IU or JMU?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will say this. I do not know a single person who went to JMU who does not love it passionately. I have a neighbor who refers to it as, "the happiest place on earth."

I agree with this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have not read the whole 17 page thread, so apologies...have folks been hearing from JMU. My son applied EA and he hasn't said anything yet.

I’ve been hearing rumors it will be announced Tuesday Jan 23rd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:.
Look IU is a fine school as is JMU - but I am not at all clear IU would be a “better choice” than JMU even if cheaper. The data actually suggests better overall outcomes at JMU. Sorry - whether a school ranks 78 or 124 is not super compelling.

No, what’s not ‘super compelling’ is the personal opinion of someone who tries to dismiss the findings of all the experts who analyze the quality of different college experiences, and instead tries to substitute one obscure undocumented data point (obscure not because outcomes don’t matter, but because most of the available data show stronger outcomes for IU, so presumably you’ve cherry picked one frail data point or one dubious data set to try to back up your dubious assertion).

JMU is a fine school. That though wasn’t the question (look at the title). By most metrics, IU offers a stronger educational experience. Eg, IU was recently ranked #27 on Time’s assessment of the top 100 US colleges and universities for turning out future leaders; JMU wasn’t on the list. That’s a pattern that gets repeated over and over again in all the reputable surveys of colleges and universities. You can say ‘I don’t care what all the experts say; I know people who really really like JMU’ but while both parts of that sentence are presumably correct, that’s not especially helpful, since one could easily say the same about IU, and just makes it sound like JMU’s advocates have a fact-denying chip on their shoulder (which is hardly an advertisement for the university).

College is a major investment of time and resources, most families want to get the greatest possible return on their investment, and for most that means absent some special non-academic reason to choose one school over another, picking of two situationally similar schools the one that is consistently assessed as providing a stronger educational experience. That’s generally a large part of how comparisons are made on this site. Just because VA schools have a lot of aggressive advocates lurking on DCUM doesn’t mean you can gaslight OP, browbeat commenters who cite the relevant facts, and deny the reality that in some head to head comparisons, the VA school is simply outranked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will say this. I do not know a single person who went to JMU who does not love it passionately. I have a neighbor who refers to it as, "the happiest place on earth."

This is true. JMU is full of smart, kind, well-rounded students. It’s a great place to go to college.

So true. There’s something to be said about being on a campus that has an overwhelming positive aura.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.
Look IU is a fine school as is JMU - but I am not at all clear IU would be a “better choice” than JMU even if cheaper. The data actually suggests better overall outcomes at JMU. Sorry - whether a school ranks 78 or 124 is not super compelling.

No, what’s not ‘super compelling’ is the personal opinion of someone who tries to dismiss the findings of all the experts who analyze the quality of different college experiences, and instead tries to substitute one obscure undocumented data point (obscure not because outcomes don’t matter, but because most of the available data show stronger outcomes for IU, so presumably you’ve cherry picked one frail data point or one dubious data set to try to back up your dubious assertion).

JMU is a fine school. That though wasn’t the question (look at the title). By most metrics, IU offers a stronger educational experience. Eg, IU was recently ranked #27 on Time’s assessment of the top 100 US colleges and universities for turning out future leaders; JMU wasn’t on the list. That’s a pattern that gets repeated over and over again in all the reputable surveys of colleges and universities. You can say ‘I don’t care what all the experts say; I know people who really really like JMU’ but while both parts of that sentence are presumably correct, that’s not especially helpful, since one could easily say the same about IU, and just makes it sound like JMU’s advocates have a fact-denying chip on their shoulder (which is hardly an advertisement for the university).

College is a major investment of time and resources, most families want to get the greatest possible return on their investment, and for most that means absent some special non-academic reason to choose one school over another, picking of two situationally similar schools the one that is consistently assessed as providing a stronger educational experience. That’s generally a large part of how comparisons are made on this site. Just because VA schools have a lot of aggressive advocates lurking on DCUM doesn’t mean you can gaslight OP, browbeat commenters who cite the relevant facts, and deny the reality that in some head to head comparisons, the VA school is simply outranked.

Uh, not bashing IU here whatsoever, but the Time future leaders list? JMU is actually on it, #98.

Personally, I think most of the rankings by nearly-defunct news magazines are kind of dumb and irrelevant, but fact-checking for the win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.
Look IU is a fine school as is JMU - but I am not at all clear IU would be a “better choice” than JMU even if cheaper. The data actually suggests better overall outcomes at JMU. Sorry - whether a school ranks 78 or 124 is not super compelling.

No, what’s not ‘super compelling’ is the personal opinion of someone who tries to dismiss the findings of all the experts who analyze the quality of different college experiences, and instead tries to substitute one obscure undocumented data point (obscure not because outcomes don’t matter, but because most of the available data show stronger outcomes for IU, so presumably you’ve cherry picked one frail data point or one dubious data set to try to back up your dubious assertion).

JMU is a fine school. That though wasn’t the question (look at the title). By most metrics, IU offers a stronger educational experience. Eg, IU was recently ranked #27 on Time’s assessment of the top 100 US colleges and universities for turning out future leaders; JMU wasn’t on the list. That’s a pattern that gets repeated over and over again in all the reputable surveys of colleges and universities. You can say ‘I don’t care what all the experts say; I know people who really really like JMU’ but while both parts of that sentence are presumably correct, that’s not especially helpful, since one could easily say the same about IU, and just makes it sound like JMU’s advocates have a fact-denying chip on their shoulder (which is hardly an advertisement for the university).

College is a major investment of time and resources, most families want to get the greatest possible return on their investment, and for most that means absent some special non-academic reason to choose one school over another, picking of two situationally similar schools the one that is consistently assessed as providing a stronger educational experience. That’s generally a large part of how comparisons are made on this site. Just because VA schools have a lot of aggressive advocates lurking on DCUM doesn’t mean you can gaslight OP, browbeat commenters who cite the relevant facts, and deny the reality that in some head to head comparisons, the VA school is simply outranked.

Uh, not bashing IU here whatsoever, but the Time future leaders list? JMU is actually on it, #98.

Personally, I think most of the rankings by nearly-defunct news magazines are kind of dumb and irrelevant, but fact-checking for the win.

yeah, and Indiana University is #27. Nice job with that one.

[Anonymous]

Never even heard of IU until last week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never even heard of IU until last week.

So, you admit you are a moron? I mean, I have literally heard of every single state flagship in this country, considering I don't know...the state is in the name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.
Look IU is a fine school as is JMU - but I am not at all clear IU would be a “better choice” than JMU even if cheaper. The data actually suggests better overall outcomes at JMU. Sorry - whether a school ranks 78 or 124 is not super compelling.

No, what’s not ‘super compelling’ is the personal opinion of someone who tries to dismiss the findings of all the experts who analyze the quality of different college experiences, and instead tries to substitute one obscure undocumented data point (obscure not because outcomes don’t matter, but because most of the available data show stronger outcomes for IU, so presumably you’ve cherry picked one frail data point or one dubious data set to try to back up your dubious assertion).

JMU is a fine school. That though wasn’t the question (look at the title). By most metrics, IU offers a stronger educational experience. Eg, IU was recently ranked #27 on Time’s assessment of the top 100 US colleges and universities for turning out future leaders; JMU wasn’t on the list. That’s a pattern that gets repeated over and over again in all the reputable surveys of colleges and universities. You can say ‘I don’t care what all the experts say; I know people who really really like JMU’ but while both parts of that sentence are presumably correct, that’s not especially helpful, since one could easily say the same about IU, and just makes it sound like JMU’s advocates have a fact-denying chip on their shoulder (which is hardly an advertisement for the university).

College is a major investment of time and resources, most families want to get the greatest possible return on their investment, and for most that means absent some special non-academic reason to choose one school over another, picking of two situationally similar schools the one that is consistently assessed as providing a stronger educational experience. That’s generally a large part of how comparisons are made on this site. Just because VA schools have a lot of aggressive advocates lurking on DCUM doesn’t mean you can gaslight OP, browbeat commenters who cite the relevant facts, and deny the reality that in some head to head comparisons, the VA school is simply outranked.

Uh, not bashing IU here whatsoever, but the Time future leaders list? JMU is actually on it, #98.

Personally, I think most of the rankings by nearly-defunct news magazines are kind of dumb and irrelevant, but fact-checking for the win.

yeah, and Indiana University is #27. Nice job with that one.

IU's "Leadership Score" on that Time list is 82; JMU's is 81. You'd have to squint pretty hard to see any difference there. (The ordinal rankings associated with that list are quite misleading given the scores Time uses to sort. The gap between #1 Harvard and #2 Stanford is literally ten times larger than the gap between #27 IU and #98 JMU.)

[Anonymous]

Student population at IU is 48K, JMU 22K. Of course IU is going to have more future leaders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.
Look IU is a fine school as is JMU - but I am not at all clear IU would be a “better choice” than JMU even if cheaper. The data actually suggests better overall outcomes at JMU. Sorry - whether a school ranks 78 or 124 is not super compelling.

No, what’s not ‘super compelling’ is the personal opinion of someone who tries to dismiss the findings of all the experts who analyze the quality of different college experiences, and instead tries to substitute one obscure undocumented data point (obscure not because outcomes don’t matter, but because most of the available data show stronger outcomes for IU, so presumably you’ve cherry picked one frail data point or one dubious data set to try to back up your dubious assertion).

JMU is a fine school. That though wasn’t the question (look at the title). By most metrics, IU offers a stronger educational experience. Eg, IU was recently ranked #27 on Time’s assessment of the top 100 US colleges and universities for turning out future leaders; JMU wasn’t on the list. That’s a pattern that gets repeated over and over again in all the reputable surveys of colleges and universities. You can say ‘I don’t care what all the experts say; I know people who really really like JMU’ but while both parts of that sentence are presumably correct, that’s not especially helpful, since one could easily say the same about IU, and just makes it sound like JMU’s advocates have a fact-denying chip on their shoulder (which is hardly an advertisement for the university).

College is a major investment of time and resources, most families want to get the greatest possible return on their investment, and for most that means absent some special non-academic reason to choose one school over another, picking of two situationally similar schools the one that is consistently assessed as providing a stronger educational experience. That’s generally a large part of how comparisons are made on this site. Just because VA schools have a lot of aggressive advocates lurking on DCUM doesn’t mean you can gaslight OP, browbeat commenters who cite the relevant facts, and deny the reality that in some head to head comparisons, the VA school is simply outranked.

Uh, not bashing IU here whatsoever, but the Time future leaders list? JMU is actually on it, #98.

Personally, I think most of the rankings by nearly-defunct news magazines are kind of dumb and irrelevant, but fact-checking for the win.

yeah, and Indiana University is #27. Nice job with that one.

IU's "Leadership Score" on that Time list is 82; JMU's is 81. You'd have to squint pretty hard to see any difference there. (The ordinal rankings associated with that list are quite misleading given the scores Time uses to sort. The gap between #1 Harvard and #2 Stanford is literally ten times larger than the gap between #27 IU and #98 JMU.)

Was dumb to even mention the ranking, but saying JMU is #98 and IU is not even on the list was a foolish move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never even heard of IU until last week.

This is one of those things that says more about you than the school you've never heard of. Mileage varies in terms of how good or bad Indiana University is, but it is not in any way obscure. It's like saying, "I never even heard of 'pizza' until last week."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Student population at IU is 48K, JMU 22K. Of course IU is going to have more future leaders.

times leaders list is actually weighted for school size

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:.
Look IU is a fine school as is JMU - but I am not at all clear IU would be a “better choice” than JMU even if cheaper. The data actually suggests better overall outcomes at JMU. Sorry - whether a school ranks 78 or 124 is not super compelling.

No, what’s not ‘super compelling’ is the personal opinion of someone who tries to dismiss the findings of all the experts who analyze the quality of different college experiences, and instead tries to substitute one obscure undocumented data point (obscure not because outcomes don’t matter, but because most of the available data show stronger outcomes for IU, so presumably you’ve cherry picked one frail data point or one dubious data set to try to back up your dubious assertion).

JMU is a fine school. That though wasn’t the question (look at the title). By most metrics, IU offers a stronger educational experience. Eg, IU was recently ranked #27 on Time’s assessment of the top 100 US colleges and universities for turning out future leaders; JMU wasn’t on the list. That’s a pattern that gets repeated over and over again in all the reputable surveys of colleges and universities. You can say ‘I don’t care what all the experts say; I know people who really really like JMU’ but while both parts of that sentence are presumably correct, that’s not especially helpful, since one could easily say the same about IU, and just makes it sound like JMU’s advocates have a fact-denying chip on their shoulder (which is hardly an advertisement for the university).

College is a major investment of time and resources, most families want to get the greatest possible return on their investment, and for most that means absent some special non-academic reason to choose one school over another, picking of two situationally similar schools the one that is consistently assessed as providing a stronger educational experience. That’s generally a large part of how comparisons are made on this site. Just because VA schools have a lot of aggressive advocates lurking on DCUM doesn’t mean you can gaslight OP, browbeat commenters who cite the relevant facts, and deny the reality that in some head to head comparisons, the VA school is simply outranked.

Uh, not bashing IU here whatsoever, but the Time future leaders list? JMU is actually on it, #98.

Personally, I think most of the rankings by nearly-defunct news magazines are kind of dumb and irrelevant, but fact-checking for the win.

yeah, and Indiana University is #27. Nice job with that one.

IU's "Leadership Score" on that Time list is 82; JMU's is 81. You'd have to squint pretty hard to see any difference there. (The ordinal rankings associated with that list are quite misleading given the scores Time uses to sort. The gap between #1 Harvard and #2 Stanford is literally ten times larger than the gap between #27 IU and #98 JMU.)

Was dumb to even mention the ranking, but saying JMU is #98 and IU is not even on the list was a foolish move.

Can we all just agree that this entire list is stupid? Who cares which schools show up on the resumes of randomly selected "leaders"? It's basically an ad for a data-mining company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Student population at IU is 48K, JMU 22K. Of course IU is going to have more future leaders.

Hmmm...please explain why JMU doesn't have more leaders than Harvard (7200 undergrads) on your logic.