So yesterday it figures that I come down to DC during the hottest week of the year to tour campuses. Yesterday I toured Catholic American University, and American University.
First off I would like to say I saw more teenage ass then I have being a teenager. Its like they were auditioning for the next Girls Gone Wild video lol.
But at 10:30 yesterday morning I started my first visit with CAU. Now granted the Catholic has major issues with their holy leaders screwing young boys, but the children growing up tend to lean into equality and fight those issues. Its always the zealots that fuck up every faith. CAU did move up to my number one choice. For one the campus only has 3600 students, very small means smaller classes and one on one with teachers. It is a private university which means you don’t have DC streets just zipping through the campus which is very nice. They have exactly what I want to major in and for the health class I require they have this program where no matter what school you attend in DC if you need a course that your school may not have you can go to another college for that class with no additional cost.
The schools main library, and I think there are four of them is open 24/7 and houses around 1 million documents, books and whatever else you need. It is very large and smells of books…such a comforting smell. The tour around campus was beautiful. The landscaping was wonderful, their is Wi-Fi in and outside the campus, the buildings are not that far apart, and are made out of stone. The center pieces is their Church of Immaculate Conception which brings millions of visitors a year. I All I can say is that the church had beautiful colors, nice figurines and it smelled of candle wax, sandalwood, patchouli, frankincense and myrrh.
As far as class go I can be very happy that they offer my Psychology and Biology as a dual major and that they have my German and Theology. The health is something that I can pull from their nursing program and their public health programs as well to give me the classes I would like. So the transfer admissions guy was very helpful, and I have his card so if I need anymore answers he can help me out. I like the professionalism, the overall vibe and the academic programs, study aboard options and activities they have. So yeah it is a number one choice for me.
At 3 in the afternoon I visited American University and was not impressed at all. When I excited the metro I approached the Tenley Campus within a couple minutes. The problem is that building was under construction and no one was there. They said they were only a couple of blocks from the metro but that was a damn lie. More like 7. Luckily I asked this Middle Eastern researcher where the campus was and he was going there as well. So we chatted for a few until the bus came, and when it did it was a nice little bus ride to the campus. The female at the desk was no damn help in giving directions, when asked where do we go once we are on campus she said the Arts center. Its like can we get directions. She was useless. The bus driver was rude as hell so yeah not looking good for the school. So once in we had to find the admissions office like all schools but this was weird because there was no one in the building till you searched lol. So we all went upstairs, me and the other parents and kids and signee in. The chick at the counter had no clue how to check people in. Just weird. They had water that was cold for about 7 minutes then it tasted horrible lol. Luckily I had a Gatorade with me.
I went in the room for the presentation and by then I had a headache because the extreme heat then the freezing AC was giving my migraine a pounding. They showed a 13 minute video that was supposed to follow a freshman to graduation day. Then the admissions rep, well one of them started talking about the campus and the schools. And she was talking so fast and what not. I just didn’t get a feel of that being a college I would want to go to. It was mechanical presentation.
I was really disappointed because prior to my visit AU was at the top of my list. They had the behavioral neuroscience from BA to PhD that I was loving. They had all five programs I wanted but the tour and presentation was not what I was hoping for. First the campus is on Mass Ave and if you live in DC you know have Mass Ave can get. The campus is relativity safe because it is surrounded by embassies, like the Japanese Embassy I walked past, the Navy Chapel, NBC 4 and Joe Biden’s house so you can tell there are a shitload of cops and security around. Outside of that the campus was decent, the student guide told us she doesn’t walk and talk at the same time because it takes to long so we are going to walk and when we get the building she will explained what we saw. I am like you can’t do two things at once, wow. I have no clue what buildings I passed. The quad where all the schools are is very convenient as you really don’t have to go to far over campus but it is still impersonal. The campus has 13,000 students and that is just to large for me. I like smaller institutions, though for the degree I would have went. There isn’t much I can say about the college because I was just not happy for the tour or the presentation. Besides at 56 grand a year, I was like what the hell.
Today I was supposed to go to George Washington University but with temps feeling like 105 its a hell no lol I have walked through the campus a year back and loved it so I will just do a blind apply and visit the campus later. Georgetown was to be Thursday but again at the temp its a no go. Besides GU is one of the school that is prestigious so they can charge an outrageous tuition and make it difficult to apply. One of the girls I was speaking with said at the presentation 8900 early decision students applied and GU accepted 800. So its like wow, basically as a transfer student I would have a better chance if I wasn’t married or an adult because they will look at my grades and be like what else you got lol.
So GU is a no go lol. Well it is more on the maybe list.
All in all it was a productive, yet very hot day.
Serenity in the Dark 