<p>People aren’t seeming to post bad things about this school so much. So what’s wrong with it? The full scoop please 
I wanna know why NOT to go here. I like it a lot, but it’s more expensive than my other option, BUT I’ve recently read a lot of the bad things about that school, so I’d like to level the playing field. Thanks!</p>
<p>Cute post, smartdog. Try searching the AU forum for EVERY post by cadmiumred, who claims to be an AU parent, has some sort of weird vendetta against AU and hates EVERYTHING about it, even things you couldn’t possibly imagine. You may not get any legitimate way to level the playing field, but you’ll be amused.</p>
<p>See this thread from a couple years ago: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/811265-worst-thing-about-american-university.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/811265-worst-thing-about-american-university.html</a></p>
<p>I’m a freshman this year, and while I’ve had a great experience this year, some people really hate it. Common complaints:
Lack of school spirit. Nobody really cares about AU sports. There isn’t a huge camaraderie among the student body. We won’t go to bat for AU, and argue why it’s the best school in the world. Many of us, like me, only came here because we were lured by fat scholarships. Maybe it’s AU’s lesser prestige, maybe it’s something else, but nobody really is in love with the school.</p>
<p>AU’s new marketing campaign, WONK, which is hated across the board. Students, professors, and alumni are shocked that AU spent so much money developing the WONK campaign and rebranding the school with a slogan that’s despised by literally everyone.</p>
<p>Distance from city. Though AU may be within the boundaries of DC, it’s not on a city block like GW is. AU is located in a suburb, next to an unremarkable neighborhood - Tenleytown - that isn’t anywhere near as vibrant as Georgetown. Though it isn’t hard to take the metro into the center of DC, AU students aren’t living in an urban setting, and some kids don’t like the quiet of the suburbs.</p>
<p>Lack of diversity. To be fair, AU has a decent international student population, and recently we’ve reapportioned some of our funds for merit aid for need-based aid to make it possible for kids from more varied backgrounds to go here. However, when you walk around the quad on any given day, you see a sea of white kids.</p>
<p>Greek life. This is one of my gripes with AU. When I was touring the school, I heard from admissions time and time again that the Greek houses aren’t on campus and that we don’t have a sizable Greek system. I was expecting very little Greek life, and while AU Greeks don’t number anywhere near the levels at other schools, they make their presence known at AU. I didn’t sign up for a school influenced by Greeks, and AU definitely feels the Greek presence, like it or not.</p>