<p>Speaking of many years ago and NYU, 40 years ago NYU was threatened with bankruptcy, and only avoided it by selling their large northern campus (with many historic buildings) to CUNY.</p>
<p>Nope. When I lived in DC it was a sleepy town with northern charm and southern efficiency. </p>
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<p>It wasn’t about the towns the colleges were located in as Georgetown was popular and as difficult as many other elite universities in terms of admissions for topflight students. </p>
<p>On the flipside, GW back then was viewed as a bit of a wealthy kid’s party school. That was one of the draws for a younger relative who enjoyed his undergrad years* there after attending an elite NE boarding school. </p>
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<li>Graduated GW undergrad in the early '00s.<br></li>
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<p>Why would GW’s reputation from 20 years ago be even slightly relevant to the OP? She asked what people think of it Now.</p>
<p>GW (or AU) is a very good safety/match school for kids considering Georgetown’s SFS for International Relations. It often is characterized as a “rich kids’ school”. There may be an element of truth to that, but probably no more so than for many other private schools that do not cover 100% of demonstrated need (which is to say, most private schools). GW covers about 86% of demonstrated need. That’s a fairly high rate. Its full sticker COA (approaching $60K/year) is in line with many other selective private schools.</p>
<p>For something other than IR or government, a student in the upper middle income “donut hole” may get more bang for the buck from a state flagship, even at OOS rates. Consider Maryland (College Park) if you want to be close to DC. Otherwise, maybe Wisconsin or Minnesota (well-regarded state schools with relatively decent OOS rates). If you’re willing to pay premium private school prices, you might want to consider an urban/suburban LAC.</p>
<p>Ironic that GW is viewed as a “rich kid” school, when it offers merit aid. Georgetown doesn’t, so it’s Georgetown that I view as the “rich kid” school.</p>
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Because the OP also asked how a degree from GW would be perceived by people in various parts of the country, and reputations can hang on for a very long time.</p>
<p>But having said that, @transferr2014, I agree with those that say this is something you really shouldn’t worry about at all. If the school is a good fit for you, then that is what really counts. Because if you are happy there and do very well, and score very high on the LSAT, then any law school is within your reach. I think you are wrong about Yale and Stanford, btw. They look for students that have great grades and high LSATs, and after that they look for something that separates them from the others that also have great grades and high LSATs, and I don’t mean undergrad pedigree. However, it certainly is true that there is a high correlation between people that scored high on the SATs, of which many end up at HYP or very similar schools, and high LSAT’s 4 years later. Not to mention that kids attending those schools will tend to get high grades, grade inflation or not, and often do impressive research or internships or whatever. So sure the list of schools attended by the L1 students at Yale and Stanford and other T14 law schools are heavily weighted towards the most prestigious undergrad schools, but that is perfectly explainable by their abilities from the start. Bottom line, if you get similar grades and LSAT score to these students, and manage to score a nice internship at a law firm or in a court setting or do great work at an environmental clinic or immigration group or any of dozens of other things that they might be impressed by, your chances of getting in will be just as good, from what I have seen.</p>
<p>But back to GWU, by best friend’s son went there and loved it, and he is doing great. Just an anecdote of course, but there you have it.</p>
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<p>Offering of merit aid doesn’t mean much for two reasons:</p>
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<li><p>There has been several studies and news articles pointing out that merit aid tends to go more towards upper/middle income families…especially considering they are not closed to students from high income families. Many low-income FA kids who are advised well with high stats and compelling applications tend to prefer attending schools with great FA packages for students like them…such as the Ivy league schools and elite colleges with similar generous FA policies. </p></li>
<li><p>Many schools with merit aid like NYU and GW have horrid FA policies for low income students…a reason why they are known as rich kid schools and why most low-income students avoid them like the plague. </p></li>
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<p>Thanks for all the replies everyone!</p>
<p>Hi, GW college is still very much a party school for those that didn’t get into a more prestigious school. It’s fairly well known that as long as you can pay tuition they’ll let you in with average marks. They just had a financial aid scandal last year, where they were rejecting students they knew would need too much aid. I am sure like every large school, there are some smart students, but many of the students I’ve met are more East Coast bros and bimbos than intellectuals. I think if it wasn’t in prestigious D.C., you’d easily mistake the student body for a public like Miami of Ohio.</p>
<p>The medical school and law school are very respectable, but this thread is about the college.</p>
<p>OK, can’t let that comment from a first time poster stand unchallenged. I think if those are the only types of GW students you’ve met, it says more about the type of people you hang out with than the students there. None of my daughter’s friends were east coast bros or bimbos. They were from all over the country and definitely not all rich. They were hard working and involved in many activities. She is very successfully employed 2 years out, having double majored in intl affairs and economics. There is so much to do in DC it is a great place to be a student.</p>
<p>So cobrat, what is your young relative who graduated from GW 14 years ago doing now? Did s/he suffer from going to such an easy party school?</p>
<p>Yes, that was unfortunately off base. If one looks at the 25-75 percentiles for the SAT and ACT of GW’s freshman class, it is right on par with UNC-Chapel Hill. I don’t know many people that call that particular school the place for Ivy rejects.</p>
<p>School reputations don’t go away just because you or one of your family members attends. To be clear, I stated there are certainly some students there taking their schooling seriously, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t many full pays there using it as a 4-year vacation in D.C. If you want to attend a school with a better academic reputation, you have that choice. GW’s is what it is. @fallenchemist I wouldn’t trust anything from their admissions office after the admissions/financial aid scandal. Nobody thinks GW undergraduate college is “on par” with UNC.</p>
<p>Shouldn’t someone with a Georgetown zip code have more important and intellectual things to do on a Saturday night than ■■■■■ a GW thread? </p>
<p>@2007gt - You are free to trust or not trust what you want. Your opinion of GW is what it is. Many disagree. But you have made your opinion clear and any further “bashing” of GW that is only opinion will be considered trolling.</p>
<p>Academically, it’s considered a great school. Look at its rankings. In some majors, it’s tough to do much better. The locale is superb. Unless it 's NOT what a student wants. Someone wanting an enclosed campus away from a city would not like GW or BU or NYU or like schools. I can tell you that a lot of kids from the top high schools end up going to GW. </p>
<p>Right now, in terms of integrity and clarity in the way they operate, they have been deceptive and sleazy, IMO. They got caught lying about being need blind n admissions–they were out and out saying they were, when they were not, and still won’t make it very clear that they are not. Some of their financial aid practices can use more clarity. Their language is vague. They may now let aid recipients know what they consider is their need, but at one time I don’t think they did. They’d just give the package and you wouldn’t know what the heck they considered your need and what % of it they were meeting. . Their language on how they integrate outside awards is not clear either. I’ve heard several families complain that getting straight answers from them is difficult, and I believe it given what I have seen on their website and literature. </p>
<p>My son’s close friend’s DD, a wonderful woman from a great family, spent four years there, loved it, is doing very well. So in all fairness, I will say, that those with no financial need seem to think the school is fine. </p>
<p>@fallenchemist The OP asked for the reputation. Did s/he want transparency? I infer so, otherwise s/he would have posted in the GW forum for all of the GW affiliated members to deluge him with praise. I merely posted my own anecdotes and reinforced what has already been said by other users in pages 1 and 2. I haven’t bashed anyone. GW medical and law schools are terrific. Enjoy your evening.</p>
<p>@2007gt - This volume of negative commentary that is all opinion constitutes bashing.
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And yet with regard to that last one, the stats of their classes are quite similar, virtually identical. It is relevant because you directly challenged the intellectual prowess of all but a few of the students that attend GW. Claiming the numbers are rigged is pathetic if you don’t have hard evidence. An unrelated issue regarding financial aid doesn’t make a claim like that correct or supportable. Also, I don’t think you know what “nobody thinks”.</p>
<p>I am not going to argue with you about what constitutes bashing, but you seem to want to take it farther than the one other comment that was made along the lines of one opinion you expressed. I just wanted to nip it in the bud before it got out of hand, as we see on here too often. If you want to post points you can substantiate, then great. Otherwise it is opinion and you have made yours quite clear.</p>
<p>I lived in the Midwest, and am now in the NY area. Yes, GW is a school that was high on lists of kids in both areas from competitive high schools. An advantage it would have over, say UNC, is the geographic diversity the school has. The high school I know in Ohio, PA, Michigan were sending just about as many kids to GW as the east coast ones are that I can see happening now. And i have nothing but accolades for those kids I 've known who have gone there. I v’e also known a LOT of kids who have gone there. </p>
<p>GW only meets full need for about 60% of their kids, so most of those who go there and have fin aid have to somehow come up with money to pay the gap. It does meet about 90% of need as they define it. It’s an expensive school and that so many feel it’s worth the price to go there does say a lot about it. Wit close to 80% of the students there getting financial aid, I hardly call it a rich kid’s school, as their definition of need does not have the reputation of being so generous.</p>
<p>@20007gt I appreciate all the discussion you have started but I am kind of confused. You say that they let many students with average marks in but on their common data set their SAT 25-75 are surprisingly high (i thought theyd be lower) and 84% of their freshman class came from the top 25% of their high school, and 50% of their class came from the top 10%. I dont really see how this shows that they accept the average student even if they were rich like you say. </p>