McMazyad

Hi guys,

I have been accepted to both George Washington University and Southern Methodist University to study master of Information Systems Technology.


I really don't know which one to chose, the cost of tuition is not an issue.

Washington DC vs Dallas...

I'm international student, is it easy to get internship in Dallas?

any thoughts, ideas or opinions?

dtakeda92

If you check out any smu brochure, it's always touting how awesome dallas is for business/internships. i know they have some pretty great business internships but idk about MIS degrees. Also SMU's general career/internship center is fantastic.

I would just do general research of tech firms in both cities and see which one has the most.

srosemom

My daughter has been accepted to both SMU and GWU. She got the same scholarship money from both. She's interested in business. Which one is best?

Ana1

For business definitely SMU/Cox. We visited both schools last year and we hated GWU. There is only one school cafeteria, buildings left and right in different blocks of a busy city. No cohesive plan by school to build school spirit. SMU has a beautiful campus and more of a typical college life. Dallas is the best place for business and SMU is one of the best schools for outside networking. "Economist magazine ranked Cox #10 in the world for “potential to network.” Visiting the campus and dealing with admissions in both schools, you can see the diference on how the whole school is business organized and corporate where as GWU was more like a DC federal agency.

cornelliot

Based on academics and what your daughter is interested in, I'd say SMU. Dallas is a bastion of opportunities in the business field, and Washington, D.C. might be a bit overwhelming, especially since it doesn't have your typical college campus, as Ana mentioned above. However, your daughter may not like the social atmosphere at SMU. My family has gone to SMU for generations and most of them live in Highland Park (where the campus is) in Dallas, and I can see how the students may come off as snooty or standoffish. I can't say the same for GW as I haven't really experienced it the way a student would. I hope that helps.

johnangle

Okay I feel like I should chime in on this one after sitting back. My best friend from home and I were both deciding on schools and for him it came down to SMU and GW. I chose SMU, he chose GW, and we've both been very happy with our decisions. Both great schools, but the experiences are very different. SMU is a much more traditional college experience (grassy campus, big athletics, liberal arts tradition, etc) while GW is very fast-paced and modern (you feel more like you're in a city, surrounded by NGO and gov't opportunities, no "campus"). My friend Mark acknowledges, however, that Cox is the much better business school unless you know you want to go into government/NGO type work. GW also has stronger name recognition on the East Coast for the most part. That was fine and fit with our personalities and we've visited one another and are both happy with our choices.

srosemom

Thanks everybody for your posts. My daughter chose SMU for many of the reasons that ya'll posted. She loves the campus and the community feel. She feels comfortable and is very excited to move to Dallas. Pony UP!!

ReverseTime

You can always argue specific discipline rankings, but undergrad is more about the total human experience as opposed to strict academic experience. GW will likely carry more weight and respect outside of Dallas.