The Other Virginia Colleges: VCU, ODU, GMU, CNU, UMW . . . .
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Incoming students who "have close residency to campus (defined as Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Prince William and Loudon counties) with a a parent or legal guardian" are granted exemptions so no, there are lots of freshmen who commute and don't live on campus. |
Anonymous
6200 GMU students live on campus and 75% of all freshman do. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/gmu-3749#:~:text=The%20main%20campus%20houses%20more,one%20of%20the%20residence%20halls. |
Anonymous
No they are not granted auto exemptions -you must file for a waiver to the residency rules. It’s quite clear on gmu’s website |
Anonymous
Also GMU has 40,000 students including post grads. No way 40,000 students are commuting there. Have you seen the one lone garage ? DD didn’t eve. Try to have a car on campus. But the jitney busses to the other campuses and downtown DC worked fine. The only negative she experienced there was the nonstop construction of facilities and more forms. The positive was that all the technology (critical in the cybersecurity and game design, computer science majors) are state of the art snd her dorm room looked like a hotel complete with full private bath and galley kitchen |
Anonymous
Yes, but there's a big difference between ALL freshmen living on campus and 75% of freshmen living on campus, to the tune of more than 900 freshmen. And those exemptions are granted liberally. |
Anonymous
Most kids WANT to live on the campus. All the GMU locals that I know, save 1, has done so. |
Anonymous
Np...Are you arguing with PP about this for a specific reason? Your comments seem petty. PP seems to have a pretty good grasp of GMU life and is articulating it well, you seem to just be throwing random useless spitballs. 6200 students with roughly 3000 freshman living on campus is a sizeable number and comparable to many other schools. |
Anonymous
Ah, another silly woman who just has to split hairs over and over to try to feel better about herself. HOW MANY FRIENDS DOES YOUR KID NEED? There are over 6200 students at GMU living in 40 dorms (most of which are gorgeous). My DS lived in them for six years (special needs) and made friends from all over the world but certainly didn't need to meet all 6200 of them. Nor did he need to meet the 40,000 students who attend the five campuses. And before you say 6200 students can't give you a vibrant night life, GMU has a great night life. Jitney buses run into Old Fairfax. Concerts and event are held daily at the arena. Jitney buses go to D.C. regularly. It's a great school. Maybe you need to educate yourself about what is actually going on there: "George Mason University is an entrepreneurial Tier 1 research institution with global distinction in a range of academic fields. Located just outside of Washington, D.C., our beautiful 677-acre residential campus boasts a diverse student population. Over 6,200 students live on campus in over 40 residence halls. As the largest public research institution in Virginia, Mason enrolls more than 38,000 students in over 210 degree programs at the undergraduate, master's, doctoral, and professional levels. Students at all levels are routinely recognized with national and international scholarships and awards. Faculty members have received some of academia's highest honors, including twice winning the Nobel Prize in Economics. Our connection to the D.C. area results in engaged and dedicated faculty members who are at the top of their respective fields. This connectivity extends to our students, who take advantage of our unparalleled internship and research opportunities, and who secure careers at national and international companies and organizations, ranging from Amazon, Deloitte and Northrup Grumman to the Smithsonian Institution, the CIA, NASA and the White House. Many of our innovative degree programs are the first of their kind, including the first Ph.D. program in biodefense, the first D.C.-based undergraduate program in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, the first dedicated Cybersecurity Engineering program in the region, and one of the most innovative performing arts management programs in the United States. Mason is at the forefront of the emerging field of biotechnology, is a leader in the performing arts, and holds a preeminent position in the fields of economics, electronic journalism, and history." My kid had four internships in his field and a job from Microsoft before graduating. He also did a term at Mason Korea. And he has only $24K in student debt via FAFSA unsubsidized loans. That's it. He's already made that four times over in his job (in case you don't know, GMU has excellent outreach to all of the I-270 corridor businesses and the Dulles businesses. Chairs of the departments and advisors meet monthly with local companies to find out what their upcoming needs are and to place students. And here is the link requiring all freshmen to live on campus. https://housing.gmu.edu/apply/new-students. Sure, apply for the waiver and deprive your kid of dorm life. That's what you are arguing, are you not? You are arguing that 6200 students living on campus doesn't give a full campus experience, right? Then how does living at home with mom and dad give him a full campus experience? Because UVA and W&M can't grow (established early and now landlocked), the Commonwealth is pumping money into the other 30 great public institutions we have in Virginia. Go tour Mason. It's construction everywhere. Go to the Science and Technology campus - again see more construction for Cybersecurity, VSGI (Virginia Serious Games Institute) and Computer Science. Here's the wiki on that: Science and Technology Campus The Science and Technology campus opened on August 25, 1997, as the Prince William campus in Manassas, Virginia, on 134 acres (0.209 sq mi; 540,000 m2) of land, some still currently undeveloped.[74] More than 4,000 students are enrolled in classes in bioinformatics, biotechnology, information technology, and forensic biosciences educational and research programs.[75] There are undergraduate programs in health, fitness and recreation. There are graduate programs in exercise, fitness, health, geographic information systems, and facility management. Much of the research takes place in the high-security Biomedical Research Laboratory.[76] The 1,123-seat Merchant Hall and the 300-seat Verizon Auditorium in the Hylton Performing Arts Center opened in 2010.[77][78] The 110,000-square-foot Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center is operated by the Mason Enterprise Center.[79] The Mason Center for Team and Organizational Learning stylized as EDGE is an experiential education facility open to the public.[80] The Sports Medicine Assessment Research and Testing lab stylized as SMART Lab is located within the Freedom center. The SMART Lab is most known for its concussion research.[81] On April 23, 2015, the campus was renamed to the Science and Technology Campus.[82] In 2019, the university engaged in a feasibility study of creating a medical school at the Prince William Campus. The proposed medical school would be completed in 2022.[83][84] (the school has yet to be completed, but GMU has guaranteed pre-health programs leading into medical school with two other schools. https://prehealth.gmu.edu/pre-medicine/sophomore-entry-programs/). Then go read about Mason Korea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mason_University#/media/File:Songdo_Campus,_Mason_Korea..jpg Then read about Mason Arlington. and the list goes on. That's why the university is now a top Tier 1 research facility and has attracted over 40,000 students. |
Anonymous
I'm a different poster who provided those facts--I wasn't arguing, just providing numbers. Personally I think 75% of freshman is a pretty sizeable amount regardless of how many liberal exemptions that includes, and not typical of a purely "commuter college." And also 6200 students is a lot of people on campus, even if it's a relatively small percentage of the student body. Makes it more like a hybrid of different kinds of schools. I personally can't think of another school that's like it --R1, in a dense suburban location, largest school in the state, with 6000+ living on campus yet also a ton of commuters, serving some highly regarded PhD and other programs yet having a robust transfer and non-traditional undergraduate population too. It's definitely a "weird" school in the higher ed landscape--and it's changed dramatically in the past 10 or so years and will likely change further in the next 10. Conversely, I recently went back to my New England SLAC for a college visit with my HS kid and found it had hardly changed at all. |
Anonymous
| I was at the GMU Arlington campus 20 years ago working on my Masters in Public Policy. We were in the old law school building and they were finishing the new building then. I very rarely stepped foot onto the Fairfax campus. It was nice to be metro accessible. I even got to take a class at GW through the consortium one summer when GMU wasn't offering the class I needed. |
Anonymous
Think about that next time you go to the movies, play a video game, or use any type of digital media. Or I guess some of us "dumb" people just enjoy the visual and performing arts. Go figure. |
Anonymous
Someone here is overly defensive about their kid only getting into GMU. -- Signed, GMU grad. |
Anonymous
They are building even more new buildings on the Arlington campus--part of the deal with Amazon HQ--it's going to be a digital innovation center or something like that. The art gallery on the campus has been having really good art shows lately too--it will help Arlington re-build its arts scene after some gallery closings and then the pandemic. |
Anonymous
Gee, get defensive much? I was just pointing out for people who may not be that familiar with GMU that no, not ALL freshmen have to live on campus, and that a sizable chunk (25%) don't. I did NOT state or even imply that GMU is only a school for commuters or that there isn't a vibrant residential life for freshmen. That implication instead came from hyper-defensive GMU boosters who can't tolerate any perceived criticism of the school. And I find it rather silly for anyone to think it's "splitting hairs" to note there's a difference between 100% and 75%. Would it be "splitting hairs" to correct a teacher claiming that all of her/his students passed an exam when in fact a quarter of the class failed it? Of course not. I'm so done with this thread. Goodbye -- write another treatise if you want. |
Anonymous
|
I have a kid at GMU (commuting from home by choice) and the campus is like an impressive office park - I mean that in a good way. It's spacious, modern, full of amenities, walkable, plenty of things to do on campus and it's easy to get off campus. The president said at orientation that it "looks like the future" and I think that's a good description. (Yes, I know there are older buildings and some older dorms mixed in with the new.)
If you haven't been on campus for the last few years, it's time to check it out. Much, much different than the GMU I knew in the '90s and early aughts. |