haverford vs. georgetown.

h50
Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:55:35 +0000

I must say that, after months of stalking College Confidential throughout the college process, this is the thread that made me finally take the plunge to join and post. Here’s my take, from the perspective of a Haverford '13 ED admit who lives in Washington DC. (Sorry in advance for a long post, but I sense one coming…)

*THE CONCERN OVER NAMES - Despite loving the school, every time I said I was looking at Haverford to a relative or friend and got a blank stare in response (or the occasional “I’m sure it’s a very good school”), it hurt on the inside. It’s hard, especially for the kind of motivated and talented students that are applying to schools like Haverford and other top LACs, to go to a school that doesn’t get instant name recognition.

Ultimately, though, you need to really ask yourself what school environment (not name) is going to give you the best four year experience. If you choose a school you don’t like just for the reputation associated with its name (which is not at all your situation, but an exaggerated scenario for the sake of example), you might not do as well academically if you’re not happy socially, and then you lose all advantages of attending that big name school in the first place. An F is an F, whether it’s from Harvard or anywhere else.

Also, from things I’ve heard, I have to agree with what’s been said above about Haverford being very well respected by people who need to know. For example, I took a summer class at Johns Hopkins University and the PhD student who was teaching it praised one of Haverford’s academic departments as much as, if not more than, the same undergrad one at Hopkins.


WASHINGTON, DC vs. HAVERFORD, PA - I love living in DC, and I can completely understand why someone might want to go to college here. At the same time, though, I think many people overestimate the role the city itself will play in their college experience. College life is very insular, whether you’re in a city or not. Your life centers around your academics and extracurriculars on campus, and your social life will be rooted there too. It’s really graduate students who can make much better use of being in a city like DC.


Trust me when I say that the best DC has to offer is not in Georgetown, unless you happen to come to DC to shop at chain retailers like J. Crew, Gap, etc. To get downtown to the Mall, government buildings, Verizon Center, and many cultural institutions, you would need to take several buses to even get to a subway station. I tried running Gtown to the Smithsonian Metro station through Metro’s trip planner, and it could take around 30-50 minutes - as long as it takes to get from Haverford to Philly. (I’ve never seen any Georgetown University transportation, but I’m sure a system must exist to minimize this time.) So take that into account - you might end up utilizing DC much less than you think.


ONE MORE THOUGHT - Georgetown is a Jesuit school (albeit probably a more secular and liberal one than most), which will provide a much different environment than a liberal leaning school with no religious affiliation (though with a Quaker tradition). Be sure to take your thoughts on both of those environments into account as well.


I know I’ve poured out a lot here, and I hope at least some of it helps. Good luck with your decision, and (maybe) see you next year!