I lived in DC for 7 months last year, by Dupont Circle, and I totally agree with what tonegts said.
Firstly remember that everything in DC is expensive, but accomodation is the worst. It can be quite hard to find a decent place, and it really helps if you aren't on a tight budget. If you get a choice, live in the NW quadrant, but if you are looking for a house, bear in mind that when some people say NW, they are pushing it.. a lot... and you can end up with the next door to a crackhouse scenario.
If you don't mind a bit of a commute (the public transport is superb, much better than any other I've seen in Europe, but at peak rush hour times its nightmare full) then live in one of the suburbs; the ones already mentioned are great, but can be pricey, or you could look at places like Roslyn, which are cheaper if not quite so nice.
Hmm. its looking as if people are finding it hard to stay positive about DC. Remember that its a great place to live and work for a while. There are tons of things to do, and there are huge numbers of either college students or recent grads doing internships and the like, so (you sound like you've just graduated) you certainly won't miss for company. The nightlife is good, there are tons of things to do at the weekends, all the museums are free (and superb), the parks are great for a big city, and if you feel the need to escape to the country for a bit, then the surrounding area is lovely, and easy to get to. If you arent used to big cities, then it'll be a shock at first, but you'll soon get to enjoying it. And don't get too worried about the crime stories; you'll soon learn which areas to stick to, and then you are unlikely to see any trouble.
Good luck with the interview, anyway; have a good look around while you are there. And since one of my majors was history, I can tell you that you did it because its damn interesting, and that there are a lot of worse reasons you could have chosen. 😀
