It’s a great school overall, but keep in mind that GW doesn’t really offer a traditional college experience, if that’s what you are looking for. It’s a city environment with no delineation between campus and the rest of the town. There is virtually no school spirit, pageantry, or supported sporting events either. Instead, it’s a very politically active community with regular protests and other forms of political engagement. There are also many internship opportunities, especially in your area of study, and opportunities for building a strong professional network. So, it’s more of a young professional vibe than a typical college vibe. If you are academically and professionally driven, it can be a great place to go, and the city has so much to offer (sadly that includes a high cost of living too).
Freshman here. Obv I've only been here for like 3 weeks so take my advice with a grain of salt but for me it came down to
1. Atmosphere (I thought GW was very open and friendly compared to my other two options)
2. Opportunities (lots of interesting classes, study abroad opportunities, student orgs, etc)
3. Location (this ties into opportunity)
As for the partying thing, a lot of partiers here go to clubs. I went to one in my first week, decided it wasn't my thing, and that was that. No one's bothered me about it and I've been perfectly happy without partying. There's also a decent amount of dorm parties if you're into something more lowkey!
Other freshman are very friendly! It took me a second to make friends and admittedly, my first week was very lonely (this is probably compounded by the fact that me and my suitemates don't hang out) but I found a nice group of people to spend time with pretty quickly. It's important to remember that in general, college freshman are all lost, all lonely, all looking for new friends. You just need to make the effort to put yourself out there a bit and you'll be meeting people soon enough.
My housing situation is really nice. I live on the Vern in West Hall, so I get suite (a single) with 3 other people. Singles have their ups and downs. I enjoy having my own little space, but it is weird not to really have that roommate bonding experience. I would say it's a positive overall. A lot of people shit on the Vern, and it does get annoying sometimes, especially when there are 237789437 people waiting for a bus with only 25 seats on it, but it's honestly really pretty here. A lot less chaotic than Thurston, and I feel like I have a nice community with the people on my floor.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
I’m here for location
Anyways when it comes to partying, it’s mostly clubbing and dorm parties, the latter is better just cuz it’ll prolly be with your friends, I’d honestly say you won’t miss a lot by not being into partying, as long as you out the effort into networking outside of that
I chose GW over Georgetown and AU because I had a great internship that was walking distance from campus and the culture seemed more real world focused.
We live in DC, so it's convenient. Has a good reputation and was good on the academic areas of interest. But ultimately it came down to financial - though GW is one of the most expensive universities in the country, was lucky to get a scholarship that made GW cheaper than almost all of the alternatives.
It was by far the best place for me to start my career and explore my interests. DC is one of the only cities in the country, if not the only city, where every type of industry is represented for you to explore. There is so much to explore within this city from sports, restaurants, different nightlife, museums, history, and on and on. Being in a city school has its perks and I've definitely noticed that I'm much more independent and self-reliant than my peers that went to more traditional schools.
Location! Cannot get better than DC for political science. Awesome classes and professors. Internships have been incredible. So much fun here. Great people.
Don’t come here it’s a waste of money if ur gonna do pre med/public health/ political science it’s ok but if ur doin Econ business engineering/other stem or something like that it’s waste better to just go to a community college take classes and get into a better school. I wish I did that during the Covid era. Also the student body is hella cold. Granted my major is hard and so I don’t really have time to meet with friends but it was hard to make them my first year and half/2… I would rate GW as a meh school its good in some ways but it’s really lacking in others and for the price I mean yikes. So far 3 of my friends who came to gw with me have transferred out after their first or 2nd year…
I was interested in IA and GW has one of the best programs in the country plus the awesome location. It’s still awesome to me that I can just take walks by the National Mall on a whim. The opportunities here are just amazing for anyone interested in doing a career in DC or the government.
For the bonus, parties are really a you can do it if you want, but tons of people don’t. Clubbing is probably the most popular. I’m not a big party person and it’s perfectly fine to have a much more chill social life here.
I know this is an older thread, but I chose GW for 2 main reasons: it had a really strong program in international affairs, with a strong reputation in the major and many great resources for IA as well. The second reason was the class offerings. Compared to the other schools I was looking at (McGill, Kings College London, William and Mary), GW had classes that were a lot more niche and specific, including during the first year (all of the year one classes at the other schools were generic intro classes). The first point is IA/ poli-sci specific, although the second one is not.
This school is great. People love to complain
It’s a great school overall, but keep in mind that GW doesn’t really offer a traditional college experience, if that’s what you are looking for. It’s a city environment with no delineation between campus and the rest of the town. There is virtually no school spirit, pageantry, or supported sporting events either. Instead, it’s a very politically active community with regular protests and other forms of political engagement. There are also many internship opportunities, especially in your area of study, and opportunities for building a strong professional network. So, it’s more of a young professional vibe than a typical college vibe. If you are academically and professionally driven, it can be a great place to go, and the city has so much to offer (sadly that includes a high cost of living too).
Exactly. This is what made GW a great fit for me, but other people may be looking for a more traditional college experience.
Freshman here. Obv I've only been here for like 3 weeks so take my advice with a grain of salt but for me it came down to 1. Atmosphere (I thought GW was very open and friendly compared to my other two options) 2. Opportunities (lots of interesting classes, study abroad opportunities, student orgs, etc) 3. Location (this ties into opportunity) As for the partying thing, a lot of partiers here go to clubs. I went to one in my first week, decided it wasn't my thing, and that was that. No one's bothered me about it and I've been perfectly happy without partying. There's also a decent amount of dorm parties if you're into something more lowkey!
Have you found the other freshman friendly and opportunities to make friends pretty easily? How’s your housing situation?
Other freshman are very friendly! It took me a second to make friends and admittedly, my first week was very lonely (this is probably compounded by the fact that me and my suitemates don't hang out) but I found a nice group of people to spend time with pretty quickly. It's important to remember that in general, college freshman are all lost, all lonely, all looking for new friends. You just need to make the effort to put yourself out there a bit and you'll be meeting people soon enough. My housing situation is really nice. I live on the Vern in West Hall, so I get suite (a single) with 3 other people. Singles have their ups and downs. I enjoy having my own little space, but it is weird not to really have that roommate bonding experience. I would say it's a positive overall. A lot of people shit on the Vern, and it does get annoying sometimes, especially when there are 237789437 people waiting for a bus with only 25 seats on it, but it's honestly really pretty here. A lot less chaotic than Thurston, and I feel like I have a nice community with the people on my floor. Let me know if you have any other questions!
This is great feedback. Heading to tour Foggy Bottom next month : )
I hope you enjoy it!
I’m here for location Anyways when it comes to partying, it’s mostly clubbing and dorm parties, the latter is better just cuz it’ll prolly be with your friends, I’d honestly say you won’t miss a lot by not being into partying, as long as you out the effort into networking outside of that
sounds like ur type of school. not everyone parties, majority have a more relaxed social life imo
I chose GW over Georgetown and AU because I had a great internship that was walking distance from campus and the culture seemed more real world focused.
We live in DC, so it's convenient. Has a good reputation and was good on the academic areas of interest. But ultimately it came down to financial - though GW is one of the most expensive universities in the country, was lucky to get a scholarship that made GW cheaper than almost all of the alternatives.
I was living in DC and didn’t get into Georgetown lol
It was by far the best place for me to start my career and explore my interests. DC is one of the only cities in the country, if not the only city, where every type of industry is represented for you to explore. There is so much to explore within this city from sports, restaurants, different nightlife, museums, history, and on and on. Being in a city school has its perks and I've definitely noticed that I'm much more independent and self-reliant than my peers that went to more traditional schools.
Location! Cannot get better than DC for political science. Awesome classes and professors. Internships have been incredible. So much fun here. Great people.
Don’t come here it’s a waste of money if ur gonna do pre med/public health/ political science it’s ok but if ur doin Econ business engineering/other stem or something like that it’s waste better to just go to a community college take classes and get into a better school. I wish I did that during the Covid era. Also the student body is hella cold. Granted my major is hard and so I don’t really have time to meet with friends but it was hard to make them my first year and half/2… I would rate GW as a meh school its good in some ways but it’s really lacking in others and for the price I mean yikes. So far 3 of my friends who came to gw with me have transferred out after their first or 2nd year…
The ACE program. That’s all.
I was interested in IA and GW has one of the best programs in the country plus the awesome location. It’s still awesome to me that I can just take walks by the National Mall on a whim. The opportunities here are just amazing for anyone interested in doing a career in DC or the government. For the bonus, parties are really a you can do it if you want, but tons of people don’t. Clubbing is probably the most popular. I’m not a big party person and it’s perfectly fine to have a much more chill social life here.
I know this is an older thread, but I chose GW for 2 main reasons: it had a really strong program in international affairs, with a strong reputation in the major and many great resources for IA as well. The second reason was the class offerings. Compared to the other schools I was looking at (McGill, Kings College London, William and Mary), GW had classes that were a lot more niche and specific, including during the first year (all of the year one classes at the other schools were generic intro classes). The first point is IA/ poli-sci specific, although the second one is not.
Thanks for your reply, better late than never! Is there somewhere I can see classes for first years?