George Mason

[Anonymous]

What are your experiences with GMU? What’s the campus like?

[Anonymous]

The campus is growing like mad, lots of really nice new buildings. I think somewhere between 6-7k students live in on-campus housing, others live in off-campus housing with friends, but a sizeable portion live at home and commute. You see a lot of people walking around campus or eating in the Johnson Center (less so in the pandemic, though it's picking up again) or hanging out in various locales/dining halls. It's a REALLY big school (over 40k students), but students find their niche. It has a diverse student population--it regularly is listed as among the more diverse schools in the country. One of its strengths is that there doesn't seem to be the large racial gaps in key markers like GPA/graduation rates/student engagement that you see in less diverse schools.

I would make sure to focus on people's experiences in the past 5-8 years because it is really growing and changing fast. Around that time, GMU became designated an R1 institution which lifted its profile further. They seem to have handled the pandemic pretty well and there are now in-person classes and on-line classes depending on your preference. There are a lot of graduate students who drive in for classes after 4:30 PM.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the poster above. DS went there. It has exploded. The legislature is pouring money into it (and some of the other VA campuses to provide for VA students since UVA and W&M can't expand further).

Downside? The nonstop construction! DS lived in the dorms for five years (special needs). It's not fun when a crane is tearing down a building outside your dorm.

The upside? state-of-the art facilities. Unlike the hideous post-war GI bill dorm that my kids at UVA got (since demolished), DS's dorms looked like hotel rooms. And food was better than UVA.

First, read the wikipedia on GMU. Don't listen to the old people here who still deride it as a commuter school. It was reclassified as a residential college decades ago. You are required to live on campus unless you apply for a waiter and receive it. Dorms are in demand because of the high cost of renting an apartment and maintaining a car near the campus. We were concerned when it looked like DS couldn't get into the dorm the last year due to demand.

Bear in mind it has some 38,000 students, many of which are grad students, which makes for great diversity. There are four campuses in Fairfax County and one gorgeous newish facility in Seoul Korea. It is, in fact, the most diverse campus in Virginia. There are also more mature students there and ex-military. A lot of Nova and Maryland residents are there getting their masters' or doctorates.

If your child can, get in do the Honors program. It gets you perks like pre-registration and group dorms. I know someone who recently graduated with a 3.85 and got a paralegal job and is studying for the LSAT. Since the law school admissions game is all GPA and test scores now he is going to do very well in admissions. He enjoyed the honors program.

Big growth majors are Econ, engineering, computer science and the only Serious Game Design major in Virginia. The Virginia Institute for Game Design is located at the Manassas campus. A bus connects all the campuses.

The huge exciting new major is cybersecurity. I am told those kids can write their own tickets out of GMU and immediately jump to even better paying jobs. My own DS was employed in his field before graduating and is still there.

I've taken courses there during the summers and loved it. You can find parking during the summer and I liked sitting by the pond.

Downsides: the growth - the right-hand doesn't seem to know what the left-hand is doing which sometimes is frustrating. DS has had paperwork battles just trying to get someone to do something they said they would.

The parking is bad. Don't take a car if you can avoid it.

The disability services office was not helpful. UVA's was better.

Go and tour before you judge.

[Anonymous]

The stats for admission have likewise jumped. Last year's entering class had a 75th percentile GPA of 4.0; 75th percentile of 3.75 and a bottom 25th of 3.44 (weighted, of course)

[Anonymous]

How does GMU compare to JMU for Finance/Accounting?

[Anonymous]

I want to like GMU and I think it's great for career purposes, BUT the people I know who have gone or do go there, they go home every weekend. Even if they have to live there during the week, it is not a typical college experience on the weekends. The kids I know go home because everyone else does, not because they want to, but they'd rather not sit alone in their dorm room all weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want to like GMU and I think it's great for career purposes, BUT the people I know who have gone or do go there, they go home every weekend. Even if they have to live there during the week, it is not a typical college experience on the weekends. The kids I know go home because everyone else does, not because they want to, but they'd rather not sit alone in their dorm room all weekend.

Perhaps because you live locally so obviously you would know only the local DMV students who probably do go home every weekend. My kid DMVdormed with international students, and Las Vegas students, Alaska, etc. Many financially strapped families in the DMV area are thrilled with GMU because they can petition for a waiver of the first-year residence requirement. I know a number of families who could not afford a four-year private university only because their kids lived at home while studying. I know several whose parents could not afford a private and this is how they went through college. It's also a common practice amongst asian american TJ families who are saving up for grad school - undergrad is just a stepping stone and it's all about GPA and performance in order to get onto the next level. If you live locally, it's not surprising at all that you might see that. But go and read on wikipedia or elsewhere the diversity of the student body. They've got kids from 130 countries and all 50 states making it the most diverse campus in Virginia. Those kids don't go home. Google it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to like GMU and I think it's great for career purposes, BUT the people I know who have gone or do go there, they go home every weekend. Even if they have to live there during the week, it is not a typical college experience on the weekends. The kids I know go home because everyone else does, not because they want to, but they'd rather not sit alone in their dorm room all weekend.

Perhaps because you live locally so obviously you would know only the local DMV students who probably do go home every weekend. My kid DMVdormed with international students, and Las Vegas students, Alaska, etc. Many financially strapped families in the DMV area are thrilled with GMU because they can petition for a waiver of the first-year residence requirement. I know a number of families who could not afford a four-year private university only because their kids lived at home while studying. I know several whose parents could not afford a private and this is how they went through college. It's also a common practice amongst asian american TJ families who are saving up for grad school - undergrad is just a stepping stone and it's all about GPA and performance in order to get onto the next level. If you live locally, it's not surprising at all that you might see that. But go and read on wikipedia or elsewhere the diversity of the student body. They've got kids from 130 countries and all 50 states making it the most diverse campus in Virginia. Those kids don't go home. Google it.

Undergrad population is 81 percent in state. That's a lot of local students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to like GMU and I think it's great for career purposes, BUT the people I know who have gone or do go there, they go home every weekend. Even if they have to live there during the week, it is not a typical college experience on the weekends. The kids I know go home because everyone else does, not because they want to, but they'd rather not sit alone in their dorm room all weekend.

Perhaps because you live locally so obviously you would know only the local DMV students who probably do go home every weekend. My kid DMVdormed with international students, and Las Vegas students, Alaska, etc. Many financially strapped families in the DMV area are thrilled with GMU because they can petition for a waiver of the first-year residence requirement. I know a number of families who could not afford a four-year private university only because their kids lived at home while studying. I know several whose parents could not afford a private and this is how they went through college. It's also a common practice amongst asian american TJ families who are saving up for grad school - undergrad is just a stepping stone and it's all about GPA and performance in order to get onto the next level. If you live locally, it's not surprising at all that you might see that. But go and read on wikipedia or elsewhere the diversity of the student body. They've got kids from 130 countries and all 50 states making it the most diverse campus in Virginia. Those kids don't go home. Google it.

Undergrad population 81 percent in state. That's a lot of local students.

+100

[Anonymous]

It's still a commuter college in the heart of Fairfax. Not much campus life. It's great for what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to like GMU and I think it's great for career purposes, BUT the people I know who have gone or do go there, they go home every weekend. Even if they have to live there during the week, it is not a typical college experience on the weekends. The kids I know go home because everyone else does, not because they want to, but they'd rather not sit alone in their dorm room all weekend.

Perhaps because you live locally so obviously you would know only the local DMV students who probably do go home every weekend. My kid DMVdormed with international students, and Las Vegas students, Alaska, etc. Many financially strapped families in the DMV area are thrilled with GMU because they can petition for a waiver of the first-year residence requirement. I know a number of families who could not afford a four-year private university only because their kids lived at home while studying. I know several whose parents could not afford a private and this is how they went through college. It's also a common practice amongst asian american TJ families who are saving up for grad school - undergrad is just a stepping stone and it's all about GPA and performance in order to get onto the next level. If you live locally, it's not surprising at all that you might see that. But go and read on wikipedia or elsewhere the diversity of the student body. They've got kids from 130 countries and all 50 states making it the most diverse campus in Virginia. Those kids don't go home. Google it.

Undergrad population is 81 percent in state. That's a lot of local students.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's still a commuter college in the heart of Fairfax. Not much campus life. It's great for what it is.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to like GMU and I think it's great for career purposes, BUT the people I know who have gone or do go there, they go home every weekend. Even if they have to live there during the week, it is not a typical college experience on the weekends. The kids I know go home because everyone else does, not because they want to, but they'd rather not sit alone in their dorm room all weekend.

Perhaps because you live locally so obviously you would know only the local DMV students who probably do go home every weekend. My kid DMVdormed with international students, and Las Vegas students, Alaska, etc. Many financially strapped families in the DMV area are thrilled with GMU because they can petition for a waiver of the first-year residence requirement. I know a number of families who could not afford a four-year private university only because their kids lived at home while studying. I know several whose parents could not afford a private and this is how they went through college. It's also a common practice amongst asian american TJ families who are saving up for grad school - undergrad is just a stepping stone and it's all about GPA and performance in order to get onto the next level. If you live locally, it's not surprising at all that you might see that. But go and read on wikipedia or elsewhere the diversity of the student body. They've got kids from 130 countries and all 50 states making it the most diverse campus in Virginia. Those kids don't go home. Google it.

Undergrad population is 81 percent in state. That's a lot of local students.

But that's because it is a STATE SCHOOL chartered and financed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for Virginia's students. UVA similarly has a 2/3 Virginian population. At 67%. IF the universities tried to cut anymore, the outcry from Virginian parents will make the Commonwealth do what happened in the U.C. system, which is to cut the UC back to only 10$ OOS. "Why am I paying all these taxes when my own kid can't get into a Californian school". And, by the way, Virginia is a big, diverse state. These aren't "Local students". They come from very different backgrounds all over the state. It has diversity in terms of race; economic diversity (DD housed with a very poor roommate from the southern part of the state who taught DD how to shop at Goodwill); cultural differences; socioeconomic (compare the density and accomplishment and wealth of parents in NOVA to that in the western and southern parts of the state). Virginia also has very white areas/very black areas, etc. All those students come to Geoge Mason - along with students form 130 other countries and 50 other states. That's why it is called the most diverse university in the commonwealth. Look it up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to like GMU and I think it's great for career purposes, BUT the people I know who have gone or do go there, they go home every weekend. Even if they have to live there during the week, it is not a typical college experience on the weekends. The kids I know go home because everyone else does, not because they want to, but they'd rather not sit alone in their dorm room all weekend.

Perhaps because you live locally so obviously you would know only the local DMV students who probably do go home every weekend. My kid DMVdormed with international students, and Las Vegas students, Alaska, etc. Many financially strapped families in the DMV area are thrilled with GMU because they can petition for a waiver of the first-year residence requirement. I know a number of families who could not afford a four-year private university only because their kids lived at home while studying. I know several whose parents could not afford a private and this is how they went through college. It's also a common practice amongst asian american TJ families who are saving up for grad school - undergrad is just a stepping stone and it's all about GPA and performance in order to get onto the next level. If you live locally, it's not surprising at all that you might see that. But go and read on wikipedia or elsewhere the diversity of the student body. They've got kids from 130 countries and all 50 states making it the most diverse campus in Virginia. Those kids don't go home. Google it.

Undergrad population is 81 percent in state. That's a lot of local students.

But that's because it is a STATE SCHOOL chartered and financed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for Virginia's students. UVA similarly has a 2/3 Virginian population. At 67%. IF the universities tried to cut anymore, the outcry from Virginian parents will make the Commonwealth do what happened in the U.C. system, which is to cut the UC back to only 10$ OOS. "Why am I paying all these taxes when my own kid can't get into a Californian school". And, by the way, Virginia is a big, diverse state. These aren't "Local students". They come from very different backgrounds all over the state. It has diversity in terms of race; economic diversity (DD housed with a very poor roommate from the southern part of the state who taught DD how to shop at Goodwill); cultural differences; socioeconomic (compare the density and accomplishment and wealth of parents in NOVA to that in the western and southern parts of the state). Virginia also has very white areas/very black areas, etc. All those students come to Geoge Mason - along with students form 130 other countries and 50 other states. That's why it is called the most diverse university in the commonwealth. Look it up!

So what you’re saying is that no one goes home on the weekends and there’s a very robust social life just like UVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Undergrad population is 81 percent in state. That's a lot of local students.

My kid is there, and their roommate is local, but they know a lot of in-state students who are from several hours away and who stick around on the weekend.

My kid has come home a couple of times for an appointment or to go to the movies with us, but it's always a day trip, not overnight. Not even the whole day.