Visit report: American University in DC

[Luckymama]

American University is located in a residential area of Washington DC, near Embassy Row, approximately 4 miles from the White House. It has a total enrollment of more than 12,000 students with about 7000 undergraduates.

 

The campus is pretty, with light-colored buildings, attractive green spaces, and many trees. Most of the campus is self-contained without regular city streets running through it. We were surprised that the campus is not perfectly flat. Everyone we interacted with was friendly.

 

Undergrads are separated in five schools: College of Arts and Sciences, Kogod School of Business, School of Communication, School of International Service (SIS), and School of Public Affairs. SIS is by far the largest with 2000 students. More than 40 majors offer a combined 5-year bachelor/masters program.

 

The university general education requirements are two classes each from five different areas: Creative Arts; Traditions the Shape the Western World; the Global and Cross-Cultural Experiences; Social Institutions and Behaviors; and the Natural and Mathematical Sciences. AP credit appears to be generous.

 

American is proud of their internship program (85% of students participate in at least one) and their study abroad program. 60% of undergrads study abroad for a semester, a year, or a summer (language-acquisition programs or credit-bearing internships only). About half of the students study at AU's three centers in Brussels, Madrid, and Nairobi. The others choose from 140 programs spread across 39 countries. Specific study-abroad scholarships are available through AU. American has an impressive number of recipients of nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships such as Boren, Fulbright, and Udall, with an Office of Merit Awards to mentor applicants.

 

Freshman and sophomores are guaranteed university housing. There have been many forced triples over the past few years. New sophomore housing is being built which should alleviate the tripling but those may not be ready for this fall. A main dining hall takes meal swipes, and there are multiple locations that accept their points/dollars system. No eateries or shops are immediately off campus but are within a 15 minute walk (or free shuttle ride). The nearest Metro stop is in that location as well.

 

We attended a special visit day for the School of International Service (SIS) so the rest of my notes will focus on that.

 

About 2000 undergrad students are enrolled in SIS as International Studies majors who choose from 8 concentrations. There are 125 full-time faculty and more than 25 adjuncts who come from the State Department, other government agencies, and NGOs to teach a course or two each year. A retired ambassador led a discussion with the students in our group.

 

The current SIS program is four years old. During the first semester of freshman year all the students take World Politics in large lectures but with small discussion sections. During the second semester, the students choose from various cross-cultural communications classes, all with a maximum enrollment of 25. The third required course of freshman year is a 19-person seminar taken either semester, chosen from a wide variety of topics.

 

Required during sophomore year are an intro to research class during the fall and a choice of themed (by topic, region, or methodology) research classes during the spring.

 

Students are required to take 3 survey classes from the 8 thematic area concentrations: environmental sustainability and global health; foreign policy and national security; global and comparative governance; identity, race, gender, and culture; justice, ethics, and human rights; peace, global security, and conflict resolution; and the global economy.

 

Students take additional classes from 2 of the 8 thematic areas, as well as 3 classes from regional areas (Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, Middle East and North Africa, South and Central Asia, Western Hemisphere). The foreign language requirement does not have to match the regional focus.

 

Other SIS major requirements include 3 economics classes, US politics, and a senior capstone.

 

D was favorably impressed with the university and especially with SIS. The internship possibilities are a definite draw! She'll need to return to talk with professors from SIS and language departments and to sit in on a class or two. She would also need to be awarded one of their highest merit scholarships to attend because it is way too expensive for this family who cannot pay their high EFC.

[swimmermom3]

Luckymama, we are now in NC visiting my 95 yo MIL.  Later this evening I 'd like to add our impressions of American, if that's okay?  I appreciate your review of the SIS components because that is not something we gathered in our visit.

 

It was great to meet you after sharing numerous "Plan B's" the past few years. 

 

 

[Luckymama]

I was hoping you'd add your impressions!

 

It's funny, you look nothing like your avatar :lol:

[fourisenough]

I want to go to AU now!

[GoodGrief]

What a great overview!!

[ThisIsTheDay]

We toured this school four years ago.  Our tour experience was horrible, with just two tour guides for 50-60 in the tour group.  It was difficult, to say the least, to hear the guides.  The one we chose was completely clueless about the basic history/origin of the school.  We left completely unimpressed--except that they offered free coffee/soft drinks in the reception area following the tour, which was greatly welcomed because it was a really hot day.  ;)

 

(That was the not so good, but it gets better!)

 

A friend's dd is graduating from AU this spring. She started college here three years ago, a public schooler with some AP classes. She was in an accelerated program, did an internship for one semester at some sort of political office in DC. She spent fall semester studying abroad in Turkey.  (I think it was Turkey). She'll be a grad student, completing her M.S. next spring--she's done this in a total of four years.  She is a driven and motivated student; needless to say, they've been very pleased with her experience.

 

[swimmermom3]

As of yesterday, we are finally done with all of the traveling and the school visits.

 

Luckymama did provide a great overview and what I have to add is mostly our personal experience with American University.

 

As many of you know, arranging a day visit was no easy feat for us.  I sent three emails following the instructions on their website. No joy. Ds called the admissions person that he had interviewed with and was directed to call the admissions office where he was told to submit yet another form following the same instructions we had already followed. I placed another call, spent 10 minutes on hold and finally got a live body. I was told that the person I wanted to talk to wasn't in and to call back the next day. Thankfully, the young woman who took my call did the follow-up work and I had an email the next day outlining our visit: campus tour, lunch with a student host, and then attending class with him.

 

We arrived in Washington D.C. the day prior to the formal visit and we spent a considerable amount of time on the campus. By this point, ds had visited four other schools, but this one was the first one where he really connected physically to the campus. It's built around a "quad" and the weather was perfect, which meant that everyone was out and looking very happy. The only other campus that ds connected with on that level was University of San Diego, which is jaw-dropping stunning. We liked that the campus is compact, which is nice if you are running late for class or the weather is bad.

 

On our impromptu tour, we checked out the interiors of several buildings that were important to us like the library and the School of International Service.  We were glad we did.  While our official tour was conducted by a very knowledgeable senior, we didn't see the interiors of many buildings due to the large size of our group.  However, we did tour an actual triple dorm room, not just a model (like several of the schools) and that was very helpful in visualizing how the notorious triples would work.  Security seemed excellent.

 

Ds was able to talk with his student host, the captain of the sailing team, and a sophomore and his roommate from our neck of the woods whose mom I had made contact with on College Confidential. Everyone loved the school and felt their academics were very rewarding. All four disliked the administration and said they felt like some of the high tuition definitely lined the president's pockets instead of getting reinvested back into the school.  We never heard a response even remotely like this from any of the other schools ds visited with regards to the administration.

 

Dh and I had rather odd experiences when we tried to speak with admissions and with financial aid.  The Admissions Welcome Center appears to be a large desk in the impressive Katzen Arts Center.  This is the point where you check in and start your tour.  We seemed to throw the young woman manning the desk into a bit of a panic when we asked to meet with an admissions officer.  A woman appeared in front of us out in the wide open reception area and asked what questions we had. No privacy, no office. We kept it quick and left dissatisfied.  Then the search for the financial aid office began.

 

The admissions desk outlined the building on the map. We went there. I doubt the rather down-at-the heels building with nearly nonexistent signage ever makes it onto a campus tour.  We called information. They weren't exactly sure where it was, but finally came up with a room. There, they told us the office had moved. We went past the fried out microwave and nasty unplugged fridge in a hallway and finally discovered the newly renovated office space.  The young financial aid counselor was kind and helpful if not particularly encouraging. Yes, if I work next year, ds will lose his grant.  No, merit scholarships the size of what the other schools had offered ds were incredibly rare and usually reserved for students in the honors college. We already knew that American had a reputation for offering less aid of all kinds compared to comparable schools.

 

On the official tour, I met a mom who already had a student at American, but was there with her second child. I heard the same story ds had heard from the students he talked to. Her son loved the school and his studies, but had a miserable experience with his freshman roommate who drank heavily and destroyed the son's property. It took parental involvement and leaning heavily on the administration in order to fix the situation.  So, great academics and faculty, inconsistent administration. 

 

Ds is really struggling with his decision.  The SIS is in the top ten schools for international relations. He loves the campus and all of the opportunities in DC that tie in to his passions, the sailing team is not as serious a commitment as GWU's is and there is room for him to make a meaningful contribution. The administration issue is tough.  There are a couple of schools that he was accepted to where he feels like he would be a valued asset, whereas with American, he feels like he is only a tuition payment.  Just our thoughts, for what they are worth.

 

 

[swimmermom3]

We toured this school four years ago.  Our tour experience was horrible, with just two tour guides for 50-60 in the tour group.  It was difficult, to say the least, to hear the guides.  The one we chose was completely clueless about the basic history/origin of the school.  We left completely unimpressed--except that they offered free coffee/soft drinks in the reception area following the tour, which was greatly welcomed because it was a really hot day.  ;)

 

(That was the not so good, but it gets better!)

 

A friend's dd is graduating from AU this spring. She started college here three years ago, a public schooler with some AP classes. She was in an accelerated program, did an internship for one semester at some sort of political office in DC. She spent fall semester studying abroad in Turkey.  (I think it was Turkey). She'll be a grad student, completing her M.S. next spring--she's done this in a total of four years.  She is a driven and motivated student; needless to say, they've been very pleased with her experience.

 

It's very encouraging to hear about your friend's dd's experience. The first part is not surprising.