Anonymous wrote:Ivy's and top 20 National U's and top 10 LACs
UVA & WM
Top 70 National U's & next 30 LACs
VT & JMU & next 40 LACs
State Flagships from all states
Some state directionals & next 25 LACs
GMU/VCU

USNWR does not rank JMU as a national university at all. Rather, it's ranked as a "regional" university.

Ivy's and top 20 National U's and top 10 LACs
UVA & WM
Top 70 National U's & next 30 LACs
VT & JMU & next 40 LACs
State Flagships from all states
Some state directionals & next 25 LACs
GMU/VCU

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd rank them:
1. UVA
2. JMU
3. W&M / MW
4. VT
5. GMU

Tech is a factory, anyone can cake-walk through it. VT is a joke anymore.
GMU is good, but it's a commuter school (no real college experience).
W&M and Mary Washington aren't bad, but a boring place.
JMU is great, but not quite a UVA.
UVA (and I am not a UVA grad) is probably the top public school in VA.

No one thinks JMU is preferable to W&M except for partying. This post has no credibility.

+1

+1. This ranking is positively ridiculous. According to the data submitted to the Virginia State Council of Education, rankings of these schools are as follows:

In-state acceptance rates:

1. UVA--41%
2. W&M--42%
3. JMU--59%
4. GMU--65%
5. VT--66%
6. UMW--83%

Median math SAT (middle 50%)

1. UVA--680 (630-740)
2. W&M--680 (630-720)
3. VT--630 (580-680)
4. GMU--580 (530-630)
5. JMU--580 (530-620)
6. UMW--540 (500-590)

Median reading SAT (middle 50%)

1. W&M--690 (640-740)
2. UVA--670 (620-720)
3. VT--590 (540-640)
4. GMU/JMU--570 (520-620)
5. UMW--560 (510-620)

Median GPA

1. UVA--4.24
2. W&M--4.11
3. VT--3.96
4. JMU--3.77
5. GMU--3.6
6. UMW--3.52

Graduation rate

1. UVA--94%
2. W&M--92%
3. JMU/VT--85%
4. UMW--79%
5. GMU--64%

Yield (% of accepted students who enroll--an indication of the school's desirability)

1. UVA--63%
2. VT--52%
3. W&M--42%
4. JMU--36%
5. GMU--34%
6. UMW-27%

Anonymous wrote:JMU grad here, so of course I am biased
I still think JMU > VT (undergrad) for a variety of reasons. VT really is a "factory" as a PP pointed out. Specifically for academics though, the classes have hundreds of students, no interaction with the professor (only the TA). My largest class at JMU (think 100-level) was probably 100 students max. Most 3/400-level classes had 15/20 students.

If you're equating higher quality with smaller classes , then JMU > UVa. DC is a first year student at UVa, and has had classes that ranged from 12 students to ~400 (so large they can't all fit in the lecture hall and latecomers have to go to an overflow room where the lecture is piped in via CCTV). Has not been able to get into a required upper level language class at all this year so will fill that requirement at least 1 1/2 years after taking the last high school language class. Has had lots of interaction with TAs - not so much with professors. UVa is a great school for many things, but it also has a bit of that factory feel, at least for arts & sciences students trying to fulfill core requirements. Other schools in the university probably have a different feel.

Anonymous wrote:Me: GMU
Hubby: VT
Daughter: JMU
Son #1: UMW
Son #2: VT

All of us are gainfully employed in our fields and each school was perfect for us and our needs at the time.

+100

Depends on the major:

Architecture, Agriculture, Vet and STEM: VT
Liberal Arts: W&M or UVA
Sciences/Pre-Med: UVA
Education: JMU

If you already have family connections or want to build them in VA and want to stay in Richmond: U of R.

Me: GMU
Hubby: VT
Daughter: JMU
Son #1: UMW
Son #2: VT

All of us are gainfully employed in our fields and each school was perfect for us and our needs at the time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:JMU has a very pretty campus, in a nice town, nice kids (not snobby like at UVA) and the girls are beautiful.

Don't know much about VA Tech.

An interstate runs right down the middle. How is that pretty?

To be fair, the I-81 divide provides lots of late night entertainment. Chicken anyone?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd rank them:
1. UVA
2. JMU
3. W&M / MW
4. VT
5. GMU

Tech is a factory, anyone can cake-walk through it. VT is a joke anymore.
GMU is good, but it's a commuter school (no real college experience).
W&M and Mary Washington aren't bad, but a boring place.
JMU is great, but not quite a UVA.
UVA (and I am not a UVA grad) is probably the top public school in VA.

No one thinks JMU is preferable to W&M except for partying. This post has no credibility.

+1

UR is private and one of the top ranked small liberal arts colleges in the country so like W and L, should not really be in this discussion.
JMU is a band school.
William and Mary is for intellectual types.
All dirt roads lead to Tech.

UVA rocks on all levels.

Anonymous wrote:For useful STEM degrees:

1. UVA (because of school reputation)
2. W&M (because of school reputation)
3. VT
3. GMU
4. JMU
5. MW (because of school reputation)

Oh no...the GMU booster is back....

Anonymous wrote:JMU has a very pretty campus, in a nice town, nice kids (not snobby like at UVA) and the girls are beautiful.

Don't know much about VA Tech.

An interstate runs right down the middle. How is that pretty?

JMU has a very pretty campus, in a nice town, nice kids (not snobby like at UVA) and the girls are beautiful.

Don't know much about VA Tech.

Anonymous wrote:No disrespect, but I would feel weird going to a school (VA Tech) where so many students have been killed.

Does that bother anyone else?

As a VT grad, I resent this, but Blacksburg is happier without you in it anyway.

W&M
UVA
JMU and U of Richmond
GMU
VT and MW