The Other Virginia Colleges: VCU, ODU, GMU, CNU, UMW . . . .

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:generally speaking, if you think you might end up living and working somewhere else, I'd advise going to a shitty national type state school over a decent regional school. That means I prefer schools like WVU, NC State and Ole Miss over places like VCU, ODU and UMBC. If you apply in San Diego, at least they will have heard of where you went to school.

DW went to NC State, wonder what she'll think of this assessment.....

NC State is not a shitty national school? of course it is. just like FSU, WVU, Louisville, etc. no shame in that.

In terms of reputation sure, but you can get a good education at any of these if you want to.

NONE of these schools are shitty. There are some state schools that are but these particular schools aren't. You folks are crazy and probably have kids who haven't applied to college yet so you are all still living at Lake Wobegon.

Um... I dunno. US News has N.C. State at #101; Ole Miss at #143; and West Virginia at #164. The latter two, in particular, don't look so hot to me.

Look, I stand by what I said. I am not saying the schools are top notch but here on DCUM everyone is talking like their kids are hot snot and like they have no need for any financial aid. Fact is A LOT of these posters kids are likely headed to some of these so-called "shitty" schools. I know so many parents who had these "brilliant" and "gifted" kids who were all Ivy bound--or at least UVa. They poo poo'd VT as filled with a bunch of farmers and hicks. JMU wasn't even mentioned. Well, when the time came to go to school, some suddenly had a new attitude. Suddenly, JMU was the same as UVa and Christopher Newport was such a great school. And suddenly little Johnny was going to WVU because it offered things that none of the VA schools offered (really--none?). Others got a lot of money to go out of state and that made it equal or even less than instate but those packages were typically to the NC States of the world (not UNC). Those kids were jumping at a chance to avoid attending Tech or UVA with a bunch of their high school classmates.

I am not saying that those schools are the best but I just think it is a bit over the top to call NC State or the like shitty. I recall an attorney at my first firm who went there and then to Harvard law and was a very successful lawyer and very proud of her NC State degree. I say parents should hope for the best for your kids but don't go trashing a bunch of places that might actually be your kids "reach" school rather than his safety and don't trash schools that might recruit a bright kid with a very attractive financial package. I know a Christopher Newport kid who got 100% financial aid and nothing from VT. Well, that kid is going to CNU even though objectively (based on US News rankings), you think he should go to VT. For his family, CNU is the best and obvious choice.

well, maybe. Sometimes you get what you pay for. A CNU degree doesn't cut much ice around here whereas a VT degree does. For him and the family it may have been the obvious choice, but maybe not the right choice. Of course, it's a moot point if they can't afford VT.

I dont agree with this. I have hired multiple kids from CNU and they have been great. I also have a lot of VT alum in my department, they are good too. You may be shocked to find that I don't find a huge variance between these kids - I dont. I dont have a dog in this fight. My kids are not in state schools and Im not an alum of either but VT might be a better engineering school overall but it really comes down to the kid and their interviewing skills and hustle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you share any real life current info about your kids' experiences at Virginia colleges, not UVA, W&M, VATech or JMU? Through the years I've just never gotten any sense of the other Virginia colleges and I'm curious to hear about them. With rising junior B/G twins, I know we'll be taking the tours this year. Thanks.

I would put JMU bellow GMU.

GMU 51.7% accepted
JMU 59.9% accepted

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/george-mason-university-3749
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/jmu-3721

You're dreaming. % acceptance rate does not equate to "harder to get in." You would have to include the amount of applicants, which is information that is not provided.
If a school has 100 students, but only 100 students happened to apply, then it has a 100% acceptance rate. Does that mean it's a worse school? Of course not, it just means that it had fewer applicants.

Everyone and their brother applies to GMU (since it is a lot of people's "Safety School"). With all of those applicants, they have to say "no" to more people. That does not make it a "Better" school.

GMU is a factory with 1000s of applicants. I did 2 years at GMU and then tranferred to JMU. GMU is essentially a good community college.

I don't think the percentages they cited are correct.

[Anonymous]

The CEO of Northrop Grumman went to JMU, so there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:generally speaking, if you think you might end up living and working somewhere else, I'd advise going to a shitty national type state school over a decent regional school. That means I prefer schools like WVU, NC State and Ole Miss over places like VCU, ODU and UMBC. If you apply in San Diego, at least they will have heard of where you went to school.

NC State is a LONG way from shitty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:generally speaking, if you think you might end up living and working somewhere else, I'd advise going to a shitty national type state school over a decent regional school. That means I prefer schools like WVU, NC State and Ole Miss over places like VCU, ODU and UMBC. If you apply in San Diego, at least they will have heard of where you went to school.

NC State is a LONG way from shitty.

VCU is a national university with a good reputation and ranks around 75 spots higher in US News than WVU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:generally speaking, if you think you might end up living and working somewhere else, I'd advise going to a shitty national type state school over a decent regional school. That means I prefer schools like WVU, NC State and Ole Miss over places like VCU, ODU and UMBC. If you apply in San Diego, at least they will have heard of where you went to school.

NC State is a LONG way from shitty.

VCU is a national university with a good reputation and ranks around 75 spots higher in US News than WVU.

West Virginia is shitty

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:generally speaking, if you think you might end up living and working somewhere else, I'd advise going to a shitty national type state school over a decent regional school. That means I prefer schools like WVU, NC State and Ole Miss over places like VCU, ODU and UMBC. If you apply in San Diego, at least they will have heard of where you went to school.

NC State is a LONG way from shitty.

VCU is a national university with a good reputation and ranks around 75 spots higher in US News than WVU.

West Virginia is shitty

Define shitty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Mason, (Univ, not law school) is ranked no. 1 up and coming university and yesterday was ranked no. 14 "most underrated" university in America. It's an amazing place and sending lots of graduates to good-paying jobs in the Dulles corridor. http://www.businessinsider.com/most-underrated-colleges-in-america-2015-1#16-tie-george-mason-university-34. The law school has come out of nowhere and is becoming a real force, especially when combined with Mason's econ. department.

Not that Mason is bad, but you can find some obscure ranking to tell you whatever you want to read.

I'm not sure why people on this Board are intent on disparaging GMU at every opportunity. There are some amazing things going on there.
I know people who go there/have went there and they are all top notch. The facilities are great and constantly being improved. Programs are highly rated. I'd love it if my kid went there (their honors program is fantastic) but they don't have the sport DC plays and wants to try for in college.

[Anonymous]

Which one of these "other Virginia colleges" provides the best alumni network?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Mason, (Univ, not law school) is ranked no. 1 up and coming university and yesterday was ranked no. 14 "most underrated" university in America. It's an amazing place and sending lots of graduates to good-paying jobs in the Dulles corridor. http://www.businessinsider.com/most-underrated-colleges-in-america-2015-1#16-tie-george-mason-university-34. The law school has come out of nowhere and is becoming a real force, especially when combined with Mason's econ. department.

Not that Mason is bad, but you can find some obscure ranking to tell you whatever you want to read.

I'm not sure why people on this Board are intent on disparaging GMU at every opportunity. There are some amazing things going on there.
I know people who go there/have went there and they are all top notch. The facilities are great and constantly being improved. Programs are highly rated. I'd love it if my kid went there (their honors program is fantastic) but they don't have the sport DC plays and wants to try for in college.

Watch out, people will start calling you a GMU booster...they disparage everything. If they have issues with schools like Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Vandy and Georgetown than they certainly believe GMU is only a step above a CC. That is obviously wrong but how this place works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Mason, (Univ, not law school) is ranked no. 1 up and coming university and yesterday was ranked no. 14 "most underrated" university in America. It's an amazing place and sending lots of graduates to good-paying jobs in the Dulles corridor. http://www.businessinsider.com/most-underrated-colleges-in-america-2015-1#16-tie-george-mason-university-34. The law school has come out of nowhere and is becoming a real force, especially when combined with Mason's econ. department.

Not that Mason is bad, but you can find some obscure ranking to tell you whatever you want to read.

I'm not sure why people on this Board are intent on disparaging GMU at every opportunity. There are some amazing things going on there.
I know people who go there/have went there and they are all top notch. The facilities are great and constantly being improved. Programs are highly rated. I'd love it if my kid went there (their honors program is fantastic) but they don't have the sport DC plays and wants to try for in college.

Watch out, people will start calling you a GMU booster...they disparage everything. If they have issues with schools like Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Vandy and Georgetown than they certainly believe GMU is only a step above a CC. That is obviously wrong but how this place works.

true-this applies to almost all the "other" schools

I've already been told before my child even applies what a crap school Radford is. But for what my daughter wants to do, it has everything she wants. I cannot seem to find any other school that can replicate the Radford curriculum for her field of study, and trust me, I have looked far and wide.

Bash it all you want, weirdos. I will be thrilled to send my kid to Radford if that is where she chooses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Certainly college cost plays a factor. This is how I very broadly see upcoming annual college costs:
VA resident in state school: $20,000;
out of state state school: $35,000
any private school: $50,000.

2009 called and wants its private college cost back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Mason, (Univ, not law school) is ranked no. 1 up and coming university and yesterday was ranked no. 14 "most underrated" university in America. It's an amazing place and sending lots of graduates to good-paying jobs in the Dulles corridor. http://www.businessinsider.com/most-underrated-colleges-in-america-2015-1#16-tie-george-mason-university-34. The law school has come out of nowhere and is becoming a real force, especially when combined with Mason's econ. department.

Not that Mason is bad, but you can find some obscure ranking to tell you whatever you want to read.

I'm not sure why people on this Board are intent on disparaging GMU at every opportunity. There are some amazing things going on there.
I know people who go there/have went there and they are all top notch. The facilities are great and constantly being improved. Programs are highly rated. I'd love it if my kid went there (their honors program is fantastic) but they don't have the sport DC plays and wants to try for in college.

Watch out, people will start calling you a GMU booster...they disparage everything. If they have issues with schools like Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Vandy and Georgetown than they certainly believe GMU is only a step above a CC. That is obviously wrong but how this place works.

true-this applies to almost all the "other" schools

I've already been told before my child even applies what a crap school Radford is. But for what my daughter wants to do, it has everything she wants. I cannot seem to find any other school that can replicate the Radford curriculum for her field of study, and trust me, I have looked far and wide.

Bash it all you want, weirdos. I will be thrilled to send my kid to Radford if that is where she chooses.

As you should be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Certainly college cost plays a factor. This is how I very broadly see upcoming annual college costs:
VA resident in state school: $20,000;
out of state state school: $35,000
any private school: $50,000.

2009 called and wants its private college cost back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you share any real life current info about your kids' experiences at Virginia colleges, not UVA, W&M, VATech or JMU? Through the years I've just never gotten any sense of the other Virginia colleges and I'm curious to hear about them. With rising junior B/G twins, I know we'll be taking the tours this year. Thanks.

I would put JMU bellow GMU.

GMU 51.7% accepted
JMU 59.9% accepted

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/george-mason-university-3749
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/jmu-3721

You're dreaming. % acceptance rate does not equate to "harder to get in." You would have to include the amount of applicants, which is information that is not provided.
If a school has 100 students, but only 100 students happened to apply, then it has a 100% acceptance rate. Does that mean it's a worse school? Of course not, it just means that it had fewer applicants.

Everyone and their brother applies to GMU (since it is a lot of people's "Safety School"). With all of those applicants, they have to say "no" to more people. That does not make it a "Better" school.

GMU is a factory with 1000s of applicants. I did 2 years at GMU and then tranferred to JMU. GMU is essentially a good community college.

I don't think the percentages they cited are correct.

This just shows your lack of insight into higher education. GMU is R1 national research university--basically in the highest 'class' of research institutions. JMU is a regional university. This isn't opinion--this is how they are categorized as institutions. How it felt to you as an undergraduate has little to do with reality. I can totally see that an undergraduate might like JMU (away from their parents, more residential, less dominated by graduate students) more than GMU--but it doesn't change the fact that JMU--by category as a regional institution--is actually closer to a community college than GMU. Both are thriving quality institutions.