American University

SpaceElfMom
Thu, 20 Jun 2013 03:49:10 +0000

My info is old, but I was a graduate student there in the mid 90s, and really loved the place. Before I went to AU, I used to think of it too expensive for what it offered, as I did my undergrad and previous graduate work at big state flagships, and was used to the value for money you get at state schools. I chose it for grad school because I was already living and working in DC, and you could get there on the metro. The more I immersed myself in AU, the more impressed I became. I’d walk across campus and run into many people who knew me, that’s a big deal when you are used to being a number at a big state school. My grad school classes were small and the professors were really accessible, and caring. I think the same thing was true for undergrads, as some of the advanced undergrads would occasionally appear in my classes. I remember going to parties with a mixture of grad and undergrad students from the department, sometimes at a professor’s home. It was really warm and nurturing. At least for graduate school, they get an amazing caliber of student for their ranking. I was in classes with people who worked for various government agencies, and foreign grad students who also worked at the World Bank or an embassy, and since classes were small you could learn a lot from your peers. I also had positive interactions with many of the people in the administrative areas of the university, many of them are grad students themselves, working for the tuition remission. I did miss some of the resources you have at a bigger school, but not in a way that effected my education, just occasionally I’d notice that we did not have a big football weekend with tailgating or something, but being able to pop down to the Smithsonian more than made up for that.