I’d say this - GW and Gtown (and AU for that fact) - all very different.
I’m glad your daughter knows what she wants - not GW or AU so I agree - no reason to ED and really no reason to apply to those. My daughter also felt GW is too urban. We left the tour. We liked Gtown but that’s where I learned about no merit aid schools and I wasn’t willing to pay full… My daughter liked being in the city but wanted a campus like yours and ended up at College of Charleston. Of the three in DC, she applied only to AU and was accepted but liked being in town more vs. further out. This semester she’s in DC through the Washington DC Semester at her school - which participates in the U of SC Honors College DC Semester - so if you go outside of DC, many colleges will have a DC semester offering. She’s working at a well known think tank and the housing is right near the capitol - so you can still get a DC experience if she’s not ultimately in DC.
C of C might be of interest as another mid size although it’s public - but it’s a public LAC. And it’s in downtown - but has a campus. I’d also say - look deeper than just names. Different schools will have different programs. I don’t know if with a 3.7 your daughter could qualify for the Charleston Fellows Program - but they have the Mroz Institute and my daughter has met and spent time with dignitaries from Dennis Ross to the Swiss Ambassador to the US to the former Canadian ambassador to the head of the George Bush Institute on US China Relations. I think many schools have many of these types of opportunities - but you might find out. I think a lot of schools do a lot of great things but don’t necessarily get a lot of credit for them.
I can see why DC is her favorite city. When I dropped her off at the end of August, I just walked and walked - there’s so many cool buildings, neighborhoods, monuments, markets - it’s just a super neat city!! I walked miles every day just taking it all in.
One doesn’t have to ED of course - that’s a choice - and of course BC isn’t in Boston proper no different than Nova isn’t in Philly and Tulane directly in New Orleans although of course in the city limit.
I’d say for Poli Sci there’s far more great schools than you can imagine - so she’d certainly have her pick. So far, my daughter interned for the state where we live last summer in the DOT and is at the think tank now - but had other opportunities as well for the semester.
Your student can do great things no matter where they go to school - if she’s got grit and hustle.
I put a couple C of C links below - because other schools may have similar programs that interest her - but she might not be familiar with them - so what we’ve learned after the fact…if we looked under the hood more at all these schools, we might have found some really cool stuff that might get her giddy. Things like the Mroz Institute which is awesome but admittedly she only found out about after starting.
Best of luck to her as she pursues her education.
Charleston Fellows Program - College of Charleston (cofc.edu)