<p>This is an intersting question, and i truly feel GW will end up being in the low 40's when all is said and done. The part time faculty is what I have also heard that affects the rankings, they should put a side note to it. Not everyone realizes just what the rankings comprise of. Plus there are so many rankings, in Barrons' its listed very high and out of five "selective" departments, is granted the MOST SELETIVE category of all, right there along with all the ivies,etc.......I am told that this year their acceptance rate will hover around 33% which is really low comparitively speaking.</p>
<p>Abeautifulmind, my son also got into NYU. He is choosing GW over NYU for a host of reasons. Likes DC more than NY, NYU is notroriously very liberal and very "free" for lack of a better word, GW has both, the international studies program blows NYU's away, plus he feels after looking into them, the internship opps at GW appeal to him more than they do at NYU. GW even though its in a city still has a self contained somewhat of a campus/community feel, NYU does not at all. My niece graduates from NYU this year, she loved it but did say to do it all over again she would have wanted something slightly more "campusy" feeling,etc......Many of these reasons are strictly personal, but just letting you know his reasons.</p>
<p>My S chose to go to GW because he preferred D.C., and also got a lot more money from GW. After seeing both our kids' experience with applying to NYU, I would add something that we didn't know in advance: for some reason NYU strongly discourages students from being in one school and trying to minor in a subject housed in a different school. That seems so much against the whole theory of education, but there it is. At GW, you can take courses and minor across the University. So our S majored in a discipline taught at the main school, but minored in a subject in a different school at GW. So depending on which majors/minors you're interested in, you may want to check in advance to ensure you're able to study what you want at NYU.
For aBeautifulMind, you might want to make sure that if you decide to go to NYU, that you can major in econ at the main school, and minor in business if you are thinking of doing that.</p>
<p>At GW, I'm sure that micro and macro econ are both in Columbia school, not in the b-school.</p>
<p>I am also deciding between NYU and GW. I am leaning more towards GW. I like the idea of being in a city but at the sametime having a more self-contained campus. This year, GW was much more competitive and am sure it will go up in the ranks. It has great internship opportunities and I feel NYU would be a better option for graduate work rather than undergraduate.</p>
<p>^I'm leaning more towards GWU as well, but not by much...it is such a hard decision.</p>
<p>ALSO, I looked at the endowments of the two schools, and I think that perhaps GWU's relatively low endowment may play a factor in its lower ranking. NYU has 40,870 students (both undergrad + grad) and an endowment of $2.16 billion. GWU has 24,531 students, and an endowment of $1.019 billion. The money to student ration for NYU is $52,850:1, and for GWU it is $41,539:1. That's quite a difference, no?</p>
<p>USNWR ranking are based on a formula in which the separate objective criteria listed in the columns of their grid (selectivity, retention and graduation rank, faculty resources, financial resources, alumni giving, etc.) are weighted. Cost plays no part, no do any subjective qualities such as Q of L. Number 54 is within the top quarter of the 227 national universities ranked. The things that give unique value to GW - location, internships, Library of Congress, housing quality, availability of attractions and enrichment activities in DC - are completely outside the scope of what USNWR ranks. So, in effect, they are value added onto whatever value you place on being in the top quarter of national universities. Consider a school like Lehigh which is in the top 40 or so. After you crunch the objective stats and rank it at that level, does it have any similar value-adding qualities? The ranking is one data point; it's not the final word.</p>