I will be in my second year this year and my first year at AU was the best! I’ve met so many great people and learned more new things in a single semester than I ever learned in my top 50 of high school. Many of my general education classes have fundamentally changed the way I think and see the world and I’m excited to see what my core classes will look like. The whole campus is beautiful and there are so many places to study or hang out. I have to recommend quad biking on sunny days as it feels like the whole campus is out enjoying the sun. People are motivated and motivated, but most people just want to have fun when they’re not studying or doing an internship. The general motto is “work hard, play more” and if you prefer to live like that I recommend you go to AU. However, if you want to party like a state school fraternity, I wouldn’t recommend AU as kids put academics first here. When you come here you can honestly have so many once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you can’t get anywhere else in the country. As a freshman, for example, I did an internship on Capitol Hill, entered the electoral hall of the House of Representatives, saw the Pope, participated in dances in various embassies and met various ambassadors and the president of the EU. I am excited to see what the next year will bring and recommend high school students to come to school if they feel they belong.

I have my degree in political science from the AU. Overall I would say it was a solid experience. Being in Washington is both the biggest draw and the biggest flaw of the school. The positives are that DC is a wonderfully dynamic city with many jobs / internship opportunities, cultural events and restaurants and people from all over the world / country. AU helps you take advantage of it with professors who often work in Washington and connections with good internships. The downside is that politics can consume all of your experience, and the professional vibe appeals more to people in their 20s and 30s than 19-year-olds who want to party and explore. This means that UA itself has little campus pride or spirit, and most people leave campus as soon as possible to experience DC in all its glory.