George Washington (Univeristy) and Me

After several days of a dull routine of waking up, going to work, reading about the debt-limit talks in DC and sleeping, I finally got a day off a work and out of the house. Sure today was probably just as stressful as a work day with all the ridiculous time limits I felt everywhere I went but it was totally fun. This next bit is going to sound mean but I honestly have just as much fun by myself as when I am with friends (no offense to anyone!)

As the title of the post suggest I woke up bright and early (so like 7:45...) in order to get ready to travel into DC with my dad and to visit George Washington University. But this time, I was going on a real legit information session and tour. I mean, in my trips to the University of Virginia and the University of Maryland - College Park I toured the campuses but it was sort of included in the activity that I was doing at that University. This time I actually had to sign up online for an information session that lasted an hour (but I learned so much from it so it was worth it!) and then a tour of the University.

Now for those of you that don't know, George Washington University (from here on out it'll be referred to as GWU) is actually right in the middle of DC. It's literally 3 blocks away from the White House! Clearly since it is in the middle of a city there wasn't a beautiful scenic landscape that I took million of pictures of. GWU basically owned a 5 by 6 blocks area and all the buildings in that square box was theirs. They called this the Foggy Bottom Campus. So there were several building dedicated to dorms, buildings where classes were taught, a student union type building, etc. What was really different though was that you had to cross streets and other non-GWU people to get to those buildings! The University really integrated with the outside community and you felt like you were still in DC, which of course you are, but it felt like you were in downtown DC not on a campus. It's sort of difficult to explain I guess. But despite feeling like you were in downtown they still had the traditional quadrangle lawn thing going on.

There's old George Washington as a statue!

I also noticed something really unique as I was walking the brick paths and it totally captivated me. When I asked the tour guide (a rising senior who is not only double majoring in political science and communications but also has a concentration in Chinese!) about it she told us that every graduating student gets a brick that is engraved with their name, degree and graduation year. That brick is then put into one of the pathways and stays there FOREVER. That way the student is still a part of the GWU community even though they may not be there physically. How cool is that??

GWU also has another campus which is about 15 minutes away (they have free bus shuttles that travel 24/7 between the two campuses (I wish I could say campi instead of campuses...it just sounds weird...)) and has a more college-y feel with much more greenery, sort of hidden away from all the city noise. The Mount Vernon Campus as it is called is newer and houses a large portion of Freshmen in their new West Hall which is also LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certified. Assuming I apply and decide to go to GWU this is definetely where I would want to live Freshmen year before migrating to the more urban Foggy Bottom Campus.

West Hall

Another other cool thing that I liked about the university was their big push toward sustainability and the whole reduce, reuse, recycle concept. I don't know why but that's somehow become a factor when I'm thinking about what colleges I would like to apply two in just a year and a half (!) If the school isn't putting a lot of effort into being green its kind of a turn off. GWU though is definitely succeeding though, they even had these bins in the Wellness Center's Gym!

And finally they also had a mock Wall Street Trading Room for the business students. Very cool.

So overall I sort of liked GWU even though I certainly have mixed feelings about its lack of a clearly defined campus with lots of wilderness. Maybe colleges in big cities just aren't for me? Who knows. What I do know is that I love DC and from what the admissions director told us at the information session there are more internship and work opportunities than there are undergraduates in this big database they have. Not only that but like I mentioned earlier the White House is just three blocks away as well as Capitol Hill, the IMF, all the Museums, the National Archives...the whole city is at your fingertips, its incredible. I'm pretty sure that I will visit at least one more time and as for whether I will apply when the time comes...well let's just say GWU has certainly caught my eye.

UYL,
Andre