George Mason University Reviews

"I feel that the program itself is great. I am being exposed to a multicultural view on school counseling and have access to necessary resources."

"The Dual Degree Program with George Mason and the University of Malta for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and Mediterranean Security is really a unique program - only in its third year of existence. This program certainly has its difficulties with paperwork, but the faculty and staff are very motivated to keep us students informed about everything we need to know. Working with Professors from both GMU and UoM has really been a fantastic experience, because we have been exposed to multiple different perspectives and frameworks for dealing with conflicts and promoting peace. I would certainly recommend this program to anyone interested in subjects that vary from International Law, Environmental Security, Mediation, Peacebuilding, Theory, and more."

"The pros of my program are that it's new so there's a lot of room to grow with the program and build on the program. Another pro about my program is that the student population is very diverse which aids in diverse perspectives of the world in general. We are located in great area for career opportunities. Very knowledgeable professors who have had great experiences globally and nationally in public health. The cons of my program are that there is barely assistance with career development, job searching, networking, internships, etc. There's a lack of professor-student relationships; professors are over worked leading to less time to spend getting to help students and develop them. High professor turnover rate. Students can tell when the college is trying to cut corners (i.e. using adjunct professors to save money, while the professor who was to teach originally is the best person for the job)."

"The school itself is DC accessible but also allows students the distance to focus on their studies without getting caught up in the chaos of DC life."

"Very competitive program, great opportunities for learning, faculty support."

"The pros about the Master of Science in Applied Information Technology program at Mason are: program is offered at a reasonable price, reasonable number of classes and credits to complete program and its academic competitiveness. The cons about the Master of Science in Applied Information Technology program at Mason are: the out of state tuition rate (twice that of in-state), the program is still fairly new but has room for growth."

"There are several opportunities with a lot of the faculty in the program. Funding may be at times difficult to acquire, but there are always projects and ideas floating around. You just have to give it your all. Unfortunately, if you do not immerse yourself into the academic environment here, you will lose out. It is possible to separate oneself from the academic community here and that could significantly diminish your workload while not necessarily jeopardizing graduating. BUT, you will miss out on valuable learning and connections with the faculty. I consider that to be a major driver of conducive and successful learning environments in graduate school."

"George Mason University is a great school. Parking is a problem, but the professors are knowledgable, available and enjoy teaching. The Education Leadership program is well designed to work around the teacher schedule. I highly reccomend the program to those wishing to become a school leader."

"The Exercise Fitness and Health Promotion Master's program has excellent faculty members, small class sizes and promotes research and learning through access to state of the art facilities and technology."

"So far I love my graduate program. I am learning a lot and I love that my programs classes are available a variety ways, through distance learning, hybrid learning and most classes occur in the evening allowing me to continue working at my full time job. The teachers I've had so far have been excellent and fair in their teaching and grading policies."

"Pros: -quality of education (professional and knowledgeable professor) -practicality and usefulness of what I have learned in my program to my career (I have been able to take several of the skills and strategies I learned in my program and instantly implement them in my job) -meaningful assignments (like the above pro, the assignments have benefited me in my career and have deepened my understanding and knowledge of my field) -student and staff diversity (opportunity to learn from my peers and professors) Cons: -affordability of living (although I do not live on campus, the housing in the Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. area is fairly expensive) -transportation (parking is often difficult to find with so many commuter students)"

"The program is great and provides different learning specialties that I can use to enhance my career."

"The Master of Social Work program at George Mason is among the newest in the state, developed in 2001. In my opinion, that attributes to some of its flaws, such as program organization and school recognition in the area. Just like any school, there are some brilliant, experienced professors in the MSW program, as well as ones who perhaps should have stuck to their original career. The hours are rough; as a full-time student, I have to take 15 credits in addition to 20 hours of field practicum every week in order to graduate in 2 years. But one great thing about the program is its distance from D.C. You can easily have a field practicum in D.C. or stay in Virginia. However, living in the vicinity of D.C. also means that the cost of living in the area (Fairfax) is very high. That is one thing you can definitely expect as a student at GMU-- high rental costs."

"Advanced Biomedical Sciences program is competitive program designed for students who want to continue their education in the sciences. Great support with the staff an excellent program for post back."

"The ISA program at Mason has professors that are contributing to pushing capabilities in Information Security. While the classes provide a robust foundation of the subject, some of the material is dated."

"The M.S. Peace Operations program at George Mason is unique among all other graduate programs, even those in related fields (Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Security Studies, etc). It was the first program I found, related to CAR, that extended the reach beyond theory and academia to practice in the field. All of the professors that I have had thus far have experience--military, peacekeeping, diplomacy, UN, NGO,etc--related to our topics of study that they incorporate in the classroom on a daily basis. The program centers on international interventions that seek to achieve civil order with social justice in cases of humanitarian crisis and conflict. Akin to the other courses at GMU's School of Public Policy, classes are taught in the evenings to compliment working student's schedules. This may not be to everyone's liking, but it has allowed me and my fellow students to pursue careers and internships while attending school full-time. The professors and staff are apt and willing to help students to the best of their ability, and the network of alumni stretches to include military advisers, FBI, foreign service agents, and on the other side of the spectrum, peace corps volunteers and humanitarian assistance actors."

"The Art History master's degree program at George Mason is a competitive program with excellent professors who clearly want their students to succeed. The classes are rich and intellectually stimulating. The city of Fairfax is a great location a short drive from Washington, DC, and the George Mason campus is picturesque and safe."

"I like this course as it covers the managerial as well as the technological aspects of IT."

"The counseling and development program at GMU has a big focus on social justice, multiculturalism, and advocacy. I am proud to be in a program that trains student to think outside the box and really push barriers that clients may face. I think that this program really prepares you to work with diverse populations which is a good skill to have."

"I dislike how many of the required classes are open for anyone to take (as an elective). This makes it hard for me as a Forensic Science major to really pull as much knowledge as I can from my teachers. The people who take the classes as an elective almost never have any background in the topic, so they are always asking "common sense" questions. Thos of us who are majoring in Forensic Science have a well rounded background in the various topics and are trying to learn the more detailed and technical aspects of the various topics. We can not do that if the teachers are always spending time explaining the "common sense" things to the non-majors. I do like the smaller class sizes. It allows us to maximize our time with the teacher and to be able to really dive into the material (when there aren't any non-majors or very few non-majors). I also really like how the teachers use actual photos and scenarios to help us learn. This is a career filed that is hard to learn unless you see the real thing. You can describe how something looks but rarely is that enough to get a good idea, and later be able to recognize, what the teacher was discussing."