George Washington U vs American
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Anonymous
What the hell are you talking about? I’m talking about the universities. Not the city of Pittsburgh versus Washington DC. AI has it right: The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and George Washington University (GW) are both highly regarded universities, but they differ in several key aspects. Pitt is a large, public university with a strong focus on research, particularly in health sciences and engineering, while GW is a private university known for its location in Washington, D.C., and its strengths in political science, international affairs, and business. You may disagree with AI on this, but it’s a lot more persuasive than “my maid of honor went to Pitt and her sister went to GW.” |
Anonymous
Right. They pretend to live in the city. But they don’t. |
Anonymous
No, you did. The OP has all but ruled out the Boston schools. |
Anonymous
Both schools are really great for international relations and political science. Can't go wrong with either if that's the interest. But I think GW is better as a more comprehensive university. And I think AU is dealing with the repercussions of some bad leadership in recent years. GW is in much better shape going forward. Regarding campuses, I wouldn't say AU is suburban. It's a nice area, but it's outside of the core of DC. Whereas GW is right there in the heart of things. Overall, I think the caliber of students is going to be stronger at GW. But both schools have a strong tristate vibe and a big international student presence. The thing about GW s that their graduate and professional programs are quite strong. There's the Med school. There's the Elliot School. There's the law school. All very solid, particularly the med school and the Elliot school. It's just a more serious university than AU. |
Anonymous
So desperate to defend your unhelpful snarky response. Here is a direct quote: “ Was just trying to get an overview of the differences between these schools. Personally I would prefer my younger kid stay within Amtrak/driving distance so I am pushing Boston/Philly/DC options...” |
Anonymous
I do disagree with AI. AI oversimplifies and stresses the obvious. Pitt was at one point private, and is not a full state university (it is considered state related, and still has qualities similar to a private university if you would like to define what those are beyond funding). The schools have many of the same majors in the areas I am familiar with. Both are urban, but not located right in the core of the center city. Nonetheless, both are well connected by transport to the local cultural attractions. Pitt is a university with deep emphasis on liberal arts classes beyond STEM (despite what AI says). Liberal arts college undergrads dramatically outweigh the number of engineering students (10K vs 2K-ish), ensuring a focus on all of the liberal arts. Pitt is also strong in humanities, social sciences, and business, and has a graduate school of international affairs that has produced some notable graduates. It is not in DC, but not everyone's political goals involve DC, which is why I think DC interest is a sufficient and distinguishing reason to select GW, but Pitt might be of interest to others. Pitt is likely to be less expensive. There are also buses at breaks to the NY metro area. Pitt attracts students from the NY metro who want to leave their home area for college, as many do. My point was that they are similar enough for a New York family with the stated criteria to consider. I know people who have cross-shopped these schools because they fill similar niches for students. Also know MoCo students who went to Pitt because they didn't want to stay home for college, which would have likely meant GW/AU/UMD. Your disbelief does not negate my experiences. Perhaps you aren't as familiar with Pitt as I am with GW. |
Anonymous
You’re wrong about GWU’s location. GWU could not be more centrally located in DC. You can practically spit on the White House and National Mall from its campus. It’s half the size of Pitt, it’s private, and it attracts a much wealthier and more geographically diverse student body than Pitt. 67% of Pittsburgh students are from Pennsylvania. Only 5% are from New York. Almost 15% of GW students are from New York, and only 5 percent are actually from Maryland. In other words, you are both wrong in suggesting that lots of New York students choose Pitt, just as you were wrong and suggesting that GW attracts many Maryland students who stay home. It doesn’t and never has. The bottom line is that there is virtually no overlap between GW students and Pitt students, and none of the schools that OP has identified as schools of interest remotely suggests that Pitt is a fit. |
Anonymous
Oh, please, the kid is looking at schools in the northeast corridor. The weather is not that much different in any of those cities. We’re not talking about Boston or Florida. |
Anonymous
Foggy Bottom is off to the side of the core of DC. I have lived in the DC area and I worked near the Capitol and commuted by Metro for 8 years. If you are at Foggy Bottom, you will be staying in that area unless you are commuting to a job on the Hill. People generally spend a lot of time in the vicinity of their dorms and classrooms, and I personally don't think the Foggy Bottom area is very attractive and it sometimes feels a bit unsafe (as urban areas are prone to feeling). When we toured the campus on a quiet December day with my older kid (then junior), there were homeless people out wandering and yelling. The campus has improved a lot from the 1990s, but it's not lovely. Half the size means nothing when you are talking thousands of people. You can only meet and hang out with so many, and both schools have tens of thousands. Neither of these schools are tiny SLACs. What really matters is the size of your cohort in your major. Many of Pitt's humanities majors are a nice size to get personal attention without having too small of a faculty base to be effective. Perhaps the top students at Pitt/Honors College students were a bit more diverse than the general student body...but that was the crowd that I hung out with. When I was in school, the undergrad student body president was from South Africa. Pitt's webpage says that in 2023-24, 3,200 international students from 112 countries were at Pitt. And there's currently about 500 undergrads from NY and NJ - certainly enough to give the sense that there are NY metro people there. (The NJ people I knew were mostly either from NY suburbs or near Philly.) PP, you seem really bothered by drawing an equivalency between these two universities...is it just that GW's student body is "wealthier"? That would follow, because the tuition costs are higher. Also international students tend to be full pay. Not as different as you think. |
Anonymous
DP but no, this part is completely wrong. Walk three or four blocks in any direction from the edge of campus and you are at the White House, middle of downtown, the Mall, Dupont, Georgetown, etc. If anything, the Hill is off to the side of the core of DC, and Pitt is more like a school on the other side of that. |
Anonymous
I said that GW is outside the core but well connected by transit. By which I mean, it's not right at the convenient neighborhoods near the big Metro interchanges - Metro Center, Gallery Place, L'Enfant Plaza. Foggy Bottom-GWU is at least a mile to the White House. This is really just a GW concern, not a comparison with Pitt. My experience is that people use the neighborhood right by their dorms. I'd rather be in NYU's neighborhood than Foggy Bottom, for example. Of course you can get anywhere with Ubers and so forth. But what is right at Foggy Bottom is pretty charmless and office park like. I would probably prefer to live at AU's campus but it's farther from Metro (needs that shuttle bus) and DCUM people complain that there are a lot of vagrants/loiterers at Tenleytown these days (I don't live in DC now, so can't verify this). OP asked about GW vs. American...so I think it's relevant to share opinions on the feel of the neighborhoods. I think both have some imperfections. Georgetown also...since not a quick walk to Metro. |
Anonymous
| Well, OP, as you can see from this thread, this is what people are like in the DC area. Your kid may want to factor this into their college search! 😆 |
Anonymous
But it’s not outside the core. The eastern part of GWU’s campus is less than a 10 minute walk to the White House. Three blocks and you are at the EEOB. If you walk in any direction from the campus you are at something major. Downtown and Dupont to its north and northeast, White House to the east, State Department/Fed/monuments/Mall to its south, Kennedy Center/Georgetown to its west. You can do all of those on foot in less than 15 minutes. It’s just a weird take. Now, whether you like that or the vibe of Foggy Bottom is a different question. It would not be my cup of tea for undergrad. But a kid from New York might find it more appealing than American’s location. |
Anonymous
You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. - Lifelong DC resident. |
Anonymous
| American is in better financial shape. |