Hoggirl Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 Does anyone have a dc at one of these schools? Anyone who can compare and contrast them? We are going to visit at the beginning of August. Just looking for any personal insights. My ds is interested in IR/IS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 No experience with either, but we knew a Colombian woman here, who is a graduate of American University. Their DD was in the same grade as ours, when DD was in the U.S. accredited school here, and I was in a volunteer group with the woman. My guess is that there are a lot of students from overseas at American University. Not sure about that. Check them both out, especially with regard to their reputation for placement of IR/IS majors. GL... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 The Boy was accepted at American when his intended major was International Relations (now comp sci as a junior). He ruled out Georgetown because he didn't even want a Jesuit school after 13 years of Catholic education :lol: He was pleased with the profs and students he spoke with at American. He did not do an overnight after acceptance. He decided against American for a few reasons: the campus felt too small and even with substantial merit aid (!) he would have had to take loans over the amount we said we'd pay. He pragmatically decided to go with no debt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I can't compare the two but will share our (very limited) experience with AU. My dd chose to tour American last summer because of its IR program. The parking garage and admissions building was impressive. It was 90 degrees that day, and we appreciated that the school offered free beverages in a small visitors' lounge. (They were the only free refreshments we had on any tour.) It was the largest tour we'd ever had--two guides split 80-100 of us. It was seemed very ill-prepared, especially because I believe most had registered ahead of time. It was a pretty campus, and we both liked the smallness of it and its proximity to DC. "Smallness" almost sounds negative, but I mean it complimentary. We'd looked at many large schools, and those were spread out over a much larger area. Ultimately, between the tour and the cost/chances for enough aid, dd did not pursue the school further. It was definitely a nice school, and a friend's daughter had her freshman orientation just this past week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livetoread Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I got a Masters in psych at American lo many years ago, so my perspective might be only marginally helpful. Neither AU nor GT are next to a metro stop, though AU runs shuttles (don't know about GT). There are a lot of international students from a wide variety of countries at AU which I liked. A lot of wealthy kids too. Both schools are in nice areas of DC. As far as I know, GT's program is the most prestigious for IR, but AU's is right up there too. I really enjoyed my time there, and DC is a great city, even if you are a poor student. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted July 3, 2013 Author Share Posted July 3, 2013 Thanks, all. I have a friend who feels like paying full-freight at Georgetown(no merit aid at Georgetown, and we won't qualify for need) isn't worth it for undergrad. He thinks it is definitely worth it for grad school (says their IR stuff for grad school is the best anywhere). He believes American with merit offers better "value," for undergrad. Looking forward to our visits. I will do a visit report when we return! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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