George Washington University
Reviews

Awesome, but a Few Downsides

Going to a school who's campus is in the heart of Washington, DC is an incredible experience. If you have a passion for politics or world affairs then GW is the perfect place. Your exposure to the real world and networking opportunities is amazing, from guest speakers like Robert Gibbs, Karl Rove, Israeli Ambassador to the outstanding professors this is the place! I tend to lean more towards the type of guy who's pretty studious but likes to get out and have fun on the weekends. The biggest downside to GW that I have experienced is that although Greek life is only 25% of the student body it still runs the campus social life. In other words if you're not in a fraternity or sorority who miss out on a lot of the social scene which can get very frustrating at times. Other than that, GW is an awesome place to go to school and having Washington, DC as your campus is a huge benefit in my mind.

health care terrible

Universally regarded health center as having terrible staff and way overpriced. i highly advise setting up another doctor outside of the university.

counseling staff is terrible. i went in for some help with adjusting and they were absolutely terrible. it truly is a matter of "how fast can we get this person out of here" as opposed to "i want to help this person".

Sumer-Richards by far the worst of them all. Very insensitive and cold. Terrible advise.

Easy Enough Considering All the Legal/Government Stuff to Be Done

Would be easier if the same people stayed at the Fin Aid office but they seem to come and go.

Special Interdisciplinary Majors

So, what's great about GW is that it allows students to design their own major (I've done this, creating one in "Urban Studies" that's intended to roughly parallel an existing major of this sort at Brown University). I highly recommend this option for students whose interests span multiple disciplines but who can make a coherent, compelling case as to why any existing major does not accurately define their interests.

Please note that internship opportunities are ripe in Washington, and as long as you're pro-active and work hard, you WILL find an internship or job that pays.

Otherwise, the workload for me has been whatever I've made it essentially. It's easy to earn B-range grades at GW, but more work is probably necessary to earn an A-range grade.

GW: No Car Necesary

Because GW is located in the heart of DC, transportation is great no matter where you are going. DC has extensive metro and bus system that allows easy exploration of the city outside of campus. There are 3 easily accessible airports around DC, as well as trains, and buses that go all over the country so getting home is a breeze. The university also provides a busing service, 4ride, that will take you anywhere within a 3 block radius of campus at night

GW Dining

All freshman have a fixed meal plan. Half they must spend at our campus cafeteria, J Street, the other half is available to use at surrounding restaurants. While J Street can be a little repetitive and has restricted hours, its great being able to explore some of the great restaurants in DC!

Newer Dorms Are the Best

The school has been doing a lot of renovations with housing. Most of the upperclassmen dorms have been newly renovated and are awesome. But some of the older dorms are gross and falling apart.

Average Boys

There are some cute guys but they tend to be jerks. The good ones are already in relationships so there isn't really a point in trying. But many of the guys are fun to hang out with, just don't come to GW hoping to find a husband, find your bridesmaids instead.

Athletic Centers

The athletic centers are very nice, however the sports teams are not very good. The gym has many machines and is a nice environment to work out in.

Vern Express

All students are charged a fee of $1000 for this transportation but we do not all even need to use it. I think that the students who live on the Mount Vernon campus should pay more than the students who live on Foggy Bottom, as most of the Foggy Bottom residents do not go to the Vern often enough to justify making us ALL pay $1000 for some unreliable buses.

Good Places Nearby.

Good to eat out when you finally get tired of j street food. Can be a bit pricey depending on where you go.

Housing Is Expensive but Fun!

Off-Campus housing in DC allows a lot of possibilities. You can either live in Virgina, Maryland, or the District. For accessibility, living in Virgina is probably the best bet for George Washington students. However, it is rather expensive to live there. Living in Maryland is cheaper but much farther away. The District provides a happy medium between affordability and distance, although it is harder to find housing in the District.

Greek Life Supplements Academics

George Washington University is a highly competitive school. Greek life supplements the achievements of the students by providing a smaller community for students and creating activities to participate in.

Wide Variety

Apartments are clean, abundant, and well located. Prices for a one room apartment in the Foggy Bottom area typically range from $750 - $2,500 per month. I recommend finding at least one roomate with whom to split rent.

Declaration of Inspection

All in all, The George Washington University is a lively area consisting of many individuals having a dynamic range of personalities. With that being said, there are some individuals who can cause disturbances more often than not. This year, there were several crime alerts involving suspictious looking individuals, violations for disturbing the peace, and a few armed robberies. It is understandable that the university is an open campus, but with it being at arms length to The White House security should be managed better.

It Could Be Better

Even though it is pretty fancy, the new J-Street does not let students make decisions for themselves. Yeah, I know that Wendy's and maybe Chick-fil-A are (were) not the healthiest food on campus, but they were cheap and fast to get, and that came in handy for a lot of students. Now, though, we have a bunch of fancy green places to choose from, but they are still overpriced and, despite a variety of names, they all offer the same.

The Economics Department

The Economics department at GWU is incredible. Not only it has special strengths in public economics and international economics (particularly if you major in Int'l Affairs with the concentration in Int'l Economics) but also the professors are top-notch; most of them are NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research Scholars), World Bank and IMF consultants, and serve or have served in the Fed. They are extremely knowledgeable and really approachable.

City

Nothing like having a Bin Laden rally on a Sunday night. DC is a really cool place to live. It's just too bad that this school has been taken over by selfish people.

A Vibrant Social Atmosphere

GW has a vibrant, energetic atmosphere and provides a dynamic, hands-on freshman experience. Being in the middle of a city provides you with countless cultural, educational, social, dining and professional opportunities. DC is, in my opinion, the ideal college city, and provides fantastic networking opportunities (for those that seek them of course). With that said, DC is also a very expensive city, and it is very easy to get carried away and spend your money away on cabs, bars, restaurants, and clubs. Housing at GW is great, as most dorms are very spacious and clean (although they are very expensive)

Report Card Is Wrong

a lot of cute girls with a lot of great personalities, still rough spots but a lot of diamonds

Computers on Campus

There are plenty of computers, but the internet can get very slow. The network does not handle crunch times (registration for Spring classes, for example) very well, but if you need to go write a paper and print it out, there will almost always be a place to do so.

Great Wireless All Over Campus, Computers Varried

The wireless network is available campus-wide, even outdoors. The signal is typically pretty strong. They have two wireless networks, one for general use and another that can only be used my Apple computers and smartphones. They both have decent speed but the general-student ("gwireless") network will terminate its users sessions every 1-3 hours, at seemingly random times. There is also Cat-5 Ethernet internet available in Residence Halls, and this wired network is very fast and reliable and never times out.

The computers are varied across campus. The engineering school has brand new computers in its labs (as of 2011) and they seem to replace their equipment very frequently. Some academic buildings have newer PCs than others, but they are all good enough to serve their purpose. Printing is never free and is expensive (at least, it seems to be, but I have no real comparison).

I would recommend that students purchase laptop computers for themselves. Depending on one's major, it is probably possible to get by without a personal computer (the library is open 24 hours/day), but it removes dependence on school equipment and the ability to work anywhere on campus. I would also recommend purchasing a printer, because It is probably cheaper in the long-run and it is much less of a hassle than having to go to the library or another academic building with computer labs every time you need to print something.

Off Campus Dining

Many local off campus dining locations offer a GWorld payment option, which gives the students the opportunity to eat out and enjoy ethnic cuisines near the school.

Always Something New

Although some of the classrooms are a little old, GW is constantly constructing new dorms or buildings and working on buildings to improve them. They spend a lot of money on keeping the buildings running with the latest technology. They could benefit from less construction and lower tuitions, but they do have some really nice facilities.

Athletic Facilities

The athletic facilities on the Foggy Bottom campus are really nice, but the facilities on the Mount Vernon campus are less than ideal. The FB gym has multiple floors with all different types of machines, an indoor track, swimming pool, squash courts, basketball courts, and boxing equipment. It can get really crowded in the afternoon/ evening, but with so many floors and machines, you can go at any time and people watch as you work out.