George Mason University OOS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GMU stopped being a commuter campus in 2010/2011 when the Carnegie foundation reclassified it as primarily residential. My DD lived there all four years on campus and loved her time there. she also got superlative internships in her field and had a concrete well-paying job offer in her field before graduation. FWIW she lived with many OOS and international students. Go and visit

I googled it recently and I thought that only 25% live on campus. Is this out-dated info?

I think that's right. But there are TONS of apartments right off campus (including my own neighborhood, unfortunately. I have a diff view of party houses as an adult) where the kids live and walk to campus.

There are also a few GMU apartment buildings and a really big new one being built right next to campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymou[b wrote:s]They campus facilities are really nice. GMU has put a lot of money into getting kids on campus[/qu[/b]ote]


It's not just that they are "nice" they are nice because they are State of the Art because the Commonwealth is pumping money into the school to act as another great educational center to UVA, VT, W&M and all the others. All of the growth at GMU is designed. The location is fantastic so that's where the legislature's money is going. Hence, it is now the largest R1 school in the Commonwealth. And has five satellite campuses, including South Korean (think cybersecurity, tech, computers). It isn't GMU that's putting money into the school, it's the legislature and it will continue. The growth has exploded just in the time my DD was there.

[Anonymous]

DS is in at GMU (school of liberal arts). Anyone have a sense of how rigorous the classes are?

[Anonymous]

Friend of mine from Pittsburgh had a son who went to GMU, recently graduated, loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is in at GMU (school of liberal arts). Anyone have a sense of how rigorous the classes are?

Depends on major--engineering/tech/CS courses are very tough. In the College of Humanities and Social Sciences it seems like the most common thing is that the courses are not hard to pass, but they have a high ceiling. Which makes sense given there is a wide range of academic aptitude among students--from academically okay to very high. There are also a lot of honors programs/options/research opportunities for strong students--and bachelor's accelerated master's programs for those who want to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is in at GMU (school of liberal arts). Anyone have a sense of how rigorous the classes are?

Depends on major--engineering/tech/CS courses are very tough. In the College of Humanities and Social Sciences it seems like the most common thing is that the courses are not hard to pass, but they have a high ceiling. Which makes sense given there is a wide range of academic aptitude among students--from academically okay to very high. There are also a lot of honors programs/options/research opportunities for strong students--and bachelor's accelerated master's programs for those who want to do that.

+1. Engineering, Computer Science, Game Design, Cyber Security, Economics are all difficult

[Anonymous]

OP here and we toured the performing arts building recently. DD loved it! She hasn’t seen any of the other academic buildings but will schedule a campus tour soon. It sounds very hard to double major with a BFA, but apparently some students manage it. Merit aid will be key for us since we can’t afford it otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GMU stopped being a commuter campus in 2010/2011 when the Carnegie foundation reclassified it as primarily residential. My DD lived there all four years on campus and loved her time there. she also got superlative internships in her field and had a concrete well-paying job offer in her field before graduation. FWIW she lived with many OOS and international students. Go and visit

I googled it recently and I thought that only 25% live on campus. Is this out-dated info?

It's only 31%at JMU. I think the difference is that almost all of the 69% loves off campus, whereas a decent share of the 75% for GMU live at home with parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GMU stopped being a commuter campus in 2010/2011 when the Carnegie foundation reclassified it as primarily residential. My DD lived there all four years on campus and loved her time there. she also got superlative internships in her field and had a concrete well-paying job offer in her field before graduation. FWIW she lived with many OOS and international students. Go and visit

I googled it recently and I thought that only 25% live on campus. Is this out-dated info?

It's only 31%at JMU. I think the difference is that almost all of the 69% loves off campus, whereas a decent share of the 75% for GMU live at home with parents.

OP here and I just learned that 85-90% of BFA dancers are OOS (including 10% international). Those kids aren't living with their parents. The dance program is incredible and very selective. It sounds pretty hard to double major, though not impossible depending on the major and how many AP credits a student can use. So far, it's a top choice!

[Anonymous]

DP -- I'm curious how much "merit" aid GMU tends to give to OOS students?

Are they stingy? Or are they pretty liberal in reducing the price to something like in state tuition costs?

I have a friend from OOS whose son may be interested... but not at full-price for OOS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GMU stopped being a commuter campus in 2010/2011 when the Carnegie foundation reclassified it as primarily residential. My DD lived there all four years on campus and loved her time there. she also got superlative internships in her field and had a concrete well-paying job offer in her field before graduation. FWIW she lived with many OOS and international students. Go and visit

I googled it recently and I thought that only 25% live on campus. Is this out-dated info?

It's only 31%at JMU. I think the difference is that almost all of the 69% loves off campus, whereas a decent share of the 75% for GMU live at home with parents.

OP here and I just learned that 85-90% of BFA dancers are OOS (including 10% international). Those kids aren't living with their parents. The dance program is incredible and very selective. It sounds pretty hard to double major, though not impossible depending on the major and how many AP credits a student can use. So far, it's a top choice!

The dance community there is very strong. If the academic interest she has is connected to the Smithsonian is it environmental science/conservation? If so, that's an amazing program too, but they have a location in Front Royal, VA (in a lovely natural area near one of the entry points to the Appalachian Trail) which is about 1 hour west of campus. I'm not sure how much of the course work would be there, but you might want to ask into the logistics. The dance program is time-intensive so if she also had to regularly make it out there it might be challenging. GMU runs shuttles all the time though between their various campus spots so transportation probably would be covered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GMU stopped being a commuter campus in 2010/2011 when the Carnegie foundation reclassified it as primarily residential. My DD lived there all four years on campus and loved her time there. she also got superlative internships in her field and had a concrete well-paying job offer in her field before graduation. FWIW she lived with many OOS and international students. Go and visit

I googled it recently and I thought that only 25% live on campus. Is this out-dated info?

It's only 31%at JMU. I think the difference is that almost all of the 69% loves off campus, whereas a decent share of the 75% for GMU live at home with parents.

OP here and I just learned that 85-90% of BFA dancers are OOS (including 10% international). Those kids aren't living with their parents. The dance program is incredible and very selective. It sounds pretty hard to double major, though not impossible depending on the major and how many AP credits a student can use. So far, it's a top choice!

The dance community there is very strong. If the academic interest she has is connected to the Smithsonian is it environmental science/conservation? If so, that's an amazing program too, but they have a location in Front Royal, VA (in a lovely natural area near one of the entry points to the Appalachian Trail) which is about 1 hour west of campus. I'm not sure how much of the course work would be there, but you might want to ask into the logistics. The dance program is time-intensive so if she also had to regularly make it out there it might be challenging. GMU runs shuttles all the time though between their various campus spots so transportation probably would be covered.

If it's the Smithsonian Conservation program, students usually stay there for an entire semester or take "short courses" (one- to two- week intensives) during winter or summer break.

Getting a BFA and a BS or BA is actually getting two degrees, not double majoring. Double majoring only works when both programs are the same degree type (at least at GMU).

[Anonymous]

GMU is often overlooked by locals but it's a great school with an impressive campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GMU stopped being a commuter campus in 2010/2011 when the Carnegie foundation reclassified it as primarily residential. My DD lived there all four years on campus and loved her time there. she also got superlative internships in her field and had a concrete well-paying job offer in her field before graduation. FWIW she lived with many OOS and international students. Go and visit

I googled it recently and I thought that only 25% live on campus. Is this out-dated info?

It's only 31%at JMU. I think the difference is that almost all of the 69% loves off campus, whereas a decent share of the 75% for GMU live at home with parents.

OP here and I just learned that 85-90% of BFA dancers are OOS (including 10% international). Those kids aren't living with their parents. The dance program is incredible and very selective. It sounds pretty hard to double major, though not impossible depending on the major and how many AP credits a student can use. So far, it's a top choice!

The dance community there is very strong. If the academic interest she has is connected to the Smithsonian is it environmental science/conservation? If so, that's an amazing program too, but they have a location in Front Royal, VA (in a lovely natural area near one of the entry points to the Appalachian Trail) which is about 1 hour west of campus. I'm not sure how much of the course work would be there, but you might want to ask into the logistics. The dance program is time-intensive so if she also had to regularly make it out there it might be challenging. GMU runs shuttles all the time though between their various campus spots so transportation probably would be covered.

That’s the program! She’s hoping some coursework can be done in the summers, a semester off from dance, or a fifth year, but we’ll need to talk to advisors to see if that’s even possible. I think that’s the only way she could do both. If she had to choose, it would be a hard decision.

[Anonymous]

I just had a conversation last week with someone who was a serious dancer in high school, like I was. Both of us pretty much agreed that majoring in dance in college is a huge disservice to the student. If you aren't picked up by a company by 18/19, it is over.
If you like to dance, then continue taking classes at a local school. To blow 4 years of tuition and young adulthood on that is very sad. I was roommates with someone who did dance in college and she mightily regretted that all she could do for a living wage was temp work. Then there were the dance friends of the woman who runs the dance dept. at U. Of FL who complained that all anybody appreciated of them was baking ability / babysitting / admin work.
Sorry, the idea that a dance major will be good at teaching dance isnt true. The best teachers had years of professional stage life. The college trained teachers would do the same exercise routines over and over again.
Do your kid favor and encourage endeavors that will actually feel productive for them.