George Washington University

Date: Apr 08 2003
Major: Political Science (This Major's Salary over time)
I went to GW mostly because i wanted to live near DC and out of the crummy pool of schools i was looking at, it was the best. After spending a semester there, i wouldn't say that going to GW was the worst mistake i ever made, becuase i did learn some important lessons, but it would rank pretty high. The university really presents itself to prospective students differently than it really is. Notice that the brochures are filled with pages telling you about the wonderful city and the internship oppurtunities, but very little about the actual school. but GW does market itself very aggressively, and after a while you start believing what it tells you. GW seems to be the place where rich kids go if they want to live in DC, but don't want to work hard. the classes in general were easy and required very little work, but grading often felt arbitrary. the classes are huge and most freshman classes are full long before people have signed up for them. I ended up in mostly upperclassman level classes becuase of this—but surprisingly i found them no more challenging than my freshman classes. I've heard good things about orientation, but whatever you do, don't sign up for the later sessions. they have you move into your dorm early (i ended up being the only person in my dorm for a week), all the classes are filled, and everyone brings their parents. I was in the elliot school, and found that the advisors were swamped and usually not even available to students. if you are looking for any real advice on what classes to take, ask an upperclassman. the dorms are nice, but you pay out the nose for them. the features like private bathrooms and kitchennettes also make it so that students never have to leave their rooms, leaving dorms very sterile and with no sense of community. i grew up on a state college campus, and GW completely changed the way that i felt about college. i found making friends extremely difficult, and the friends i did have never seemed close. it seemed more like a support group for miserable kids than a friendship. it also taught me that i didn't have to work hard, go to class, or manage my time. i came from a very competitive high school, and i would say that my intellectual ablilities decreased at my time there. GW also made me feel like i was under more academic pressure than i really was. the classes are easty but that doesn't really mean that you'll get all A's, and that's frustrating. the short time that i was there made me grow up a lot, to the point where a lot of times it's hard for me to stop worrying and be a 19 year old again. i loved living in the city and there are a lot of oppurtunities if you look past the campus. on campus extra curriculars tend to be clique-y and disorganized. meeting up with organizations off campus can really help make up for the lack of community. on campus jobs can be hard to get, but if you are willing to walk the 15 minutes to georgetown, then jobs are plentiful and pay well. i had one and found it was the only ray of reality in the breeze-by, live in four star hotels, wear your gucci shoes to class world of GW. I would also agree that it's a fairly unnattractive campus, and also one where no one really dates. people shack up a lot or have people at home, but it's hard to find a normal couple. people also care an obscene amount about how you're dressed. i have never met so many rich girls with daddy's credit card in my life. sex in the city is a way of life, and everyone looks like they are going clubbing for their 8am classes. i would even have people i had never met come up to me and comment on my cloths. the first few weeks of school—which are supposed to be fun and social—i found very lonely, to the point that i had doors slammed on my face when i went around the halls of my dorm to introduce myself. a lot of people have a chip on their shoulder here, and think that you owe them something becuase they are smart and have money. i left GW after a semester, which at the time seemed like i was giving up a lot. after a semester at the state school that i had grown up near, i realized that about the only thing that i really got from GW was a broken spirit and a lot of debt, and i'm glad that i got out of it when i did. i write to my friends, and after two years they still don't seem to be enjoying their classes or their lives as much as the kids i go to class with now. i would tell anyone thinking about GW to really take a look at it when they visit. Notice that no one carries a backpack—it's all kate spade bags. notice that between classes no one is talking to anyone else—they're all on cell phones. sit in on some classes, and talk to some students. i have never met so many unhappy people in one place. i am transferring again in the spring—this time around i know what to look for and what i really want. i wish that the first time around i hadn't been so easily swayed by marketing and financial aid packages. GW really could be a great school, but between a cynical, lazy student body, a faculty that seems caught up in their own research, and a completely inept administration, it falls far short of it's potential