American University

Date: Nov 13 2012
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
I am currently a 2nd year double major in the School of International Service and the School of Communication. However, I am transferring to my in-state college next semester.

The Good-

> The School of International Service is one of the best in the country. So many of the professors are professionals in the field and have written in exceptional academic journals. SIS is also doing incredibly innovative work, an example is their Intercultural Management Institute. Plus, the new building is beautiful.

> The School of Communication is wonderful! They are currently remodeling a building on campus to house the school, since it is growing in popularity and needs to meet the technological demands of our modern society. Professors are friendly and like to get to know their students. They work with great companies, like my Writing for Mass Communication professor works at Bloomberg, and my former Understanding Media professor often spoke on different news television shows. > Terrace Dining Room: Lots of people don't really like it, but it was definitely better than I had anticipated. They have a wide variety, and the brand of ice cream is delicious. > The campus is beautiful, trees and flowers everywhere. > The shuttles make it easy to access the metro, which means that basically all of DC is accessible. > Embassy Row. Mass Avenue is a long road, but our school is conveniently located on the same road as almost all of the embassies! > Federal Work Study: The school is great about making sure all work study students get a job.—The Bad— > Tuition is expensive. Super expensive. And after the school's first financial aid offer, they won't be any more generous. There was a huge change in my FAFSA, but the financial aid official I spoke to said that the only change they will make to my fin. aid package would be to give me less financial aid, they would never give me more money to go to this school. That combined with the high cost of living, makes most students cringe. > Some dorms have rodent and insect issues. > The WONK campaign is a huge money drainer that most students mock.—Personally, I generally like American as a school. I am transferring to my in-state school because it is tens of thousands of dollars cheaper.

Recently, it has also come to my attention that a lot of students are rather close-minded. Students are always talking about how accepting they are of everyone, no matter their race, sexuality, and I'd hope political party. Most students are incredibly liberal, the AU College Dems is the largest organization on campus. My problem is how prejudiced and intolerant a lot of students are about people who are not liberal, which is hypocritical. Anyone who says that they are independent, people will roll their eyes at them. A conservative will openly be called a bigot, racist, or Nazi. There's a huge lack of respect when it comes to politics. And unfortunately, politics is a huge aspect of life at American.