Rank these VA public universities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid #1 is a current student at UVA. Kid #2 is a junior in a NOVA high school and is a different type of student. He will be applying to the so-called consolation prize schools in Virginia. This does not bother him in the least. For him, VT is a reach school.

He is interested in the military and at this point plans to go to college first and then look at his options to go into the Army as an officer. Corp of Cadets at VT, VMI and even Naval Academy we have toured, and he wasn't interested and/or doesn't have the stats. Any suggestions for this type of student as to which schools would be a good fit?

My friend's daughter went to ODU, and at the same time were a coast guard reservist. Graduated in 3 years (AP classes + received some credits for her Coast Guard boot camps), ODU cost was $5K per year, the rest was covered with merit scholarships. She re-enlisted as an officer after graduation, served 2 or 3 years to earn her GI bill and now applying for Master degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Mary Washington grad (and UVA medical school grad), I find this thread to be ridiculous.

Look, we are incredibly lucky that there are so many schools in Virginia where a student can get in-state tuition and an excellent education. I thrived at Mary Washington and really found my niche. Having attended UVA for medical school, I am pretty certain I wouldn't have enjoyed it as an undergrad. I needed a smaller liberal arts type experience and I had no interest in greek life or sports, etc. But other people do! And that's okay! There is literally a fit for almost everyone in the state. We are so lucky to have these options, people.

The point is, I might ask why Mary Washington? You have an answer: I wanted a smaller liberal arts school. But I would not ask the same question of someone from VT, UVA or W & M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Mary Washington grad (and UVA medical school grad), I find this thread to be ridiculous.

Look, we are incredibly lucky that there are so many schools in Virginia where a student can get in-state tuition and an excellent education. I thrived at Mary Washington and really found my niche. Having attended UVA for medical school, I am pretty certain I wouldn't have enjoyed it as an undergrad. I needed a smaller liberal arts type experience and I had no interest in greek life or sports, etc. But other people do! And that's okay! There is literally a fit for almost everyone in the state. We are so lucky to have these options, people.

The point is, I might ask why Mary Washington? You have an answer: I wanted a smaller liberal arts school. But I would not ask the same question of someone from VT, UVA or W & M.

Of course, one could. There are plenty of reasons to choose tech or UVA or W&M and if one wanted you could find reasons to justify attending or not attending any school.

I think the PP's point is that we are lucky in Virginia to have so many excellent options for college for our kids. And I completely agree with her. We moved here from California and it's like night and day in terms of schools and support for colleges. I have a kid at UVA, a kid at Tech and a kid at GMU. All three of them are getting fantastic educational experiences. I agree with the PP. We need to do less judging and more thinking about what's right for our own kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Mary Washington grad (and UVA medical school grad), I find this thread to be ridiculous.

Look, we are incredibly lucky that there are so many schools in Virginia where a student can get in-state tuition and an excellent education. I thrived at Mary Washington and really found my niche. Having attended UVA for medical school, I am pretty certain I wouldn't have enjoyed it as an undergrad. I needed a smaller liberal arts type experience and I had no interest in greek life or sports, etc. But other people do! And that's okay! There is literally a fit for almost everyone in the state. We are so lucky to have these options, people.

The point is, I might ask why Mary Washington? You have an answer: I wanted a smaller liberal arts school. But I would not ask the same question of someone from VT, UVA or W & M.

Well then you're just snobby. I don't care why someone went to any school, so long as they got a beneficial education from it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Mary Washington grad (and UVA medical school grad), I find this thread to be ridiculous.

Look, we are incredibly lucky that there are so many schools in Virginia where a student can get in-state tuition and an excellent education. I thrived at Mary Washington and really found my niche. Having attended UVA for medical school, I am pretty certain I wouldn't have enjoyed it as an undergrad. I needed a smaller liberal arts type experience and I had no interest in greek life or sports, etc. But other people do! And that's okay! There is literally a fit for almost everyone in the state. We are so lucky to have these options, people.

Amen to this. I'm another Mary Washington grad, and also a Georgetown Law grad. My four years at Mary Washington were the most memorable, fun, happy days of my early adulthood. I don't think I'd be the person I am today had I not gone there. I chose it for exactly the reasons you list, and was thrilled to have it as an option.

The people who look down on small colleges like UMW simply because they're lesser known, or aren't the big state flagships, aren't people I'd especially want to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Mary Washington grad (and UVA medical school grad), I find this thread to be ridiculous.

Look, we are incredibly lucky that there are so many schools in Virginia where a student can get in-state tuition and an excellent education. I thrived at Mary Washington and really found my niche. Having attended UVA for medical school, I am pretty certain I wouldn't have enjoyed it as an undergrad. I needed a smaller liberal arts type experience and I had no interest in greek life or sports, etc. But other people do! And that's okay! There is literally a fit for almost everyone in the state. We are so lucky to have these options, people.

The point is, I might ask why Mary Washington? You have an answer: I wanted a smaller liberal arts school. But I would not ask the same question of someone from VT, UVA or W & M.

How silly. There are many reasons to go (or not to go) to VT, UVA, W&M, JMU, CNU - any school at all. One of my kids attends JMU. He was also accepted at Tech and UVA (didn't apply to W&M), but loved JMU and so he chose to go there. He had very specific reasons for applying to each of these schools, and very specific reasons why he preferred JMU.

We might ask you why you chose whatever school you attended, and I'm sure you'd have reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top 3 schools in the state

UVA
W&M
Tech

The rest are like a consolation prize. Everyone gets a medal

Tech? Hahahahahaha

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The JMU boosters are delusional. They’re the only 2 people who would put JMU equal to VT. Sure, a few kids maybe choose JMU over Tech but that doesn’t make the schools’ rankings equal.

Businessweek ranks UVa/W&M/JMU top 50 for Business. Va Tech does not rank.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Texh has a medical school. It is new but competitive for entry. It also has the only local Vet School. For all science it is really the best in state option. Nursing is better elsewhere and UVA is tops for medical. But Virginia Tech is tops for science both in terms of reputation and actual options and disciples taught. And no, JMU. No. Not in the same league. And honestly, VT has good business and Architecture as well. It is not a one-trick engineering school at all.

Nonsense. Va Tech has an 80% acceptance rate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Texh has a medical school. It is new but competitive for entry. It also has the only local Vet School. For all science it is really the best in state option. Nursing is better elsewhere and UVA is tops for medical. But Virginia Tech is tops for science both in terms of reputation and actual options and disciples taught. And no, JMU. No. Not in the same league. And honestly, VT has good business and Architecture as well. It is not a one-trick engineering school at all.

Sounds like Tech should then be ahead of UVA.

I wrote that on my phone so I apologize for the typos. I don't know about being ahead of UVA for medical. I am not a doctor (I play one on TV) and so I only know about reputation and I think UVA's medical school is good. And for some science it is probably comparable. Virginia Tech's medical school is only about a decade old. Vet schools are very competitive regardless of where they are and Virginia Tech's has facilities in Blacksburg and whole facility dedicated to Equine Veterinary Medicine in Middleburg. Virginia Tech has more highly ranked engineering options and in terms of Life Sciences, it is kind of nuts what people can study there. All manner of Biologies, Forestry and Wildlife, fisheries, Animal Science (Dairy Science, Equine Studies), wood science, renewable resources, classes on viticulture. I could go on and it is actually kind of amazing. And then there are all the non-engineering, non-life science options such as computer science. And then there are the typical things like liberal arts classes. It has the largest Civil War library in the world with the exception of the Library of Congress. So, as I type this I do think that if someone wants to study science and wants lots of options and the ability to study across disciplines, Virginia Tech is an amazing place. It is overshadowed by the history of UVA (Jefferson!) and W & M (Jefferson again!) but it is kind of comparable to the flagship school of most other states and we are super lucky to have all three in Virginia.

It is hysterical to see VT attempt to separate themselves into UVa/WM territory when literally the top students at VT still could not gain acceptance...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA tied w/W&M
JMU tied w/VT
VCU, GMU, CNU are only competitive to get in re: certain programs, and from a NoVa HS.
CNU attracts conservative students and CNU is actively protecting their yield to raise their ranking.
GMU can be a annoyingly unpredictable if coming from a NoVa HS.
UMW
ODU, Longwood, Radford
All schools have good programs for certain students. Depends on what the student wants
Obsessing over ranking these schools, IMO, suggests a negative re: the person asking the question
And re: all schools, it not just about getting in, it's also about getting out

+1 the most accurate post yet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top 3 schools in the state

UVA
W&M
Tech

The rest are like a consolation prize. Everyone gets a medal

This seems to accurately reflect what students at our NOVA public school thinks. Most of the better students will consider these 3 schools (whether as matches or safeties depending on their academics) but not the others.

Sadly, that might reflect the snobs we have brought them up to be, rather than what various schools actullay offer.

It is laughable that anyone would be snobby about VT or JMU. It’s like mini versus morty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Neighbor's DS chose to join the Marines and after serving took his $$$ for school and chose UNC Chapel Hill over all the VA schools, including UVA.

Doesn't it makes more sense to go to college first with ROTC money and then have a better [officer] rank?

It isn't always "better" to be an officer (and I say this as a wife of a retired officer.) Depending on what he wants to do in the Marines, there are many billets/MOS that are exclusively for enlisted. Some enlisted members decide to get their commission after serving 4 years and going to college, many would even say that those who are prior enlisted make better officers.

They sure do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Mary Washington grad (and UVA medical school grad), I find this thread to be ridiculous.

Look, we are incredibly lucky that there are so many schools in Virginia where a student can get in-state tuition and an excellent education. I thrived at Mary Washington and really found my niche. Having attended UVA for medical school, I am pretty certain I wouldn't have enjoyed it as an undergrad. I needed a smaller liberal arts type experience and I had no interest in greek life or sports, etc. But other people do! And that's okay! There is literally a fit for almost everyone in the state. We are so lucky to have these options, people.

Amen to this. I'm another Mary Washington grad, and also a Georgetown Law grad. My four years at Mary Washington were the most memorable, fun, happy days of my early adulthood. I don't think I'd be the person I am today had I not gone there. I chose it for exactly the reasons you list, and was thrilled to have it as an option.

The people who look down on small colleges like UMW simply because they're lesser known, or aren't the big state flagships, aren't people I'd especially want to know.

I’m another proud Mary Washington grad and I also agree that my 4 years there were among the happiest of my life. It was absolutely the right fit for me. I later went to grad school at Va Tech, and while my time at Tech was important for my career, I know I wouldn’t have liked it as an undergrad. I needed a smaller campus experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Texh has a medical school. It is new but competitive for entry. It also has the only local Vet School. For all science it is really the best in state option. Nursing is better elsewhere and UVA is tops for medical. But Virginia Tech is tops for science both in terms of reputation and actual options and disciples taught. And no, JMU. No. Not in the same league. And honestly, VT has good business and Architecture as well. It is not a one-trick engineering school at all.

Nonsense. Va Tech has an 80% acceptance rate

You've written several posts in a row, discrediting Tech. What, exactly, is your problem? It's an excellent school. Something tells me, you (or your child) didn't get in. Sour grapes and all that.