<p>Right, It is strictly a numbers game. </p>
<p>1440 is the average, not the minimum. There are certainly people who made the program with SAT scores below 1440, but I would say 1400 would be the score that you would need to be put in contention.</p>
<p>ryan2288 - are you sure that the girls have gotten prettier or have you become more accepting of the non-stereotypical southern look!
You seem to focus only on the gay-Jew community. The AU I go to is diverse for many reasons - gays, Jews, international students from all over the world - native Africans, native Hispancis, native islanders and on and on....</p>
<p>Another thread turned upside down by the other "cast" of my fellow AU students! Interesting that less than 1% of AU students actually post on CC which I find disappointing. Most that do post are full of negative wisdom. I often wonder if this is because this "cast" didn't get into their first choice or they think they are superior to all others. When you enter into the real world, you are going to be side by side with all levels of intelligence and no one will care if you are honors or not. Hey, you never know, you may actually learn a thing or two from the "idiots"!</p>
<p>As an AU student who is very satisfied with my experience, I am not at all offended by the use of the term Gay-Jew. </p>
<p>While AU really pushes diversity as a selling point, to be quite honest there really aren't that many international students (comparatively). There are some, yes, but it certainly is not a huge selling point for the school.</p>
<p>The term Gay-Jew, thus, is used in an endearing way. There is a large gay population on campus, and they are very politically active and involved in events on campus. Our Jewish population is also incredibly involved. Hillel is everywhere and there are Pro-Israel speakers/events almost weekly. The term Gay-Jew simply refers to the schools two most active diverse groups on campus.</p>
<p>As a straight Methodist woman you can sometimes feel like a minority. To me that's a great thing.</p>
<p>"As an AU student who is very satisfied with my experience, I am not at all offended by the use of the term Gay-Jew."</p>
<p>Well, I'm not an AU student, but my daughter is about to be - neither of us gay or Jewish - and we would both be deeply, deeply offended. Try the same kind of "endearing way" on African-Americans, and see how long you last.</p>
<p>commenting this time in a general way re. GPAs and SATs... as i've said often throughout CC, most good schools have a bias toward SATs, and not GPAs. ( there are a few exceptions, JMU coming to mind.) the fact that AU focuses heavily on SATs is common and a good thing, since the GPA is extremely subjective. high schools throughout the country are of differing levels, and even AP/IB classes have no standardization, except for the actual test score. an AP taught in one hs isn't the same as in another. a "hard core " hs with rigorous standards can't be compared to a hs with far lower merits. a 4.0 is not the same 4.0 across the board. this is where SATs/ACTs come in. they level the playing field. so if AU goes with SATs, they have good reason.</p>
<p>mini, </p>
<p>The words "gay" and "jew" are not derogatory terms, simply our largest politically active groups on campus. I would certainly never support the continued use of a term that is offensive to others. As a current student, I can tell you that the nickname is used by gay and jewish students alike, much like ZooMass (U Mass Amherst), Canoe U (Naval Academy), etc. In fact, my best guy friend here is both gay AND jewish, and a student ambassador who uses the nickname.</p>
<p>As a jewish student, and one with a lot of gay friends and gay godfathers, i don't find the term offensive at all. Neither do any of the jewish kids or gay kids I'm friends with. It's not a derogatory term. We are rated one of the most gay friendly schools in the country. We have a large jewish population. My jewish comparative politics teacher jokes about it all the time. It's not offensive to us so why is it offensive to people who it isn't directed at?</p>
<p>Another thing, AU, from my experience, is not diverese. Yes, there are a good number of international students, but they very much tend to hang out with other international students. In addition, I've encountered very few African-American students. I was surprised by the homogenity of the campus when I got here because I expected the urban enviroment to mix things up.</p>
<p>The words "gay" and "jew" are not offensive. Linking them "endearingly" to define a minority population is extremely so. And the fact that a member of such a group might jokingly refer to himself that way (which is simply called "internal oppression") doesn't change that one iota. </p>
<p>Try that at my older d's school (which has a large gay and Jewish population) and you'd be close to having a riot on your hands. Try a similarly "endearing" term about African-American students, and the college president would close the school for a day.</p>
<p>If you can't see the difference between the term and "ZoeMass" or "CanoeU", with all due respect, I think your education is failing you.</p>
<p>Perhaps "endearing" was a poor choice of words. What I meant was that students here are very open and very accepting of differences, and the use of this nickname simply portrays the level of pride in AU's community. </p>
<p>I don't see any reason to shy away from our differences. You mentioned that trying an "endearing" term on Africa-American students would be terrible. What term are you talking about? "Gay" and "Jew" are not any different than "Muslim" "Protestant" or "African-American". They are not derogatory. "Internalized oppression" is shame and the disowning of our individual and cultural reality. At American, these identity groups are celebrated, students here take pride in our ability to provide a safe and comfortable environment for cross-cultural communication.</p>
<p>The fact that students here can use these terms positively, to me, is a fantastic thing. I am sorry to hear that your daughter's school would have a problem with this, because at American, our differences are never a reason for division or anger. Being able to talk light-heartedly about our student population is something I really enjoy about American. I don't believe any other school in the country is more accepting of lifestyles or religions than AU, and because of this openness I believe that my experiences here have been very rewarding and not at all a "failure".</p>
<p>I've been to American and really like it. I am probably going to send in my deposit tomorrow. I just have one reservation. I know that the school is extremely accepting of lifestyles/different religions/ideologies. I didn't experience this while there, but I have heard that it is extremely liberal. Would a conservative feel like an outcast? I am definitely open to others ideas, but I want others to be open to mine as well. I have a friend who attends a certain college in massachusetts that happens to be liberal, and he is almost shunned for his conservative viewpoints. Will this happen to me at American?</p>
<p>basically...I just want constructive political discussion in a university..a school that will challenge my ideas and present many ideologies...not force feed a liberal one and cut me down for my ideas.</p>
<p>after some thought, i want to say that this forum is not representative of AU.this has been said many times before, but warrants repeating. for those who come here for information, etc., please remember that. as other posters have stated, this is a tiny and statistically insignificant sample of the reality at AU. yeah, i know i'm just a parent, but after knowing personally my kid's experiences, her friends, often here as houseguests, my involvement on campus, my DC relatives, my friends on Cc, etc. i speak with some validity.
of course there are nicknames ( as NYU is NYJEW, please no offense). jews have been and always will be attracted to good schools of higher education. but this really isn't the point here. the posts about the mud-slinging at AU ( go see for your selves if you like) were far more than a nickname. this is what initially got me on here over a year ago.
so in summary, what goes on here has little to do with the pulse of AU. the few who are on here are not the AU mainstream. AU is a liberal, accepting, diverse school. those on here apparently don't experience this. Elysium~ you'll be fine, because acceptance for personal differences is what AU is about. you will be joined by those like you.</p>
<p>wow who didn't see that coming?</p>
<p>Aupolikid - is that really necessary. Why does ever comment turn into a battle. This type of nonsense is not tolerated on any other college threads. Enough already.</p>
<p>I turn to this board from time to time because my daughter was admitted to AU. She chose to go elsewhere, but not because of anything on CC - she doesn't come on CC herself. I know AU is a fine institution, but the bitterness in this forum is so off-putting, I am happy she has chosen another school.</p>
<p>I'm just tired of every comment I make or other students make who don't cheerlead the school getting belittled. I really do enjoy AU. I've made plenty of comments showing that. But I've been told I don't "appreciate" my scholarship, I don't "know" the city and that's probably why I don't feel comfortable on the bus at night (I come from philadelphia, I know city life), and that I'm being internally racist because, as a Jew, I don't mind the term gayjew. I've been on here multiple times to promote the honors department, it's really great. If you want to come for poli sci, ir, or even just to be in DC, go for it. But I just tired of my opinions not counting because they aren't positive and I feel disrespected. If you want to PM about poli sci or the honors program, feel free. I will give you the positives and the negatives.</p>
<p>this is exactly what happens when one person, in this case a parent, takes it upon herself to be the "moderator" of this forum. Among other issues, and there are many that this brings up, it practically guarantees a poisonous forum.
Happy College Mom, it's unfortunate that you continue to believe your self-imposed role to be helpful. It is the reverse. As only one example, take a look at the genesis of this latest controversy. Ryan was trying to be positive and move forward and you chose to bring up comments he made last year. You really can be helpful by being one voice, along with everyone else. It is only hurtful to try to control this forum and silence critics. Every person has a right to be heard.</p>
<p>It's interesting- a few of the schools I am considering/have considered have this "poisonous" trend. And the funny thing is that in both cases, the person that takes it upon themselves to moderate is a parent who has a student at the school in question. It can make people pretty defensive sometimes. </p>
<p>It's really hard to judge the atmosphere at a school by the atmosphere of the forum. </p>
<p>And I did really enjoy some of Ryan's posts- some of them definitely made my college decision a bit more difficult. I'm glad that some of his posts were negative- we never get to hear the truth from brochures and from admissions officers, and EVERYONE is angry with their school at some time, and I'd sort of want to know what's annoying about AU before I get there, you know? And the stuff that's good- I'm glad that AU students are comfortable enought to be light-hearted about race. I don't see it as deragatory at all- and a campus that agrees that it's not deragatory is nice. Some schools can be a bit too gung-ho with the whole 'politically correct' thing and suddenly innocuous things can be labled as 'racist' or whatever.</p>
<p>I only originally came on the AU forum and continue to post because I want to help out the incoming students. Nobody ever really gave me honesty about AU until orientation when an older kid told me some truthful things which he claimed student orientation leaders and admissions reps "would never tell you". And I don't blame the admissions reps for not being truthful all of the time. They get paid to sell the school and make it look appealing for students to come and most of the time they are absolutely correct. AU has many fine things to offer. However, I do feel like there is a purpose for someone like me too. I appreciated what that student told me at orientation and remembered that I wish students told me those things before when I had asked. </p>
<p>I would probably work for admissions if I was cut out for it, unfortunately I am a bit too honest, do not have a lot of time, and I don't think my smile is good enough. However, I will point out that I am great at walking backwards and can certainly express myself verbally. So I digress and post in this forum instead. </p>
<p>HCM is just doing what she is supposed to be doing. She has a daughter who apparently loves AU and is simply sharing her perspective through that channel. It is unfortunate that she attempts to intimidate students who do not agree with her, but I think all of us feel the need to defend ourselves sometimes and occasionally we cross the line.</p>
<p>Mini,</p>
<p>With all due respect the term IS genuinely used in an endearing way. Sure it can be used in a derogatory way, but so can terms "gay" and "jew" by themselves. I have only met one kid on campus thus far who is anti-semitic and homophobic and he also has had over 10 anonymous complaints against him to public safety if that tells you anything. Every other student I have met here is overwhelmingly accepting and is not afraid to represent AU with that term. It is a term for celebration or at least description, not for discrimination. If students are offended by it then perhaps it shouldnt be used, but from my understanding that has not ever been voiced.</p>