Major: Business Administration (Finance and Accountancy)

Minor: Organizational Science

Email: munger@gwu.edu 

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Questions about Academics and COVID-19

 

What were your classes like in your first year or in your major/concentration, especially transitioning from Shen? 

In my experience, many of my classes at GW are significantly harder than any classes I took at Shen. Furthermore, many GW instructors utilize some sort of grade normalization procedure (often referred as a scale or curve), so while, in my experience, most GW students end up doing fine at the end of the semester, many people's intermediate grades are significantly lower than those that they received in high school -- a major source of anxiety for many students. That being said, I found that Shen prepared me well for my coursework, and I did not have any significant knowledge gap.

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What academic experiences have stood out to you at your college in either positive or negative ways?

GW's phenomenal location in between the White House and the Lincoln Memorial really lends itself to internship opportunities. Apparently, last semester, there were 15,000 internships listed on our internal internship search engine for 13,000 undergraduates, indicating that internships are very easy to come by. As a business student, my courses have been very well-rounded and thoughtful in approach. My professors have been very supportive and helpful, though, consistent with many things at GW, are not known for bending over backwards for students unprovoked. For example, GW professors will assume that you have read the syllabus and taken notice of all due dates, and will not accept "I didn't know we had something due" as an excuse for turning in late work. Since this is how the professional workplace works, I really can't complain.

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How was your online learning experience at your college? What resources did your college provide you during this time?

My online experience was, all things considered, quite good. I don't think it is realistic to expect a stellar experience when faculty who have taught their courses in person for years are given a week to transition to a fully online format. Most of my courses completed the syllabus as planned, and I had finals in all of my classes -- though most of them were open-book and not proctored.

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What did your college do well or poorly to support students and communities when COVID-19 first hit?

GW initially told us that only two weeks of our semester would be online, and that we should leave everything behind in our dorm rooms while we went home. Since that obviously ended up not panning out, the University hired moving companies to pack all of our belongings for us, and they are now being redelivered to our fall housing assignments. GW provided many virtual resources to ease the transition to online coursework, though in practice I did not find myself using them.

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Questions about Student Life

 

If students are interested in your major/concentration, what extracurricular activities do you recommend they do at your college?

GW's School of Business (GWSB) offers many cocurricular activities, which align with students' differing career goals. I currently serve as Student Admissions Representative, meaning I consult with prospective students regarding their questions about GW and (pre-COVID) give tours on campus.

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What are common things to do on weekends? Do students commute back home for the weekend or are there events on campus?

GW has very few students from the DC metropolitan area, so most people's hometowns are not within driving distance. Consequently, most students do not go home at all during the semester except for Thanksgiving, winter break, and spring break. Since GW is in downtown DC, there is no shortage of activities to do on the weekends.

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Are you involved in athletics at your college? How do you balance sports, academics, and extracurricular activities?

I am not involved in athletics at GW. Frankly, GW athletics tend to operate in their own circle, and are not really paid attention to by anyone who doesn't participate in them.

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Do you have a job during the school year, or is it common for students to have on-campus jobs? What is that experience like?

GW's strong internship culture means it is very common for students to have some sort of employment during the semester. Most on-campus jobs are reserved for Federal Work Study (FWS) recipients, making it very easy for those students to get jobs. That being said, non-FWS students tend to face some difficulty getting on-campus jobs, especially if they have no relevant work experience. Personally, I participated in a very rigorous selection and training process to work in the admissions office, but now that I have my job, it has been great so far.

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Extra Questions

 

What advice would you give to current Shen students when applying to your college?

Make sure you do your homework and know what you are getting yourself into before applying to GW, and then make sure you show that you have done this in your application materials. I know it is very difficult, but try not to over-stress about every detail of your application, but also don't leave everything to the last second. Remember that a college admissions decision does not singularly define your self-worth. GW has historically admitted very few students from Shen, though this seems to be changing as more Shen students are applying.

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What makes your college special to you?

There is really no other school in the world where you and your friends can decide at 2am to go on a walk around the National Mall, and the just go do it.

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What do you wish you knew about your college when you were a senior at Shen?

I really never expected how interested people would be in my life in Clifton Park. Most GW students are from major metropolitan centers on the US coasts, so, to them, upstate NY is like the middle of nowhere. I also never really internalized how people can feel "isolated" in the middle of a big city before arriving at GW. While I never really experienced this, I have witnessed many people at GW get overwhelmed by the environment and struggle to make friends. In my opinion, the most successful/happy GW students tend to be self-starters and extroverted.

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Before COVID-19, what was the housing like at your college? What would you recommend to Shen seniors to find their roommates?

GW housing is unique in that most of the buildings are former hotels or apartment buildings. For first year students (pre-COVID), rooms range from 1 to 6 residents, and everyone who has a roommate has a private bathroom. Like every major city, space is at a premium, and many rooms at GW tend to be on the smallish side. That being said, I think that having good roommates is much more important than being in the nicest/biggest room. Regarding roommates, I highly recommend going random. Personally, I went random, and lived in a six-person room, and it worked out great. I have also heard similar success stories from many of my friend who also went random.

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How is the financial aid situation at your college?

GW's financial aid packages themselves are widely regarded to be decent. Please keep in mind that the sticker price at GW is $76,000 a year, so what "decent" really means is kind of subjective depending on your financial situation. Also, the financial aid office at GW is widely known to be a huge headache to deal with -- for example, I just got my financial aid package in the middle of July for next year (2020-2021), despite applying in February.

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Is there anything else you'd like to share about your college experience that hasn't been addressed yet in this questionnaire?

Instead of traditional dining halls, GW has an open dining plan called GWorld that operates kind of like a pre-loaded debit card. Most first-year students receive $2375 a semester to spend at over a hundred vendors, including restaurants, grocery stores, and convenience stores. As a rule of thumb, this works out to about $20 a day to eat from. GW has a budgeting app to help students budget their GWorld, and most students fare just fine using this app. That being said, people with little-to-no self control may find difficulty not spending, for example, $7 on Starbucks every day.

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