Colleges in DC

[Leah]

SO I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be moving up to Washington, DC next summer, so I'm starting to look at schools for fall of '10. Is anyone familiar with any of the colleges and universities in the area? Right now I'm doing some soul searching as to what I want to do with my life, so I'm not sure of a specific degree. (Right now I'm a health science major, but the further I get into it, the more I CAN'T see myself in the medical field). I'm not too partial to larger universities like Georgetown or GW (mostly because of the ridiculous prices for tuition), but I'm open to anything! Any suggestions?

 

[HamNCheese]

I'll be graduating here in May, and having gone through the entire college process my biggest word of advice is to not to just go to college for the sake of it....find your major FIRST and then find the best school in the area to learn it!

I've known too many people get into a degree program because it sounds interesting, then switch majors a half a dozen times, graduate with a bachelors in 6 years time and still not be satisfied with the direction they're going. Take your time, do as much soul searching as you need to, talk to people in the industries you're looking at...and save yourself the thousands of dollars that you'd be spending on tuition and books in the meantime! =)

I hope this helps a little- and as far as picking your degree, I usually find that the happiest graduates are the ones who are doing what they were when they were little kids. Did you fix your bike all the time? Did you play doctor on all your stuffed animals? Did you invent random things? Run your own lemonade or flower stand? Play teacher? Did you always try and break apart your dollhouse to make it better, and pick out cool houses in magazines? (that was me- now I'm in interior design and architecture! ) People aren't kidding when they say do what you love. Maybe you don't want to do medical, but something drew you to it in the first place- what was it?

Sorry if I'm rambling :S I'll stop. Even if nothing I said helps you at all, best of luck to you.

 

[Leah]

I've always seen myself doing something in the medical field- nursing, physical therapy, SOMETHING.. I've spent the past two semesters with a health science major with hopes of going into physical therapy, but I hate sciences and math.. so it hit me one day, ummm duh. Why am I doing something I don't particularly like? I've always done very well in English and humanities, but I have no idea what to do with that or what major to narrow it down to. I'm stuck at home on the couch with a torn ligament in my ankle, so I have a lot of time to sit and think about my life and future right now, haha.

Thank you for the advice

 

[peachydays]

Ok, I might be a little biased because I grew up in the area, but DC is an amazing city! I truly love it, and this will always be home for me.

Nearly all of the colleges and universities in DC have ridiculous tuition, because they're all private with the exception of the University of the District of Columbia. The major private schools are (and you may already know this...I'm just going to spew information):

American University
Catholic University of America
Georgetown University
George Washington University
Howard University

There might be one or two smaller private schools that I'm not aware of. Out of the schools listed above, I have friends who went to Catholic and GW for undergrad. They all loved their respective schools.

Are you set on going to college in DC? If not, Maryland has some great schools too. Here's a link to Maryland's public universities: http://www.usmd.edu/ I went to a public university in MD, and absolutely loved it. If you're going to be living in DC, and possibly commuting to school in Maryland, the one that would make the most sense is the University of Maryland, College Park since it's closest to the District and has a Metro stop. College Park seems to be one of those love it or hate it types of schools. It is HUGE, so if you're used to a smaller school environment, it might not be for you (I personally would have floundered there). Even if you were to be charged out of state tuition, a Maryland school would be much more reasonable financially than a private school.

I don't know as much about the schools in Northern Virginia. I do know that George Mason University is there, but I don't know a lot about it in terms of academics or social environment.

I hope this helps! Feel free to PM me if you need more detailed information.

 

[Sasha]

I dont know anything about the colleges but I just wanted to wish you the best of luck in your search and I hope you find the right one for yourself!

 

[Leah]

Well, I know that I will be living in DC, but I'm definitely not opposed to venturing out of it for school. I was looking at the tuition of GW.. $40,000!!! a semester!!! My boyfriend will be heading to GW law in the fall, and he's already freaking out about his $40,000 (law and undergrad same tuition.. crazy!) debt he'll be going into.

I do agree that DC is AMAZING! I was checking out George Mason because I have a friend there, but the closest campus is the Arlington one, and it's only for law and graduate. The main campus is in Fairfax, which if I remember right, is like an hour or more away, eh?

I didn't even consider Maryland.. duh, it's right there. I'll definitely check out that link. Thank you for all your help, and I'm sure I will be hitting you up for more information!!

Thanks you too, Sasha

 

[moon]

I would like to second peachydays who did an excellent job talking about the colleges in the area! If College Park campus is too big, UM Baltimore Co is smaller and very nice.

If you're not dead set on being IN or really close to DC, there are several very nice colleges in MD - Frostburg and Salisbury University are two that stand out in my mind as being highly recommended and recognized.