A Great University Experience – Located in NW DC, near Maryland, the campus has a suburban feel with all the perks of a city. The campus is small enough not to get lost, but big enough that you can always meet new people if you wish. Unlike GW, American University has a main campus around a large quad. Freshmen and sophomores usually live on campus, which is great if you’re just getting used to making friends. When you are a junior or senior, you will have enough friends and understand the city enough to move off campus and enjoy your independence (and most likely closer to your favorite internship, job, or night spot). As a spring graduate, I will certainly look back fondly on my years here.

Advantages :
– Great teachers
– An amazing education
– Close to downtown DC (but takes longer than you think to get downtown)
– Most freshman dorms are nice and newly renovated
– Politics (I think for some it might be a scam but I really like it about AU)
– People are nice
– Very safe environment

Disadvantages:
– It takes nearly an hour to get to downtown DC by public transit
– AU only deals with students on the surface
– VERY stressful school, lots of work
– Little sense of community
– Bad food
– Not many AU-sponsored student events, not much to do on campus
– DEAR

On-campus housing is decent and the dorms are currently undergoing major renovations on campus. Currently, the most recently renovated/nicest options are Letts Hall North (the south has yet to be completed and Letts is only a freshman); Centennial Hall (grade two and up); Anderson Hall (freshmen and up); Leonard Hall (second year and up); Nebraska Hall (senior grades) and McDowell Hall (sophomore). Nebraska, Centennial and 7 Rooms at McDowell are suite-style residential suites, giving you one bathroom and 2 to 4 bedrooms in double or single rooms. Letts, Anderson, Hughes, Leonard, Clark, Roper, Tenley Campus and the rest of McDowell are typical single, double and sometimes triple rooms on floors with shared kitchens, living rooms and bathrooms. Overall the dorms are adequate and they tend to give a nice community structure, especially in Northside. Note, however, that on-campus accommodation is only guaranteed for the first two years in AU, and although it is available for senior classes, you may not get what you want at that time due to the lottery system, so most of people move off-campus to their junior and senior years. The second year, stay on board and build your own groups of friends, that way you don’t feel overwhelmed and separated from the campus community when you leave campus because you essentially took it with you.