George Washington University Top Questions

I'm in the school of business and it's been an interesting experience. Although it took a while to decide on my concentration I find that the professors are caring and overall extremely intelligent.

Smaller classes are better. Math and sciences are a joke, but international affairs, history, and political science classes are top notch. Professors always make time for the students--always the busy ones. Students usually don't take enough advantage of the Professors!

Dean seminars are wonderful classes taught by upper level professors on specific topics that they are really interested in. They are only available for classes and they are really small. They are the best classes that I have taken at GW.

I have enjoyed all of my classes at GW. Obviously there are giant classes that are GCRs for everyone and these professors do not know my name, but my TA does. I favorite class is Soc 801: The Sex Industry. It is a course only for Freshman and is capped at 18. In classes like these, people with the same interests can take these specialized classes. I study a lot. Most students from what I know do not study as much as I do. Class participation depends on the class and especially the size. Not all students have intellectual conversations outside of class and in my opinion most students are not competitive. I throughly enjoy meeting with profs outside of class, but I don't think many students do. As a Freshman, I do not know enough about the academic requirements yet.

The classes are small and the professors do know my name.

My smaller classes such as my discussions are the most interactive. My professors know me by name and usually know how I am doing in the class. My larger lectures consist of more independent work. And going to class is a must. I wouldn't say that people are competitive. Other students are always trying to help you if you need it.

Some of the bigger classes are somewhat intimidating at first but even the biggest lecture has no more than 100 students. Most teachers (from my experience) reach out to see if students need help. Depending on which school you're in (Elliot, CCAS, Business, SMPR) the intellectual discussions outside of the classroom vary.

because i am still a freshman most of my classes were introductory classes and so were quite large. i did not get to know any of my professors; however, i did get to know many of my TAs. i am looking forward to classes with fewer students so the interactions with the professor can become a more regular occurrence. university writing, a freshman writing class, was one of my favorite classes this year because of my professor. she is one of the most interesting and fun people i have ever met.

I have been pleasantly surprised by the academics at our school. The professors are great, all of them have had some kind of cool work experience. My econ professor would talk about calculating the Nation's Gross Domestic Product - and then he'd go do it that afternoon for the government! So many students get internships through their professors (I'm doing one this summer from one of my journalism professors) because all the professors have such great connections in DC. Discussion and participation in class is key - it usually counts for some kind of points even in my accounting class (the last place you'd expect participation to count). Class sizes are great too; I have had maybe four lecture size classes (greater than 70 students) but for the great majority I have 15 kids in every class.

I have had some horrendous teachers, a vast number of good teachers, and several fantastic teachers that have changed my life. I almost transferred after freshman year, and the professors were the one thing that kept me here.

Class participation is common. People are very outspoken and like to be seen as an individual with their own opinion. Some professors know your name... but when you select a class you select the class size, so that's up to you. My favorite classes are math classes, which aren't too interactive. Students study quite a bit... depends on your study habits. I definitely study more than I ever would have in high school. You actually have to go to the library now. The education is definitely geared towards getting a job, as most students have internships starting sophomore year. Some even have them as a Freshman. But, that's mainly because of our location and the opportunities that come up here.

Professors are really great what I am experienced so far. They are all so smart and helpful. It is a much more academically challenging school than I was expecting.

The Women's Leadership Program changed my life and anyone who is thinking about applying to GW should apply to the program!

GW has increased it academic ranking each year. I know of seniors that were graduating a few years ago when I was a freshman and they said they probably would not have been accepted to GW now. It has become much more competitive in all schools. Class participation is common and teachers do know your name, but it all depends on the size of the class. When you go past 50 students, the name knowing drops off and so does some of the discussion, but that's expected (at least from me). A lot of conversation outside of class relates to politics or current events in America and the world. This goes in hand with being in DC. Since we are in DC, there are a lot of resources for jobs. I think GW does a great job on preparing their students for the real world, whether it be in the classroom or going out to find a job. This can be through the career center, in class, out of class seminars, career fairs, and list serves. There a multiple opportunities to find a job, so when students say they're having trouble, they're not tapping the resources available hard enough.

Students tend to study in the Gelman Library, which some call "Club Gelman." Student there study with friends, take frequent smoking and coffee breaks into the Starbucks located inside the library. Adderol is also very common. Students are competitive, and there is always that very stereotypical GW student in every class who sits in the front and answers every question regardless of whether or not her or she has anything useful to say. We call them "GW tools." The Elliott School of International Affairs is a really great school filled with lots of hands on experts. My classes have lots of guest speakers such as state dept. folk, ambassadors, and other experts from the field.

GW may not be the most academically rigorous school, but it does have some of the finest and most accomplished professors in the country. How many students can say that their professor missed class because he was on CNN because he/she is the foremost authority on the Chinese economy?

Most of the professors know who I am, however you really have to make an effort for a professor to get to know you well. There is no one professor who I have had who has gone out of his/her way to get to know the students. The students are competitive, but enjoy helping each other with school work.

GW definitely has a unique ability for political science majors. Many of the professors ahve worked, advised, been open to the government community in GW. Class participation is very common, especially because so many students come here for this reason.

difficult but very interesting

Class participation is too large of a portion. Classes are either very easy or very hard, there is no middle ground. Professors are the same way, they are either great or they dont speak english.

As a freshman, not only do my professors know my name, but they stop on the street to say 'hi' to me. The majority of my classes are small (under 30), which doesn't happen in many other major research universities. Outside of class, our conversations range from the beautiful DC scenery, to the ongoing presidential election, to deep and obscure philosophical questions. GW students are competitive, but in a positive way. We compete with ourselves to ensure we do our best. Since each class has around 2,500 students, it diffuses much of the head-to-head competition that too many of us went through in high school. Professors know teaching is their first priority, so even part-time faculty hold office ours and make sure that students understand what's being taught. GW does a good balance of practical and theoretical learning. By our very nature, GW students love to learn for its own sake, but with so many resources in our area, we always find a way to put it to practical use.

Academics are challenging, but people can do well in them.

Great class participation and high level of intellectual students

Bring in more distinguished visiting faculty and continue to boost GW's reputation in the Political Science, International Affairs, and Business fields.

There are a lot of ambitious people, and academics are great.

its not that good

Our engineering is great!

academics suck. professors are apathetic

kinda hard

Academics are hard, but not impossible. GW never seems to get a very high ranking, but each individual school, i.e. International Affairs, Business, Media and Public Affairs etc., all seem to get good rankings, so it is difficult to pinpoint exactly how good our school is.

Decent professors, great choices for classes, moderatley challenging

Depending on your major, some teachers know your name and others dont, but even in a large lecture class, if you want the teacher to know your name, you can make it a point to get to know the professor.

I love all my classes at GW. My professors are the most well connected professors at this school. Mike Freedman is the hands down best teacher at GW. I love the SMPA, If i see any of my teachers outside of class or around campus I could have a 10 minute conversation with them.

Not the most challenging but a great place for international relations

Most professors do know your name. Interestingly enough for a business major, my favorite class was International Relations in Latin America, a Senior level class I took when I was a freshman. The professor was this 70-something guy who was a major player in the State Department's Latin America department, and had just retired. He had also ran the Organization of American States. GW students have absurd amounts of intellectual conversations, which is good, and very humorous when alcohol is involved. Which it often is. Students are often so competitive that they won't give you notes if you missed a class. Because they don't want you to fuck up the curve. I feel education is geared towards learning for it's own sake. I took a class called Management Operations Systems (a Business School requirement) where we had to use statistics to find inefficiencies in a production line, manually. Nobody does it manually anymore, they punch in numbers into an SPSS program or something, so this class was completely pointless.

Overrated, the classes are too large, too many TA'S

The great thing about going to a good school like GW is that most people really do their work. Finals time everyone studies. And even when it isn't during exams, most people are really dedicated to their work, so it helps to stay motivated.

the classes are pretty good. decently small. freshman year pretty much intro classes but the rest are like 20-60 kids. there are a lot of GCR's which is the gen ed requirements.

I've had amazing professors. My recommendation is that you build relationships with the ones you really like, particularly in the department of your major. They are great resources. I'm a Political Communication major in the School of Media and Public Affairs and I love the whole department. We have access to innovative technology with hands-on learning experience. I'm currently taking Introduction to Digital Media Production and filmed and edited my own mini-documentary. GW education is very future-and-goal-oriented, so my News Writing and Reporting class was teaching us to write for a newspaper, with the ultimate goal that we eventually would join a news organization after graduation. While this of course was not the plan of everyone in the class, it gives you knowledge from the inside. We are all news consumers, and it's interesting to read an article after you know the traditional news structures and formats and evaluate that reporter's writing. Some of the requirements (especially for the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences) are demanding. You must take a broad range of courses but some of my favorite courses have been general curriculum requirements, like Astronomy.

Academics are fine at GW, I've never had a problem with my classes, but I have had friends who have brand new teachers, adjuncts, or grad students, learn nothing, get a less than desireable grade and they just paid thousands of dollars for what, some credits? Large lecture classes at GW should be taught by the most entertaing professors, not the least, that kills people's desire to want to get interested in the fields of study that GW offers. I dislike GW because when people drink, they discuss politics and I usually just want to chill. I am in the most popular major at GW, political science and the advising is a little "one size fits all" but thats to be expected . The academic requirement's are pretty well spelled out, but the grading in some classes can be subjective.

Students study a lot. GW is underratedly very hard! Gelman library is always packed! If GW has your major you will love the classes!

ACADEMICS HERE SUCK! This is such an overrated school. People are impressed by the name, but many just confuse it with Georgetown. The honors program can barely retain 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of its returning students as it is requires 8 credits of horrible classes every semester (more than your major) and rarely do the credits even count for anything as all the departments hate the honors program (not to mention each other). Computer Science here is taught by mathematicians until the upper levels; essentially, you're on your own until your Junior Year. If you come in with no experience, you're screwed. The only good class I took here was Electronic and Computer Music, but good luck finding any other unique, non-traditional classes that infuse the sciences and humanities here. If you want to work fo the government, come here. If not, stay away.

-Do professors know my name: No, not in lectures, sometimes in recitations -Favorite class: language in culture and society -Study: studious -Students in professional schools such as international affairs, business, and engineering tend to have a more real world education experience than liberal arts, where its just learning for its own sake.

Yes many of my professors do know my name. My favorite class was Econ 011 with the great Anthony Yezer (most don't like him). The intellectual community is not very strong outside of class though I do live in Thurston which gives me slanted view. Yet politics is often a topic of conversation. The academic requirements are quite lax and the education is geared towards practicality which is a relief in my opinion.

Classes are what you make of them. Most students are active outside of class iwth internships and jobs that classes become a chore in the way of gaining real world experience. In some instances a professor or class will provide the incredibly unique ability to learn first and apply second. Meaning you can really take what you learned in an 8am class and put it into action by your afternoon internship. The fact that most professors are doubling between teaching and working helps reinforce this. I would like to sleep through most classes - particularly the ones i have no interest in yet outdated General Course Requirements make me take - except the high tuition really guilts me into going. Think about this: Despite studying politics in Washington DC, I have to take 3 science labs - usually taking up more time of my week than things I'd rather be doing. A real disappointment.

-yes, most of my professors know my name. -favorite class: sociocultural anthropology (miller/BABS). Least fav: UW20 -study: definitely a lot during midterms/finals time. somewhat inbetween. -participation: definitely there -conversations: abosultely! i have had some incredibly interesting conversations, and then i have talked to certain sorority girls and wondered how the hell they actually got into the school? and then i remember how every building in GW is named after someone, and i remember. -competitive: there is always some competition between students. -unique class: ANTH 002 (miller) hands down. -major: im in the business school and there is a stupid FYDP business class that does not do what its meant to do. -professors: I do go to certain professors office hours. -GW (at least the business school) is 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} geared towards getting a job. That's it, which isn't exactly a positive thing all of the time.

Most of my professors know my name. The lecture classes with 200 students are obviously harder to communicated with the professor in. My least favorite class is is a lecture class taught by a very boring, pretentious man who has seriously made me reconsider my future in International Affairs. I think that the requirements within my school are acceptable, though I feel that the engineers are asked too much of.

Academics are pretty good here while the classes are fairly large i still feel as if i am learning a lot and getting a good education

Many of my professors know me by name, almost all of them actually, even in a lecture of 40, or 50 students. Professors are always available to meet outside of class. I think that the school is competitive especially because the students make it that way. I dont like some of the required courses because I feel that they dont apply to what I want to do.

Professors do not know my name. Students are always found studying even on a friday or saturday night. Participation is extremely common in class and GW students hold extremely intellectual conversations outside the classrooms. Students can be somewhat competitive in their internships and extra cirriculars. I feel that the academic requirements are very lenient in the school of international affairs.