DC can’t decide

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t pay more for U of SC than JMU.

Why not if you have the $$ and kid wants USC?

Also, South Carolina has more name recognition in than JMU. No one outside DMV area knows about JMU.

Really? I guess I should let all my DC's OOS friends know this.

Go to the west coast or Midwest or NE. See if more ppl have heard of South Carolina or JMU.

What a stupid argument. Of course *everyone* has heard of University of Whatever State. I’ve certainly heard of the University of New Mexico, but I couldn’t tell you the first thing about it…

The point is no one has heard of JMU if they don’t live in the mid-Atlantic.

I would say this is increasingly less true about JMU, that people don’t know it outside this area. It is getting better and better academically, it has been awarded an R2 research designation, and with its football team being so strong and being on ESPN College Game day, more and more people know about it nationally. Plus it is a relative bargain for OOS.

It might be “increasingly true,” as in it went from 1% national awareness to 1.3% national awareness.

+1 UofSC is in a different stratosphere when it comes to sports and sport coverage. R1 is also much more prestigious in academia than R2.

Oh my.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t pay more for U of SC than JMU.

Why not if you have the $$ and kid wants USC?

Also, South Carolina has more name recognition than JMU. No one outside DMV area knows about JMU.

And everyone outside of South Carolina thinks that USC is in California

Bingo!!! Too funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I really don’t want this to get into a rankings debate. We’re pretty aware of the rankings or relative perceptions of the 3 schools.

Hey OP, what is your kid thinking now? Is he leaning South Carolina?

OP here. We are trying not to browbeat him into picking a college, but also trying to talk it out with him. He has a big sporting event Saturday, so we are going to let him get through that, and then try and put our heads around it again on Sunday.

Not complicate things, but he’s also on the waitlist at Virginia Tech for Pamplin, and if he got off the waitlist there, he would probably drop all three of these and go to Virginia Tech. 😜. Again, that’s pretty out of our control. We’ve sent an email/letter of continued interest there and that’s about it.

Good luck to him, OP! Our DC is at VT and absolutely loves it.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s amazing how many people keep pushing William and Mary when op has already made clear her kid doesn’t want to go there (but she likes it). Typical dcum.

+1 There are some super aggressive W&M boosters on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s amazing how many people keep pushing William and Mary when op has already made clear her kid doesn’t want to go there (but she likes it). Typical dcum.

+1 There are some super aggressive W&M boosters on DCUM.

It's not being a W&M booster. OP was asking for opinions, and many people responded with their honest opinion that W&M is the best choice of the three. People are allowed to have their opinions, even if it doesn't align with yours.

If OP's son can get off the wait-list for Tech, I think that would be the perfect option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t pay more for U of SC than JMU.

Why not if you have the $$ and kid wants USC?

Also, South Carolina has more name recognition in than JMU. No one outside DMV area knows about JMU.

Really? I guess I should let all my DC's OOS friends know this.

Go to the west coast or Midwest or NE. See if more ppl have heard of South Carolina or JMU.

What a stupid argument. Of course *everyone* has heard of University of Whatever State. I’ve certainly heard of the University of New Mexico, but I couldn’t tell you the first thing about it…

The point is no one has heard of JMU if they don’t live in the mid-Atlantic.

I would say this is increasingly less true about JMU, that people don’t know it outside this area. It is getting better and better academically, it has been awarded an R2 research designation, and with its football team being so strong and being on ESPN College Game day, more and more people know about it nationally. Plus it is a relative bargain for OOS.

It might be “increasingly true,” as in it went from 1% national awareness to 1.3% national awareness.

+1 UofSC is in a different stratosphere when it comes to sports and sport coverage. R1 is also much more prestigious in academia than R2.

Oh my.
DP

The media reach of being in a top conference is a major plus for SC. People know who Georgia and Alabama play. Not true for the lower conferences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all the posts about name recognition, a student would likely do better on the job market with a 3.9 from JMU or U of SC than a 3.2 from William and Mary. GPA usually trumps name recognition.

I think this is true for the first job after college, and for graduate school admissions. Otherwise, I think the name of the school matters much more than the major or anything else.

Disagree. Why hire a kid that didn't try or couldn't hack it at a school like W&M?

You wouldn't know the kid got into W&M and chose not to go. All you know if the kid attended JMU and excelled.

College is 99.9% about what you do with yourself at college. and 0.1% about where you go.
IMO, you choose the school that is a best fit so you can achieve the most and also one that leaves you with the least debt.

JMU vs W&M is not a huge difference. It's not like they are comparing Radford (for anything other than teaching) and W&M (radford is a good school, just several levels below those 2)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s amazing how many people keep pushing William and Mary when op has already made clear her kid doesn’t want to go there (but she likes it). Typical dcum.

But it was one of the three listed . . .

And the kid doesn’t like the Spring start…not the school itself.

And that is a 1000% an excellent reason not to attend. Don't kid yourself, spring start kids are transfer students, who have to work 1000x harder to fit in and make friends. When you arrive in August, everyone is new and in the same situation, by January most freshman have their friend group and routines. A jan start kid might be placed in a dorm room with a Junior or senior whose roommate is studying abroad. What Junior or senior has the time or desire to include a freshman in their social life?
Success in college academically has a lot to do with your kid being comfortable and having a good social group. That is much harder to achieve with Jan start.

[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:OP, sometimes it is all about the money.

If you look at the WSJ analysis of grads in different careers...W&M does very well on 6 of the 9 lists, JMU shows up on two of the lists and South Carolina never makes the cut on any of the lists.

https://www.wsj.com/news/collection/college-pay-80428504

Rankings and lists don't matter if a kid is unhappy because the school is the wrong fit. It's really not all about the money.

+1. I can see the appeal of U of SC for sure. In fact, I'd probably pick it myself if I was in OP's kid's position. Not because W&M isn't a more prestigious/higher ranked institution...everyone knows it is. But that's not the only consideration.

I can’t. Like the vast majority of people, I care about outcomes. So does my kid.

I don’t see any reason at all to pick South Carolina over JMU or W&M if the plan is business. If the business program was so good, it would show up on one of these lists for salaries for grads.

Have you ever been to UofSC? Their business facility and presentation were top notch at an open house for admitted students.

Great…so why don’t they show up on the WSJ lists of best paying public universities?

Who cares about the facility and presentation if it doesn’t get results.

JMU is on a bunch of the lists…W&M most of the lists.

You can view UofSC’s business outcomes on their website, they’re not bad at all.

Again, who cares. A bona fide 3rd party in the WSJ shows JMU and W&M are better.

“Not bad” isn’t a ringing endorsement.

A list designed to sell papers is irrelevant.

By listing salaries of graduates? Probably the most relevant lists there are.

Yet you refuse to consider salary data on the UofSC website?

Ok…I looked. South Carolina median finance grad is $73k vs $125k at W&M.

That’s actually a massive diiference. Didn’t think the answer would be so obvious.

Where are the students working? W&M I suspect will send many to the DC area which is a much HCOL than anywhere in SC. Those numbers mean nothing until you know that data point.
It's just like people show NEU and other Boston schools with really high starting salaries. That is too be expected as most kids stay in Boston which is a VHCOL area. The kids are not actually making more than other schools, it's just where they are located

[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:

Anonymous wrote:OP, sometimes it is all about the money.

If you look at the WSJ analysis of grads in different careers...W&M does very well on 6 of the 9 lists, JMU shows up on two of the lists and South Carolina never makes the cut on any of the lists.

https://www.wsj.com/news/collection/college-pay-80428504

Rankings and lists don't matter if a kid is unhappy because the school is the wrong fit. It's really not all about the money.

+1. I can see the appeal of U of SC for sure. In fact, I'd probably pick it myself if I was in OP's kid's position. Not because W&M isn't a more prestigious/higher ranked institution...everyone knows it is. But that's not the only consideration.

I can’t. Like the vast majority of people, I care about outcomes. So does my kid.

I don’t see any reason at all to pick South Carolina over JMU or W&M if the plan is business. If the business program was so good, it would show up on one of these lists for salaries for grads.

Have you ever been to UofSC? Their business facility and presentation were top notch at an open house for admitted students.

Great…so why don’t they show up on the WSJ lists of best paying public universities?

Who cares about the facility and presentation if it doesn’t get results.

JMU is on a bunch of the lists…W&M most of the lists.

You can view UofSC’s business outcomes on their website, they’re not bad at all.

Again, who cares. A bona fide 3rd party in the WSJ shows JMU and W&M are better.

“Not bad” isn’t a ringing endorsement.

A list designed to sell papers is irrelevant.

By listing salaries of graduates? Probably the most relevant lists there are.

Yet you refuse to consider salary data on the UofSC website?

Ok…I looked. South Carolina median finance grad is $73k vs $125k at W&M.

That’s actually a massive diiference. Didn’t think the answer would be so obvious.

Where are the students working? W&M I suspect will send many to the DC area which is a much HCOL than anywhere in SC. Those numbers mean nothing until you know that data point.
It's just like people show NEU and other Boston schools with really high starting salaries. That is too be expected as most kids stay in Boston which is a VHCOL area. The kids are not actually making more than other schools, it's just where they are located

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t pay more for U of SC than JMU.

Why not if you have the $$ and kid wants USC?

Also, South Carolina has more name recognition in than JMU. No one outside DMV area knows about JMU.

Really? I guess I should let all my DC's OOS friends know this.

Go to the west coast or Midwest or NE. See if more ppl have heard of South Carolina or JMU.

What a stupid argument. Of course *everyone* has heard of University of Whatever State. I’ve certainly heard of the University of New Mexico, but I couldn’t tell you the first thing about it…

The point is no one has heard of JMU if they don’t live in the mid-Atlantic.

I would say this is increasingly less true about JMU, that people don’t know it outside this area. It is getting better and better academically, it has been awarded an R2 research designation, and with its football team being so strong and being on ESPN College Game day, more and more people know about it nationally. Plus it is a relative bargain for OOS.

It might be “increasingly true,” as in it went from 1% national awareness to 1.3% national awareness.

+1 UofSC is in a different stratosphere when it comes to sports and sport coverage. R1 is also much more prestigious in academia than R2.

Oh my.
DP

The media reach of being in a top conference is a major plus for SC. People know who Georgia and Alabama play. Not true for the lower conferences.

Psst: no one really cares.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s amazing how many people keep pushing William and Mary when op has already made clear her kid doesn’t want to go there (but she likes it). Typical dcum.

But it was one of the three listed . . .

And the kid doesn’t like the Spring start…not the school itself.

And that is a 1000% an excellent reason not to attend. Don't kid yourself, spring start kids are transfer students, who have to work 1000x harder to fit in and make friends. When you arrive in August, everyone is new and in the same situation, by January most freshman have their friend group and routines. A jan start kid might be placed in a dorm room with a Junior or senior whose roommate is studying abroad. What Junior or senior has the time or desire to include a freshman in their social life?
Success in college academically has a lot to do with your kid being comfortable and having a good social group. That is much harder to achieve with Jan start.

This is 100% accurate. I know a lot of people want to gloss over the important of being able to bond and connect with peers; but it is incredibly important (especially these days with mental health being such a big issues with teens). Sure - there are opportunities to join clubs and rush in the spring, but it isn't the same as in the fall. Some W&M student have actually recommended that if you can't rush in the fall of freshman year, you should wait to rush during the fall of sophormore year (rather than the spring) - I cannot remember why, but I am assuming that the rush experience is somewhat mediocre in the spring (maybe it's only the houses that didn't hit their numbers that partcipate in the spring - not 100% sure).

Also, as stated by many before, it seems that OP's son truly does not want to do W&M spring start. I am not anti-William & Mary. In fact, I am a huge fan of W&M. It really is an awesome school. However, I can appreciate that the school is not right for everyone. Also, I am not a proponent of all of these spring start or "going to another location for one year before coming to the main campus" (Northeastern) admission options. While you can argue that these pathways gives kids an opportunity to get admitted into a school that they would otherwise not have been admitted to, I feel like it is another way for colleges to squeeze in more revenue while giving kids a "lesser" experience.

[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:I wouldn’t pay more for U of SC than JMU.

Why not if you have the $$ and kid wants USC?

Also, South Carolina has more name recognition in than JMU. No one outside DMV area knows about JMU.

Really? I guess I should let all my DC's OOS friends know this.

Go to the west coast or Midwest or NE. See if more ppl have heard of South Carolina or JMU.

What a stupid argument. Of course *everyone* has heard of University of Whatever State. I’ve certainly heard of the University of New Mexico, but I couldn’t tell you the first thing about it…

The point is no one has heard of JMU if they don’t live in the mid-Atlantic.

I would say this is increasingly less true about JMU, that people don’t know it outside this area. It is getting better and better academically, it has been awarded an R2 research designation, and with its football team being so strong and being on ESPN College Game day, more and more people know about it nationally. Plus it is a relative bargain for OOS.

It might be “increasingly true,” as in it went from 1% national awareness to 1.3% national awareness.

+1 UofSC is in a different stratosphere when it comes to sports and sport coverage. R1 is also much more prestigious in academia than R2.

Oh my.
DP

The media reach of being in a top conference is a major plus for SC. People know who Georgia and Alabama play. Not true for the lower conferences.

Psst: no one really cares.
DP

27 million might disagree: https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/

[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:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t pay more for U of SC than JMU.

Why not if you have the $$ and kid wants USC?

Also, South Carolina has more name recognition in than JMU. No one outside DMV area knows about JMU.

Really? I guess I should let all my DC's OOS friends know this.

Go to the west coast or Midwest or NE. See if more ppl have heard of South Carolina or JMU.

What a stupid argument. Of course *everyone* has heard of University of Whatever State. I’ve certainly heard of the University of New Mexico, but I couldn’t tell you the first thing about it…

The point is no one has heard of JMU if they don’t live in the mid-Atlantic.

I would say this is increasingly less true about JMU, that people don’t know it outside this area. It is getting better and better academically, it has been awarded an R2 research designation, and with its football team being so strong and being on ESPN College Game day, more and more people know about it nationally. Plus it is a relative bargain for OOS.

It might be “increasingly true,” as in it went from 1% national awareness to 1.3% national awareness.

+1 UofSC is in a different stratosphere when it comes to sports and sport coverage. R1 is also much more prestigious in academia than R2.

Oh my.
DP

The media reach of being in a top conference is a major plus for SC. People know who Georgia and Alabama play. Not true for the lower conferences.

Psst: no one really cares.
DP

27 million might disagree: https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/

I doubt many of those people are on DCUM...just saying

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t pay more for U of SC than JMU.

Why not if you have the $$ and kid wants USC?

Also, South Carolina has more name recognition in than JMU. No one outside DMV area knows about JMU.

Really? I guess I should let all my DC's OOS friends know this.

Go to the west coast or Midwest or NE. See if more ppl have heard of South Carolina or JMU.

What a stupid argument. Of course *everyone* has heard of University of Whatever State. I’ve certainly heard of the University of New Mexico, but I couldn’t tell you the first thing about it…

The point is no one has heard of JMU if they don’t live in the mid-Atlantic.

I would say this is increasingly less true about JMU, that people don’t know it outside this area. It is getting better and better academically, it has been awarded an R2 research designation, and with its football team being so strong and being on ESPN College Game day, more and more people know about it nationally. Plus it is a relative bargain for OOS.

It might be “increasingly true,” as in it went from 1% national awareness to 1.3% national awareness.

+1 UofSC is in a different stratosphere when it comes to sports and sport coverage. R1 is also much more prestigious in academia than R2.

Oh my.
DP

The media reach of being in a top conference is a major plus for SC. People know who Georgia and Alabama play. Not true for the lower conferences.

Psst: no one really cares.
DP

27 million might disagree: https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/

I doubt many of those people are on DCUM...just saying

Their kids are.