Parent Resources
High school students in the Pre-College Program spend a summer in Washington, D.C., taking advantage of GW's expertise in global and domestic business, international relations, public policy and administration, politics, diplomacy, history, biomedical engineering, and the arts.
Students in the Pre-College program are engrossed in all aspects of George Washington University. From academics, to dining, and dormitory living, the Pre-College program aims to expose students to the full collegiate experience.
Just as we want our students prepared for college, we want to equip our parents with tools and information to ensure a great experience with the GW Pre-College program for you and your student this summer.
Pre-Arrival Information
Paying Your Student's Deposit and Bill
All program payments are made through the Student Ebill Portal. For instructions to pay your student's Admission Deposit and/or their Final Payment, please see our Make Your Payments Page
Note: Due to FERPA regulations, Parents can only gain access to their student's bill by being registered as an Authorized User. The student must be the individual to give the authorization to view their bill. For instructions on becoming an Authorized user, please follow instructions (URL) given by the Student Accounts Office at GW.
Program Details: Academics and Logistics
Sample Schedule
Students in the Pre-College program are constantly engaged. Connecting with their classmates, their topic of study and Washington, D.C, Pre-College students have the opportunity to interact with this program in an immersive, hands-on experience. Both in and out of the classroom, students are kept busy as we arrange opportunities for exploration through class site visits and residential programming. Students also receive a certain amount of free time to explore DC independently. Here is a typical Pre-College student schedule:
Weekdays
7:30am - 8:30am: Breakfast
9:00am - 5:00pm: Class, Study Sessions, Co-Curricular Activities
12:00pm - 1:00pm: Lunch
1:00pm - 4:00pm: Class, Guest Lecture and/or Site Visit
5:00pm - 6:30pm: Dinner
7:00pm - 9:00pm: College Readiness Activities and Recreational Programs with Residential Staff
11:00 pm: In-Room Curfew (weekday and weekends)
Weekends
Recreational Programs with Residential Staff. Examples of Recreational Programs include 4th of July Celebration on the National Mall, DC Cupcake crawl, and Smithsonian museum tours.
Course Locations
The majority of all Pre-College courses are located on the Mount Vernon Campus, but STEM-related course and all College Intensive courses are held in various classroom locations on the Foggy Bottom Campus. Specific classroom locations are listed on student course syllabi which they receive at Student Orientation prior to the first day. For a student taking classes on the Foggy Bottom campus, a free shuttle service called the Vern Express transports students between the Mount Vernon and Foggy Bottom campuses. This same free shuttle is also used for classes whose site visits are located in or around the Foggy Bottom area.
Commuting to Campus
If you live in the Washington, D.C. area, you may commute to campus. You must make arrangements for your arrival and departure from campus on all class days. Commuter students are welcome and encouraged to attend evening and weekend programming activities, but are responsible for their own meals during those times.
For students commuting to campus, please arrive at campus no later than 9 am daily for their course. For course location, students can refer to their syllabus.
Students commuting to campus must be picked up no later than 10 pm if they choose to participate in evening programming. Dinner for commuting students is not covered by the program. Commuting students who do not wish to participate in evening programming can be picked up at the conclusion of their course at 4 pm.
Curfew Guidelines
Students have mandatory curfew guidelines during their stay in our program. Students must be in their resident halls no later than 11 pm. Violations of curfew will result in disciplinary measures.
Going Off-Campus: Leave Forms
Students, after the first day of classes, are allowed to travel off-campus except during mandatory programming. Students who wish to travel off-campus must fill out a leave form detailing exactly where they will be traveling, who they will be traveling with, and what time they expect to be back to campus. Students must fill out this form no later than 4 pm on the day they wish to leave campus. A member of our Senior Residential leadership team will review each leave form.
Students requesting to spend nights away from campus during evenings and weekends must have written permission from a parent or guardian via the Special Request and Overnight Leave Form (PDF). Requests for permission must be submitted to [email protected] at least 72 hours in advance, during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm. Any requests conflicting with required academic programs will not be approved. The Pre-College Program retains final authority on leave requests.
Student Conduct
All students must adhere to all guidelines outlined in the Pre-College Code of Student Conduct (PDF). Please review the Student Code of Conduct with your students before their visit to our program. Violations of the Code of Conduct will result in disciplinary measures, up to removal from the program.
Transportation
Students are responsible for their transportation to Check-in and student orientation. In addition, students are responsible for their transportation off campus once the program has ended. For traveling to and from the airport, we recommend checking our Arrival Details page for taxi and airport shuttle services.
During the program, transportation is provided to students between GW Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon campuses via the Vern Express Shuttle Bus.
Students and courses will often use the metro for site visit travels and some evening and weekend programs. Students are responsible for purchasing a SmarTrip card for metro transit. We suggest purchasing a SmarTrip card prior to the student's arrival on campus. Instructions on how to purchase a SmarTrip card can be found on our Additional Costs page. Please contact us if there are questions as to how much money should be preloaded to the student's SmarTrip card.
Living on Campus
Residence Halls
Students who choose our residential options with our programs will be staying on the Mount Vernon Campus. Students live in shared suites with shared bathrooms. Rooms are furnished, air conditioned, cable and phone ready and equipped with mini-fridges and microwaves. Entrances are secured with card key access only. Laundry facilities are in common areas on each floor or in one central location in the building.
Residential Staff
The residence halls are staffed with well-trained and experienced resident advisors. They provide support, guidance and supervision while assisting in a full range of extracurricular activities.
Dining
We work with GW Campus Dining to provide reasonable arrangements for each student. Admitted students will have the opportunity to note any food allergies, dietary restrictions or religious observations that require special dining arrangements in their Enrollment Packet.