Which is the better VA university: VA Tech or JMU?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So wait. Are all the JMU people just going to ignore the fact that Tech has higher stats? Honestly, if someone said UVA was better than VT and cited those same stats, no one would quarrel with the analysis. But if someone does the same with VT and JMU, there is a whole lot of additional discussion. Can't understand how all the nonsense and perception crap factors in. Those are the scores of the students entering the two schools. End of discussion.

58

We just toured all three (including UVA),tomorrow Wash. & Lee. DC was not at all interested in UVA but thrilled with TECh. He wants to apply to the Engineering College and has learned it is ot going to be easy, even with all his xlnt credentials. Admissions office gave us some great ideas. We were very impressed. Stats are much lower at JMU. He has no interest in attending there either. As for male/female ratio, we were on VT campus two days and I certainly didn't notice anything. The actual stats are 48% women and 52% men due to the ROTC programs, although I saw many women in fatigues. For engineering or architecture it is the top in the state. The campus felt very safe. Clearly the 31,275 students and faculty have moved on. I certainly felt more safe there than my SLAC or Ivy (both in bad areas). Loved the "give back" motto. Students were great. Food is no. 2 on one of the reviews and it was indeed excellent. No, I don't know which college or university ranked no. 1. It certainly wasn't my slac. We came away very impressed and, no, no Hokies in the family.

Not sure where you get the 52-48%. The school's web site states that there are 14,064 male undergraduates and 9,902 female undergraduates.

We also recently toured VA Tech. It's very impressive in many respects. The admissions presentation was very focused and detail-oriented, with just the right touch of Hokie spirit. The buildings are nice. The kids mostly seem to be excited about being there.

What we didn't like was the scale. It felt a little too big - not just the number of students, but the physical scale and distance between buildings. We also repeatedly encountered large groups of male students (not cadets) without a female in sight. It did seem a bit nerdy after touring some other flagship schools in the south where there were more female students and the kids seemed a bit more light-hearted. I'm not sure whether DS would get in if he applied, but I suspect he'll pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So wait. Are all the JMU people just going to ignore the fact that Tech has higher stats? Honestly, if someone said UVA was better than VT and cited those same stats, no one would quarrel with the analysis. But if someone does the same with VT and JMU, there is a whole lot of additional discussion. Can't understand how all the nonsense and perception crap factors in. Those are the scores of the students entering the two schools. End of discussion.

58

We just toured all three (including UVA),tomorrow Wash. & Lee. DC was not at all interested in UVA but thrilled with TECh. He wants to apply to the Engineering College and has learned it is ot going to be easy, even with all his xlnt credentials. Admissions office gave us some great ideas. We were very impressed. Stats are much lower at JMU. He has no interest in attending there either. As for male/female ratio, we were on VT campus two days and I certainly didn't notice anything. The actual stats are 48% women and 52% men due to the ROTC programs, although I saw many women in fatigues. For engineering or architecture it is the top in the state. The campus felt very safe. Clearly the 31,275 students and faculty have moved on. I certainly felt more safe there than my SLAC or Ivy (both in bad areas). Loved the "give back" motto. Students were great. Food is no. 2 on one of the reviews and it was indeed excellent. No, I don't know which college or university ranked no. 1. It certainly wasn't my slac. We came away very impressed and, no, no Hokies in the family.

Not sure where you get the 52-48%. The school's web site states that there are 14,064 male undergraduates and 9,902 female undergraduates.

We also recently toured VA Tech. It's very impressive in many respects. The admissions presentation was very focused and detail-oriented, with just the right touch of Hokie spirit. The buildings are nice. The kids mostly seem to be excited about being there.

What we didn't like was the scale. It felt a little too big - not just the number of students, but the physical scale and distance between buildings. We also repeatedly encountered large groups of male students (not cadets) without a female in sight. It did seem a bit nerdy after touring some other flagship schools in the south where there were more female students and the kids seemed a bit more light-hearted. I'm not sure whether DS would get in if he applied, but I suspect he'll pass.

Another poster used that figure. I too was there last week on spring break and noticed no difference in amt of women vs. male students, even amongst the ROTCs. I have the new admissions materials so will look it up and post back. DS absolutely loved the face that the entire university is built of "Hokie stone" and faces onto the drill square. Students were everywhere and looked very happy. Buses were continually on the move. We also checked the bus schedule from the campus to NOVA = 4 1/2 hours. Not bad for sleeping or studying. We were extremely impressed. BTW, for those htat don't know you don't apply to Va TECH, you apply to one of 8 colleges. Four are much more difficult to get into than the others: engineering, architecture, interior design and something else I can't remember. If you list one of the colleges that are more selective, you must list a second college, but not of the popular four. Also, we learned they have ED - as in you are commiting if they accept you. I just want to give anyone who is thinking about it that it is not an EA school. Both have worked well in our family since our kids seem to zero in on one school so if they get in we avoid the holiday hell of twenty applications going in in middle January. Former grads love the place and get well paying jobs. I have to say I'm impressed. This was my first visit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So wait. Are all the JMU people just going to ignore the fact that Tech has higher stats? Honestly, if someone said UVA was better than VT and cited those same stats, no one would quarrel with the analysis. But if someone does the same with VT and JMU, there is a whole lot of additional discussion. Can't understand how all the nonsense and perception crap factors in. Those are the scores of the students entering the two schools. End of discussion.

58

We just toured all three (including UVA),tomorrow Wash. & Lee. DC was not at all interested in UVA but thrilled with TECh. He wants to apply to the Engineering College and has learned it is ot going to be easy, even with all his xlnt credentials. Admissions office gave us some great ideas. We were very impressed. Stats are much lower at JMU. He has no interest in attending there either. As for male/female ratio, we were on VT campus two days and I certainly didn't notice anything. The actual stats are 48% women and 52% men due to the ROTC programs, although I saw many women in fatigues. For engineering or architecture it is the top in the state. The campus felt very safe. Clearly the 31,275 students and faculty have moved on. I certainly felt more safe there than my SLAC or Ivy (both in bad areas). Loved the "give back" motto. Students were great. Food is no. 2 on one of the reviews and it was indeed excellent. No, I don't know which college or university ranked no. 1. It certainly wasn't my slac. We came away very impressed and, no, no Hokies in the family.

Not sure where you get the 52-48%. The school's web site states that there are 14,064 male undergraduates and 9,902 female undergraduates.

We also recently toured VA Tech. It's very impressive in many respects. The admissions presentation was very focused and detail-oriented, with just the right touch of Hokie spirit. The buildings are nice. The kids mostly seem to be excited about being there.

What we didn't like was the scale. It felt a little too big - not just the number of students, but the physical scale and distance between buildings. We also repeatedly encountered large groups of male students (not cadets) without a female in sight. It did seem a bit nerdy after touring some other flagship schools in the south where there were more female students and the kids seemed a bit more light-hearted. I'm not sure whether DS would get in if he applied, but I suspect he'll pass.

Another poster used that figure. I too was there last week on spring break and noticed no difference in amt of women vs. male students, even amongst the ROTCs. I have the new admissions materials so will look it up and post back. DS absolutely loved the face that the entire university is built of "Hokie stone" and faces onto the drill square. Students were everywhere and looked very happy. Buses were continually on the move. We also checked the bus schedule from the campus to NOVA = 4 1/2 hours. Not bad for sleeping or studying. We were extremely impressed. BTW, for those htat don't know you don't apply to Va TECH, you apply to one of 8 colleges. Four are much more difficult to get into than the others: engineering, architecture, interior design and something else I can't remember. If you list one of the colleges that are more selective, you must list a second college, but not of the popular four. Also, we learned they have ED - as in you are commiting if they accept you. I just want to give anyone who is thinking about it that it is not an EA school. Both have worked well in our family since our kids seem to zero in on one school so if they get in we avoid the holiday hell of twenty applications going in in middle January. Former grads love the place and get well paying jobs. I have to say I'm impressed. This was my first visit.

VT grad here - that is so nice to read. I had the best college experience there; it's a special place. I wish your DC the best of luck. I graduated not -too- long ago so let me know if you have any questions about the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For any student or parent reading this, as a Virginia resident, we are extremely lucky to have a wide variety of great public colleges that residents of other states would kill to have. Encourage your student to pick the right fit university and worry less about what any of these personal opinions say. What employers and graduate schools look for is the whole person...not just where they went to school, but what did they do while they were there. So much of deciding where to go has to do with the fit, the experience the student seeks, what they think they want to study.

You can look at the stats from each school, but remember, they are different schools (for instance, Tech stats are skewed because of their phenomenal engineering program and therefore, the GPAs and SATs, etc. are skewed). As a life long Virginian, I have known VERY successful and happy people who have graduated from JMU, UVA, W&M, GMU, Tech and others.

Your student can't go wrong picking any of these universities. But, having two kids in college now (one at JMU and one at UVA) I'd definitely ask: size of undergraduate classes, who teaches them a TA or a professor, what are the support systems in place for students in terms of tutoring/counseling, etc. (even the smartest kids sometimes need help), etc.

Best of luck and don't worry about these personal opinion posts. Most everyone I know loves the Va school that they went to and wouldn't trade their experience. You can't go wrong with any of these schools.

This is very well put. Virginia and California are really blessed with very strong university systems. The Virginia system offers something for everyone, including VMI. At 10K a year for tuition, the system, the academics, and the strong professional networking system just can't be beat. Both of our kids go to VA universities. I don't think my SLAC is worth $65,000 a year. Neither child applied to my SLAC or my husband's SLAC. If they choose Ivy for grad school, sure, but the SLACs just aren't worth the money anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For any student or parent reading this, as a Virginia resident, we are extremely lucky to have a wide variety of great public colleges that residents of other states would kill to have. Encourage your student to pick the right fit university and worry less about what any of these personal opinions say. What employers and graduate schools look for is the whole person...not just where they went to school, but what did they do while they were there. So much of deciding where to go has to do with the fit, the experience the student seeks, what they think they want to study.

You can look at the stats from each school, but remember, they are different schools (for instance, Tech stats are skewed because of their phenomenal engineering program and therefore, the GPAs and SATs, etc. are skewed). As a life long Virginian, I have known VERY successful and happy people who have graduated from JMU, UVA, W&M, GMU, Tech and others.

Your student can't go wrong picking any of these universities. But, having two kids in college now (one at JMU and one at UVA) I'd definitely ask: size of undergraduate classes, who teaches them a TA or a professor, what are the support systems in place for students in terms of tutoring/counseling, etc. (even the smartest kids sometimes need help), etc.

Best of luck and don't worry about these personal opinion posts. Most everyone I know loves the Va school that they went to and wouldn't trade their experience. You can't go wrong with any of these schools.

This is very well put. Virginia and California are really blessed with very strong university systems. The Virginia system offers something for everyone, including VMI. At 10K a year for tuition, the system, the academics, and the strong professional networking system just can't be beat. Both of our kids go to VA universities. I don't think my SLAC is worth $65,000 a year. Neither child applied to my SLAC or my husband's SLAC. If they choose Ivy for grad school, sure, but the SLACs just aren't worth the money anymore.

The SLACs offer an experience you are not going to find at a big land-grant school like Virginia Tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For any student or parent reading this, as a Virginia resident, we are extremely lucky to have a wide variety of great public colleges that residents of other states would kill to have. Encourage your student to pick the right fit university and worry less about what any of these personal opinions say. What employers and graduate schools look for is the whole person...not just where they went to school, but what did they do while they were there. So much of deciding where to go has to do with the fit, the experience the student seeks, what they think they want to study.

You can look at the stats from each school, but remember, they are different schools (for instance, Tech stats are skewed because of their phenomenal engineering program and therefore, the GPAs and SATs, etc. are skewed). As a life long Virginian, I have known VERY successful and happy people who have graduated from JMU, UVA, W&M, GMU, Tech and others.

Your student can't go wrong picking any of these universities. But, having two kids in college now (one at JMU and one at UVA) I'd definitely ask: size of undergraduate classes, who teaches them a TA or a professor, what are the support systems in place for students in terms of tutoring/counseling, etc. (even the smartest kids sometimes need help), etc.

Best of luck and don't worry about these personal opinion posts. Most everyone I know loves the Va school that they went to and wouldn't trade their experience. You can't go wrong with any of these schools.

This is very well put. Virginia and California are really blessed with very strong university systems. The Virginia system offers something for everyone, including VMI. At 10K a year for tuition, the system, the academics, and the strong professional networking system just can't be beat. Both of our kids go to VA universities. I don't think my SLAC is worth $65,000 a year. Neither child applied to my SLAC or my husband's SLAC. If they choose Ivy for grad school, sure, but the SLACs just aren't worth the money anymore.

+100 We feel the same way.

[Anonymous]

Have no affliation to either school but with 100% certainity VT is better. Not only have I experienced it over my 25 year career both recuiting and working with (or for) grads from these schoos but have discussed with collegues in other fields. It isn't even in the same ball park. VT much better. Attracts better students and does a better job educating. JMU is a fine school but not in the same league. Again, NO affliation with either. Did undergrad at out of state private school and grad school at large state school -- neither in Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have no affliation to either school but with 100% certainity VT is better. Not only have I experienced it over my 25 year career both recuiting and working with (or for) grads from these schoos but have discussed with collegues in other fields. It isn't even in the same ball park. VT much better. Attracts better students and does a better job educating. JMU is a fine school but not in the same league. Again, NO affliation with either. Did undergrad at out of state private school and grad school at large state school -- neither in Virginia.

Perhaps it depends on your field. I've recruited at a law firm for many years and come across a lot of strong people who have undergraduate business and accounting degrees from JMU and gone on to fine law schools. I've come across perhaps one candidate who went to VT and dozens who went to U. Va and W&M.

I also have no affiliation with either school, but our experiences are distinct enough that I'm comfortable stating that your experiences over a 25-year career remain your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have no affliation to either school but with 100% certainity VT is better. Not only have I experienced it over my 25 year career both recuiting and working with (or for) grads from these schoos but have discussed with collegues in other fields. It isn't even in the same ball park. VT much better. Attracts better students and does a better job educating. JMU is a fine school but not in the same league. Again, NO affliation with either. Did undergrad at out of state private school and grad school at large state school -- neither in Virginia.

+1

Also agree with other PP that it depends on industry. My experience is mostly in the analytics/technology space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have no affliation to either school but with 100% certainity VT is better. Not only have I experienced it over my 25 year career both recuiting and working with (or for) grads from these schoos but have discussed with collegues in other fields. It isn't even in the same ball park. VT much better. Attracts better students and does a better job educating. JMU is a fine school but not in the same league. Again, NO affliation with either. Did undergrad at out of state private school and grad school at large state school -- neither in Virginia.

+1

Also agree with other PP that it depends on industry. My experience is mostly in the analytics/technology space.

^ and no affiliation with either school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have no affliation to either school but with 100% certainity VT is better. Not only have I experienced it over my 25 year career both recuiting and working with (or for) grads from these schoos but have discussed with collegues in other fields. It isn't even in the same ball park. VT much better. Attracts better students and does a better job educating. JMU is a fine school but not in the same league. Again, NO affliation with either. Did undergrad at out of state private school and grad school at large state school -- neither in Virginia.

Interesting -- I was going to say the opposite. Big 4 Consulting - JMU grads seem to be more rounded, more heavily recruited, and more represented in Partnership ranks. According to our recruiter, JMU is a top undergraduate Business School and Tech is better for Engineering. Just my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have no affliation to either school but with 100% certainity VT is better. Not only have I experienced it over my 25 year career both recuiting and working with (or for) grads from these schoos but have discussed with collegues in other fields. It isn't even in the same ball park. VT much better. Attracts better students and does a better job educating. JMU is a fine school but not in the same league. Again, NO affliation with either. Did undergrad at out of state private school and grad school at large state school -- neither in Virginia.

Interesting -- I was going to say the opposite. Big 4 Consulting - JMU grads seem to be more rounded, more heavily recruited, and more represented in Partnership ranks. According to our recruiter, JMU is a top undergraduate Business School and Tech is better for Engineering. Just my experience.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have no affliation to either school but with 100% certainity VT is better. Not only have I experienced it over my 25 year career both recuiting and working with (or for) grads from these schoos but have discussed with collegues in other fields. It isn't even in the same ball park. VT much better. Attracts better students and does a better job educating. JMU is a fine school but not in the same league. Again, NO affliation with either. Did undergrad at out of state private school and grad school at large state school -- neither in Virginia.

Interesting -- I was going to say the opposite. Big 4 Consulting - JMU grads seem to be more rounded, more heavily recruited, and more represented in Partnership ranks. According to our recruiter, JMU is a top undergraduate Business School and Tech is better for Engineering. Just my experience.

+1

+2

[Anonymous]

I've been a biglaw partner and involved in recruiting for ten years. I never met a JMU grad until some neighbor kids started going there. They tell me the food is really good at JMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been a biglaw partner and involved in recruiting for ten years. I never met a JMU grad until some neighbor kids started going there. They tell me the food is really good at JMU.

Even better at Tech