Your experiences at Va. public universities...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VT, JMU and even UVA

the outcomes after 4 years are mixed.

Besides govt or big 4 consulting or fed contractors - most graduates have a hard time finding jobs ( yeah.. a few smart coolies get into amazon etc)

for that reason alone I would not send dc in state in Virginia.

Much better outcomes in mid west and west coast/tx

cookies..noy coolies

no really would like to hear from parents whose kids graduated from vt, jmu, uva - where did the kids go after graduation? was it the intended outcome?

why not ask about all the University of Oklahoma grads who go into management consulting?

are you actually trying to imply that students graduating from the Virginia public university system don’t get good jobs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VT, JMU and even UVA

the outcomes after 4 years are mixed.

Besides govt or big 4 consulting or fed contractors - most graduates have a hard time finding jobs ( yeah.. a few smart coolies get into amazon etc)

for that reason alone I would not send dc in state in Virginia.

Much better outcomes in mid west and west coast/tx

cookies..noy coolies

no really would like to hear from parents whose kids graduated from vt, jmu, uva - where did the kids go after graduation? was it the intended outcome?

why not ask about all the University of Oklahoma grads who go into management consulting?

are you actually trying to imply that students graduating from the Virginia public university system don’t get good jobs?

This is such a ridiculous idea. All you have to do is look around your neighborhoods and workplaces. Doesn't take long to see how many VT, JMU, UVA grads there are, all doing fine

FWIW VT publishes a lot of details on employers and salaries by major so you can see what jobs they get
https://fds.career.vt.edu/EmployerList?cohort=2022-2023

Yes, DC-area consulting, govt contractors are big recruiters since that's the local industry.

DS just graduated from VT and is starting a job as a data scientist at a government contractor doing something in data analytics systems for the military. Chose it over a couple other offers that were not in DC because those jobs sounded less interesting and he'd prefer to stay in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered OOS auto merit awards?

Oklahoma

http://www.ou.edu/admissions/affordability/scholarships.html

Alabama

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Arizona (The Arizona Tuition Award)

https://financialaid.arizona.edu/2025-2026-terms-and-conditions

lol why would you send your kid to college in Oklahoma instead of JMU? you people have truly lost the plot.

Because Oklahoma’s merit makes COA competitive while also offering more programs, sports, etc. So it’s an option for some who want to go OOS - oh and it’s higher ranked than JMU (132 vs 148).

That’s the point - it’s demented to put so much store in going out of state and on rankings like that.

"Demented" seems a bit extreme.
Some people WANT a change of scenery. Going to a school where 40 other kids from your class, plus dozens of others that you know from church, out of school ECs, etc. isn't what everyone wants.

DP. My kids attend two of the VA in-state schools and in no way are there "40 other kids" from their class. There are maybe 5-10 from their high school - and they never, ever see any of them.

NP here - 40 other kids was an exaggeration but you could be pushing 30 at VCU and JMU from each large NoVa high school. VT has 20 from many NoVA high schools.

Which high schools send that many to those schools? Post your citations.

Don’t know of hard enrolled numbers but Arlington Magazine posts admitted numbers for each of the three Arlington high schools. You can multiply by each colleges yield to get a rough idea.

https://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/college-applications-arlington-va-2024/

For example, WL had 130 get into JMU and Yorktown had 119. JMU’s yield is 20% so estimate 26 from WL and 24 from Yorktown. VT had 116 and 85, respectively, but VT’s yield is 27% so works out to 31 enrolled from WL and 23 enrolled from Yorktown.

I’ve never seen equivalent data for FCPS but the applicant quality is similar and also Fcps schools are typically bigger than APS.

You don’t have to refer to some bullshit magazine with questionable numbers. SCHEV (Virginia’s official reporter for higher ed data) provides plenty of info.

Taking JMU as an example, the current undergrad enrollment is a little over 21k. 2600 of these students are from Fairfax and 350 are from Arlington. So basically we are talking about 14 percent of JMU students coming from dozens of high schools both public and private from Arlington and Fairfax combined. Hardly high school 2.0.

Weirdos

[Anonymous]

not sure why Oklahoma is in this discussion but besides a few majors like data science or accounting, career outcomes are not great at VT, JMU or even UVA.

Its the location. Very few fortune 1000 companies

the top 10-15% get along fine..but at the same time, I know of business majors selling insurance at state farm in richmond

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered OOS auto merit awards?

Oklahoma

http://www.ou.edu/admissions/affordability/scholarships.html

Alabama

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Arizona (The Arizona Tuition Award)

https://financialaid.arizona.edu/2025-2026-terms-and-conditions

lol why would you send your kid to college in Oklahoma instead of JMU? you people have truly lost the plot.

.

I'm not the pp you quoted, but my kid (currently a college freshman) applied to Oklahoma and did not apply JMU (though he ultimately chose a different school.)
Oklahoma has many programs that JMU would not--for example, meteorology. Oklahoma also has a larger engineering school than JMU.

lol we know this suggestion was not for kids who have life-long meteorology goals. It was for the insane DMV ideology where you cling to any prestige possible instead of just … using the perfectly fine state colleges of your own state. but sure, if your NOVA kid has always dreamed of the flatlands of Oaklahoma and aspires to be an oil and gas engineer, it’s a great option.

I know someone who is a professor at Oklahoma and she grumbles about how dumb the kids are there. Avoiding places like Oklahoma and Alabama is not just about the “prestige”…

These schools also have VERY smart kids, as NMFs and in special programs. The smart kids rarely see the ones less academic. These schools are fantastic places for smart and motivated kids who take advantage of the amazing opportunities these schools offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered OOS auto merit awards?

Oklahoma

http://www.ou.edu/admissions/affordability/scholarships.html

Alabama

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Arizona (The Arizona Tuition Award)

https://financialaid.arizona.edu/2025-2026-terms-and-conditions

lol why would you send your kid to college in Oklahoma instead of JMU? you people have truly lost the plot.

Because Oklahoma’s merit makes COA competitive while also offering more programs, sports, etc. So it’s an option for some who want to go OOS - oh and it’s higher ranked than JMU (132 vs 148).

You actually think that difference in ranking is meaningful? You have definitely lost the plot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered OOS auto merit awards?

Oklahoma

http://www.ou.edu/admissions/affordability/scholarships.html

Alabama

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Arizona (The Arizona Tuition Award)

https://financialaid.arizona.edu/2025-2026-terms-and-conditions

lol why would you send your kid to college in Oklahoma instead of JMU? you people have truly lost the plot.

Because Oklahoma’s merit makes COA competitive while also offering more programs, sports, etc. So it’s an option for some who want to go OOS - oh and it’s higher ranked than JMU (132 vs 148).

That’s the point - it’s demented to put so much store in going out of state and on rankings like that.

"Demented" seems a bit extreme.
Some people WANT a change of scenery. Going to a school where 40 other kids from your class, plus dozens of others that you know from church, out of school ECs, etc. isn't what everyone wants.

DP. My kids attend two of the VA in-state schools and in no way are there "40 other kids" from their class. There are maybe 5-10 from their high school - and they never, ever see any of them.

NP here - 40 other kids was an exaggeration but you could be pushing 30 at VCU and JMU from each large NoVa high school. VT has 20 from many NoVA high schools.

Which high schools send that many to those schools? Post your citations.

Don’t know of hard enrolled numbers but Arlington Magazine posts admitted numbers for each of the three Arlington high schools. You can multiply by each colleges yield to get a rough idea.

https://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/college-applications-arlington-va-2024/

For example, WL had 130 get into JMU and Yorktown had 119. JMU’s yield is 20% so estimate 26 from WL and 24 from Yorktown. VT had 116 and 85, respectively, but VT’s yield is 27% so works out to 31 enrolled from WL and 23 enrolled from Yorktown.

I’ve never seen equivalent data for FCPS but the applicant quality is similar and also Fcps schools are typically bigger than APS.

You don’t have to refer to some bullshit magazine with questionable numbers. SCHEV (Virginia’s official reporter for higher ed data) provides plenty of info.

Taking JMU as an example, the current undergrad enrollment is a little over 21k. 2600 of these students are from Fairfax and 350 are from Arlington. So basically we are talking about 14 percent of JMU students coming from dozens of high schools both public and private from Arlington and Fairfax combined. Hardly high school 2.0.

Weirdos

There are 30 FCPS high schools. Even if 25% of the Fairfax number is private (it’s almost certainly lower) that averages 65 JMU students per FCPS high school. Citing SCHEV yields higher than what I calculated from the Arlington Magazine numbers and near the original declaration of 40 students from each fcps school.

For the record, I’m not the “high school 2.0” poster, but I don’t deserve being called “weirdo” for trying to bring some quantitative analysis to the conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered OOS auto merit awards?

Oklahoma

http://www.ou.edu/admissions/affordability/scholarships.html

Alabama

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Arizona (The Arizona Tuition Award)

https://financialaid.arizona.edu/2025-2026-terms-and-conditions

lol why would you send your kid to college in Oklahoma instead of JMU? you people have truly lost the plot.

Because Oklahoma’s merit makes COA competitive while also offering more programs, sports, etc. So it’s an option for some who want to go OOS - oh and it’s higher ranked than JMU (132 vs 148).

That’s the point - it’s demented to put so much store in going out of state and on rankings like that.

"Demented" seems a bit extreme.
Some people WANT a change of scenery. Going to a school where 40 other kids from your class, plus dozens of others that you know from church, out of school ECs, etc. isn't what everyone wants.

DP. My kids attend two of the VA in-state schools and in no way are there "40 other kids" from their class. There are maybe 5-10 from their high school - and they never, ever see any of them.

NP here - 40 other kids was an exaggeration but you could be pushing 30 at VCU and JMU from each large NoVa high school. VT has 20 from many NoVA high schools.

Which high schools send that many to those schools? Post your citations.

Don’t know of hard enrolled numbers but Arlington Magazine posts admitted numbers for each of the three Arlington high schools. You can multiply by each colleges yield to get a rough idea.

https://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/college-applications-arlington-va-2024/

For example, WL had 130 get into JMU and Yorktown had 119. JMU’s yield is 20% so estimate 26 from WL and 24 from Yorktown. VT had 116 and 85, respectively, but VT’s yield is 27% so works out to 31 enrolled from WL and 23 enrolled from Yorktown.

I’ve never seen equivalent data for FCPS but the applicant quality is similar and also Fcps schools are typically bigger than APS.

You don’t have to refer to some bullshit magazine with questionable numbers. SCHEV (Virginia’s official reporter for higher ed data) provides plenty of info.

Taking JMU as an example, the current undergrad enrollment is a little over 21k. 2600 of these students are from Fairfax and 350 are from Arlington. So basically we are talking about 14 percent of JMU students coming from dozens of high schools both public and private from Arlington and Fairfax combined. Hardly high school 2.0.

Weirdos

There are 30 FCPS high schools. Even if 25% of the Fairfax number is private (it’s almost certainly lower) that averages 65 JMU students per FCPS high school. Citing SCHEV yields higher than what I calculated from the Arlington Magazine numbers and near the original declaration of 40 students from each fcps school.

For the record, I’m not the “high school 2.0” poster, but I don’t deserve being called “weirdo” for trying to bring some quantitative analysis to the conversation.

another one missing the plot. Of COURSE each NOVA HS is going to send a contingent of kids to the state colleges. That is in fact why the state created and maintains these institutions- to educate the children of tax payers. In other news, water is wet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered OOS auto merit awards?

Oklahoma

http://www.ou.edu/admissions/affordability/scholarships.html

Alabama

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Arizona (The Arizona Tuition Award)

https://financialaid.arizona.edu/2025-2026-terms-and-conditions

lol why would you send your kid to college in Oklahoma instead of JMU? you people have truly lost the plot.

Because Oklahoma’s merit makes COA competitive while also offering more programs, sports, etc. So it’s an option for some who want to go OOS - oh and it’s higher ranked than JMU (132 vs 148).

That’s the point - it’s demented to put so much store in going out of state and on rankings like that.

"Demented" seems a bit extreme.
Some people WANT a change of scenery. Going to a school where 40 other kids from your class, plus dozens of others that you know from church, out of school ECs, etc. isn't what everyone wants.

DP. My kids attend two of the VA in-state schools and in no way are there "40 other kids" from their class. There are maybe 5-10 from their high school - and they never, ever see any of them.

NP here - 40 other kids was an exaggeration but you could be pushing 30 at VCU and JMU from each large NoVa high school. VT has 20 from many NoVA high schools.

Which high schools send that many to those schools? Post your citations.

Don’t know of hard enrolled numbers but Arlington Magazine posts admitted numbers for each of the three Arlington high schools. You can multiply by each colleges yield to get a rough idea.

https://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/college-applications-arlington-va-2024/

For example, WL had 130 get into JMU and Yorktown had 119. JMU’s yield is 20% so estimate 26 from WL and 24 from Yorktown. VT had 116 and 85, respectively, but VT’s yield is 27% so works out to 31 enrolled from WL and 23 enrolled from Yorktown.

I’ve never seen equivalent data for FCPS but the applicant quality is similar and also Fcps schools are typically bigger than APS.

You don’t have to refer to some bullshit magazine with questionable numbers. SCHEV (Virginia’s official reporter for higher ed data) provides plenty of info.

Taking JMU as an example, the current undergrad enrollment is a little over 21k. 2600 of these students are from Fairfax and 350 are from Arlington. So basically we are talking about 14 percent of JMU students coming from dozens of high schools both public and private from Arlington and Fairfax combined. Hardly high school 2.0.

Weirdos

There are 30 FCPS high schools. Even if 25% of the Fairfax number is private (it’s almost certainly lower) that averages 65 JMU students per FCPS high school. Citing SCHEV yields higher than what I calculated from the Arlington Magazine numbers and near the original declaration of 40 students from each fcps school.

For the record, I’m not the “high school 2.0” poster, but I don’t deserve being called “weirdo” for trying to bring some quantitative analysis to the conversation.

another one missing the plot. Of COURSE each NOVA HS is going to send a contingent of kids to the state colleges. That is in fact why the state created and maintains these institutions- to educate the children of tax payers. In other news, water is wet.

Exactly. And if you go to Oklahoma (not sure why we're talking about that one) or Iowa or Wisconsin or Minnesota etc. public Us you will be surrounded by students from that state who likely have a good number of people they knew from HS going there too. I don't see how that's necessarily a better experience than going to your own state U.

If a bunch of kids from your HS also go to UVA/JMU/VT you can choose to see them or not. My son is at VT and his best friend went also so they, of course, continue to spend a lot of time together (they've been friends since elementary school, which is a lovely thing. I don't get why it is virtuous to jettison everyone you've known when you go to college). But they also both made new friends - the BF is in a fraternity and DS is not. They both do rec sports together. DS has a job and does a club for his major. But DS also says he never sees anyone else from HS. Unless you happen to be in a smaller major together you'd have to work to meet up with them.

[Anonymous]

My in-state VA junior was accepted to VT, JMU, GMU, and App State but all of those schools were too large in terms of what he was looking for. He visited all of them, and also visited UMW and CNU. He chose CNU as he liked the cyber security major there. Yes, he knows a few students from his FCPS high school, but he has made many new friends through classes and clubs.

He was a successful internship applicant for Summer 2024 and his internship has continued through his Fall 24 and Spring 25 semesters. He will be part of another summer internship (same company, different project) in 2025, with an employment placement for 2026 upon his graduation.

He loves his school, his professors, his friends, and he will graduate debt-free with a job offer in hand.

[Anonymous]

VT, JMU and even UVA

the outcomes after 4 years are mixed.

Besides govt or big 4 consulting or fed contractors - most graduates have a hard time finding jobs ( yeah.. a few smart coolies get into amazon etc)

for that reason alone I would not send dc in state in Virginia.

Much better outcomes in mid west and west coast/tx

———
A small sample size but I’ll share … my son graduated from Virginia Tech in 2020 with a CS degree. He is now at Google. His CS friends from Tech: 2 at Microsoft, 1 at Facebook, 1 at a big bank, 2 at smaller tech firms in Virginia. All seem happy with their career paths. I remain a Virginia Tech fan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oklahoma has way more prestige. JMU is ranked in the 150s. If you want the prestige factor, go to Oklahoma. Not as much prestige as some schools like Penn State but still

^^demented thinking on display

Wow you are rude. Ever consider being nice? Also, it's trues. Oklahoma prestige is on par with most prestigious southern schools.

"Prestigious southern schools?" What is a prestigious southern school? Most "prestige" is in the NE/Ivies/specific other private and state schools....none of which are "southern." The South is not really known for its prestigious academic institutions. They may be very old and very well known, some may have strong football teams.

You know what? 100% correct, as long as you’re also placing Virginia in the south!

Sure. But I'd list W&M along with those other prestigious southern schools.
UVA is only prestigious in Virginia and to UVA alumnae.

W&M is in no way comparable to Duke.

+1
What are these people smoking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oklahoma has way more prestige. JMU is ranked in the 150s. If you want the prestige factor, go to Oklahoma. Not as much prestige as some schools like Penn State but still

^^demented thinking on display

Wow you are rude. Ever consider being nice? Also, it's trues. Oklahoma prestige is on par with most prestigious southern schools.

"Prestigious southern schools?" What is a prestigious southern school? Most "prestige" is in the NE/Ivies/specific other private and state schools....none of which are "southern." The South is not really known for its prestigious academic institutions. They may be very old and very well known, some may have strong football teams.

You know what? 100% correct, as long as you’re also placing Virginia in the south!

Sure. But I'd list W&M along with those other prestigious southern schools.
UVA is only prestigious in Virginia and to UVA alumnae.

W&M is in no way comparable to Duke.

It is academically reknown, and "prestige"-wise equates to the prestige of southern universities.

OMG. Just stop embarrassing yourself - it’s cringeworthy.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oklahoma has way more prestige. JMU is ranked in the 150s. If you want the prestige factor, go to Oklahoma. Not as much prestige as some schools like Penn State but still

^^demented thinking on display

Wow you are rude. Ever consider being nice? Also, it's trues. Oklahoma prestige is on par with most prestigious southern schools.

"Prestigious southern schools?" What is a prestigious southern school? Most "prestige" is in the NE/Ivies/specific other private and state schools....none of which are "southern." The South is not really known for its prestigious academic institutions. They may be very old and very well known, some may have strong football teams.

You know what? 100% correct, as long as you’re also placing Virginia in the south!

Sure. But I'd list W&M along with those other prestigious southern schools.
UVA is only prestigious in Virginia and to UVA alumnae.

Neither of these schools are prestigious but if either one is on any list the other should also be. Just to reiterate, though, neither of these public community colleges are prestigious in any way.

Right...just like all those other prestigious southern schools. That's the point.

Vanderbilt is prestigious

About 5 to 7 years ago, Vanderbilt wasn’t a thing. It’s having its moment in the sun, but I truly don’t understand the hype. Good school of course, I just feel it’s a bit overrated. The president’s written response to its dropping out of the t-15 was an embarrassment.

DP. Completely agree. I put Vanderbilt on the same level as say, Tulane. Not prestigious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VT, JMU and even UVA

the outcomes after 4 years are mixed.

Besides govt or big 4 consulting or fed contractors - most graduates have a hard time finding jobs ( yeah.. a few smart coolies get into amazon etc)

for that reason alone I would not send dc in state in Virginia.

Much better outcomes in mid west and west coast/tx

I love posts like this - claims with zero evidence or citations. I’ve had kids at two of these schools and neither they nor their friends had a hard time finding jobs. Nice try, though.