Seriously, has anyone outside of Virginia ever heard of JMU?
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Anonymous
I went to a SLAC with only small amounts of NSF/NIH funding relative to a research university. I did independent research (including a thesis) with my professor. I also directed my own research independently rather than doing bitchwork for a grad student. I personally did not publish or help with grand proposals, however I have friends who did (mostly this had to do with timing and projects more than anything else). DH went to a regional school in the south that people on this board would say gives a horrible education. He also was involved in original research AND he wrote grant proposals and wrote a paper with his undergrad advisor. He wrote an honors thesis. His undergrad alma mater ranks horribly in terms of NSF/NIH grants. However, since where both DH and I attended were very undergrad focused (in my case, no undergrads, in his case only bottom tier masters programs), we had a lot more independent opportunities as undergrads than people who went to schools that were better known for their research reputations. This is because the schools were focused on undergraduate pedagogy rather than pumping out research. I don't think the research reputation of schools has a correlation with the quality of opportunities that undergrads have to get involved in research in meaningful ways. |
Anonymous
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I will bring a bit of clarity to this discussion and try to get beyond the "I've never heard of that school. . . therefore it's crap" mentality of a lot of the people posting to this board who either: a) have very little experience with colleges outside a certain bubble; and b) are too lazy to do their own research.
My DD is in her junior year in a Northern Virginia high school. While I have not ruled out OOS and private options for her, I have drawn the line as follows: "You may attend any Commonwealth of Virginia college or university of your choice and you will basically have a full ride courtesy of Mom and Dad. If you choose private or OOS, then you will need to figure out how to make up the difference between the cost of in-state and cost of OOS or private." We have visited a few of the Virginia schools - UVA, William & Mary, George Mason, James Madison University and Christopher Newport. We have also visited a few privates, and my daughter has also attended information sessions with schools coming to her high school. We visited CNU after visiting with William & Mary. Of course, W & M would be my DD's choice over CNU, but she put CNU in the running with George Mason. She liked its smaller size, the campus looks a lot like the UMD College Park campus, but more compact. The facilities are excellent. We liked the fact that the focus of the school in on undergraduate teaching. I think this is very useful to my DD, as she is not sure what she wants to major in and I think she would thrive in the smaller environment. The students we met - granted these were the student ambassadors giving the tour - were energetic and spoke well of the school, but then they are in the marketing business. My impression was a good portion of the student body is from the Richmond area and fairly prep. They would fit in at the likes of UVA, University of Richmond, Hampden - Sydney, etc. Academically, USNWR ranks CNU as #14 in Regional Universities in the South and #5 among public schools in the same category. JMU is *2 in the same category. Kiplinger's ranks CNU #89 among its "best value" public universities. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni gives CNU an "A" rating for the strength of its core curriculum. The school has an 85% freshman retention rate, so that tells you something, i.e. students don't transfer out (so they must be happy). The majority of accepted students had avg GPAs of 3.76 and SATs of at least 1700. The school could be more diverse - lots of white, preppy kids who trend Republican. My DD was very interested in CNU's undergraduate business program, which students must compete to join. Students come not only from Virginia, but Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. So, yes people outside of Virginia have heard about the school. Drawbacks - besides the diversity above - include location. While located on the James River in Newport News and in close proximity to Williamsburg and Virginia Beach, the campus seemed set off and isolated from the larger community. I went to an urban school, where the campus and the city blended, so for me this was a bit off. I would like to see the school do more in terms of raising its profile. The University seems to have strong leadership in Paul Trible, who has been guiding the college from its foundation as a community college to a full fledged public liberal arts college. For a school that is only 35 years old, it has achieved a lot. References: http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-find-best-colleges-value-rankings/end_page.php?school=5685; http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/christopher-newport-university-3706 http://whatwilltheylearn.com/a-list https://colleges.niche.com/christopher-newport-university/ |
Anonymous
| And if cost is a consideration, it is not a school I would cross off my list. |
Anonymous
My point is when two schools are in the same athletic conference, more than likely, one has heard of them. |
Anonymous
Quit acting stupid. When a MAJOR SPORTS CHANNEL makes an appearance at a college, it is a big deal, especially when it is one of the lower level schools that play football. |
Anonymous
LOL at GMU pretty unknown. Did you forget out the final four run in 2006 that put Mason on the map? That tournament increased Mason's enrollment big time. ODU has had some success in football since they started that program earlier this century. |
Anonymous
And this is why some smart kids (see earlier posts on kids who end up at top law schools) pick schools below their ability. Mommy & Daddy wouldn't/couldn't pay for the best school. They went for the value option. Seems to be a big trend in VA because of the hype around great in-state schools. |
Anonymous
Nothing wrong with living within your means. You don't need a Mercedes, when a Chevy will do the job. Also, value does not mean "below your ability." If you are being academically challenged at your school, then it is not "below your ability." I do not see why I would pay 2 - 3 times for a private SLAC or OOS when the ROI would be greater at any of our in-state options. One of my co-workers went to ODU and she is a senior Fed in the State Department, while others at her same level went to Georgetown or similar schools. So, I guess it really doesn't matter in the end, except my DD will have money left over in the college fund to attend graduate school and won't be saddled with enormous debt. |
Anonymous
| I also made my DD work to buy her own car. My neighbors were aghast. |
Anonymous
| And, of course, the measures of the "best school" are quite subjective. |
Anonymous
There are plenty!  My coworker went to JMU and Columbia Law. Another went to JMU/Northwestern for grad school.
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Anonymous
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Yes, I'm from TN and knew about JMU.
I learned about CNU a couple of years ago when our neighbor's child picked it -- prior to that I had no knowledge. But there's a lot of schools which are regional. I could probably reel off a list of schools none of you are familiar with if you didn't grow up in the same region as me. And I bet you could do the same! There's a lot of colleges in the US. |
Anonymous
This is exactly our situation. Our son had a great GPA and excellent SAT scores, but ultimately went to a state school (which he loves, by the way) rather than a more competitive private because we couldn't afford that option. We will be able to pay for a great grad school, but couldn't have done private undergrad as well. This, for us, is the best of both worlds. Excellent public undergrad (though some of the snobs here would say not "name-brand" enough!) and excellent grad school. |
Anonymous
Why do you make this sound like a horrible decision? Do you think parent's should go into large amounts of debt to put their kids through college at a prestigious university? There's plenty of good schools which don't cost a fortune. It seems to me you've drunk the kool-aid and think a good education is only available at a big name school. |
Anonymous
I grew up out West, and GMU was not just "pretty unknown" but TOTALLY unknown - along with JMU and VT. The only school that any of us heard of - or would think about attending - in MD/DC/VA was Georgetown. |