George Washington University

There is a housing shortage, and it's likely that freshmen and sophomores will pay very high prices for very substandard rooms. The university is offering really fine accommodations to upper classmen to get them to live on campus, and, since freshmen and sophs must live on campus, they get the absolute dregs in housing.

The mean plan seems like a good idea at first, but Aramark businesses sell lousy food at high prices and are not open as many hours as they should be. The meal plans turn out to be very very expensive. Dining halls close too early.

The administration is rife with red tape. For those of you who go to an orientation program—just think for a moment whose $$$ is paying for all the matching gear, fancy photos of the "Colonial Cabinet" and other fluff. Yep, it's you. This is one of the most expensive schools in the country … is it worth it? Maybe if you really need to be in DC. If so, try Georgetown or American first. Perhaps they don't gouge so much…