James Madison from out of state

[Anonymous]

What’s it like for out of state (Midwest) students? How difficult is it to fly in and shuttle to campus?

[Anonymous]

In state parent here but a Midwest native and our kid has a few friends from the Northeast and Midwest at JMU and transit doesn't sound too hard. Harrisonguburg is about an hour and a half from Dulles and a bus that runs the I-81 corridor. The train is also an option though it doesn't go directly to Harrisonburg.

[Anonymous]

I believe there’s also an airport local to Harrisonburg? I know my DC had tons of OOS friends while at JMU and I remember hearing about this local airport a lot. Here are some links:

https://www.jmu.edu/transportation/regional-and-break-shuttles/airports.shtml

https://www.jmu.edu/transportation/regional-and-break-shuttles/search-all.shtml

[Anonymous]

It’s two hours from Dulles

[Anonymous]

There's no "flying in". It's a long 2 hours from any reasonable sized airport.

[Anonymous]

I went to JMU out of state way back in the 90s. I flew out of Shenandoah Regional airport a few times but only connecting flights and pricey. There are so many people from NoVa that I usually just found someone to drop me at Dulles after year 1. It wasn't difficult but that was back in the days of the ride board and people actually carpooling places. Now I have three neighbors whose kids are all freshmen at JMU and they all drive down to get their kids separately for breaks, so who knows. They get a week for Thanksgiving and a super long Christmas break, so it would be likely three flights a year with spring break.

[Anonymous]

You can actually stay on campus during Thanksgiving break - in other words, if you live in the dorm, you can stay. You have to go home at Xmas/Winter break.

It is exactly two hours to get to NoVa from JMU. You have both DCA and IAD airports to choose from.

[Anonymous]

This is so interesting - Shenandoah Valley Airport is JMU's "official" airport. I had no idea. It flies to Charlotte and from there, students can catch connecting flights.

SHD offers access to American Airlines’ global network through daily flights to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). Passengers have access to hundreds of domestic and international destinations while enjoying a hassle-free travel experience. You can get anywhere in the world with just one flight out of SHD.
https://flyshd.com/airline-information/jmu-travel/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is so interesting - Shenandoah Valley Airport is JMU's "official" airport. I had no idea. It flies to Charlotte and from there, students can catch connecting flights.

SHD offers access to American Airlines’ global network through daily flights to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). Passengers have access to hundreds of domestic and international destinations while enjoying a hassle-free travel experience. You can get anywhere in the world with just one flight out of SHD.
https://flyshd.com/airline-information/jmu-travel/

Certainly better than nothing, but higher prices than flying out of a major airport and you're basically limited to American Airlines. Plus, with few daily flights, a delay or cancellation could mean missing your connection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can actually stay on campus during Thanksgiving break - in other words, if you live in the dorm, you can stay. You have to go home at Xmas/Winter break.

It is exactly two hours to get to NoVa from JMU. You have both DCA and IAD airports to choose from.

We have a student at JMU and this is not true. Dorms closed for Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks. Students could stay for Fall Break. If a student has to stay for Thanksgiving they need to get permission and get it early so they can be assigned a dorm that accommodates students who have to stay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In state parent here but a Midwest native and our kid has a few friends from the Northeast and Midwest at JMU and transit doesn't sound too hard. Harrisonguburg is about an hour and a half from Dulles and a bus that runs the I-81 corridor. The train is also an option though it doesn't go directly to Harrisonburg.

What train station would a JMU kid use?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In state parent here but a Midwest native and our kid has a few friends from the Northeast and Midwest at JMU and transit doesn't sound too hard. Harrisonguburg is about an hour and a half from Dulles and a bus that runs the I-81 corridor. The train is also an option though it doesn't go directly to Harrisonburg.

What train station would a JMU kid use?

Charlottesville

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In state parent here but a Midwest native and our kid has a few friends from the Northeast and Midwest at JMU and transit doesn't sound too hard. Harrisonguburg is about an hour and a half from Dulles and a bus that runs the I-81 corridor. The train is also an option though it doesn't go directly to Harrisonburg.

What train station would a JMU kid use?

Charlottesville

No, it's Staunton:

https://www.jmu.edu/transportation/regional-and-break-shuttles/amtrak.shtml

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so interesting - Shenandoah Valley Airport is JMU's "official" airport. I had no idea. It flies to Charlotte and from there, students can catch connecting flights.

SHD offers access to American Airlines’ global network through daily flights to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). Passengers have access to hundreds of domestic and international destinations while enjoying a hassle-free travel experience. You can get anywhere in the world with just one flight out of SHD.
https://flyshd.com/airline-information/jmu-travel/

Certainly better than nothing, but higher prices than flying out of a major airport and you're basically limited to American Airlines. Plus, with few daily flights, a delay or cancellation could mean missing your connection.

My son's roommate used this all the time to fly home to Texas. Never had a problem connecting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is so interesting - Shenandoah Valley Airport is JMU's "official" airport. I had no idea. It flies to Charlotte and from there, students can catch connecting flights.

SHD offers access to American Airlines’ global network through daily flights to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). Passengers have access to hundreds of domestic and international destinations while enjoying a hassle-free travel experience. You can get anywhere in the world with just one flight out of SHD.
https://flyshd.com/airline-information/jmu-travel/

Certainly better than nothing, but higher prices than flying out of a major airport and you're basically limited to American Airlines. Plus, with few daily flights, a delay or cancellation could mean missing your connection.

My son's roommate used this all the time to fly home to Texas. Never had a problem connecting.

He was fortunate -- the on-time performance at that airport is not great. And the price differential can be significant.