Did you recently visit George Washington University? Share your experience with the community! Post your review in the comments below.
Some ideas for what to share:
- When did you visit?
- Where did you stay? Would you recommend it?
- Where did you eat? Did you try any local specialties?
- How did you get there? What’s the best transportation mean to get to-from the campus?
- What was the campus vibe?
- What did you think of the dorms?
- What are some must-see things in or around campus?
- How were the school facilities?
- Did you like it more or less than you thought you would? Why?
- Did anything surprise you?
We’d love to hear any tips or recommendations you can share for people planning their GWU visit!
I came here hoping to read other’s perspectives. We toured last week and I was so excited about the school (it and American were high on my list, but now both are off (AU for different reasons), but our GWU tour was so bad. Like, the worst of the six we did last week. I have been trying not to let it influence my feelings about the school, but I can’t shake it. it wasn’t just the person who walked us around (rushed pace and speech, we saw nothing of interest), but the slide show in the room before we broke out into groups was similarly terrible. person’s computer died, so we didn’t get to see more than 2 slides, and she just shrugged and said, “Well, sorry, I didn’t charge my battery, and anyway, you can find all this info on the website.” lol. okay. It left a bad taste in my mouth unfortunately.
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We toured about a year ago (regular tour) and our guide was not that great. We didn’t really get to see any classrooms, the inside of the library or an actual dorm room (just inside the hall). We’re going to Admitted Students day this coming week (GW is one of our D24’s top 2 choices) and I am interested to see if the day is any more informative.
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I hope that it is and she gets a positive sense of the school. We went from the main campus (Foggy Bottom) tour that was so underwhelming I was pretty bummed out, to a self-guided tour of their offsite “campus/dorms” that left us and other families with us confused. I feared that they have so many wealthy families paying full price that their tour didn’t really care about “selling” the school, but for the price and the decision of where to spend four years, it’s a huge decision. I have another year, and would love to hear how your daughter liked the admitted tour and what she decides. thank you!
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We did a regular tour on Thursday. This time around we had a better guide, but still very little opportunity to actually go into the buildings. We went into the lobby of the science building, and because a parent asked–were able to do a quick walk-thru of the dining hall in Shenkman. We took the shuttle over to The Vern–17 minutes there and 12 minutes back. It is surprisingly small! Very green, quiet at the time. The next day was Admitted Students day. My thoughts on the schedule: check in from 8-9:30–you only need to get there and check in–there’s nothing else really going on so. Welcome Session 9:30-9:50 is Pep Band and video of highlights in the area (and graduation on the National Mall). They divide you up by college for the Academic Session 10:00-11:30 and I have to say this easily could have been a half hour presentation. They finished 45 minutes early and we had time to ask questions or get up and walk around. They didn’t introduce all of the 4 speakers so I’m not sure exactly who 2 were. We were in the Columbian Collage of Arts & Sciences section. Next they sent kids off for Student Connections (11:30-1:00) and Parents had an Insider Panel (12:00-1:00). These were the interesting and informative parts of the day. D24 reports that they did a mini-tour around campus and were able to meet other students. They got a cookie which was very tasty and tried learning the GW song. I’m sure there was more to it–but in any case she had fun. The Insider Panel for parents was run by the Dean of Students and had staff from various areas including GWU police, housing & dining, counseling center, student resources, diversity and academics. They gave thoughtful answers to the prearranged questions and also during the Q&A from parents. Then you’re sort of free for the day–you can eat in one of the halls (you get passes telling you which) and you can do a residence hall tour, Mt Vernon tour or there is a resource fair set up in the student union. Resource fair is ok. D24 has a friend who lives in Thurston so we got a private tour LOL. Rooms were decent (they have AC!) and there is an great space called the Penthouse on the top floor where they can study or hangout.
All and all I think they could do better with Admitted students day–give more insight into actual majors and let you see inside the library and classrooms. But in the end–after doing some deep dives into their website for academic/major info and considering all the school and city have to offer–she decided GW is her place and she’s committed!!
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We did the GW tour about a year ago and it was really bad. The information session was packed and was run by an intern reading off an Ipad. She was very hard to understand and read word for word what was on the slide. Really poorly done.
Then divided into groups for tours. Didn’t see any buildings on the inside except for the basement of some random building where we stood by the wall. The tour guide did not speak English very well and was unable to answer any questions of parents.
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I’m glad your daughter committed and is excited, that’s great! Do you know where she will live? We didn’t like Mt. Vern, it felt sleepy and eerily quiet, but I am glad your daughter got to see a regular dorm and hope she gets to live where she will be happiest!
Thanks–she’s excited. She’s found a roommate (they met at Admitted Students Day) but housing hasn’t opened yet. I believe it is next week. They have to rank 17 options (LOL) and hope for the best. She’s not a huge fan of the Vern but realizes she could possibly end up there.