Education

Friday, 9 August 2013

Bad Mood Rising

In 2006 I tried to get an article published in the Education section of the Guardian, that fearless advocate of radical causes and scourge of the establishment, outlining the many flaws and errors in the Times Higher Education Supplement -- Quacquarelli Symonds (as they were then) World University Rankings, especially its "peer review". Unfortunately, I was told that they would be wary of publishing an attack on a direct rival. That was how University Ranking Watch got started.

Since then QS and Times Higher Education have had an unpleasant divorce, with the latter now teaming up with Thomson Reuters. New rankings have appeared, some of them to rapidly disappear -- there was one from Wuhan and another from Australia but they seem to have vanished. The established rankings are spinning off subsidiary rankings at a bewildering rate.

As the higher education bubble collapses in the West everything is getting more competitive including rankings and everybody -- except ARWU -- seems to be getting rather bad-tempered.

Rankers and academic writers are no longer wary about "taking a pop" at each other. Recently, there has been an acrimonious exchange between Ben Sowter of QS and Simon Marginson of Melbourne University. This has gone so far as to include the claim that QS has used the threat of legal action to try to silence critics.

"[Ben] Sowter [of QS] does not mention that his company has twice threatened publications with legal action when publishing my bona fide criticisms of QS. One was The Australian: in that case QS prevented my criticisms from being aired. The other case was University World News, which refused to pull my remarks from its website when threatened by QS with legal action.

If Sowter and QS would address the points of criticism of their ranking and their infamous star system (best described as 'rent a reputation'), rather than attacking their critics, we might all be able to progress towards better rankings. That is my sole goal in this matter. As long as the QS ranking remains deficient in terms of social science, I will continue to criticise it, and I expect others will also continue to do so."

Meanwhile the Leiter Reports has a letter from "a reader in the UK".

THES DID drop QS for methodological reasons. The best explanation is here:http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/03/15/baty
But there may have been more to it? Clearly QS's business practices leave an awful lot to be desired. See: http://www.computerweekly.com/news/1280094547/Quacquarelli-Symonds-pays-80000-for-using-unlicensed-software
Also I understand that the "S" from QS -- Matt Symonds -- walked out on the company due to exasperation with the business practices. He has been airbrushed from QS history, but can be foud at: https://twitter.com/SymondsGSB
And as for the reputation survey, there was also this case of blantant manipulation:http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/08/irish-university-tries-recruit-voters-improve-its-international-ranking
And of course there's the high-pressure sales:http://www.theinternationalstudentrecruiter.com/how-to-become-a-top-500-university/
And the highly lucrative "consultancy" to help universities rise up the rankings:http://www.iu.qs.com/projects-and-services/consulting/
There are "opportunities" for branding -- a snip at just $80,000 -- with QS Showcase:http://qsshowcase.com/main/branding-opportunities/
Or what about some relaxing massage, or a tenis tournament and networking with the staff who compile the rankings: http://www.qsworldclass.com/6thqsworldclass/
Perhaps most distribing of all is the selling of dubious Star ratings:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/world/europe/31iht-educlede31.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Keep up the good work. Its an excellent blog.

All of this is true although I cannot get very excited about using pirated software and the bit about relaxing massage is rather petty -- I assume it is something to do with having a conference in Thailand. Incidentally, I don't think anyone from THE sent this since the reader refers to THES (The S for Supplement was removed in 2008).

This is all a long way from the days when journalists refused to take pops at their rivals, even when they knew the rankings were a bit rum.

Times Higher Education Under 50s Rankings

Times Higher Education has now published its ranking of universities less than fifty years old.
The top five are:

1. Phang University of Science and Technology
2. EPF Lausanne
3. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
4. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
5. University of California, Irvine

They are quite a bit different from the QS young universities rankings. In a while I hope to provide a detailed comparison.

A University without Faculty: The Demise of the University of Phoenix and the Rise of the MOOCs

The University of Phoenix is now the largest university in America, but this may soon change. This mostly online institution is facing an accreditation sanction, which could force it to lose its Pell Grants, student loans, and other federal subsidies. Not only is the stock price taking a major beating, but massive layoffs are underway.

Although we should not take enjoyment in other people’s job losses, it is important to focus on what happens when higher education is taken over by a soulless corporation. As the founder of the university has become a billionaire and has just received a $5 million retirement package, the school is shedding many of its on-the-ground employees. Like many other for-profit schools, the U. of Phoenix receives most of its funding from public monies, and then uses these funds to enrich administrators and shareholders and hire an army of marketers and recruiters in order to turn mostly under-represented minority students into unemployed debt slaves, and they do this by hiring all of their faculty off of the tenure system. In many ways, this school represents the extreme logic of the online education movement: eliminate tenure for the faculty, develop questionable distance education, cater to private corporations, and make students suffer with high debt levels and bogus degrees (actually very few students ever get their degrees, and very few get their promised jobs).

While online course providers like Coursera and Udacity appear to represent a much more progressive version of this high-tech education promotion, let us look at some of the statements that are coming out of the mouths of these not-for-profit, profit-seeking marketers. Here is Sebastian Thrun, founder of Udacity, from the UCLA forum (these quotes come from the rush transcript on Remaking the University): “Students rarely learn listening . . . or they never learn by listening. The challenge for us is to take this new medium and really bring it to a mode where students do something and learn by doing. And if you look at the broad spectrum of online technology with what happens. It doesn’t really take long time to point to video games. And most of us look down on video games. We’ve also played them. I know there are people in this room who play angry birds. Some people do. Some people don’t admit it. Angry birds is an wonderful learning environment because you get drawn in, you solve the physics problems but the big problem is that it stops at angry birds . . . if the angry birds was good enough to get into the masters students in physics. It would be an amazing experience and you could do this at scale.” The point I want to stress here is the claim that students never learn from listening. Following this logic, most of current education is simply useless, and we should just have students take out their smart phones and play Angry Birds all day.

During Thrun’s presentation at UCLA, this downgrading of traditional learning environments was connected to a downsizing of the faculty: “As we know that higher education is moving at a slower pace compared to the industry moves. We have been funded by a whole bunch of corporations that make the classes with us and there’s a number of classes launching soon on topics to be not covered in academia. If you look at the way the technology turns over, it will be 5-10 years in computer science [and] if you look at the way colleges turn over, it’s much more difficult because [with] tenure they are gonna be with us for 30 years so the national turnover rate for colleges is about 30 years. Industries it’s like 5-10 years. So there’s a disconnect between how the world changes and how colleges are able to keep up. Therefore in computer science it would be hard to find courses that teach technologies that are useful today such as IOS and all the wonderful things that they do. So the industries jumped in and funded us to build these classes.” According to this logic, since tenure requires a thirty-year commitment to the faculty, and industry and technology change at a much faster rate, we need to get rid of the secure faculty and replace them with student mentors and the latest technology.

Thrun’s argument fails to recognize that faculty also develop and change, and most faculty, including his own wife, now teach without tenure. His point of view also pushes the idea that technological change is always for the better, and even if it is not good, there is no way to resist it. As I have previously argued, we need to compare online courses to our best courses and not our worst, and we have to defend and define quality education and push for more funds to be spent on small, interactive classes. However, Thrun and other MOOC celebrators appear to have a disdain for their own teaching: “But in the existing classes, the level of services are often not that great. . . .I talked to numerous instructors and you divide the time the communal time and the personal time you give back to the students in terms of advising and grading . . . you can be lucky as a student for 3 credits class to get 3 hours of personal time. Many people laugh and many say I spend 10 min/student per class and the rest I give to my TAs. Charging $1,000-$4,000 for that to me is gonna be a question going forward.” Although I have often questioned what students are actually paying for in higher education, what Thrun is really questioning is the validity and value of large, impersonal lecture classes, and on this point, we are in agreement; still the question that remains is if large online courses can really provide the quality education they advertise.

At the last Regents meeting, many of these themes were continued as three computer science professors attempted to convince the UC system that online courses would make higher education “better, faster, and cheaper.” In her presentation for Coursera, Daphne Koller insisted that since students now have a very short attention span, the classic lecture has to be broken up into a series of short videos followed by an interactive question and answer system. She argued that this method paradoxically makes mass education personalized as it pushes students to constantly learn and be tested on material before they advance.

Like the other online course providers, in order to differentiate her “product” from the “traditional” model of education, Koller had to constantly put down the current way we educate students. Thus, she derided the “sage on the stage” and the inability of most students to ask questions in their large lecture classes. She also bemoaned the fact that no one wants to read students’ tests with identical questions and answers, and so the whole grading process can be given to computers and fellow students. Once again, this argument not only degrades the value and expertise of faculty, but it also treats students as if they need to be reimagined as programmable machines and free laborers. Yes, let’s have the students’ grade each other’s paper, and while they pay for their education, let us train them to work for free.

Another alarming aspect of the rhetoric of these providers is their constant reference to experimenting on students as they attempt to increase access to higher education. The idea presented at the Regents meeting is that since so many under-represented students cannot find places in the UC system, these students from underfunded high schools should be given an online alternative. Some have called this the Digital Jim Crow because wealthy students will still have access to traditional higher education, while the nonwealthy, under-represented minority students will be sent to an inferior online system. Of course this new form of educational segregation is being pushed under the progressive banner of expanding access.

Francis Marion University Review

Francis Marion University is a really great school. As people quoted that it is easy to get into but hard to get out. It is what a person does with his or her major that counts. The university prepares the student to go out into the real world and start a great career. There may be some professors that may appear as slackers but there are some really great professors at FMU who care and want to see the students progress. For the negative reviews about FMU, I am a graduate from FMU and have met lots of students who were slackers. Therefore, if a student does not put in the effort then what can FMU do if the student is not willing to put their best foot forward.

My time at FMU generally positive. I am not sure why there are so many negative reviews about the school, but I have been gone for a while and do not know if things have changed that much. I cam to FMU the first year that Dr. Carter took over and witnessed many changed to the school and its physical presence in Florence until I move away in 2007. I enjoyed my time in the History Dept. The Professors were engaging and worked with students. They expected students to make an effort in their studies and were not tolerant of slackers. I also was involved in the School of Education. It focused mainly on education theory and not enough on practical classroom issues. I have come to learn that this is fairly normal for most colleges and universities.

I am outraged at what happened to me while I was a student at FMU. They couldn't find me an advisor while I was a marketing major so I had to get my schedule made by a woman in one of the offices in the school of business. Well turns out she gave me a biology 105 class with a biology 103 lab. Once I found out about this mistake, I informed her and she said she made no such mistake and I was given an F because of that.They also have HORRIBLE chemistry teachers, especially that Anderson guy. He moved way too quickly and was in no way a good professor. Most of the students in my class were failing and complained about his teacher. Why isn't he fired yet?One last thing. I had a C in spanish 101 and when grades came in, there was a D there instead. Well that caused my gpa to be a little lower than I wanted to be, but the following semester, that C I had miraculously appeared in place of the D and I hadn't retaken the course. I will never recommend anyone go to FMU (Frauds Merging University)

The University of Florida Reviews

One description I heard of UF students (by a professor) was "bright but naive." I agree -- students were bright, curious but often lacked knowledge/experiences more sophisticated students would take for granted. Most are from Florida and publicly schooled but there is more diversity than you would expect from the remaining to 20 to 25 percent that are out of state/internationals. Professors can be top notch -- I had one Professor who had his PhD from Princeton and another from Oxford, England -- others were top in their field and highly published and regarded. Some students will take on the world, others will get married and stay in Florida. Of the many top notch programs at UF, funding from sports plus the huge college intake in education and allied health sciences helps keep the coffers filled but makes the place appear less intellectual. It's a mix and the Greek system, while influential in student government, is dilute thanks to the large campus and many student activities.

In high school I was told I wouldn't get into UF. It was as if UF was on the plan of an Ivy league school, but its far from a decent school for my major. I went to a community college where I pulled all As and Bs and got into UF. Not without trouble though, these people aren't the brightest. They rejected me because I failed to answer an email of theirs regarding what class I was going to take... Really? Send something that important in an email and not a letter? Why did that matter anyway? I told them several times my option anyway and they simply didn't listen. I had to deal with this while I was in Germany doing an independent study and had internet maybe 1 time every other week.Other majors may have better resources, but mine was so horribly poorly funded I couldn't complete my major here. Language requires a lot of resources and money. I choose UF for its apparent "budget", its reputation, study abroad, club, faculty reviews, library, and language lab.
Well, they cut out a massive amount of their programs and classes from the language department and several other departments. They include the computer science, philosophy, arts, music, and humanities. I can not even remain a full time student because they simply don't have enough classes that count toward my major. The TA's tend to be awesome, but its really a 50/50 shot. One of them was mediocre (knew her stuff but didn't know how to teach) and the other was simply amazing and the best so far. I learned more from him than I did the Dr. Professor. The funds simply go to sports or their research.
The rep it has is really inflated. Its only good in its sciences and sports. That also depends on the science. Most of the professors suck, plan and simple. Experts who can't communicate or teach. The good ones are hard to get classes with because everyone flocks to them. Are they all bad? Of course not, some amazing professors! But not without its poor ones. This is typical of most schools though, the good and the bad. The problem is, with its reputation, this school shouldn't have that problem on the same level.
Now the study abroad opportunities are a mixed bag as well. The semester long programs are VERY good and well worth it. Depending on your major or language preference, the head of department for that can affect the quality. Most of the Language abroad programs are excellent. The shorter ones though are nearly as expensive and last only a week to 6 weeks and that is much less cost effective and generally too rushed. Unless its the only ones available in the department, try for longer studies.
My language was suppose to have a club. Many of them are not very active and some are so inactive they are impossible to get a benefit from because they don't do anything.
I researched the program prior to applying. I knew all the credentials of my professors in the department. I decided that a few inexperienced or poor student reviews were expected of any school. The problem is that many of the language programs are underfunded and the format of the class has to change. Many are now "hybrid" classes although they say its an in-class lecture. This simply doesn't work for many students. Your paying and working to interact with these experts in their field... Instead your wallowing around talking to someone who knows as much (if that) as you and not improving your accent. I learned nothing in higher classes besides how to expect a bad grade and no help. The rules that are set down, the professors must follow it, regardless if the students are benefiting.
For the most part, the library is amazing. Study rooms, computers, amazing collection for the most part. Awesome in 95% of the subjects you can study at UF. If you are in a major with a small population of students, the library is largely useless. Most of the minority languages have no updated material.
For those that are language majors, go visit the language lab before enrolling. Ask for the material. There was NOTHING for me of updated material. They handed me an ancient dictionary and grammar book that contains such old language I got marked wrong for using it. Other languages are worse off.
If you are accepted into a major that has good funding and population, then if you can afford it and don't mind the quality not living up to the rep, then at least you will get the name of UF on it. If you are not in a popular major beware. The money and budget is horribly abused and wasted on non-vital stuff when VITAL things need fixing. Poor management.The campus is okay as far as safety. I did not live on campus but if you pay for the better housing it is pretty safe. I hear of problems in the more communal living. Still, crimes are pretty regular. Your get them sent to your phone. There is rape, sexual assault, etc. on campus. If you're irresponsible about yourself, you bet somethings going to happen. Act responsible to avoid these people and keep cautious and you'll be fine. Campus security is poor in my opinion. The city of Gainesville isn't safe nor horrible, just kinda typical city crime. Lots of beggars and petty theft. I wouldn't over worry if you use your common sense.Overall its an okay school. If your in one of their popular majors then you will be fine. Don't expect the best, but it will be good. If your aren't, then find somewhere else. Tuition hikes are every year, so prepare for that. If you don't mind being a number, like me, you will enjoy relatively small class sizes except in the most popular classes.

I've recently transferred from UF to another state school. HS counselors pump this school up like it's MIT or Harvard, when in realty, they're not even in the same league as Ivy league schools. This school is soo freaking big and you're just another number. Most of the dorms are like 60 yrs old with no AC and most of the faculty doesn't speak English and you feel like they have no time for you because they're doing research. Sure..UF has good athletics, but I didn't come to college to party 24/7 or live for college football. Interestingly enough, everybody underage drinks here, the cops don't care on game-day. Don't believe the hype about UF, go visit other schools in the state before you pull the trigger. I'm now a senior at the University of Miami and loving it. More expensive but worth every penny.

Thursday, 8 August 2013

New York University Reviews

There's no better place to go for your undergrad career if you want to live in a vibrant and cultured city and, to be blunt, grow up. Students who want to be coddled and have everything handed to them don't like NYU (and probably not NYC). But, if you want to grow as an individual and have the best college experience of your life, come to NYU.I was originally in CAS and then transferred to Gallatin. I will say that Gallatin has a more tight knit community, with more professors who seem to care about their students, and more interesting classes.

With that said, it's department by department in CAS. I found that many of my friends liked the sociology, journalism, environmental studies, social and cultural analysis and chemistry departments. I took a majority of my classes in journalism, french and environmental studies - most of my professors were great, attentive and so well-connected! Go to office hours, talk in class, email them and you will enjoy your classes 100x more! I did have bad experiences with the biology department, so premeds and bio majors beware.
As for gallatin, about 90% of the professors are there because they really care about interdisciplinary studies and helping students shape their concentration. But I have certainly run into a few bad apples. I won't name names, but beware of the guy who is a leader in environmental architecture - he didn't bother to learn our names, gave out unfair and unjustifiable grades, and spent most of his class surfing google and talking at us. My adviser, who was a well-meaning guy, was terrible at responding to emails and, well, proofing my rationale, which resulted in me almost missing very important senior year deadlines. Aside from these two duds, everyone else was great! To avoid these problems, ask around and MAKE RATE YOUR PROFESSOR YOUR BEST FRIEND.The gallatin program is truly unparalleled, and it personally gave me a leg up in the job search process. In 2013, I secured a job a little less than one month after graduation. I received my first job offer about 2 days after graduation (but turned it down because it wasn't a good fit). I had 4 offers total, and was able to pick which one I wanted. In this economy, it was truly a blessing. Make the best of your time in gallatin or at nyu by doing A LOT of internships, networking, getting a work-study job (also because the city is expensive), being active in clubs and applying to scholars groups. You'll not only set yourself up to get hired, but you'll have the best academic and social experience of your live.Although I did spend a lot of time at the library, I also had a pretty great social life. My rule of thumb was that I wouldn't study on Friday or Saturday nights unless it was finals or midterms. I made friends doing activities I was passionate about and on my floor freshmen year, and I've kept these friends through my four years at NYU. The nightlife in the village is great - from poetry slams, to great bars, to clubs and comedy clubs. There's something for everyone, as long as you're willing to step out of your shell.
College was crazy, I partyed, I worked and I barely slept. Going to school in the Big City is not an easy thing, but if you get through it you come out with a strong work ethic and with strong determination. When I first left NYU I worked retail at Staples. But the strong core values that NYU provided, I easily grew to Management.While a manager at Staples I made sure I went to every conference, read every article and met as many vendors as I could regarding office supplies. I eventually left Staples to open my own office supply store in Long Island. We had some success and some failures, but it wasn't till my 13th year of out of school when things started to really kick into gear for me. I saw the success of the interent and decided to take my brick and mortar store and turn it completely virtual. www.BulkOfficeSupply.com was born. making over 500,000 a month, with no store overhead or even warehouse charges. So those who worry about your success, don't, it takes time. It has been 23 years since I graduated from NYU and I finally consider myself a success.

NYU is a brand name, everyone assumes it is a good school. But truthfully, NYU is not one school; it is many different schools united under one name. Regarding undergraduate programs, their quality is quite different. My recommendations -If you get into...
Tisch (particularly the dance and theater conservatories): very prestigious, great programs, most students don't plan on going to grad school as they are going into the arts, so I say it is worth it for the connections you make
Stern: very hard to get into, known worldwide for its prestige, you get great connections, probably worth the money because most students get incredible jobs that can pay the loans off, but depending on the type of job you seek you may need grad school so keep that in mind
LSP: not worth it at all, I wouldn't be surprised if this program is removed from the university soon, I have not heard one good thing about it
CAS: in my opinion, not worth it. it's basically a typical liberal arts education you could get at any SUNY school
Gallatin: you better know exactly what you want to do, it's very easy to goof off here. plus, you will most likely need to go to grad school if you go to Gallatin, so unless you can for sure afford it, I would advise against it; this prgram tends to attract extremely wealthy people; the plus of this program is that it's the smallest, so you get a better sense of community than the rest of NYU, and you get to take classes in other schools, so you get to socialize with different types of people. but the higher level Tisch and Stern classes are impossible to get into.
Steinhardt: good school, but be realistic; if you're going into education your salary is probably not going to help you pay off loans; only go if money is no issue whatsoever
Poly: great engineering school, and those are the hot jobs to get right now so you can probably land a good job that will pay off the tuition in good time; but keep in mind this school tends to be isolated from the rest of NYU, some people aren't even aware it's part of the school, so social life might be a challenge. I wouldn't know, I have yet to actually meet a Poly student
Shanghai: New program, so far they only have science and business programs. They're giving out good financial aid right now to attract people to come over there, so if you're planning to to into one of those majors and are okay with going that far from home, go for itAbu Dhabi: by far the hardest program to get into, but I haven't the slightest idea of anything about itMy advice is, unless you got into Tisch or Stern or are wealthy enough for money not to be a concern, to save NYU for grad school: you will no longer crave that college social life, will have a job, and friends so NYU's open campus will be perfect (it tends to depress undergrads) plus the quality of the grad programs is much higher

George Washington University

I cam to GW looking for an experience, and after almost a year and a half here, I can definitely say that I have. One aspect about this school that I have come to embrace is the fact that it represents every aspect that you will have to confront following graduation. Yes, there are a few snotty and condescending people. Yes, there is a bureaucracy that can make accomplishing tasks difficult. Yes, the food isn't great, and yes, the dorms can be in sub-par condition. Yet, there are absolutely wonderful aspect about GW that cannot be found anywhere else.The first is the diversity; GW's student body has about 10,000 people; meaning there is a whole spectrum of individuals, some of who are some absolutely incredible and wonderful people. While frats do have a presence on campus, it is very easy to have a thriving social life without having to join one, and it is very easy to have a social life without alcohol. DC itself is such a thriving and bustling city, and it has so much to offer. You can very easily access any part of the city via Metro or even walking from GW's campus.

As for academics, I have been challenged in a majority of my classes, and I have had to work very hard for the grades I have now. While I have been in a few lecture halls that had hundreds of students, I have also had classes with five people and a professor. And while some people complain about TAs, I have found that they can be even more helpful than the professor at times. However, a good amount of of my professors here have been very accessible, and have always been accommodating to my needs.
Additionally, access to jobs and internships at GW is one of the greatest assets that this school has at its disposal. If they are taken advantage of, any individual will be perfectly capable of finding work after graduation, regardless of major.Ultimately, if someone comes here expecting the university to give them everything on a silver platter, they need to find a different school. But if he or she is willing to work for what they want, undoubtedly, it will be attained.Has my experience here been perfect? No. But it is the best school that I could have chosen for myself. I regret nothing.

I have some complaints but overall I'm glad that I transferred to GW. I transferred from a uni located in a more rural setting, where the college town was the ONLY town. GW provided me with the opportunity to live my own life in DC without feeling particularly anti-social with regards to my total non-involvement in "GW Pizza Night" or whatever it is universities put on for the kids these days. I was not interested in being part of a school community, and this was not even noticed (much less held against me) by the GW student body.The academics ran hot and cold for me. Most of my professors were Ivy educated (or foreign equivalent) so I felt I had access to some of the best minds in the field. I noticed a huge disparity in student interest though. There are lots of students merely going through the motions, while I also came across many ambitious and hardworking and intellectually curious people. In my first year it was quite common to be in a class where discussion would always be made up of the same three students (the other 8 or 9 not having done the reading and who are only taking the course to fulfil general requirements). In this sense, I think the notion that "your education is what you make of it" would fit very well as a description of GW.BTW, residential Foggy Bottom is very nice. The buildings look similar to what you'd find in residential Georgetown. The university's buildings are all ugly though. DC in general has more than its fair share of ugly architecture, but then I've never been a fan of Brutalism (like Gelman Library, for example, which looks like a prison).

I'm writing this review to advise students to know what they are getting themselves into by going to GWU. This is not a typical college, and if you are looking for a typical college experience, I would highly suggest looking elsewhere. This might seem like a rant, but it is my opinion of GW and I don't want someone else to be in my situation. I've spoken with a lot of people here and many agree that they don't love GW, and in some cases hate it but put up with it because it has a good name. The select few who are accustomed to the GW lifestyle love it, but I would honestly say the majority of people who go here don't love it...they put up with it.Campus:
The campus is primarily what sets GW apart from other colleges. This can either be good, or bad. Essentially, there is no campus. You will find that your classes are generally in the same area, but range from K street to E street, and between 23rd and 20th. There are maybe 2-3 small areas of grass where you can sit outside and do work or relax, but this type of space is limited. If you are an urbanite and love the city life, GW is for you. If you've never lived in a city before, it can be difficult. For the most part, the general area in which the school buildings are located is well-kept but there are a multitude of homeless people who like to take advantage of any grassy, quiet area even if it is on "campus".
The People Here:
If you live on the east coast and are thinking of going to GW, you'll fit in fine. Coming from the west coast (CO) I found the people here to be polar opposites from what I was accustomed to. Essentially, if don't own a pair of boat shoes, polo brand clothing, salmon shorts and pastel v-necks and some lacoste sweaters for the winter, you won't fit in. Everything here is about status so it is unheard of to leave your room wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. God forbid you might look poor. My class had 50% of people rush for frats or sororities so that also defines the population here well. The majority of people are snobby and it is rare to find down-to-earth people. Other than that, everyone is fairly open-minded when it comes to accepting people of all different backgrounds (unless you're poor). But if you lie and pretend to be rich, you'll be set.
Classes: The classes here are excellent. I have absolutely no complaints about my professors and their qualifications. GW does an incredible job of hiring qualified, english speaking professors. Technology at the school is also up-to-date. The majority of lecture hall classes have the classes recorded and put on itunes so you can listen to lecture later if you miss a class or just need to go back and review something. My econ class also had a video of the screen put on itunes for each class so that was great for graphs and formulas and whatnot. If you go to class, and get your work done, you will learn a lot!
Dorms: Dorms here are pretty nice. Some are old, but they are still decent. Freshmen dorms are usually the worst because they are smaller and don't have kitchens in the room, and sometimes you have to share a bathroom, but once you are a sophomore and up, the dorms are pretty good. Off-campus housing is a bit tricky. Housing in DC is so incredibly expensive (but so are the dorms) so sometimes it is practical to live off "campus" but most people stay on campus all four years. My friend is renting a one bedroom apartment in the neighborhood with small kitchen and living room and it is $2000 a month...which is a great price for the area.
What I don't like about GW.
There really is no cafeteria. Regardless of what they tell you about J Street (our "cafeteria") it is not good at all. There is no variety in the food and they only have maybe 4 main options for what you want to get to eat. There is the chinese food, an indian place, a diner where you can get a hamburger or chicken fingers, and then a hot bar with one main entree option that rarely changes. One time it was tacos for a week. They give you about $1000 per semester freshman year to spend at restaurants that are on Gworld (a limited number) but this amount gets decreased every year, and by senior year it is almost $0. There is one grocery store on Gworld (whole foods) so you're limited that way as well. Overall, food is so frustrating to get here IMHO and you are lucky to find lunch for under $10 and dinner for under $12-13.
I am a sophomore and still haven't found a good group of friends to hang out with. It is hard to fit in if you don't have daddy's credit card to spend frivolously on $5.00 starbucks drinks three times a day and on designer clothes.
There really is no campus. Its pretty much real life living in the city and going to school.
There are no decent athletics. We supposedly have a basketball team, but I've never met anyone who has gone to a game. No football on the weekends, like I said-this is not your typical college experience.
Everyone talks politics when they're drunk at a party. (comes with going to college in DC)
Transportation is sometimes easy with the metro, but the price of parking pretty much inhibits anyone from having a car. Parking right now is about $175/month whether you get it through the school or a parking company or your apartment.The only grocery store on gworld is wholefoods. Safeway went out of business and trader joes is in georgetown and not on gworld so you have to use "real money"I just want college to be over. I wanted to enjoy college and experience growing up, but I don't feel like that is happening at GW. GW was not the right fit for me and GPAC (look it up on the gw website) prevented me from transferring because I repeated all the classes I had AP credits in so it put me a semester behind when I tried to transfer.