Mary Washington University- thoughts?

[Anonymous]

What STEM offerings does UMW have?

With a lot of demand for CS/CompE and for Stats/Data Science, having strong offerings in that area would be worth both UMW investment and also marketing.

[Anonymous]

It’s a school that is going to need to rebrand and evolve to survive. Changing the name and a greater focus on STEM should be priorities.

[Anonymous]

I was impressed with the tour and the admissions rep who spoke after.
The campus is much prettier than I expected and it’s in walking distance to Old Town Fredericksburg.
The tour guide was warm and enthusiastic which added to the nice impression of the school.
I came away from the visit thinking very highly of UMW.
Plus I know a handful of alumni who loved their time there.
My dd seriously considered UMW but opted for VCU as she wanted a bigger urban setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What STEM offerings does UMW have?

With a lot of demand for CS/CompE and for Stats/Data Science, having strong offerings in that area would be worth both UMW investment and also marketing.

I'm a CS/Bio double major who graduated in the early 2000s (hope I'm not outing myself here...). I thought the CS program at that time was pretty rigorous but very theoretical - perfect for someone like me who was more interested in biomed computational research, but maybe not so great for someone looking to go more the engineering side. At that time, there was no data science offering, however the beauty of MWC was that someone like me could work with the department and get the course offerings that I needed. I took classes that were technically a part of the econ and math departments. I did something similar for my bio degree, as there was no biochemistry offering at the time, but a few of us banded together and they put together a course for us.

As for research, proximity to the DC area helps - lots of internships and partnerships with NIH and area universities to do research either in the summer or throughout the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What STEM offerings does UMW have?

With a lot of demand for CS/CompE and for Stats/Data Science, having strong offerings in that area would be worth both UMW investment and also marketing.

I'm a CS/Bio double major who graduated in the early 2000s (hope I'm not outing myself here...). I thought the CS program at that time was pretty rigorous but very theoretical - perfect for someone like me who was more interested in biomed computational research, but maybe not so great for someone looking to go more the engineering side. At that time, there was no data science offering, however the beauty of MWC was that someone like me could work with the department and get the course offerings that I needed. I took classes that were technically a part of the econ and math departments. I did something similar for my bio degree, as there was no biochemistry offering at the time, but a few of us banded together and they put together a course for us.

As for research, proximity to the DC area helps - lots of internships and partnerships with NIH and area universities to do research either in the summer or throughout the year.

Sorry, just to add to this: I had absolutely no problem getting interviews/offers from graduate schools after my time at Mary Washington. I ended up accepting a program at a tier 1 institution and I'm now a principle investigator. So at least 1 datapoint for STEM at Mary Washington, albeit outdated because I'm old.

[Anonymous]

OP here- I very much appreciate all the comments- keep them coming!

We thought the campus was really pretty- just as pretty, if not prettier, than UVA! The buildings were impressive inside and so were the dorms. DD liked that there was opportunity to work closely with professors and the lack of TAs, and we all liked the liberal arts curriculum. She said no STEM but is otherwise undecided.

I believe she'd have the grades/rigor to get into Tech and JMU, though probably not UVA and definitely not W&M. She's looking at OOS options too, but as far as in-state, MWU seems to fit the bill for her parameters.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is currently a junior at Mary Washington and she really likes it. She is also a very quiet kid, not a partier at all.

A few things we've noticed about UMW:
Pros:
Great Merit Aid
They accept DE and AP credits generously- three of the four girls in my daughter's apartment are graduating a semester early
We LOVE the on-campus apartment option. The apartments are nice and close to campus. We also love that when she graduates a semester early, we aren't stuck in a year-long lease.

Cons:
My only con is that the school could benefit from Greek life. Without a huge sports culture, it would give the kids more to do, IMO.

I think the reason that JMU is surging is due to the sports/greek culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What STEM offerings does UMW have?

With a lot of demand for CS/CompE and for Stats/Data Science, having strong offerings in that area would be worth both UMW investment and also marketing.

DD was looking at environmental science programs, and I thought UMW had great offerings in that, including the option to spend a semester at the Smithsonian-Mason Conservation Center. Her favorite schools all offered some kind of off-campus ES immersion semester. It came down to UMW, Washington College, and Juniata. General vibe + music options gave the advantage to Juniata.

[Anonymous]

UMW is a great option for a quiet kid who isn't into parties/sports/greek life and is looking for a smaller campus/public university.

One major selling point for my dc was that the school really focuses on undergrad education, so the classes are actually being taught by professors and not TAs. The classes are generally pretty small, and students have a lot of interaction with their professors.

[Anonymous]

PP again.. I will say my kid hasn't been very impressed with the dining hall, but that could be personal preference. There aren't a lot of dining options on campus either, like you would find at a larger university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is currently a junior at Mary Washington and she really likes it. She is also a very quiet kid, not a partier at all.

A few things we've noticed about UMW:
Pros:
Great Merit Aid
They accept DE and AP credits generously- three of the four girls in my daughter's apartment are graduating a semester early
We LOVE the on-campus apartment option. The apartments are nice and close to campus. We also love that when she graduates a semester early, we aren't stuck in a year-long lease.

Cons:
My only con is that the school could benefit from Greek life. Without a huge sports culture, it would give the kids more to do, IMO.

I think the reason that JMU is surging is due to the sports/greek culture.

Previous Bio/CS poster. Glad to hear that they're still great with this. I basically came in with sophomore status due to AP credits and that helped me major in two unrelated departments while still graduating in 4 years. Also got great merit aid while I was there, and honestly loved that there wasn't a greek/sports culture on campus as that wasn't my scene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the campus and the only red-flag is see is this: https://augustafreepress.com/news/enrollment-decline-for-virginia-universities-puts-radford-umw-at-some-risk-in-the-future/

What is the reason for the decline in these schools?

It is a function of the market. VT, GMU, and JMU have enough demand to grow and they perceive growth (and the additional revenues that come along with it) as strategically important. They have grown 22%, 21%, and 20% respectively over the past decade, and since they are so large and perceived more positively than other schools like Radford, they are kind of sucking up all of the oxygen since there is not overall college enrollment growth (and it it forecast to decline). (UVA and W&M are growing, but aren't as large and are balancing maintaining selectivity with growth.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the campus and the only red-flag is see is this: https://augustafreepress.com/news/enrollment-decline-for-virginia-universities-puts-radford-umw-at-some-risk-in-the-future/

What is the reason for the decline in these schools?

It is a function of the market. VT, GMU, and JMU have enough demand to grow and they perceive growth (and the additional revenues that come along with it) as strategically important. They have grown 22%, 21%, and 20% respectively over the past decade, and since they are so large and perceived more positively than other schools like Radford, they are kind of sucking up all of the oxygen since there is not overall college enrollment growth (and it it forecast to decline). (UVA and W&M are growing, but aren't as large and are balancing maintaining selectivity with growth.).

UVA and W&M need to quadruple in size yesterday. Minimum 40k students at UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the campus and the only red-flag is see is this: https://augustafreepress.com/news/enrollment-decline-for-virginia-universities-puts-radford-umw-at-some-risk-in-the-future/

What is the reason for the decline in these schools?

It is a function of the market. VT, GMU, and JMU have enough demand to grow and they perceive growth (and the additional revenues that come along with it) as strategically important. They have grown 22%, 21%, and 20% respectively over the past decade, and since they are so large and perceived more positively than other schools like Radford, they are kind of sucking up all of the oxygen since there is not overall college enrollment growth (and it it forecast to decline). (UVA and W&M are growing, but aren't as large and are balancing maintaining selectivity with growth.).

UVA and W&M need to quadruple in size yesterday. Minimum 40k students at UVA.

That would fundamentally change them to something else. UVA would be Wisconsin and W&M Miami of Ohio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the campus and the only red-flag is see is this: https://augustafreepress.com/news/enrollment-decline-for-virginia-universities-puts-radford-umw-at-some-risk-in-the-future/

What is the reason for the decline in these schools?

It is a function of the market. VT, GMU, and JMU have enough demand to grow and they perceive growth (and the additional revenues that come along with it) as strategically important. They have grown 22%, 21%, and 20% respectively over the past decade, and since they are so large and perceived more positively than other schools like Radford, they are kind of sucking up all of the oxygen since there is not overall college enrollment growth (and it it forecast to decline). (UVA and W&M are growing, but aren't as large and are balancing maintaining selectivity with growth.).

UVA and W&M need to quadruple in size yesterday. Minimum 40k students at UVA.

I doubt either one would get big significantly; both are banking on exclusivity. GMU can handle the size it's setup to be the Penn State of VA.

My personal take - parents wondered why spend the extra money if GMU is near by.