<p>Just curious... what is GWU's reputation? What do you think of the school? Good? Average? Top tier? Pretty good? What schools would you compare it to?</p>
<p>I thought I'd ask in the general forum to get unbiased opinions.</p>
<p>It's curious. I've read some people consider it their dream school, while I never did. When I first went to GWU, some people from my high school hadn't even heard of it.</p>
<p>GW is fine. Just b/c HS students haven’t heard of it is immaterial. I went to an HYP and have met people who haven’t heard of my alma mater. Who cares. It’s also a function of provincialism too, no? The closet to GWU, the more knowledge by recruiters/employers. Don’t sweat it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. I don’t mind that hs kids hadn’t heard of it.
I’m more curious about how it is considered overall to employers, grad schools, and society in general. Is it a “good” school? Great? Average? Personally, I consider it top tier “good”- it’s not “great” or exceptionally ranked, but solid and noteworthy to some small extent.
I can’t seem to figure out how it holds up from an outsiders view, or what schools most people like to compare it to. Here, we consider it somewhat similar to NYU, but not as well ranked (similar urban campuses, social culture, etc.).</p>
<p>GWU is a very good university, on par with the likes of Boston University, Tulane University, University of Miami etc…</p>
<p>When I think of it, I think that it is okay, but nothing special. I stopped by when I visited Gtown and didn’t really like how there was no real campus. The price tag is too hefty also.</p>
<p>GWU has the same problem that schools like NYU, Ga Tech, and most schools in the Boston area have. It is too close, geographically, to a higher ranked/regarded peer. </p>
<p>Schools like Rice, Tulane, and Vandy don’t have that problem. They have a geographical buffer of hundreds of miles. You can always argue you went to Rice over higher ranked school X because it’s the best school for hundreds of miles and you wanted to be able to bring your car, ect. That also assumes that you are from an area closer to that school than others. You often can’t say that if you go to a school in the North East. The assumption becomes that you didn’t get into a higher ranked school.</p>
<p>It’s hard to say how much that enters a recruiters mind in most fields but some laymen (that aren’t going to be familiar with the fit/feel of each school) will assume that you didn’t go to the higher ranked school because you didn’t get in. For most educated people in the working world, GWU has a good though not stellar reputation. I agree that TU, BU, and to a lesser extent NYU are similar in their reputations. </p>
<p>If you want to enter a highly superficial world like Wall Street, the fact that you aren’t at the best school in the area could/will enter into a recruiter’s mind. In most settings, it won’t.</p>
<p>GWU is a very very good school-a fine institution at that. If I wasn’t where I was now, I would’ve considered GWU.</p>
<p>I’m from DC and I can tell you that the level of respect for GW has come way up in the last 10 years. It used to be fairly easy to get into GW and now it’s difficult. Not like Georgetown obviously, but about even with American U. </p>
<p>The biggest downside to GW is that the campus doesn’t exactly exist ;). It’s spread out and there is no real campus vibe. DC is a great city so if you like the urban schools then it’s a good option. But just for me personally, I would rather choose it for grad school than undergrad.</p>
<p>I think your answer is going to differ widely in different regions of the country. It doesn’t have a lot of presence here in Chicago, I don’t get the sense. The people I know who are familiar it are people who have ties to the East in general. However, that says nothing about school caliber or quality, just familiarity.</p>
<p>GWU is a fine school and particularly good in certain departments, if we were not from DC my children would have loved to have attended the school. It is difficult to get into GWU but it is an activist campus, and yes there is no quad, but there are plenty of traditions, fantastic local alumni with programs for students, dinners and the likes and a great entre if you want to stay in DC and be involved in government or politics, the community is great and the school is highly respected in the east, and although my daughter is attending GWU for grad school in a specific department, GWU and AU are not comparable. AU is basically in the burbs, and GWU is blocks from the White House, one of the thrills for the students was Election Night when Obama was elected and Mrs. Obama was the grad speaker this year for the UNDERGRADS, the ceremony is on the National Mall. A wonderful school…</p>
<p>Thanks, all. This is really fascinating, and helpful.
Will re-read again later… I’m sure my friends will enjoy the different views, also.</p>
<p>Alexandre-
Thanks for the comparison. We always like to compare ourselves as a more lowly NYU, or BU. It’s helpful to see what others think. Can’t say that I was very familiar with the rank of UMiami until recently. </p>
<p>Benetode-
That’s an interesting comment about many East Coast schools being too close to a higher ranked peer. The GW joke is that we’re all Georgetown rejects. I hadn’t thought about the proximity of better schools affecting the prestige of this, or any school.</p>
<p>I didn’t hear about GW until this year (I just graduated high school). I think it’s at the level of BU, but is located in the DC area.</p>
<p>I could see BU as a comparable. We tend to compare ourselves to BU, NYU, and a few others.</p>
<p>Geeez, admissions standards for George Washington are insane and it’s only on par with BU?</p>
<p>Sentiment, what do admissions standards have to do with institutional quality? </p>
<ol>
<li>WUSTL has similar admissions standards as Stanford</li>
<li>Caltech has similar admissions standards as HYPM</li>
<li>Georgetown has similar admissions standards as Cornell</li>
<li>Rice has similar admissions standards as Northwestern</li>
<li>Vanderbilt has similar admissions standards as Duke</li>
</ol>
<p>Nothing against WUSTL, Caltech, Georgetown, Rice and Vanderbilt as all of them are excellent, but are they on par with Stanford, HYPM, Cornell, Northwestern and Duke respectively?</p>
<p>Admissions and selectivity matter to young people who seek validation for the hard work they have put into their high school career. That is perfectly understandable. But the desire to attend a highly selective university, strong as it may be, will not alter the quality of the university. Only the strength of its faculty of a university, abundance of its resources, depth and breadth of its curriculum and quality of its facilities will determine the quality of a university. </p>
<p>A top student will accomplish the same feats regardless of what university he/she chooses to attend. An average intellect with little drive will not excell as a result of having attended an excellent university and a great intellect with inexhaustible drive will not be held back as a result of attending a good but not great university. </p>
<p>This said, BU and GWU have similar admissions standards, with GWU slightly edging BU. Academically, those two universities are peers. I would recommend GWU over BU for students interested in careers in Politics or Law and BU over GWU for students interested in Economics, the sciences and Engineering.</p>
<p>Percent accepted:
BU 54%
GWU 37%</p>
<p>Mid 50% SAT range:
BU 1180-1360
GWU 1200-1380</p>
<p>Graduating in top 10% of HS Class
BU 55%
GWU 67%</p>
<p>^ I would say that 3, 4, and 5 are on par with each other.</p>
<p>Both my brothers went to GW in the 80s. They have many successful friends. It’s a good school, especially for politics/government. Business is good too. The law and medical schools are also very good, which trickles down to undergrad. I would consider it a third tier school, first tier being Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc., and second tier being Duke, Hopkins, Georgetown, etc. GW has traditionally been compared to BU and NYU, with many kids applying to all three. All are urban schools in the northeast corridor, typically for B+ students, popular Jewish presence (if that’s important to someone). Also all have very high price tag.</p>
<p>GWU is an excellent school. But is urban and high stress with highly competitive students. Its not for the immature or feint of heart. If you are organized, mature, strong work ethic and love urban settings, its great. </p>
<p>In other words, its about a lifestyle. Its not a southern finishing school or bucolic pastoral setting. Its also not a sports mecca, if that is what you are looking for. </p>
<p>Choose wisely. Make sure you are good fit, no matter where you go. Good luck.</p>
<p>The reputation of GW from colleagues, friends, relatives, and high school classmates is that of a school for rich slackers on par with BU, but slightly lower than NYU. 10-15 years ago, I knew many GW kids who transferred up to NYU CAS because it was perceived as more academically prestigious. And that was a period when NYU/CAS was considered a “safe school” for rich kids with -B/B averages at my high school. </p>
<p>The few cousins I knew who attended were all boarding/private school graduates with mediocre records and who were much more interested in the social aspects of college than the academic. Didn’t help that one of their siblings who was a far superior student ended up at Georgetown’s SFS which made the contrast between them much more stark.</p>
<p>While GW is an urban school in a big city, it is better than BU. More like an NYU or Northeastern. Also similar in that these schools have better schools within their own city (NYU - Columbia; Northeastern - BC/MIT/Harvard).</p>