<p>I’m male.</p>
<p>I’d prefer to be in the city - so I think the best choices are:</p>
<p>Georgetown
Penn
Pitt
Wash - St Louis
UWash - Seattle</p>
<p>Thinking of choosing GWU, Gtown and Penn.</p>
<p>What are the GWU students like? (e.g. preppy, jocks)</p>
<p>Are they friendly?</p>
<p>I’d prefer a uni where I can meet people and hopefully make good friends so I can experience a traditional Thanksgiving meal, etc. Where on my list could I do this?</p>
<p>“I’m male.” “I can meet people and hopefully make good friends so I can experience a traditional Thanksgiving meal, etc.”</p>
<p>For a male, only two LAC’s will work: Reed College in Portland, OR and Occidental College in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>“Thinking of choosing GWU, Gtown and Penn. What are the GWU students like? (e.g. preppy, jocks) Are they friendly?”</p>
<p>None of the three are especially jock. Georgetown is the preppiest of the three. All three are fairly pre-professional, but Penn is by far the most pre-professiional.</p>
<p>I would not pick Pittsburg as a city to spend a year in or as a university at which to be as one-year exchange student. WashU may be a reputable university, but St. Louis is not a good place to go. WashU tends to have many pre-meds and a fair number of undergrad business students.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your info.</p>
<p>I really want to go to GWU so that will be no.1 Then Georgetown. 3rd will be UPenn.</p>
<p>GWU looks amazing because it’s in the heart of DC, near the White House, metro stops, easy to travel to sports events, etc.</p>
<p>Can anyone give me a detailed summary of GWU. Focusing on students, local atmosphere, academics, pros and cons? :)</p>
<p>Seriously, between GWU and Georgetown, I wouldn’t put GWU first. The campus isn’t as nice and the student body isn’t as accomplished.
If you want to work in the US, UPenn and Georgetown will take you farther than GWU (especially since you’ll have to get into a grad school first in order to get a graduate degree).
For history, UPenn is in the top 10 nationwide (#8 for modern American history and #2 for colonial American history), Georgetown makes it into the top 30, but GWU isn’t even in the top 50.
I disagree with the person who said UPenn’s students were the most preprofessional though. Especially considering history majors… how many more of them do you think would be in history as a preparation for law school at Penn rather than at GWU or Georgetown?
Occidental may be your best pick for close-knit atmosphere (it’s a LAC) in a big city (it’s in LA). However it’s less prestigious than the other 3 - it’s got a good reputation nationwide, though.
Here’s their History Department, see if you find it intriguing:
[History</a> | Occidental College | The Liberal Arts College in Los Angeles](<a href=“http://www.oxy.edu/history]History”>History)</p>
<p>I’m biased, but go GU>GWU. There’s a free shuttle bus on campus that takes you basically to GW.</p>
<p>Also it’s just better, lol.</p>
<p>Ok. I prefer DC over Philly from what I’ve seen. The Georgetown neighbourhood looks lovely.</p>
<p>What are the GU students like? As an American studies/History student I’d like to befriend some Americans and possibly get invited to public holidays like Thanksgiving 
Are they open and friendly or more reserved?</p>
<p>Don’t eliminate Mt. Holyoke or any other women’s colleges from your list immediately. Find out what the arrangements are for exchange students. I expect that being male doesn’t make it impossible for you to do an exchange there. Ask where a student like you would live - is there housing on campus for male guest students, or would you be living at a nearby all male (such as Morehouse for an exchange at Spellman) or co-ed institution?</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure Georgetown has a big fancy dinner for kids who don’t go home for Thanksgiving…</p>
<p>Really?..</p>
<p>[Georgetown</a> University: Students Who Can’t be Home Get Campus Thanksgiving](<a href=“http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=54514]Georgetown”>http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=54514)</p>
<p>Oh! Brilliant. Thanks :)</p>
<p>I have to pick 5 universities.</p>
<p>I am going with:</p>
<ol>
<li>Georgetown</li>
<li>UPenn</li>
<li>GWU</li>
<li>…</li>
<li>…</li>
</ol>
<p>What should I put for the last two?</p>
<p>I’d like somewhere that’s either in a city or simply a college town.</p>
<p>Here’s the full list, again:</p>
<p>1 University of Alaska at Fairbanks
2 Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia
3 Washington University in Seattle
4 Reed College, Portland, Oregon
5 Oregon State University, Corvallis
6 University of Colorado, Boulder
7 University of California at Davis
8 University of California at Berkeley
9 University of California at Santa Cruz
10 University of California at Santa Barbara
11 University of California at Los Angeles
12 University of California at Irvine
13 University of California at San Diego
14 University of Texas, Austin
15 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
16 Tulane University, New Orleans
17 University of Miami, Coral Gables
18 Georgia Tech., Atlanta
19 Spelman College, Atlanta
20 University of Georgia, Athens
21 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
22 George Washington University, Washington DC
23 Georgetown University, Washington DC
24 Pennsylvania State University, University Park
25 State University of New Jersey, Rutgers, New Brunswick
26 State University of New York, Stony Brook
27 Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley
28 University of Massachusetts, Amherst
29 University of Vermont, Burlington
30 Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy
31 University of Rochester
32 University of Toronto
33 University of Pittsburgh
34 University of Waterloo, Ontario
35 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
36 Purdue University, West Lafayette
37 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
38 Occidental College, Los Angeles
39 Washington University, St Louis
40 Arizona State University, Tempe
41 University of British Columbia, Vancouver
42 Roosevelt University, Chicago</p>
<p>I am interested in UWash and Rochester.</p>
<p>Is Rochester a good/fun uni? :)</p>
<p>“Don’t eliminate Mt. Holyoke or any other women’s colleges from your list immediately.”
What? Men cannot enroll as students at women’s college. Period! Why would a male OP from the UK go to Spellman a historically Black college (HBCU) for women in Atlanta, GA? </p>
<p>UChicago puts on a big dinner for $30 for students who can’t travel home for Thanksgiving in a dinning hall. However, that’s not the real American family dining room thing. A small LAC like Reed or Oxy would likely set you up with a local alumnus/alumna for Thanksgiving dinner for free.</p>
<p>GW tends to have more older, part-time and non-traditional students compared to GU. Also GW has a second campus in DC at what used to be Mt. Vernon seminary. For a one year experience in DC, I’d pick American University over GW, but AU is not on OP’s list. GU is the best choice for Washington, but I think AU is friendlier. DC is really very small especially if you have a bike. There’s a company that rents bikes whenever you want at bike racks in DC. [Capital</a> Bikeshare](<a href=“http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/]Capital”>http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/)</p>
<p>If OP likes the American South, Tulane University in New Orleans is an idea. If OP wants a intense academics in history and literature, Reed College isn’t a bad idea.</p>
<p>EDIT: I would NOT take Rochester or UDubb for either history or American lit. I would not Rochester for weather either.</p>
<p>Rochester is very cold and snowy in the winter, not a very appealing city overall, and not near anything. You have much better choices for a one-year American experience. Is climate an issue for you? Because the difference between the weather at Rochester and the weather at Tulane, for example, is massive.</p>
<p>I know you are looking for a neat profile of the student body at each of the colleges you’ve named, but it’s really hard to generalize that way. Every school has all kinds of people.</p>
<p>Weather’s not an issue, however, I can’t stand the heat - that’s why I am focusing on more north-east universities. I don’t mind the cold (I grew up in England where it rains almost all the time and the hottest it gets in summer is 22 celsius).</p>
<p>I know you can’t generalise but I mean is a college a commuter campus, are the students older, etc. Not necessarily personalities just like rhg3rd wrote about GW :)</p>
<p>What is wrong with Rochester?</p>
<p>I forgot to mention I am a big music fan, so a city that has a good music scene is also required.</p>
<p>UWash Seattle seems a good shout. Campus looks very nice!</p>
<p>Also, University of Vermont - what is that like?</p>
<p>
I’d go for UDub and/or UBC, personally, with Reed and Toronto as close seconds. If you want a more traditional American experience, Michigan. Many of your other options are very good but perhaps not the best if you can’t handle heat/humidity. </p>
<p>People complain far too much about the weather in the PNW. It’s admittedly overcast a fair bit, but Seattle doesn’t receive an unusual amount of rain. In fact, it actually gets less rain than most of the major cities on the east coast.</p>
<p>Rochester? Crime. The university is isolated from the city. A friend who went there for four years never left the campus except to get to the bus depot.</p>
<p>One thing OP should be aware of is that class sizes at private institutions tend to be much smaller than at public uni’s like UDubb.</p>
<p>Sorry for the jumping of criteria. I’ll set it in stone to save further confusion for any other contributors :)</p>
<ul>
<li>Good for a history student (I am studying a BA in American Studies and History).</li>
<li>Rapid transit system. (Not essential)</li>
<li>Outgoing student body (I’d like to make a lot of American friends - I am in the AS school at my home university).</li>
<li>Good academics/reputation (not essential because the university I get my degree from back home is more important and is 31st or so in national rankings which means it “ain’t Oxbridge” but it isn’t London Metropolitan (the worst in the country and is part of the Russell Group which is arguably comparable to the Ivy League).</li>
<li>Good name university (looks good on your CV).</li>
</ul>
<p>I have just read in more depth in the study abroad guide for my university and it says that UPenn only has 4 places. GWU has 1. Georgetown is not participating this year 
I have no idea why they’ve put it in the guide - seems pretty ridiculous.</p>
<p>UDub, Vermont, Pitt, Rochester and UWash are the only universities I am interested in with a lot of places.</p>
<p>Oxy has scarce, but Reed has a few!</p>
<p>How smaller are LACs’ class sizes to public institutions? :)</p>