<p>um is the highest ranked, but I’m confused out of my mind and don’t really give much thought to rankings.
UM = somewhat close to my home, in miami! most people i know love it there.
AU = washington mentorship program, in dc! most people i know either love it or hate it there.
FU (lol)= in new york city!/lincoln center campus. i like the fact that it is a small school. i don’t like the core curriculum that takes up 2 years. i also don’t like that 50% are commuters. most people i know love it there though.</p>
<p>undecided major, I already live in Florida. not a math/science person.
would like to go to a school with not a lot of grade deflation, for grad school admissions.</p>
<p>only visited UM and American…it just confused me more.
i want a change, and i originally wanted to go out of florida. but I also liked UMiami when I visited.</p>
<p>CONFUSED CONFUSED. Please help, thanks! </p>
<p>oh and they all cost me about the same, so $ isn’t part the consideration.</p>
<p>^ we are also from Miami… we visit AU and my D loved it!! she declined UF, FSU, EMORY and we paid the deposit last week!!! it depends also of your major and what you are interested on… UM is fantastic for pre-med studies but not for IR… good luck!</p>
<p>Are you meaning for fall of 09? If so, now I’m confused. If you mean next year…you have lots of time to develop more interests and the decision may make itself.</p>
<p>i mean for fall of 09
some colleges gave me my aid packet late, so they were able to extend the deadline for me.
thanks for the input lavieenchocolat, that was helpful :)</p>
<p>Hi again rose303, My daughter is in the same boat, but with only one school providing the late FA package. That’s what threw me. Whew…three schools to choose from…how lucky you are.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for Miami and Fordham, but I can tell you AU likely meets the criteria you described pretty well. </p>
<p>My daughter stayed away from a couple of schools that had a large commuter population. She really wanted the whole college experience and didn’t believe the commuter atmosphere would provide it.</p>
<p>Also, If you want a change, Miami might be too close to home with too many high school friends attending. Don’t want it to feel like an extension of high school.</p>
<p>I went to AU and transferred (this year) so I guess I was one of the people that disliked it. I will try to state the reasons I disliked it diplomatically to help you decide. I did visit the campus and “fell in love”- I thought, but it is quite different once you get down there.
-It is impossible to get away from politics. Many of the kids don’t really care about helping people they just say they are liberal to fit in and look like a good person.
-It takes at least 45 mins to get into the city and that isn’t even downtown. The campus is really disconnected from DC- so if you want a city experience, not the best place. The shuttle is inconsistent and does not run every 15 mins like it says. Sometimes it stops early too- not fun at 3am on a saturday in the winter.
-There are some good professors- but for the price tag, you are not getting what you pay for.
-Also, the university tries to get money from you anyway they can. They really try to cheat you out of money- like meal plans. The food is horrible and the workers are often rude to students.
-I am from NY and thought the weather would be better- it wasn’t. It rains a lot and was pretty close to NY in coldness.
-It is hard to meet down to earth people, I found a few gems, but many are socially inept and horrible.
-NYC is a lot better for job opportunities unless you are 100% set on international relations. Even then, the UN in NYC!
-I heard so many people that say they want to transfer- a lot do, others stay out of convenience and are miserable.
-The dorms are horrible, they literally look like prison cells. Also if you have any trouble with housing, don’t expect them to do anything. I was in a room with someone who stole my iPod and they “let” ME move (even though I didn’t steal anything and had lived in that room for 6 months- she got put in with me second semester after my other roommate had to transfer to UMD due to financial reasons) only after my mom sent housing a firm email.
-I don’t know many that love it- they are indifferent.
-The frat parties suck.
-The attendance policy is ridiculous- it only counts if you go and pay $15 to have someone at the health center write a note saying you are sick- even if you already paid for AU insurance (this goes with the money thing).
I hope I wasn’t too harsh, but this is the real AU. If you want to do IR though, tough it out, it does have a good reputation and is a good location. If you want urban life- this is not it and it is hard to get into the city. I am transferring to NYC (NYU) so I am biased, but NYC is amazing and even though 50% are commuters at FU (haha, just got it) you would probably have an amazing time. I got in right out of hs but decided not to go (and made the mistake of picking AU). I strongly recommend not going to AU just because I did not find one redeeming quality (except that I met my wonderful boyfriend there and we helped each other through it and both transferred to NYC). Also, no men, I was the rare exception, most people I know are single or have to settle. The man scene at AU is not pretty!</p>
<p>Some good points, but as an upcoming senior at AU, I don’t agree completely.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Yeah… people are political, I’ll agree there, and there are some obnoxious people about it. It’s not everyone, though, and you can escape it if you want. I did! (Mostly because I’m in the art department.)</p></li>
<li><p>It doesn’t take 45 minutes to get downtown unless you’re unlucky with the shuttle and the metro. I went to the Smithsonian (past downtown) from campus today… took 30 minutes, and it was a pleasure, as I had a book to read. Also, I’m amazed at how many students have no idea how to use the bus. It can get you places a lot faster sometimes.</p></li>
<li><p>I know lots of people who love AU, and have had a great experience here. Problem is, the people who hate AU are annoyingly vocal about it sometimes.</p></li>
<li><p>The dorms were actually among the better ones I saw when touring colleges, and my two years in Hughes were totally liveable. NOT prison cells. 24-hour front desk, carpeting, reasonable (not huge) amount of space, great storage in the room, clean bathrooms, controllable AC and heating, some with thermostats. I found that north side dorms (Hughes, McDowell, and Leonard) tended to be nicer in terms of actual facilities.</p></li>
<li><p>Attendance policies tend to vary by professor. I’ve never had to get a note for being sick, much less pay 15 dollars for one… take that up with your professor!</p></li>
<li><p>DC is just fine for job opportunities. I’ve had two great resume-building DC internships, both paid, and I’m not even in politics. And while paid internships may be somewhat rare in DC… they don’t exist in New York at all!</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The “real” AU is often what you make of it. I find that my experience here is largely shaped by the choices I made, the activities I joined, and the people I met.</p>
<p>I went on an official visit to AU and it was literally the worst two days of my life.
The school is incredibly far away from the city, everyone there was ugly and out-of-shape which for me, as a student athlete, made me feel very out of place.
The campus is also really ugly. </p>
<p>Fordham, however is gorgeous, all the students are really good looking and even though its in the bronx and not manhattan, the commute is not that bad. The commuter students are not that significant and everyone who goes there loves it.</p>
<p>^ i don’t agree with you at all!! i went there in April to visit and i found the campus gorgeous, very nice people and in shape ( who cares if they are not models??? are you good looking yourself??? it’s subjective!!) and really it’s much better living in DC than in the Bronx! and the school is not far away from the city, like 15 minutes by car!! are you spoil??? with this point of view it’s better for you to be going somewhere else!! and good luck!</p>
<p>You’re not going to have a car on campus, through metro and the AU shuttle it takes about an hour into the city and I visited twice, once in July and once in October and found the campus very unappealing.</p>
<p>^ AU is only at 5 miles more or less from downtown DC! do you think it’s really far away??? everywhere you’ll go it’ll be the same or worse! and the campus is a very nice campus. Anyways tastes are subjectives…</p>
<p>almost every other one of the DC-area schools have more accessibility to the actual city than American does. Taking mass transit it takes about an hour to get into DC. Even driving takes a while because DC traffic is notoriously bad. And the campus is very institutional/industrial looking.</p>
<p>^ we got a rental car and in 20 minutes we got into DC! Maybe it looks industrial but it has a beautiful garden and gorgeous flowers and trees and it has the perfect size you can walk everywhere! maybe you like gothic style! but don’t say AU is ugly because it’s not, just different… in April it was gorgeous!!</p>
<p>i remember talking to a cab driver in dc a few months ago. he was saying the drivers don’t even bother going to au… too far from the city. it is going to take AT LEAST 45+ minutes to get to the city. this is if one catches the shuttle and metro with no wait at all, which is nearly impossible considering it comes every 20-30 minutes (despite what the web site says). metro at tenleytown is also a nuisance… usually a 10-15 min wait compared to the instantaneous nature of NYC.</p>
<p>i also loved when my girlfriend and i weren’t allowed into a party at AU unless we stopped holding hands. faithfulness is something the party scene at au looks down upon. i have heard of dozens of rape stories and hazing going on at those parties, so stay clear of frats at AU at all costs.</p>
<p>and yeah, no cars on campus for freshmen. they force you to buy an extremely expensive meal plan which you will only use half of, overcharge on everything, hire ex-convicts (who are very rude) to work for them, and drugged-up workers at subway that cannot differentiate between turkey and cheese. also, don’t expect to get food using your expensive meal plan on saturdays. everything is closed, and the dining hall closes at 8 every other day. i feel bad for the foreign students that are accustomed to eating late… they had to resort to snack food that likely served as a culture shock.</p>
<p>but the worst thing from my experience was the demographic there. argumentative confrontation is prevalent here since pretentiousness runs wild there. escaping to your dorm is out of the question either, as they are the smallest i have ever seen and the lounges reek of decay. there is a thing as being too politically involved, and the people at AU are so engrossed in their presentation and psuedo-intellectual ability that they have no recollection of social skills. you could probably find a few friends, but you’re going to have to sort through the hordes of misfits before you find anyone that is able to normally function in society.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my d. is living in Alexandria, Virginia, and commuting via public transportation to AU this summer part-time for work. It takes her one hour.</p>
<p>I just graduated from AU and can say that it definitely does not take more than 45 mins to get downtown. AU is probably one of the most connected schools in the district because it has both the red line metro and tons of bus routes nearby. Getting downtown takes maybe 30 mins (the shuttle runs at least every 10 minutes) and getting to Dupont takes even less time. </p>
<p>While people definitely feel free to share their views (AU is the most politically active campus in the country), people are normally open to opposing viewpoints as well. </p>
<p>Finally, as a former undergraduate fraternity member, I can assure you that while there are always some people in every group who make poor decisions, social life at AU is exciting and safe provided you make the right decisions for yourself. There is so much to do in the city outside of parties and even then most people are just to have fun, faithfulness welcome.</p>
<p>Just wanted to comment that, while I’ve not attended AU, I will say that the food thing is definetely untrue- PETA named it #1 Vegetarian Friendly out of ALL of the schools in North America, counting Canada. However, the dorm rooms ain’t that pretty. >_<
But if you really want D.C, check out Catholic! If it had my major, I would fight tooth and nail to go there- it’s beautiful, and the Metro is located not 10 feet from the campus.
…
I read more after I originally posted this so I’m posting more…
…
Some people are commenting about how far it is from the city- AU is at most 30 minutes from the city- but what nobody has yet commented on is that AU is undoubtedly in the nicest, safest quarter of D.C- it’s right next to Embassy Row.
Oh, and another Food!Plus- There’s a Whole Foods really, really nearby!</p>