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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

VT is my personal favorite. Best combination of academics and college experience, but obviously better if your child leans more towards the math and sciences.

That aside, my two cents:

VCU - decent school. good marketing program. urban campus in a fun part of Richmond. basketball program has been really good, so maybe people outside of Virginia have heard of it, but still not going to look good on your resume if you end up outside of Virginia.

ODU - exact same thing as above, but replace a "fun part of Richmond" with "near a shitty part of Norfolk".

GMU - much better academics than VCU or ODC, but lame commuter school with no college experience.

CNU - never heard of it.

UMW - surprisingly good school, but nobody knows that so what good does it do? i.e., I was interviewing a MW kid and everyone assumed he was an idiot because of his undergrad choice.

[Anonymous]

VCU is ranked the number one public arts school by US News. Hoping DS will go there in two years.

[Anonymous]

Do your own research. Be careful of what you read here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VCU - decent school. good marketing program. urban campus in a fun part of Richmond. basketball program has been really good, so maybe people outside of Virginia have heard of it, but still not going to look good on your resume if you end up outside of Virginia.

what garbage.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VT is my personal favorite. Best combination of academics and college experience, but obviously better if your child leans more towards the math and sciences.

That aside, my two cents:

VCU - decent school. good marketing program. urban campus in a fun part of Richmond. basketball program has been really good, so maybe people outside of Virginia have heard of it, but still not going to look good on your resume if you end up outside of Virginia.

ODU - exact same thing as above, but replace a "fun part of Richmond" with "near a shitty part of Norfolk".

GMU - much better academics than VCU or ODC, but lame commuter school with no college experience.

CNU - never heard of it.

UMW - surprisingly good school, but nobody knows that so what good does it do? i.e., I was interviewing a MW kid and everyone assumed he was an idiot because of his undergrad choice.

This really isn't the case anymore. Yes, there are still lots of ommuters, but there are also alot more students living on campus. My cousin goes there now and he came fom NYC, so he's no stranger to excitement. He just finished his junior year and he's having a blast. There is a ton of school spirit there now. It's not the GMU of the 1990's.

[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.

I actually think JMU falls into this category as well. I don't think it has the national name recognition that UVa, VT and W & M have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VT is my personal favorite. Best combination of academics and college experience, but obviously better if your child leans more towards the math and sciences.

That aside, my two cents:

VCU - decent school. good marketing program. urban campus in a fun part of Richmond. basketball program has been really good, so maybe people outside of Virginia have heard of it, but still not going to look good on your resume if you end up outside of Virginia.

ODU - exact same thing as above, but replace a "fun part of Richmond" with "near a shitty part of Norfolk".

GMU - much better academics than VCU or ODC, but lame commuter school with no college experience.

CNU - never heard of it.

UMW - surprisingly good school, but nobody knows that so what good does it do? i.e., I was interviewing a MW kid and everyone assumed he was an idiot because of his undergrad choice.

This really isn't the case anymore. Yes, there are still lots of ommuters, but there are also alot more students living on campus. My cousin goes there now and he came fom NYC, so he's no stranger to excitement. He just finished his junior year and he's having a blast. There is a ton of school spirit there now. It's not the GMU of the 1990's.

I think this is true for GMU thanks in no small part to its Cinderella appearance in the NCAA Final Four (6?) years ago. After that applications apparently soared by over 300% and the school gained national attention. The same is undoubtedly happening at VCU where certainly Shaka Smart is known to any college basketball fan.

[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.

I actually think JMU falls into this category as well. I don't think it has the national name recognition that UVa, VT and W & M have.

I actually think that's the case for all of them (no national name recognition) except for UVA and W&M. I went to school in the Midwest and really, none of these schools are on anyone's radar screens out there. They would have heard about UVA and, maybe, W&M. They just have their own state schools which they are all consumed about and wrapped up in that these don't really penetrate through that regional parochialism. Which is totally fine, not criticizing them, we are the same way: not like we are all walking around thinking about Valparaiso or Marquette or perfectly fine schools like that. . . .just my two cents. . .

[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.

I actually think JMU falls into this category as well. I don't think it has the national name recognition that UVa, VT and W & M have.

I actually think that's the case for all of them (no national name recognition) except for UVA and W&M. I went to school in the Midwest and really, none of these schools are on anyone's radar screens out there. They would have heard about UVA and, maybe, W&M. They just have their own state schools which they are all consumed about and wrapped up in that these don't really penetrate through that regional parochialism. Which is totally fine, not criticizing them, we are the same way: not like we are all walking around thinking about Valparaiso or Marquette or perfectly fine schools like that. . . .just my two cents. . .

PS PP back: not saying Valpo or Marquette are state schools. . .I know they are both private. . .I was just trying to name some mid-tier-ish schools that tend to draw more from a regional audience. . . . .

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Go Spiders!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go Spiders!

And that would be in state $50,000+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go Spiders!