George Washington U vs. American U

[Anonymous]

Right.

Let the kids visit, and/or talk to kids who go there.

The cultures are different and he or she should explore and make their own decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GW is where rich people send their kids who didn't get into Ivies.

There is a big gap between the Ivies and GW with far more attractive schools than GW in the middle. GW is basically for NY and NJ parents who'll pay a huge amount of money to avoid saying their kids go to SUNY-Binghamton, Hofstra, and Rutgers.

Generally true, but not in DC. I am a GW alum with two class of 2024s. One got waitlisted but is going to a top SLAC, got into another top SLAC, etc. Second kid going to a top 5 but got money from GW. That being said I agree, if you are willing to move around, my higher stat kid got money from GW but more from Tulane, and a couple others. At the end it wasn't enough money to make a difference (I am willing to pay). I am a large donor to GW and did not go to bat for them because I knew they would end up at a higher ranked school (especially after Tulane EA).

But...lot of kids want to come to DC/stay in DC for the political atmosphere. When I applied, you could have given me a free ride to Harvard and I wouldn't have gone. When I didn't get into Georgetown, I wanted GW. The only school I thought of transferring to was Georgetown even though due to my activity in College I could have realistically transferred to Dartmouth, Emory, and a couple others. But they weren't in DC.

You get Potomac Fever.

Georgetown is still hard so that makes GW and AU appealing. My high stats kid who is going to a top 5 was WL at Gtown. May be it was yield protection. She would have probably taken Gtown LOL...close to home good for studying poli sci/government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GWU benefits from its location, pure and simple. If she is coming all the way to DC to get a DC experience, there is no other school to consider -- even Georgetown. Georgetown and AU are fine schools in lovely neighborhoods, but is that why she would move almost 3000 miles to a city where careers are based on connections and moving-and-shaking? Heck, if she wants to be in a lovely neighborhood outside of the action she should be looking at Pepperdine and Northwestern.

This is a really odd and misinformed comment. Being within walking distance of the State Dept (GW) does not give a school an advantage over one that is within metro distance (AU).

Maybe odd, but not misinformed. I knew Lloyd Elliot well before they named my school after him. GW is central; the others are not. You are a short walk to State, sure, but also to the IMF, World Bank, the IDB, Interior, K Street, the Fed, OAS, OEOB, etc. If a GW grad doesn’t have a strong resume by graduation, it was by choice. The IMF and World Bank are a block from the freshman dorm.

proximity =/= getting hired. I'm an AU grad and I know many other AU grads at the World Bank (I've been there 20+ years). I know only a couple of GW grads. Keep in mind, I'm not talking about undergraduates but graduate students

Bingo, a hiring person in that cluster on Penn. ave. wouldn't look at the resume and say, "oh, look at this mediocre student from GW, I wouldn't hire him but damn his dorm is just up the block, let's hire him!" But generally speaking, AU has a better reputation/alumni network among international NGO employers.

That makes more sense for grad school, where students may live throughout the city, have greater means, and more maturity. But for your average undergraduate, who lives on campus, the ability to walk to an internship will often make a significant difference in whether or not s/he takes the internship in the first place and then gets there on time. Proximity matters. Location, location, location -- to coin a phrase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GW is where rich people send their kids who didn't get into Ivies.

There is a big gap between the Ivies and GW with far more attractive schools than GW in the middle. GW is basically for NY and NJ parents who'll pay a huge amount of money to avoid saying their kids go to SUNY-Binghamton, Hofstra, and Rutgers.

Generally true, but not in DC. I am a GW alum with two class of 2024s. One got waitlisted but is going to a top SLAC, got into another top SLAC, etc. Second kid going to a top 5 but got money from GW. That being said I agree, if you are willing to move around, my higher stat kid got money from GW but more from Tulane, and a couple others. At the end it wasn't enough money to make a difference (I am willing to pay). I am a large donor to GW and did not go to bat for them because I knew they would end up at a higher ranked school (especially after Tulane EA).

But...lot of kids want to come to DC/stay in DC for the political atmosphere. When I applied, you could have given me a free ride to Harvard and I wouldn't have gone. When I didn't get into Georgetown, I wanted GW. The only school I thought of transferring to was Georgetown even though due to my activity in College I could have realistically transferred to Dartmouth, Emory, and a couple others. But they weren't in DC.

You get Potomac Fever.

Georgetown is still hard so that makes GW and AU appealing. My high stats kid who is going to a top 5 was WL at Gtown. May be it was yield protection. She would have probably taken Gtown LOL...close to home good for studying poli sci/government.

Definitely true in DC, even if the state options in MD and VA are better than in NJ and NY (apart from Cornell). Relatively few kids in this area are as star-struck as you seem to be by the "political atmosphere" in DC. Many find it exceedingly boring and can't wait to get away to an area with stronger schools, better college towns, or more culture.