JMU vs. Colby

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is a tougher choice than I would have thought. If we were just looking at academic reputation in a vacuum, Colby is an easy choice. But it is also big vs. small school, isolated vs. close-enough to other things/big town. I am a bit of a reputation-snob myself but even I am struggling with advising DC. What they want as a major is offered at both. Sport would offer a friend-group at both.

The differential in acceptance rates tells you everything you need to know. If location was an issue, why did DC apply to Colby?!?

What does acceptance rate tell us?

It tells you something about the quality of the student body. JMU’s acceptance rate is over 80 percent. Colby’s is below 10 percent. The SAT/ACT and GPA figures are vastly different too.

JMU is much larger, so acceptance rate is an ineffective comparison tool. Acceptance rates can also be gamed in an effort to manipulate rankings.

You can’t be this ignorant. What does the size of the school have to do with its acceptance rate? JMU’s acceptance rate is 78%. Colby’s is under 10%.

In terms of size, Cornell University has about 5K kids in its 2027 class which is the same number as JMU’s class of 2027. Cornell’s acceptance rate is 8%. Please explain how acceptance rates are gamed to account for a 70 point difference.

JMU accepts more students than Colby to fill a larger class. Cornell receives more apps than JMU which means it wins a popularity contest with JMU. None of this equates to quality of student body as you suggest.

Oh, boy! You seem to be missing some basic analytical skills. By the same argument, JMU is as good as Harvard or Yale. Anyway, I give up…

Nope, not what I said. Do you have any evidence that acceptance rates equate to student body quality?

You are correct that acceptance rates are not an indicator of student body quality. But GPAs and test scorers are (though not perfect), and those show that Colby students are definitely a cut above those at JMU.

There's high level of correlation between acceptance rate and student body quality.

Where is your proof?

It also depends what you consider quality. The wealthy strivers who went to private schools but didn't do well enough to get into an Ivy or Williams or Bowdoin, but whose connections will continue to find them high paying jobs once they graduate from Colby. Or the hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughou their childhoods, working hard enough to get merit aid for JMU, while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network.

In VA, Hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughout their childhoods, working hard while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network
go to UVA, W&M, or VT.

Why does it matter if there are “mountains” that someone can see. They don’t add anything to the college experience as they do at CU Boulder or University of Utah.

They are just big hills off in the distance that nobody cares about.

Colby has some actual mountains where you might actually ski and enjoy them if that factors into someone’s decision.

You can ski in VA and WV within an hour or less of JMU.

Crap mid Atlantic skiing…especially in VA. Also, it’s more like 2.5 hours away to snowshoe or Canaan. Bryce is pretty awful skiing.

Colby is only 1 hour from Sugarloaf which is 100x better than anything in the mid Atlantic.

My only point is that if being near mountains or skiing is important…well you again would probably go out West…but Colby offers much better options than JMU.

That is your opinion. If a kid wants to ski Wintergreen Resort is close to JMU.

Did OP even say her kid cared about skiing? Because “come to JMU and be near great skiing” is a strange (and not particularly honest) flex. Lots of things to recommend JMU. Skiing is like #987 on the list.

Again, it would be great if you'd do a little research before posting. You are so far off the mark, it's kind of funny. No one is claiming JMU is equivalent to Colorado or Utah for skiing, but for a lot of people, being 20 minutes away from a fun day on the slopes is a huge plus.

https://www.breezejmu.org/news/massanutten-mountain-provides-winter-escape/article_062f8050-d875-11e6-8de8-1b96d09950d7.html (from 2017 but still applicable)
https://www.jmu.edu/recreation/sports/sport-clubs/clubs/skisnowboard.shtml
https://www.jmu.edu/recreation/sports/sport-clubs/clubs/boarderline.shtml

I don’t know. Seems to me that trying to convince OP to send her kid to JMU over a much stronger school *because skiing* shows a lack of research (or more accurately reading the OP or reading the thread…), since OP has given zero indication that her kid wants to ski. You’re so busy trying to convince yourself that sending your kid to the 5th or 6th best 3rd tier VA state college wasn’t a mistake because for 2-3 weeks starting in late January— SKIING! and that a 3rd tier regional school can compete with an NEASCAC that you are throwing everything you can find against the wall and hoping something sticks.

Skiing ain’t it. I’m well aware that it is possible to ski a few weeks a year in VA. But I’m not delusional, so I also know there is better skiing and a much longer season in Maine. Also, I read the thread, so I know that OP’s kid isn’t choosing a college based on the skiing or lack thereof. Which makes your insistence on proving the superiority of JMU skiing both irrelevant and bizarre.

OP asked about athletics, name recognition and outcomes. You responded with post after post insisting :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: that VA has better skiing than Maine. Which is both untrue and completely irrelevant to OP’s post.

And remind me. How many weeks of ski weather has VA had this winter? Last weekend was beautiful. Today is low 40s. Next weekend is projected to be low 40s. Kids aren’t even back at school for several weeks. How many ski weekends will JMU have this year? 1? 2?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is a tougher choice than I would have thought. If we were just looking at academic reputation in a vacuum, Colby is an easy choice. But it is also big vs. small school, isolated vs. close-enough to other things/big town. I am a bit of a reputation-snob myself but even I am struggling with advising DC. What they want as a major is offered at both. Sport would offer a friend-group at both.

The differential in acceptance rates tells you everything you need to know. If location was an issue, why did DC apply to Colby?!?

What does acceptance rate tell us?

It tells you something about the quality of the student body. JMU’s acceptance rate is over 80 percent. Colby’s is below 10 percent. The SAT/ACT and GPA figures are vastly different too.

JMU is much larger, so acceptance rate is an ineffective comparison tool. Acceptance rates can also be gamed in an effort to manipulate rankings.

You can’t be this ignorant. What does the size of the school have to do with its acceptance rate? JMU’s acceptance rate is 78%. Colby’s is under 10%.

In terms of size, Cornell University has about 5K kids in its 2027 class which is the same number as JMU’s class of 2027. Cornell’s acceptance rate is 8%. Please explain how acceptance rates are gamed to account for a 70 point difference.

JMU accepts more students than Colby to fill a larger class. Cornell receives more apps than JMU which means it wins a popularity contest with JMU. None of this equates to quality of student body as you suggest.

Oh, boy! You seem to be missing some basic analytical skills. By the same argument, JMU is as good as Harvard or Yale. Anyway, I give up…

Nope, not what I said. Do you have any evidence that acceptance rates equate to student body quality?

You are correct that acceptance rates are not an indicator of student body quality. But GPAs and test scorers are (though not perfect), and those show that Colby students are definitely a cut above those at JMU.

There's high level of correlation between acceptance rate and student body quality.

Where is your proof?

It also depends what you consider quality. The wealthy strivers who went to private schools but didn't do well enough to get into an Ivy or Williams or Bowdoin, but whose connections will continue to find them high paying jobs once they graduate from Colby. Or the hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughou their childhoods, working hard enough to get merit aid for JMU, while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network.

In VA, Hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughout their childhoods, working hard while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network
go to UVA, W&M, or VT.

Why does it matter if there are “mountains” that someone can see. They don’t add anything to the college experience as they do at CU Boulder or University of Utah.

They are just big hills off in the distance that nobody cares about.

Colby has some actual mountains where you might actually ski and enjoy them if that factors into someone’s decision.

You can ski in VA and WV within an hour or less of JMU.

Crap mid Atlantic skiing…especially in VA. Also, it’s more like 2.5 hours away to snowshoe or Canaan. Bryce is pretty awful skiing.

Colby is only 1 hour from Sugarloaf which is 100x better than anything in the mid Atlantic.

My only point is that if being near mountains or skiing is important…well you again would probably go out West…but Colby offers much better options than JMU.

DP. You really have no idea what you're talking about, do you? Do you even know where Harrisonburg, VA is? Smack dab in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley, surrounded by mountains. The ski resort of Massanutten is 20 minutes away! Students ski there all the time. Certainly no need to drive an hour, as one would have to do at Colby. You sound very, very silly and uninformed.

Okay. But OP’s kid hasn’t expressed interest in skiing at JMU or Colby. Which makes your skiing obsession seem— silly and uniformed, actually.

[Anonymous]

The Colby booster actually first mentioned skiing. See 12:15

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please stop. A 3rd tier VA state school is just not happening.

1. Tiers are not real
2. 22,000 JMU kids would think otherwise

Seriously. This is a pretty amusing thread. Sure, there are kids who would choose Colby. But not many.

Depends.Public HS kids with an overworked guidance counselors trying to slot every kid on their list into an afffordable safety will apply to the Tier 1 and 2 VA state schools, get rejected, and go (with a dozen/dozens of their peers to JMU because it’s the best instate college they can get into. And for kids who Just Miss UVa (and WM and VT and GMU STEM and VCU health careers, etc), JMU will absolutely fit the “everyone can get in and it won’t break the bank” safety slot.

Plus JMU stats are much lower and admit rate is much higher than Colby. Realistically, Colby isn’t financially and/or academically feasible for 90%+ of JMU students. It’s easy to say your kid won’t go to a college that wouldn’t accept them anyway.

OTOH, kids from good privates and kids with good college counselors (who also happen to be kids whose parents can afford better than JMU) will absolutely go to Colby— if they can get in (which is a big if).

OP’s kid got the golden athletic recruit ticket. She can get into Colby. And she can afford Colby. Why in the world would she go to a middle of the pack VA State school? Better skiing?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is a tougher choice than I would have thought. If we were just looking at academic reputation in a vacuum, Colby is an easy choice. But it is also big vs. small school, isolated vs. close-enough to other things/big town. I am a bit of a reputation-snob myself but even I am struggling with advising DC. What they want as a major is offered at both. Sport would offer a friend-group at both.

The differential in acceptance rates tells you everything you need to know. If location was an issue, why did DC apply to Colby?!?

What does acceptance rate tell us?

It tells you something about the quality of the student body. JMU’s acceptance rate is over 80 percent. Colby’s is below 10 percent. The SAT/ACT and GPA figures are vastly different too.

JMU is much larger, so acceptance rate is an ineffective comparison tool. Acceptance rates can also be gamed in an effort to manipulate rankings.

You can’t be this ignorant. What does the size of the school have to do with its acceptance rate? JMU’s acceptance rate is 78%. Colby’s is under 10%.

In terms of size, Cornell University has about 5K kids in its 2027 class which is the same number as JMU’s class of 2027. Cornell’s acceptance rate is 8%. Please explain how acceptance rates are gamed to account for a 70 point difference.

JMU accepts more students than Colby to fill a larger class. Cornell receives more apps than JMU which means it wins a popularity contest with JMU. None of this equates to quality of student body as you suggest.

Oh, boy! You seem to be missing some basic analytical skills. By the same argument, JMU is as good as Harvard or Yale. Anyway, I give up…

Nope, not what I said. Do you have any evidence that acceptance rates equate to student body quality?

You are correct that acceptance rates are not an indicator of student body quality. But GPAs and test scorers are (though not perfect), and those show that Colby students are definitely a cut above those at JMU.

There's high level of correlation between acceptance rate and student body quality.

Where is your proof?

It also depends what you consider quality. The wealthy strivers who went to private schools but didn't do well enough to get into an Ivy or Williams or Bowdoin, but whose connections will continue to find them high paying jobs once they graduate from Colby. Or the hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughou their childhoods, working hard enough to get merit aid for JMU, while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network.

In VA, Hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughout their childhoods, working hard while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network
go to UVA, W&M, or VT.

Why does it matter if there are “mountains” that someone can see. They don’t add anything to the college experience as they do at CU Boulder or University of Utah.

They are just big hills off in the distance that nobody cares about.

Colby has some actual mountains where you might actually ski and enjoy them if that factors into someone’s decision.

You can ski in VA and WV within an hour or less of JMU.

Crap mid Atlantic skiing…especially in VA. Also, it’s more like 2.5 hours away to snowshoe or Canaan. Bryce is pretty awful skiing.

Colby is only 1 hour from Sugarloaf which is 100x better than anything in the mid Atlantic.

My only point is that if being near mountains or skiing is important…well you again would probably go out West…but Colby offers much better options than JMU.

That is your opinion. If a kid wants to ski Wintergreen Resort is close to JMU.

Did OP even say her kid cared about skiing? Because “come to JMU and be near great skiing” is a strange (and not particularly honest) flex. Lots of things to recommend JMU. Skiing is like #987 on the list.

Again, it would be great if you'd do a little research before posting. You are so far off the mark, it's kind of funny. No one is claiming JMU is equivalent to Colorado or Utah for skiing, but for a lot of people, being 20 minutes away from a fun day on the slopes is a huge plus.

https://www.breezejmu.org/news/massanutten-mountain-provides-winter-escape/article_062f8050-d875-11e6-8de8-1b96d09950d7.html (from 2017 but still applicable)
https://www.jmu.edu/recreation/sports/sport-clubs/clubs/skisnowboard.shtml
https://www.jmu.edu/recreation/sports/sport-clubs/clubs/boarderline.shtml

I don’t know. Seems to me that trying to convince OP to send her kid to JMU over a much stronger school *because skiing* shows a lack of research (or more accurately reading the OP or reading the thread…), since OP has given zero indication that her kid wants to ski. You’re so busy trying to convince yourself that sending your kid to the 5th or 6th best 3rd tier VA state college wasn’t a mistake because for 2-3 weeks starting in late January— SKIING! and that a 3rd tier regional school can compete with an NEASCAC that you are throwing everything you can find against the wall and hoping something sticks.

Skiing ain’t it. I’m well aware that it is possible to ski a few weeks a year in VA. But I’m not delusional, so I also know there is better skiing and a much longer season in Maine. Also, I read the thread, so I know that OP’s kid isn’t choosing a college based on the skiing or lack thereof. Which makes your insistence on proving the superiority of JMU skiing both irrelevant and bizarre.

OP asked about athletics, name recognition and outcomes. You responded with post after post insisting :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: that VA has better skiing than Maine. Which is both untrue and completely irrelevant to OP’s post.

And remind me. How many weeks of ski weather has VA had this winter? Last weekend was beautiful. Today is low 40s. Next weekend is projected to be low 40s. Kids aren’t even back at school for several weeks. How many ski weekends will JMU have this year? 1? 2?

You seem bizarrely triggered. Must be because you're trying to convince yourself that throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars away on a school that 99% of Americans have never heard of was a good move. At any rate, I'm not trying to convince OP to choose JMU over Colby - or any other school, for that matter. As you say, the OP never mentioned skiing at all. But someone did, and that's the direction the thread has gone ever since.

You have been insistent that there is no skiing anywhere near JMU and that it's just ludicrous to suggest otherwise. You were completely wrong about that, so I've helpfully provided you links, showing that not only is there skiing within a 20-minute drive of JMU, there are also several ski and snowboard-based clubs/teams on campus.

I'm not interested in this sad little pissing match you seem invested in, between ski options at JMU vs. Colby. I *never* said Virginia has better skiing than Maine. My posts have been in direct response to YOU insisting that JMU has no skiing to speak of. That's it. You were wrong. You can slink away now and continue fuming about whatever it is you categorize as "3rd tier schools" while knowing in the back of your mind that the vast majority of people don't care about - and probably have never heard of - some obscure little college in a tiny, rinky-dink Maine town.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is a tougher choice than I would have thought. If we were just looking at academic reputation in a vacuum, Colby is an easy choice. But it is also big vs. small school, isolated vs. close-enough to other things/big town. I am a bit of a reputation-snob myself but even I am struggling with advising DC. What they want as a major is offered at both. Sport would offer a friend-group at both.

The differential in acceptance rates tells you everything you need to know. If location was an issue, why did DC apply to Colby?!?

What does acceptance rate tell us?

It tells you something about the quality of the student body. JMU’s acceptance rate is over 80 percent. Colby’s is below 10 percent. The SAT/ACT and GPA figures are vastly different too.

JMU is much larger, so acceptance rate is an ineffective comparison tool. Acceptance rates can also be gamed in an effort to manipulate rankings.

You can’t be this ignorant. What does the size of the school have to do with its acceptance rate? JMU’s acceptance rate is 78%. Colby’s is under 10%.

In terms of size, Cornell University has about 5K kids in its 2027 class which is the same number as JMU’s class of 2027. Cornell’s acceptance rate is 8%. Please explain how acceptance rates are gamed to account for a 70 point difference.

JMU accepts more students than Colby to fill a larger class. Cornell receives more apps than JMU which means it wins a popularity contest with JMU. None of this equates to quality of student body as you suggest.

Oh, boy! You seem to be missing some basic analytical skills. By the same argument, JMU is as good as Harvard or Yale. Anyway, I give up…

Nope, not what I said. Do you have any evidence that acceptance rates equate to student body quality?

You are correct that acceptance rates are not an indicator of student body quality. But GPAs and test scorers are (though not perfect), and those show that Colby students are definitely a cut above those at JMU.

There's high level of correlation between acceptance rate and student body quality.

Where is your proof?

It also depends what you consider quality. The wealthy strivers who went to private schools but didn't do well enough to get into an Ivy or Williams or Bowdoin, but whose connections will continue to find them high paying jobs once they graduate from Colby. Or the hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughou their childhoods, working hard enough to get merit aid for JMU, while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network.

In VA, Hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughout their childhoods, working hard while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network
go to UVA, W&M, or VT.

Which mountains surround William and Mary?

What does skiing have to do with undergraduate education? It is, or should be, an irrelevant criterion for anyone going on to higher education to actually get an education as opposed to engage in recreation.

Yes- the Colby booster was trying to claim they had better skiing.

Well, it’s Maine. They do have better skiing. Not sure what that has to do with educational quality. But you say “claim” like there could be an honest debate about the quality of skiing in Va vs Maine. Come on man.

No one is making that claim. But it's entirely false to say that JMU isn't located right down the road from a ski resort. Because it is.
DP

It’s also entirely false to say the location of the nearest ski resort matters to OP’s kid. Because OP hasn’t mentioned skiing once.

Pro-tip: when trying to make a sale, focus on what is important to the customer and not what’s most important to you.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is a tougher choice than I would have thought. If we were just looking at academic reputation in a vacuum, Colby is an easy choice. But it is also big vs. small school, isolated vs. close-enough to other things/big town. I am a bit of a reputation-snob myself but even I am struggling with advising DC. What they want as a major is offered at both. Sport would offer a friend-group at both.

The differential in acceptance rates tells you everything you need to know. If location was an issue, why did DC apply to Colby?!?

What does acceptance rate tell us?

It tells you something about the quality of the student body. JMU’s acceptance rate is over 80 percent. Colby’s is below 10 percent. The SAT/ACT and GPA figures are vastly different too.

JMU is much larger, so acceptance rate is an ineffective comparison tool. Acceptance rates can also be gamed in an effort to manipulate rankings.

You can’t be this ignorant. What does the size of the school have to do with its acceptance rate? JMU’s acceptance rate is 78%. Colby’s is under 10%.

In terms of size, Cornell University has about 5K kids in its 2027 class which is the same number as JMU’s class of 2027. Cornell’s acceptance rate is 8%. Please explain how acceptance rates are gamed to account for a 70 point difference.

JMU accepts more students than Colby to fill a larger class. Cornell receives more apps than JMU which means it wins a popularity contest with JMU. None of this equates to quality of student body as you suggest.

Oh, boy! You seem to be missing some basic analytical skills. By the same argument, JMU is as good as Harvard or Yale. Anyway, I give up…

Nope, not what I said. Do you have any evidence that acceptance rates equate to student body quality?

You are correct that acceptance rates are not an indicator of student body quality. But GPAs and test scorers are (though not perfect), and those show that Colby students are definitely a cut above those at JMU.

There's high level of correlation between acceptance rate and student body quality.

Where is your proof?

It also depends what you consider quality. The wealthy strivers who went to private schools but didn't do well enough to get into an Ivy or Williams or Bowdoin, but whose connections will continue to find them high paying jobs once they graduate from Colby. Or the hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughou their childhoods, working hard enough to get merit aid for JMU, while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network.

In VA, Hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughout their childhoods, working hard while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network
go to UVA, W&M, or VT.

Why does it matter if there are “mountains” that someone can see. They don’t add anything to the college experience as they do at CU Boulder or University of Utah.

They are just big hills off in the distance that nobody cares about.

Colby has some actual mountains where you might actually ski and enjoy them if that factors into someone’s decision.

You can ski in VA and WV within an hour or less of JMU.

Crap mid Atlantic skiing…especially in VA. Also, it’s more like 2.5 hours away to snowshoe or Canaan. Bryce is pretty awful skiing.

Colby is only 1 hour from Sugarloaf which is 100x better than anything in the mid Atlantic.

My only point is that if being near mountains or skiing is important…well you again would probably go out West…but Colby offers much better options than JMU.

DP. You really have no idea what you're talking about, do you? Do you even know where Harrisonburg, VA is? Smack dab in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley, surrounded by mountains. The ski resort of Massanutten is 20 minutes away! Students ski there all the time. Certainly no need to drive an hour, as one would have to do at Colby. You sound very, very silly and uninformed.

Okay. But OP’s kid hasn’t expressed interest in skiing at JMU or Colby. Which makes your skiing obsession seem— silly and uniformed, actually.

I know OP's kid hasn't expressed an interest in skiing. The responses are all due to the bolded post, above. Written by the Colby booster, btw. You're welcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Colby booster actually first mentioned skiing. See 12:15

Exactly. No one would have even brought up skiing at all had this person not made some dumb statement.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Please stop. A 3rd tier VA state school is just not happening.

1. Tiers are not real
2. 22,000 JMU kids would think otherwise

Seriously. This is a pretty amusing thread. Sure, there are kids who would choose Colby. But not many.

Depends.Public HS kids with an overworked guidance counselors trying to slot every kid on their list into an afffordable safety will apply to the Tier 1 and 2 VA state schools, get rejected, and go (with a dozen/dozens of their peers to JMU because it’s the best instate college they can get into. And for kids who Just Miss UVa (and WM and VT and GMU STEM and VCU health careers, etc), JMU will absolutely fit the “everyone can get in and it won’t break the bank” safety slot.

Plus JMU stats are much lower and admit rate is much higher than Colby. Realistically, Colby isn’t financially and/or academically feasible for 90%+ of JMU students. It’s easy to say your kid won’t go to a college that wouldn’t accept them anyway.

OTOH, kids from good privates and kids with good college counselors (who also happen to be kids whose parents can afford better than JMU) will absolutely go to Colby— if they can get in (which is a big if).

OP’s kid got the golden athletic recruit ticket. She can get into Colby. And she can afford Colby. Why in the world would she go to a middle of the pack VA State school? Better skiing?

DP. Are you the same poster who has written long, detailed posts about what you *think* are the reasons students choose certain VA schools? You really haven't a clue why any student would set one school or another in their sights. You also seem strangely obsessed with ranking the VA schools, which is a clear giveaway that your kid didn't get into whatever their top choice was.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is a tougher choice than I would have thought. If we were just looking at academic reputation in a vacuum, Colby is an easy choice. But it is also big vs. small school, isolated vs. close-enough to other things/big town. I am a bit of a reputation-snob myself but even I am struggling with advising DC. What they want as a major is offered at both. Sport would offer a friend-group at both.

The differential in acceptance rates tells you everything you need to know. If location was an issue, why did DC apply to Colby?!?

What does acceptance rate tell us?

It tells you something about the quality of the student body. JMU’s acceptance rate is over 80 percent. Colby’s is below 10 percent. The SAT/ACT and GPA figures are vastly different too.

JMU is much larger, so acceptance rate is an ineffective comparison tool. Acceptance rates can also be gamed in an effort to manipulate rankings.

You can’t be this ignorant. What does the size of the school have to do with its acceptance rate? JMU’s acceptance rate is 78%. Colby’s is under 10%.

In terms of size, Cornell University has about 5K kids in its 2027 class which is the same number as JMU’s class of 2027. Cornell’s acceptance rate is 8%. Please explain how acceptance rates are gamed to account for a 70 point difference.

JMU accepts more students than Colby to fill a larger class. Cornell receives more apps than JMU which means it wins a popularity contest with JMU. None of this equates to quality of student body as you suggest.

Oh, boy! You seem to be missing some basic analytical skills. By the same argument, JMU is as good as Harvard or Yale. Anyway, I give up…

Nope, not what I said. Do you have any evidence that acceptance rates equate to student body quality?

You are correct that acceptance rates are not an indicator of student body quality. But GPAs and test scorers are (though not perfect), and those show that Colby students are definitely a cut above those at JMU.

There's high level of correlation between acceptance rate and student body quality.

Where is your proof?

It also depends what you consider quality. The wealthy strivers who went to private schools but didn't do well enough to get into an Ivy or Williams or Bowdoin, but whose connections will continue to find them high paying jobs once they graduate from Colby. Or the hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughou their childhoods, working hard enough to get merit aid for JMU, while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network.

In VA, Hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughout their childhoods, working hard while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network
go to UVA, W&M, or VT.

Why does it matter if there are “mountains” that someone can see. They don’t add anything to the college experience as they do at CU Boulder or University of Utah.

They are just big hills off in the distance that nobody cares about.

Colby has some actual mountains where you might actually ski and enjoy them if that factors into someone’s decision.

You can ski in VA and WV within an hour or less of JMU.

Crap mid Atlantic skiing…especially in VA. Also, it’s more like 2.5 hours away to snowshoe or Canaan. Bryce is pretty awful skiing.

Colby is only 1 hour from Sugarloaf which is 100x better than anything in the mid Atlantic.

My only point is that if being near mountains or skiing is important…well you again would probably go out West…but Colby offers much better options than JMU.

That is your opinion. If a kid wants to ski Wintergreen Resort is close to JMU.

Did OP even say her kid cared about skiing? Because “come to JMU and be near great skiing” is a strange (and not particularly honest) flex. Lots of things to recommend JMU. Skiing is like #987 on the list.

Again, it would be great if you'd do a little research before posting. You are so far off the mark, it's kind of funny. No one is claiming JMU is equivalent to Colorado or Utah for skiing, but for a lot of people, being 20 minutes away from a fun day on the slopes is a huge plus.

https://www.breezejmu.org/news/massanutten-mountain-provides-winter-escape/article_062f8050-d875-11e6-8de8-1b96d09950d7.html (from 2017 but still applicable)
https://www.jmu.edu/recreation/sports/sport-clubs/clubs/skisnowboard.shtml
https://www.jmu.edu/recreation/sports/sport-clubs/clubs/boarderline.shtml

I don’t know. Seems to me that trying to convince OP to send her kid to JMU over a much stronger school *because skiing* shows a lack of research (or more accurately reading the OP or reading the thread…), since OP has given zero indication that her kid wants to ski. You’re so busy trying to convince yourself that sending your kid to the 5th or 6th best 3rd tier VA state college wasn’t a mistake because for 2-3 weeks starting in late January— SKIING! and that a 3rd tier regional school can compete with an NEASCAC that you are throwing everything you can find against the wall and hoping something sticks.

Skiing ain’t it. I’m well aware that it is possible to ski a few weeks a year in VA. But I’m not delusional, so I also know there is better skiing and a much longer season in Maine. Also, I read the thread, so I know that OP’s kid isn’t choosing a college based on the skiing or lack thereof. Which makes your insistence on proving the superiority of JMU skiing both irrelevant and bizarre.

OP asked about athletics, name recognition and outcomes. You responded with post after post insisting :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: that VA has better skiing than Maine. Which is both untrue and completely irrelevant to OP’s post.

And remind me. How many weeks of ski weather has VA had this winter? Last weekend was beautiful. Today is low 40s. Next weekend is projected to be low 40s. Kids aren’t even back at school for several weeks. How many ski weekends will JMU have this year? 1? 2?

You seem bizarrely triggered. Must be because you're trying to convince yourself that throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars away on a school that 99% of Americans have never heard of was a good move. At any rate, I'm not trying to convince OP to choose JMU over Colby - or any other school, for that matter. As you say, the OP never mentioned skiing at all. But someone did, and that's the direction the thread has gone ever since.

You have been insistent that there is no skiing anywhere near JMU and that it's just ludicrous to suggest otherwise. You were completely wrong about that, so I've helpfully provided you links, showing that not only is there skiing within a 20-minute drive of JMU, there are also several ski and snowboard-based clubs/teams on campus.

I'm not interested in this sad little pissing match you seem invested in, between ski options at JMU vs. Colby. I *never* said Virginia has better skiing than Maine. My posts have been in direct response to YOU insisting that JMU has no skiing to speak of. That's it. You were wrong. You can slink away now and continue fuming about whatever it is you categorize as "3rd tier schools" while knowing in the back of your mind that the vast majority of people don't care about - and probably have never heard of - some obscure little college in a tiny, rinky-dink Maine town.

+100 Seems highly insecure.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is a tougher choice than I would have thought. If we were just looking at academic reputation in a vacuum, Colby is an easy choice. But it is also big vs. small school, isolated vs. close-enough to other things/big town. I am a bit of a reputation-snob myself but even I am struggling with advising DC. What they want as a major is offered at both. Sport would offer a friend-group at both.

The differential in acceptance rates tells you everything you need to know. If location was an issue, why did DC apply to Colby?!?

What does acceptance rate tell us?

It tells you something about the quality of the student body. JMU’s acceptance rate is over 80 percent. Colby’s is below 10 percent. The SAT/ACT and GPA figures are vastly different too.

JMU is much larger, so acceptance rate is an ineffective comparison tool. Acceptance rates can also be gamed in an effort to manipulate rankings.

You can’t be this ignorant. What does the size of the school have to do with its acceptance rate? JMU’s acceptance rate is 78%. Colby’s is under 10%.

In terms of size, Cornell University has about 5K kids in its 2027 class which is the same number as JMU’s class of 2027. Cornell’s acceptance rate is 8%. Please explain how acceptance rates are gamed to account for a 70 point difference.

JMU accepts more students than Colby to fill a larger class. Cornell receives more apps than JMU which means it wins a popularity contest with JMU. None of this equates to quality of student body as you suggest.

Oh, boy! You seem to be missing some basic analytical skills. By the same argument, JMU is as good as Harvard or Yale. Anyway, I give up…

Nope, not what I said. Do you have any evidence that acceptance rates equate to student body quality?

You are correct that acceptance rates are not an indicator of student body quality. But GPAs and test scorers are (though not perfect), and those show that Colby students are definitely a cut above those at JMU.

There's high level of correlation between acceptance rate and student body quality.

Where is your proof?

It also depends what you consider quality. The wealthy strivers who went to private schools but didn't do well enough to get into an Ivy or Williams or Bowdoin, but whose connections will continue to find them high paying jobs once they graduate from Colby. Or the hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughou their childhoods, working hard enough to get merit aid for JMU, while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network.

In VA, Hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughout their childhoods, working hard while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network
go to UVA, W&M, or VT.

Which mountains surround William and Mary?

What does skiing have to do with undergraduate education? It is, or should be, an irrelevant criterion for anyone going on to higher education to actually get an education as opposed to engage in recreation.

Yes- the Colby booster was trying to claim they had better skiing.

Well, it’s Maine. They do have better skiing. Not sure what that has to do with educational quality. But you say “claim” like there could be an honest debate about the quality of skiing in Va vs Maine. Come on man.

No one is making that claim. But it's entirely false to say that JMU isn't located right down the road from a ski resort. Because it is.
DP

It’s also entirely false to say the location of the nearest ski resort matters to OP’s kid. Because OP hasn’t mentioned skiing once.

Pro-tip: when trying to make a sale, focus on what is important to the customer and not what’s most important to you.

Pro-tip: when reading a thread, try to keep up with the conversation and who is responding to whom.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is a tougher choice than I would have thought. If we were just looking at academic reputation in a vacuum, Colby is an easy choice. But it is also big vs. small school, isolated vs. close-enough to other things/big town. I am a bit of a reputation-snob myself but even I am struggling with advising DC. What they want as a major is offered at both. Sport would offer a friend-group at both.

The differential in acceptance rates tells you everything you need to know. If location was an issue, why did DC apply to Colby?!?

What does acceptance rate tell us?

It tells you something about the quality of the student body. JMU’s acceptance rate is over 80 percent. Colby’s is below 10 percent. The SAT/ACT and GPA figures are vastly different too.

JMU is much larger, so acceptance rate is an ineffective comparison tool. Acceptance rates can also be gamed in an effort to manipulate rankings.

You can’t be this ignorant. What does the size of the school have to do with its acceptance rate? JMU’s acceptance rate is 78%. Colby’s is under 10%.

In terms of size, Cornell University has about 5K kids in its 2027 class which is the same number as JMU’s class of 2027. Cornell’s acceptance rate is 8%. Please explain how acceptance rates are gamed to account for a 70 point difference.

JMU accepts more students than Colby to fill a larger class. Cornell receives more apps than JMU which means it wins a popularity contest with JMU. None of this equates to quality of student body as you suggest.

Oh, boy! You seem to be missing some basic analytical skills. By the same argument, JMU is as good as Harvard or Yale. Anyway, I give up…

Nope, not what I said. Do you have any evidence that acceptance rates equate to student body quality?

You are correct that acceptance rates are not an indicator of student body quality. But GPAs and test scorers are (though not perfect), and those show that Colby students are definitely a cut above those at JMU.

There's high level of correlation between acceptance rate and student body quality.

Where is your proof?

It also depends what you consider quality. The wealthy strivers who went to private schools but didn't do well enough to get into an Ivy or Williams or Bowdoin, but whose connections will continue to find them high paying jobs once they graduate from Colby. Or the hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughou their childhoods, working hard enough to get merit aid for JMU, while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network.

In VA, Hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughout their childhoods, working hard while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network
go to UVA, W&M, or VT.

NP. True. But they also go to JMU. (And W&M is nowhere near any mountains, nor does it have excellent sports teams.)

My DD chose JMU over VT. Her friends dorm room was full of mold upon move in at VT.

Hopefully, your DD is in some form of humanities, and not STEM.

DP. Both JMU and VT are excellent for humanities. Only 20% of VT is engineering. Try again.

Sure, but engineering, plus some related things like CS and Business information systems are the competitive programs at VT. VT Arts and Sciences is … not strong.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is a tougher choice than I would have thought. If we were just looking at academic reputation in a vacuum, Colby is an easy choice. But it is also big vs. small school, isolated vs. close-enough to other things/big town. I am a bit of a reputation-snob myself but even I am struggling with advising DC. What they want as a major is offered at both. Sport would offer a friend-group at both.

The differential in acceptance rates tells you everything you need to know. If location was an issue, why did DC apply to Colby?!?

What does acceptance rate tell us?

It tells you something about the quality of the student body. JMU’s acceptance rate is over 80 percent. Colby’s is below 10 percent. The SAT/ACT and GPA figures are vastly different too.

JMU is much larger, so acceptance rate is an ineffective comparison tool. Acceptance rates can also be gamed in an effort to manipulate rankings.

You can’t be this ignorant. What does the size of the school have to do with its acceptance rate? JMU’s acceptance rate is 78%. Colby’s is under 10%.

In terms of size, Cornell University has about 5K kids in its 2027 class which is the same number as JMU’s class of 2027. Cornell’s acceptance rate is 8%. Please explain how acceptance rates are gamed to account for a 70 point difference.

JMU accepts more students than Colby to fill a larger class. Cornell receives more apps than JMU which means it wins a popularity contest with JMU. None of this equates to quality of student body as you suggest.

Oh, boy! You seem to be missing some basic analytical skills. By the same argument, JMU is as good as Harvard or Yale. Anyway, I give up…

Nope, not what I said. Do you have any evidence that acceptance rates equate to student body quality?

You are correct that acceptance rates are not an indicator of student body quality. But GPAs and test scorers are (though not perfect), and those show that Colby students are definitely a cut above those at JMU.

There's high level of correlation between acceptance rate and student body quality.

Where is your proof?

It also depends what you consider quality. The wealthy strivers who went to private schools but didn't do well enough to get into an Ivy or Williams or Bowdoin, but whose connections will continue to find them high paying jobs once they graduate from Colby. Or the hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughou their childhoods, working hard enough to get merit aid for JMU, while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network.

In VA, Hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughout their childhoods, working hard while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network
go to UVA, W&M, or VT.

NP. True. But they also go to JMU. (And W&M is nowhere near any mountains, nor does it have excellent sports teams.)

My DD chose JMU over VT. Her friends dorm room was full of mold upon move in at VT.

Hopefully, your DD is in some form of humanities, and not STEM.

DP. Both JMU and VT are excellent for humanities. Only 20% of VT is engineering. Try again.

Sure, but engineering, plus some related things like CS and Business information systems are the competitive programs at VT. VT Arts and Sciences is … not strong.

Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at VT actually is quite strong. Interesting that you would suggest otherwise. But not surprising.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is a tougher choice than I would have thought. If we were just looking at academic reputation in a vacuum, Colby is an easy choice. But it is also big vs. small school, isolated vs. close-enough to other things/big town. I am a bit of a reputation-snob myself but even I am struggling with advising DC. What they want as a major is offered at both. Sport would offer a friend-group at both.

The differential in acceptance rates tells you everything you need to know. If location was an issue, why did DC apply to Colby?!?

What does acceptance rate tell us?

It tells you something about the quality of the student body. JMU’s acceptance rate is over 80 percent. Colby’s is below 10 percent. The SAT/ACT and GPA figures are vastly different too.

JMU is much larger, so acceptance rate is an ineffective comparison tool. Acceptance rates can also be gamed in an effort to manipulate rankings.

You can’t be this ignorant. What does the size of the school have to do with its acceptance rate? JMU’s acceptance rate is 78%. Colby’s is under 10%.

In terms of size, Cornell University has about 5K kids in its 2027 class which is the same number as JMU’s class of 2027. Cornell’s acceptance rate is 8%. Please explain how acceptance rates are gamed to account for a 70 point difference.

JMU accepts more students than Colby to fill a larger class. Cornell receives more apps than JMU which means it wins a popularity contest with JMU. None of this equates to quality of student body as you suggest.

Oh, boy! You seem to be missing some basic analytical skills. By the same argument, JMU is as good as Harvard or Yale. Anyway, I give up…

Nope, not what I said. Do you have any evidence that acceptance rates equate to student body quality?

You are correct that acceptance rates are not an indicator of student body quality. But GPAs and test scorers are (though not perfect), and those show that Colby students are definitely a cut above those at JMU.

There's high level of correlation between acceptance rate and student body quality.

Where is your proof?

It also depends what you consider quality. The wealthy strivers who went to private schools but didn't do well enough to get into an Ivy or Williams or Bowdoin, but whose connections will continue to find them high paying jobs once they graduate from Colby. Or the hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughou their childhoods, working hard enough to get merit aid for JMU, while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network.

In VA, Hard-working MC and UMC kids who lived well-rounded lives throughout their childhoods, working hard while making friends and living a balanced life, surrounded by beautiful mountains, excellent sports teams, and thousands and thousands of other students around which to build a network
go to UVA, W&M, or VT.

Why does it matter if there are “mountains” that someone can see. They don’t add anything to the college experience as they do at CU Boulder or University of Utah.

They are just big hills off in the distance that nobody cares about.

Colby has some actual mountains where you might actually ski and enjoy them if that factors into someone’s decision.

You can ski in VA and WV within an hour or less of JMU.

Crap mid Atlantic skiing…especially in VA. Also, it’s more like 2.5 hours away to snowshoe or Canaan. Bryce is pretty awful skiing.

Colby is only 1 hour from Sugarloaf which is 100x better than anything in the mid Atlantic.

My only point is that if being near mountains or skiing is important…well you again would probably go out West…but Colby offers much better options than JMU.

That is your opinion. If a kid wants to ski Wintergreen Resort is close to JMU.

Did OP even say her kid cared about skiing? Because “come to JMU and be near great skiing” is a strange (and not particularly honest) flex. Lots of things to recommend JMU. Skiing is like #987 on the list.

Again, it would be great if you'd do a little research before posting. You are so far off the mark, it's kind of funny. No one is claiming JMU is equivalent to Colorado or Utah for skiing, but for a lot of people, being 20 minutes away from a fun day on the slopes is a huge plus.

https://www.breezejmu.org/news/massanutten-mountain-provides-winter-escape/article_062f8050-d875-11e6-8de8-1b96d09950d7.html (from 2017 but still applicable)
https://www.jmu.edu/recreation/sports/sport-clubs/clubs/skisnowboard.shtml
https://www.jmu.edu/recreation/sports/sport-clubs/clubs/boarderline.shtml

I don’t know. Seems to me that trying to convince OP to send her kid to JMU over a much stronger school *because skiing* shows a lack of research (or more accurately reading the OP or reading the thread…), since OP has given zero indication that her kid wants to ski. You’re so busy trying to convince yourself that sending your kid to the 5th or 6th best 3rd tier VA state college wasn’t a mistake because for 2-3 weeks starting in late January— SKIING! and that a 3rd tier regional school can compete with an NEASCAC that you are throwing everything you can find against the wall and hoping something sticks.

Skiing ain’t it. I’m well aware that it is possible to ski a few weeks a year in VA. But I’m not delusional, so I also know there is better skiing and a much longer season in Maine. Also, I read the thread, so I know that OP’s kid isn’t choosing a college based on the skiing or lack thereof. Which makes your insistence on proving the superiority of JMU skiing both irrelevant and bizarre.

OP asked about athletics, name recognition and outcomes. You responded with post after post insisting :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: that VA has better skiing than Maine. Which is both untrue and completely irrelevant to OP’s post.

And remind me. How many weeks of ski weather has VA had this winter? Last weekend was beautiful. Today is low 40s. Next weekend is projected to be low 40s. Kids aren’t even back at school for several weeks. How many ski weekends will JMU have this year? 1? 2?

You seem bizarrely triggered. Must be because you're trying to convince yourself that throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars away on a school that 99% of Americans have never heard of was a good move. At any rate, I'm not trying to convince OP to choose JMU over Colby - or any other school, for that matter. As you say, the OP never mentioned skiing at all. But someone did, and that's the direction the thread has gone ever since.

You have been insistent that there is no skiing anywhere near JMU and that it's just ludicrous to suggest otherwise. You were completely wrong about that, so I've helpfully provided you links, showing that not only is there skiing within a 20-minute drive of JMU, there are also several ski and snowboard-based clubs/teams on campus.

I'm not interested in this sad little pissing match you seem invested in, between ski options at JMU vs. Colby. I *never* said Virginia has better skiing than Maine. My posts have been in direct response to YOU insisting that JMU has no skiing to speak of. That's it. You were wrong. You can slink away now and continue fuming about whatever it is you categorize as "3rd tier schools" while knowing in the back of your mind that the vast majority of people don't care about - and probably have never heard of - some obscure little college in a tiny, rinky-dink Maine town.

My kid isn’t at Colby. Donut hole family and all that. She’s at WM. Never been to Colby. Don’t care about Colby. Didn’t apply to Colby. I just think the obsession with proving JMU isn’t a meh school because it’s near skiing is amusing.

That said, if we had unlimited money and in April it had come down to JMU vs Colby— how is that even a contest? (especially since my kid doesn’t care about skiing). Huge classes at a school with a very high acceptance rate, that half the kids you knew in HS attend seems really awful.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Please stop. A 3rd tier VA state school is just not happening.

1. Tiers are not real
2. 22,000 JMU kids would think otherwise

Seriously. This is a pretty amusing thread. Sure, there are kids who would choose Colby. But not many.

Depends.Public HS kids with an overworked guidance counselors trying to slot every kid on their list into an afffordable safety will apply to the Tier 1 and 2 VA state schools, get rejected, and go (with a dozen/dozens of their peers to JMU because it’s the best instate college they can get into. And for kids who Just Miss UVa (and WM and VT and GMU STEM and VCU health careers, etc), JMU will absolutely fit the “everyone can get in and it won’t break the bank” safety slot.

Plus JMU stats are much lower and admit rate is much higher than Colby. Realistically, Colby isn’t financially and/or academically feasible for 90%+ of JMU students. It’s easy to say your kid won’t go to a college that wouldn’t accept them anyway.

OTOH, kids from good privates and kids with good college counselors (who also happen to be kids whose parents can afford better than JMU) will absolutely go to Colby— if they can get in (which is a big if).

OP’s kid got the golden athletic recruit ticket. She can get into Colby. And she can afford Colby. Why in the world would she go to a middle of the pack VA State school? Better skiing?

DP. Are you the same poster who has written long, detailed posts about what you *think* are the reasons students choose certain VA schools? You really haven't a clue why any student would set one school or another in their sights. You also seem strangely obsessed with ranking the VA schools, which is a clear giveaway that your kid didn't get into whatever their top choice was.

William and Mary. Applied ED, so definately first choice. Loves it there. Try again