JMU vs. Colby

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I am not from NYC or DC. I have never heard of Colby before reading this thread, but I knew about JMU because of sports and because one of the girls from Dance Moms, Kendall, attends JMU.

Posts like this don’t help JMU’s cause. Most reasonably educated people with college-age kids have heard of both schools, and usually for a non-sport, non-pop culture reason.

My kid has zero interest in Colby…but absolutely has heard of it…as well as Williams, Amherst, Trinity, Bowdoin, etc.

Kid also not super interested in JMU, but has heard of it as well as ODU and other Sun Belt conference schools.

It would seem OP is super-conflicted…hard to turn down Colby due to a strong alumni network and a pipeline into Wall Street and MBB consulting…but yeah it’s cold and isolating and you spend most of your college months with only 6-7 hours of daylight.

It seems at least OP really wishes the kid’s D1 offer was to a top 50 school, which is why she struggles to select JMU.

I bet the kid has a clear choice (probably JMU), but it is hard to officially hit that Decline button on Colby.

I guess what confuses me most is that typically a Colby would require you apply ED as an athletic recruit as the coach needs to build whatever team they can. Maybe they will take athletes through ED2.

If Colby mainlines to MBB why is their outcomes the same as JMU at three times the cost? www.payscale.com

Also nice try comparing ODU and JMU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is no contest, Colby by far. My DS went to JMU and it was like a glorified high school, where many professors couldn't care less about your kid's success. There is little help offered by the career center unless your DC majored in something marketable - computer science, nursing - in which case they don't need much help because the job market is good.

Colby is a very wealthy school that is invested in its graduates' success. My DD was recruited there and we visited - the campus is somewhat isolated but the school's infrastructure is very nice. Good dorms, food, and very active career center.

Please don't pick JMU over Colby, unless your kid is a hard-partying frat kid who has a post-college job lined up in his family's business in Roanoke.

Roanoke? More kids at JMU from NY and NJ than Roanoke.

As for outcomes no difference despite your squeals. So much for the “Wall Street Connections”:

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/School=J...ison_University_(JMU)/Salary

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/School=Colby_College/Salary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a crazy discussion.

OP, I'm an Ivy-adjacent grad who probably cares too much about reputation. When DC wanted to apply to Colby as ED1, I wondered about it because it wasn't really on my radar.

He enrolled, plays a D3 sport, knows his teachers well and loves the place. He recently showed me some emails from some of his professors who were commenting on his work, and I couldn't believe that they'd take the time to share this kind of specific feedback and encouragement. He regularly attends dinners with the profs in his major, and they worked their networks to get him an amazing internship. These are the kind of SLAC benefits that are missing from bigger universities.

The college's president has invested in amazing new facilities including a massive performing arts center that just opened. The endowment is soaring, and I admire their aspirations for greater diversity.

When we ask DC if he has any regrets about his choice, he does mention that he wishes that the school weren't quite so remote. But he plans to go to grad school in a bigger city and says that he'll remember this time in a quieter and closely knit community very fondly. For four years (minus a semester abroad), it has been just about perfect.

These last few years, I've also been schooled on just how well Colby is recognized and regarded. So, I didn't know about the college, but seemingly everyone else does in our circles -- and not just in the DMV.

We're so glad that DC applied to Colby. We would not have invested $320K in JMU.

JMU does not charge 320 like Colby to basically earn the same.

[Anonymous]

This is the most ridiculous thread I’ve seen on DCUM, and that’s saying something. A bunch of, equally pathetic, JMU and Colby boosters preaching to the masses. The fact is JMU is a very average school, way behind UVA, Tech, W&M and even VCU, Colby is an expensive Williams wannabe full of New England boarding school types. The comparison is apples to airplanes. A thoroughly pointless exercise.

[Anonymous]

The Colby boosters seem rather threatened by JMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside Virginia it's likely not too many people are more familiar with JMU than with Colby, if that's an actual criterion for selecting a school.

Colby is a so-called "potted Ivy"; that is, an academically well-rated and nationally known small liberal arts college. JMU is a large middle-of-the-road regional university. As you note, they are vastly different in character, reputation, academic rigor, location, size, and in many other dimensions.

It might be best to leave the sports aspect out of things unless your kid hopes to be a sports professional. Instead, look at which school will provide the best preparation for post-college life, whether that is employment in a particular field or graduate school.

More people outside this area will have heard of JMU over Colby.

For our family, we are steering our kids away from the small, middling liberal arts schools as many of them are not financially strong. It seems like once that happens, the schools start to make many questionable decisions, including eliminating entire departments. Plus coming from a larger northern Virginia high school, going to a university not much larger than the high schools in this area does not sound very appealing,.

One other thing to consider is cost.

What happens if yojr recruited athlete gets seriously injured or decides a year or two intk it that they cannot stomach continuing with their sport? I know of several recruited athletes who got to that point in college.

Would you still be able to afford Colby if she were to drop her sport and scholarship?

There are some valid points in here, but you lost the plot with the bolded, which in no way describes Colby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside Virginia it's likely not too many people are more familiar with JMU than with Colby, if that's an actual criterion for selecting a school.

Colby is a so-called "potted Ivy"; that is, an academically well-rated and nationally known small liberal arts college. JMU is a large middle-of-the-road regional university. As you note, they are vastly different in character, reputation, academic rigor, location, size, and in many other dimensions.

It might be best to leave the sports aspect out of things unless your kid hopes to be a sports professional. Instead, look at which school will provide the best preparation for post-college life, whether that is employment in a particular field or graduate school.

More people outside this area will have heard of JMU over Colby.

For our family, we are steering our kids away from the small, middling liberal arts schools as many of them are not financially strong. It seems like once that happens, the schools start to make many questionable decisions, including eliminating entire departments. Plus coming from a larger northern Virginia high school, going to a university not much larger than the high schools in this area does not sound very appealing,.

One other thing to consider is cost.

What happens if yojr recruited athlete gets seriously injured or decides a year or two intk it that they cannot stomach continuing with their sport? I know of several recruited athletes who got to that point in college.

Would you still be able to afford Colby if she were to drop her sport and scholarship?

There are some valid points in here, but you lost the plot with the bolded, which in no way describes Colby.

I'm the PP: Correction - Colby is small.

[Anonymous]

I do note, that well known hirer of mediocrity - Goldman Sachs, took 10 kids from Colby’s class of 2021. Pretty average stuff..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I am not from NYC or DC. I have never heard of Colby before reading this thread, but I knew about JMU because of sports and because one of the girls from Dance Moms, Kendall, attends JMU.

Posts like this don’t help JMU’s cause. Most reasonably educated people with college-age kids have heard of both schools, and usually for a non-sport, non-pop culture reason.

My kid has zero interest in Colby…but absolutely has heard of it…as well as Williams, Amherst, Trinity, Bowdoin, etc.

Kid also not super interested in JMU, but has heard of it as well as ODU and other Sun Belt conference schools.

It would seem OP is super-conflicted…hard to turn down Colby due to a strong alumni network and a pipeline into Wall Street and MBB consulting…but yeah it’s cold and isolating and you spend most of your college months with only 6-7 hours of daylight.

It seems at least OP really wishes the kid’s D1 offer was to a top 50 school, which is why she struggles to select JMU.

I bet the kid has a clear choice (probably JMU), but it is hard to officially hit that Decline button on Colby.

I guess what confuses me most is that typically a Colby would require you apply ED as an athletic recruit as the coach needs to build whatever team they can. Maybe they will take athletes through ED2.

Poster tries to Compare Colby to Amherst while denigrating JMU with ODU 🤣🤣🤣🍆

I was listing schools by their athletic conferences. Colby is in the NESCAC and JMU is in the Sunbelt.

Unfortunately for you, the Sunbelt conference is not filled with academic powerhouses. It is schools like ODU, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do note, that well known hirer of mediocrity - Goldman Sachs, took 10 kids from Colby’s class of 2021. Pretty average stuff..

You don’t get it. Not everyone cares about chasing the 1%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I am not from NYC or DC. I have never heard of Colby before reading this thread, but I knew about JMU because of sports and because one of the girls from Dance Moms, Kendall, attends JMU.

Posts like this don’t help JMU’s cause. Most reasonably educated people with college-age kids have heard of both schools, and usually for a non-sport, non-pop culture reason.

My kid has zero interest in Colby…but absolutely has heard of it…as well as Williams, Amherst, Trinity, Bowdoin, etc.

Kid also not super interested in JMU, but has heard of it as well as ODU and other Sun Belt conference schools.

It would seem OP is super-conflicted…hard to turn down Colby due to a strong alumni network and a pipeline into Wall Street and MBB consulting…but yeah it’s cold and isolating and you spend most of your college months with only 6-7 hours of daylight.

It seems at least OP really wishes the kid’s D1 offer was to a top 50 school, which is why she struggles to select JMU.

I bet the kid has a clear choice (probably JMU), but it is hard to officially hit that Decline button on Colby.

I guess what confuses me most is that typically a Colby would require you apply ED as an athletic recruit as the coach needs to build whatever team they can. Maybe they will take athletes through ED2.

Poster tries to Compare Colby to Amherst while denigrating JMU with ODU 🤣🤣🤣🍆

I was listing schools by their athletic conferences. Colby is in the NESCAC and JMU is in the Sunbelt.

Unfortunately for you, the Sunbelt conference is not filled with academic powerhouses. It is schools like ODU, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, etc.

DP- The Sunbelt is a lot of fun. Unfortunately for you, snobs don’t fit in well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I am not from NYC or DC. I have never heard of Colby before reading this thread, but I knew about JMU because of sports and because one of the girls from Dance Moms, Kendall, attends JMU.

Posts like this don’t help JMU’s cause. Most reasonably educated people with college-age kids have heard of both schools, and usually for a non-sport, non-pop culture reason.

My kid has zero interest in Colby…but absolutely has heard of it…as well as Williams, Amherst, Trinity, Bowdoin, etc.

Kid also not super interested in JMU, but has heard of it as well as ODU and other Sun Belt conference schools.

It would seem OP is super-conflicted…hard to turn down Colby due to a strong alumni network and a pipeline into Wall Street and MBB consulting…but yeah it’s cold and isolating and you spend most of your college months with only 6-7 hours of daylight.

It seems at least OP really wishes the kid’s D1 offer was to a top 50 school, which is why she struggles to select JMU.

I bet the kid has a clear choice (probably JMU), but it is hard to officially hit that Decline button on Colby.

I guess what confuses me most is that typically a Colby would require you apply ED as an athletic recruit as the coach needs to build whatever team they can. Maybe they will take athletes through ED2.

Poster tries to Compare Colby to Amherst while denigrating JMU with ODU 🤣🤣🤣🍆

I was listing schools by their athletic conferences. Colby is in the NESCAC and JMU is in the Sunbelt.

Unfortunately for you, the Sunbelt conference is not filled with academic powerhouses. It is schools like ODU, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, etc.

DP- The Sunbelt is a lot of fun. Unfortunately for you, snobs don’t fit in well.

Great...but then why is everybody so offended tha JMU and ODU are in the same sentence. Seems like there is definitely some snobbery amongst the Sunbelt schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I am not from NYC or DC. I have never heard of Colby before reading this thread, but I knew about JMU because of sports and because one of the girls from Dance Moms, Kendall, attends JMU.

Posts like this don’t help JMU’s cause. Most reasonably educated people with college-age kids have heard of both schools, and usually for a non-sport, non-pop culture reason.

My kid has zero interest in Colby…but absolutely has heard of it…as well as Williams, Amherst, Trinity, Bowdoin, etc.

Kid also not super interested in JMU, but has heard of it as well as ODU and other Sun Belt conference schools.

It would seem OP is super-conflicted…hard to turn down Colby due to a strong alumni network and a pipeline into Wall Street and MBB consulting…but yeah it’s cold and isolating and you spend most of your college months with only 6-7 hours of daylight.

It seems at least OP really wishes the kid’s D1 offer was to a top 50 school, which is why she struggles to select JMU.

I bet the kid has a clear choice (probably JMU), but it is hard to officially hit that Decline button on Colby.

I guess what confuses me most is that typically a Colby would require you apply ED as an athletic recruit as the coach needs to build whatever team they can. Maybe they will take athletes through ED2.

Poster tries to Compare Colby to Amherst while denigrating JMU with ODU 🤣🤣🤣🍆

I was listing schools by their athletic conferences. Colby is in the NESCAC and JMU is in the Sunbelt.

Unfortunately for you, the Sunbelt conference is not filled with academic powerhouses. It is schools like ODU, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, etc.

DP- The Sunbelt is a lot of fun. Unfortunately for you, snobs don’t fit in well.

Snobs = people who care about academics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the most ridiculous thread I’ve seen on DCUM, and that’s saying something. A bunch of, equally pathetic, JMU and Colby boosters preaching to the masses. The fact is JMU is a very average school, way behind UVA, Tech, W&M and even VCU, Colby is an expensive Williams wannabe full of New England boarding school types. The comparison is apples to airplanes. A thoroughly pointless exercise.

JMU ranks higher than VCU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I am not from NYC or DC. I have never heard of Colby before reading this thread, but I knew about JMU because of sports and because one of the girls from Dance Moms, Kendall, attends JMU.

Posts like this don’t help JMU’s cause. Most reasonably educated people with college-age kids have heard of both schools, and usually for a non-sport, non-pop culture reason.

My kid has zero interest in Colby…but absolutely has heard of it…as well as Williams, Amherst, Trinity, Bowdoin, etc.

Kid also not super interested in JMU, but has heard of it as well as ODU and other Sun Belt conference schools.

It would seem OP is super-conflicted…hard to turn down Colby due to a strong alumni network and a pipeline into Wall Street and MBB consulting…but yeah it’s cold and isolating and you spend most of your college months with only 6-7 hours of daylight.

It seems at least OP really wishes the kid’s D1 offer was to a top 50 school, which is why she struggles to select JMU.

I bet the kid has a clear choice (probably JMU), but it is hard to officially hit that Decline button on Colby.

I guess what confuses me most is that typically a Colby would require you apply ED as an athletic recruit as the coach needs to build whatever team they can. Maybe they will take athletes through ED2.

Poster tries to Compare Colby to Amherst while denigrating JMU with ODU 🤣🤣🤣🍆

I was listing schools by their athletic conferences. Colby is in the NESCAC and JMU is in the Sunbelt.

Unfortunately for you, the Sunbelt conference is not filled with academic powerhouses. It is schools like ODU, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, etc.

DP- The Sunbelt is a lot of fun. Unfortunately for you, snobs don’t fit in well.

Snobs = people who care about academics

Snobs = people who feel insecure when a kid considers JMU over Colby