U. of Maryland

Not to swing off of Maryland's nuts, but it's a top-20 school, the subway gets you downtown in 30 mins, it has a campus, unlike GW, and employers know that UMD is a competitive school with quality programs. I'm from MD and didn't want to go there, but did for financial concerns (not the type you're describing), and was surprised by what I received.

That being said, for the program you want AU or Georgetown might be better choices. There's also the fact that transferring might just slap a Band-aid on a bullet wound, like others have said.

And ABC123, that was a cold comment about the hoops team. You know Gary Williams isn't interested in recruiting anymore, he's got blonde grad interns to "assess."

If you pick a DC school, keep in mind that other than the expensive tuition, you'll have to sell blood everyday just to pay for the living expenses. Everything costs more in DC.

funny story.....when I was working at an investment bank in NYC a few years ago, they had a presenter come and talk about MBA programs, GMATS, schools, etc. He went through the top 20 schools and dissected them, giving inside information and tips on each one. I noticed he left Maryland out. So after the presentation was over, I went up to him and asked why he didn't include Maryland. He said "because I think its a piece of crap school that doesn't belong in the top 20"......I was like "cool...thanks....great presentation".....

That being said though, people aren't that aware of rankings so the name doesn't carry as much weight as I mentioned before....trust me, I always want to tell people that it was ranked #21 business school when I graduated in 1998.....I probably start to sound pretty pathetic after a while....lol....

here's another thing to consider....

http://www.theeagleonline.com/home/i...c-37ca52ac6c2d

One of my best friends goes to AU (loves it, FWIW) and I've looked into it in the past. I'm not as big a jackass as those described in the article, but my biting sarcasm and latent hatred of poor people* seem to qualify me for admission to AU.

Isn't it sort of in suburban D.C.?



*joke

University of MD area has gotten a lot better over the years but its still pretty ******. Honeslty, I dont think it hurts to apply to UMD, GW, GU, AU, and Hopkins. Regardless of what Georgetown lovers or students tell you, Hopkins is the number one school for Public Policy/ International Affairs. Yes I know this is arguable and its all rankings but Gtown is a Ivy/ Hopkins reject school and kids who want to apply to the best public policy program look towards Hopkins, not Gtown or GW. But Gtown and GW are still really good...

Also, UMD is NOT a top 20 school. However it has a lot of good programs. GW is more campus like these years than it was in the past. Its not a traditional campus but theres still a campus. However if you wanted a liberal arts education and wanted to do something with the sciences, GW's colleges of arts and science is what brings the school down. But since your public policy your gravy. However if you ARE going to pay loans, you should go to Hopkins or Georgetown over GW for sure and start looking at a lot of other colleges not only in the area. GW is good for political public policy sort of stuff but no one that has gone there ever been able to justify the 55 thousand dollars it costs to go there.

U isn't quite in the thick of things quite like GW or Gtown, but it's in DC, and more accessible to downtown than UMD (right on the red line, though the stop is a hike from some of AU's campus).

Despite that article, I've never known a lot of amjacks from AU, but I know MANY from Gtown (again, purely anecdotal). They might more closely qualify as republi-jacks. Most of the guys and gals I know from AU are more of the trust fund boho stripe.

Just goes to show that you should visit any school you consider going to and get a feel for it yourself.

Also, Gary Williams is busy recruiting... recruiting beers in Ocean City.

You can be a trust fund kid and still be an Amjack or NJ Guido. Go to GW and see for yourself

In deference to you, I was holding off on describing my experiences with GW kids

Myself, I considered GW for undergrad pretty seriously, but the money wasn't there. Tiny liberal arts schools rule!

Originally Posted by shoreman1782

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In deference to you, I was holding off on describing my experiences with GW kids

Myself, I considered GW for undergrad pretty seriously, but the money wasn't there. Tiny liberal arts schools rule!

You can go off all you want. I transferred.

Originally Posted by ghulkhan

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Regardless of what Georgetown lovers or students tell you, Hopkins is the number one school for Public Policy/ International Affairs. Yes I know this is arguable and its all rankings but Gtown is a Ivy/ Hopkins reject school and kids who want to apply to the best public policy program look towards Hopkins, not Gtown or GW. But Gtown and GW are still really good...


Not to be overly argumentative over a small point, but your points are very debatable, if not incorrect.

http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=22838

You can find the original article out there somewhere, I read it back in the Spring. GW was top ten as well for masters programs. Yes, I know that SAIS has been number one at times before, and rankings change, etc., but the point is that for masters programs, GU (and GW, isn't far off either, for that matter) is in no way second teir to SAIS or Harvard.

PHd program rankings are a different story, but they are also very different programs.

My wife strongly considered most of the schools being mentioned here for med school (I realize there will sometimes be major differences in how an undergrad and med student would perceive their school). All of the schools you're mentioning aside from GW are in areas I wouldn't want to go to school or live- especially UM and some of the satellites of JH. UM campus/area sucks IMO, and they have the worst sports fans around (the entire ACC is in agreement here). But if you want to go to a huge school, with lots of activities, social events, etc. that will be the best bet.

It sounds like you're bored with your current situation and looking to have some fun along with continuing school- nothing wrong with that. I think the best combination of rep, tuition/cost of living, location, and fun factor would be Georgetown and JH.

Originally Posted by life_interrupts

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And ABC123, that was a cold comment about the hoops team. You know Gary Williams isn't interested in recruiting anymore, he's got blonde grad interns to "assess."

Ha!

I'm sure you all will be in the mix again next year. I'd love to see a GU-MD match up...serious pride on the line for many I know at both schools

Originally Posted by shoreman1782

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!

The man's a Tom Robbins fan -- Fierce Invalids Home from Hot climates is a very underrated book.