few days. (Except maybe the one about Lauinger...) While it may seem disconnected from afar, everything meshes together in the end... and next thing you know, you'll be screaming Hoya Saxa at the top of your lungs, during Midnight Madness or a basketball game.</p>
<p>As a potential SFSer, I think you already know the academic merits. World renowned professors (... yes, you can actually take courses with them, Albright/Tenet teach junior/senior level classes...), networking opportunities, enjoying the special relationship Georgetown has with the D.C. community at large (for instance, with Embassies, Congressional Offices, etc.), and a student body that's far from cutthroat, with everyone willing to help each other during exams (yes, even for those dreaded four semesters of curve-graded Econ, when you're on your umpteenth dose of caffeine at 2 in the morning... there'll be people studying for that very exam with you, filling in the blanks for things that you may have missed during lecture). </p>
<p>I don't know what created these not-so-desirable impressions of Georgetown during your visit, and ultimately it is your decision to make. However, as far as I can tell, nobody has disliked their stay here. Sure, people transfer for different reasons (academic, personal, etc.), but as far as I can tell most people cherish their time on the Hilltop. Hopefully (if you're willing, and if the admissions committee says it will be so), you will too.</p>
<p>Salpert, I know from your previous posts that you were very excited about Georgetown. It may be the perfect place for you.... or maybe it isn't. Visiting again may be hard, since you live far away. However, if you are accepted, you should try to visit again before making your decision whether to attend.</p>
<p>I didn't really like it... I hated how there was this huge athletic field in the middle of the campus, and everything seemed really disjointed</p>
<p>Tlaktan--- thank you so much for your eloquent post, that really opened up my eyes a lot.</p>
<p>Georgetown was my number 1 for a long time, and I will absolutely absolutely attend GAAP if I get in. I feel like its such a fit for me in so many ways that I need to give it another shot.</p>
<p>Bobmallet1- So interesting that you said that too. I feel like a lot of people are getting that disjointed impression, it's funny.</p>
<p>I visited right after I visited WashU, which is this gorgeous, open, classic, just overall fantastic campus, except I HATED St. Louis. A problem I had is that I went to Gtown RIGHT after with it fresh on my mind and was expecting it to be just like WashU, and when it wasn't, I was frustrated. Bah!</p>
<p>"huge athletic field in the middle of campus"</p>
<p>haha, but a kid from USC thought that was our practice field...</p>
<p>You have to understand that for Georgetown, space is precious. This explains the presence of the recently-constructed Multi Sport field being next to SWQ and across from Village C, with Leo's down the road and the new Business School building being constructed nearby. With any municipal government, D.C. tightly regulates what can be constructed within District limits. GW sidesteps this by purchasing buildings left and right, but the result is a fluid campus with a vague sense of cohesion.</p>
<p>I'm sure if there was additional space available, and if we had the consent of the city government and the local neighborhood, we would expand to fit a wider notion of a university campus. But we work with what we have, and I think we've done well.</p>
<p>P.S. There's always the things you don't see during GAAP weekend -- Rangila, events hosted by the European Club, STAND, GPB, Hoyathon, Dip Ball, Cherry Tree Massacre, DCAF, etc. that makes all the difference.*</p>
<p>*Apologies if I've missed a student organization/event, I just listed the first few things that came into mind.</p>
<p>the exact same thing happened to me, i visited johns hopkins right before and loved it, it really took me by surprise i wasnt expecting it to be so nice and fun looking, then i went to georgetown and it just seemed gloomy and the people seemed kind of pompous</p>
<p>Salpert not that you should have to but to state the obvious you're gonna have to choose between campus and academic program. My S is a sophomore at Wash U, and you're right, the campus is hard to top (although I was just at Stanford on a business trip and I'm here to tell you that as long as you've got a bike---cuz it's REALLY spread out---Stanford is right up there). Meanwhile my D is applying to SFS--it was her first choice before she visited and her visit helped her confirm it was her first choice. With 3 kids I've now been on about a gazillion college visits, and Georgetown is far from my favorite campus. Its disjointed as you say; the library although absolutely functional is not an exciting building and seems to lack the student friendly features like coffeeshops being built into libraries at other universities; the student center feels too big and impersonal, has a really poorly run food court, and is so connected to the medical center that we wished there was a separate student center for the undergrads; there's enough steep stairs in some areas to remind you of Lehigh; and it's harder to go places than it is at GW which is right on the Metro. But almost nowhere but Georgetown will you find the quantity and quality of ridiculously important people from all over the world just happening to stop by campus on short notice to speak, and it's that and the level of professors and access to everything that's in DC as tlaktan mentions that's going to get you where you want to go in life. My S would tell you that he loves Wash U's gorgeous dorms and library, but it's his friends that are important,and you can find great friends at any college. PS, the big Georgetown dining hall is a beautiful modern building with a great view, and Georgetown (the area not the university) on a Saturday night is a really exciting place to be---we didn't figure either of those things out until our 2nd trip :)</p>
<p>soproudofkids, I definitely agree with you on the last part of what you said, but I'd just like to point out a few more things. First of all, there IS a coffee shop in the library called Midnight Mug on the second floor. There's also one in the ICC (where many classes are) and another at Leavey (the student center).</p>
<p>And I'm sure this is just opinion, but I love Georgetown's campus. I don't see why people think it's so ugly! As someone from California I really didn't like UCLA or Stanford's campus (too much beige!). On the other hand, Georgetown's campus is small, which is really nice when you have to get from one place to another in less than 10 minutes, and all the buildings surrounding the front gates (with the exception of Lauinger) are the most beautiful things to walk past in the early morning and in fact any time of day. And it's not like the other buildings are "ugly," they're just brick. You know? The California girl in me is still fascinated by that :) </p>
<p>Maybe the steps are annoying, but I'd honestly rather have tons of steps than have buildings that are spaced really far apart from one another.</p>
<p>As for transportation, I'm finding that I'm going into DC at least twice a week and it's really not that difficult to take the free shuttles (which only take about 10 minutes) to the metro, so don't make that into a big thing.</p>
<p>Salpert - you say you hated St. Louis - well in my opinion if you hate the overall PLACE there's no point in a gorgeous campus. My friends and I were just talking last week about how we can't imagine a college campus that doesn't have its own M Street :) Honestly I think Georgetown's small size, the gorgeous main buildings, its location near M Street and in Washington DC - they all make up for an eyesore of a library and a hilly campus. </p>
<p>Of course it's all going to depend on YOU but I'd say that another visit is definitely in order and you might also consider speaking with people who go here and share your interests. What are you interested in? I'll try to direct you to someone who can answer your questions if you'd like.</p>
<p>I'm sending you a PM: thought you should see this.....</p>
<p>Let me tell you about my dream I had. Shortly after I visited Georgetown, I had been rethinking it as a first choice for almost the same reasons as salpert. In the dream my family and myself were walking around on Georgetown's campus (it really wasn't the Georgetown campus, but I knew it was) going to, I think, a library to take my interview (it was scheduled a week after my visit). I was sitting there waiting and watching some other applicants register or something when there was a huge earthquake that took the whole building down to the ground. My family disappeared (didn't survive the quake I guess), but I, and a few other kids around me my age did. We just walked out into the campus, which was completely untouched, and started walking with the students already enrolled.</p>
<p>That dream made me feel better, as did reading the posts on this thread. I had spent 5 weeks at Johns Hopkins for a pre-college program, and I guess that contributed a bit to my disappointment about the campus. But nonetheless, Georgetown is still a first choice for me. The questioning period just led me to decide to apply to a few other schools.</p>
<p>"the library although absolutely functional is not an exciting building and seems to lack the student friendly features like coffeeshops being built into libraries at other universities"</p>
<p>We do have a coffee shop in the library, it's called Midnight MUG that usually is open until 2 AM during the weekdays, but 8 ish on Friday and Saturday. It's somewhat hidden, but its there on the 2nd floor, which is not the best place to study, b/c everyone socializes there.</p>
<p>My son graduated in May from SFS and he has said that his four years at Georgetown were the best four years of his life. He absolutely loved the school, the experiences, the academics and the friends he made there. If you are at all interested in international affairs or politics in general, the DC area is definitely the place to be. Oh what experiences he had - seeing the Hoyas go to the final four this year, his study abroad program, M. Albright calling on him in class (she knew his name - he was thrilled), meeting incredibly gifted and talented people, living for four years in the most amazing city, his internships - I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. With three children, I have seen many college campuses over the years - and G-town is not at the top of my list for a physical plant - but every time I visited my son, I could not be more impressed with the spirit and beauty of the place (and by that I mean the incredible love everyone seems to have for this school). Go Hoyas!</p>