JMU vs. Colby

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colby!!!!!!!!!!

JMU is really just a VA/DMV school. I've always heard of Colby (not from this area) but I've never heard of JMU until I moved here. But I am a small liberal arts graduate so maybe it was in my orbit from when I applied to college. And then in law school, I knew lots of Colby grads. Didn't know any from JMU.

+1

If everything else is equal, this is all very true. I'm from NYC. Everyone from NJ and north knows Colby is a good school.

I had never heard of JMU until I moved to NoVa.

+10 Same

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colby!!!!!!!!!!

JMU is really just a VA/DMV school. I've always heard of Colby (not from this area) but I've never heard of JMU until I moved here. But I am a small liberal arts graduate so maybe it was in my orbit from when I applied to college. And then in law school, I knew lots of Colby grads. Didn't know any from JMU.

+1

If everything else is equal, this is all very true. I'm from NYC. Everyone from NJ and north knows Colby is a good school.

I had never heard of JMU until I moved to NoVa.

+10 Same

Some people haven't heard of Colby.

[Anonymous]

Colby, if your kid likes it.

[Anonymous]

These schools aren’t even close to the same league. Colby is much higher rated in reputation across the country. That said, weather and proximity to other people is important to consider. Winters are rough in Maine and Colby is in the middle of nowhere. Pretty, but isolated.

[Anonymous]

Colby is a great school offering a classic liberal arts education, but it's not for everyone.

-It's the most cold and isolated of the Maine LACs.

-You already know that Colby is small (~2,300), but the isolation will exacerbate that smallness, which is great for establishing a very tight community but can be claustrophobic for some people.

-Because it's an LAC, it won't offer specialized degrees in things like engineering, nursing, etc. It's great for most other subjects though.

-It's as good for outdoorsy students as any East Coast college.

-Its athletic league, the NESCAC, is a very competitive DIII league. I bet travelling among NESCAC schools for games might help with feelings of claustrophobia.

-Waterville is like Middletown (Wesleyan) in that it has its detractors, but it seems to have improved a lot in the past decade. It has a very new, impressive-looking art museum.

-Colby's new athletic facility is top notch.

-Colby has a reputation for hard-drinking boarding school types, but I think it's more diverse than previously. There's probably still a lot of drinking.

-I love the idea of Colby's Jan Plan--where students take a single mostly for-fun class in January before the spring semester begins in February.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside Virginia it's likely not too many people are more familiar with JMU than with Colby, if that's an actual criterion for selecting a school.

Colby is a so-called "potted Ivy"; that is, an academically well-rated and nationally known small liberal arts college. JMU is a large middle-of-the-road regional university. As you note, they are vastly different in character, reputation, academic rigor, location, size, and in many other dimensions.

It might be best to leave the sports aspect out of things unless your kid hopes to be a sports professional. Instead, look at which school will provide the best preparation for post-college life, whether that is employment in a particular field or graduate school.

JMU football is on the rise so more people will have heard of JMU in a few years. Outside DC and NY/NJ bubbles most people have not heard of Colby.

I came on here to say the exact same thing. People saying they never heard of JMU 10 years ago really isn't very relevant today. Due to their football program, a lot more people have heard of them than a few years ago. Until this post, I had never heard of Colby.

Since you said money is not a factor, seems like it should be your child making the decision and not the people of DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Christ on a cracker. If cost isn't a consideration, how is this even a question? If someone offered you a porterhouse or a fuggin rump roast for the same price, you don't ask an anonymous forum for opinions, you get the porterhouse. Go to Colby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Colby!!!!!!!!!!

JMU is really just a VA/DMV school. I've always heard of Colby (not from this area) but I've never heard of JMU until I moved here. But I am a small liberal arts graduate so maybe it was in my orbit from when I applied to college. And then in law school, I knew lots of Colby grads. Didn't know any from JMU.

Well, among the 20 or so graduates of my sorority alone in my grad year from JMU, two went to Georgetown and one to UVA for law school. I wonder how many from Colby got into those schools altogether that same year. You are ignorant when it comes to comparing universities. Colby is a joke, honestly. It's for wealthy private school kids who didn't get into top schools and think they're too good for JMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colby!!!!!!!!!!

JMU is really just a VA/DMV school. I've always heard of Colby (not from this area) but I've never heard of JMU until I moved here. But I am a small liberal arts graduate so maybe it was in my orbit from when I applied to college. And then in law school, I knew lots of Colby grads. Didn't know any from JMU.

Well, among the 20 or so graduates of my sorority alone in my grad year from JMU, two went to Georgetown and one to UVA for law school. I wonder how many from Colby got into those schools altogether that same year. You are ignorant when it comes to comparing universities. Colby is a joke, honestly. It's for wealthy private school kids who didn't get into top schools and think they're too good for JMU.

+1 Hopefully the kid chooses JMU

[Anonymous]

Does your child have a preference based on school fit? I could see some aspects of JMU being more appealing even if Colby is rated higher.

[Anonymous]

Colby is more prestigious but JMU is also a good school. My spouse and I both went there. We both went into consulting as did a lot of our peers. Spouse then went onto Wall Street. I know of at least 2 JMU grads who sold their companies for millions. I know many CFOs, CIOs, lawyers and a president of a university from my years there. Your kid will be fine there. More important to consider is the difference in size, weather, majors, and coach/sport team experience.

[Anonymous]

As almost everyone has said, Colby is more prestigious. But since cost is not an option, I'd advocate for thinking really hard about where she'll be happiest and most successful, both academically and in her sport. I have a kid at one of the other Maine SLACs; they LOVE it there, love the cold and Maine and the small size etc. But for sure it's not for every kid, and Colby is 1-2hrs further north from Bowdoin and Bates. That's really really isolated. And cold. She should spend time at both schools and figure out which set of tradeoffs are right for her. Good luck & congratulations on the good choices!

[Anonymous]

Bowdoin or bust if you ask me.

[Anonymous]

One is D1 (Jmu) and one is D3 for (Colby) sports. That makes a difference.

I can tell you right now, it’s not men’s track your kid is playing, because Jmu doesn’t have a men’s track team. They do have a female team though. It’s becuase of Title IX, the larger female population at JMU, and the large football team taking only makes, their sports have to represent the student body, and they have to not offer some male sports as an offset.

To me, the JMU vs Colby decision isn’t so clear it. Academic quality, sure I’d vote Colby. But cost, big school spirit, proximity to DC, D1 athletics, weather, and more likely to settle in the dc area after graduation, I’d go JMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colby!!!!!!!!!!

JMU is really just a VA/DMV school. I've always heard of Colby (not from this area) but I've never heard of JMU until I moved here. But I am a small liberal arts graduate so maybe it was in my orbit from when I applied to college. And then in law school, I knew lots of Colby grads. Didn't know any from JMU.

Well, among the 20 or so graduates of my sorority alone in my grad year from JMU, two went to Georgetown and one to UVA for law school. I wonder how many from Colby got into those schools altogether that same year. You are ignorant when it comes to comparing universities. Colby is a joke, honestly. It's for wealthy private school kids who didn't get into top schools and think they're too good for JMU.

Damn. How do you even get a seatbelt on when you drove. That chip on your shoulder must be hell to navigate.

OP—
https://afa.colby.edu/outcomes/#:~:text=Colby%20is%20a%20springboard%2C&text=that%20help%20our%20graduates%20start,salary%20of%20more%20than%20%24100%2C000.