10 best colleges in VA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is very prestigious.

Can public schools even be considered prestigious?

Do you consider Berkeley prestigious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The top 3 are no brainers. After that there is lots to argue about.

Is W&L really viewed that favorably?

Maybe by some people. I saw 75% Greek and told my sons no way.

[Anonymous]

Useless ranking, as it seems based mainly on the alumni wage. Just tells you where the rich kids went.

[Anonymous]

According to USNews National Ranking, the ranking of the national universities are following:

UVA
WM
VT
GMU
JMU
VCU

It’s difficult to compare these schools with LACs and regional schools, but I would say:

1. WL
2. UVA
3. WM

4. Richmond
5. VT

6. GMU
7. JMU
8. CNU
9. VCU
10. UMW

1-3 are a top tier, 4-5 are very strong, 6-10 are solid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Useless ranking, as it seems based mainly on the alumni wage. Just tells you where the rich kids went.

It may be more influenced by the majors (e.g. engineering) the school offers. A more useful comparison is \ major to major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sad to see W&M so definitively behind UVA today. Once upon a time it was often considered better and went toe-to-toe, but today it is wholeheartedly second-place.

That is probably mostly a factor of how USNWR does rankings. There are two categories, National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges, and W&M is more or less in between in that it has with medical school or system and limited graduate programs, but it larger and does significantly more research than LACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to USNews National Ranking, the ranking of the national universities are following:

UVA
WM
VT
GMU
JMU
VCU

It’s difficult to compare these schools with LACs and regional schools, but I would say:

1. WL
2. UVA
3. WM

4. Richmond
5. VT

6. GMU
7. JMU
8. CNU
9. VCU
10. UMW

1-3 are a top tier, 4-5 are very strong, 6-10 are solid.

I'd flip #1 and #2 on your list, but pretty much spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to USNews National Ranking, the ranking of the national universities are following:

UVA
WM
VT
GMU
JMU
VCU

It’s difficult to compare these schools with LACs and regional schools, but I would say:

1. WL
2. UVA
3. WM

4. Richmond
5. VT

6. GMU
7. JMU
8. CNU
9. VCU
10. UMW

1-3 are a top tier, 4-5 are very strong, 6-10 are solid.

I'd flip #1 and #2 on your list, but pretty much spot on.

UVA is the best large university (although not huge), W&M is the best midsize (more residential and undergraduate focused), and W&L the best small (LAC). They are all top tier in my opinion. In addition, VT is up there in engineering and VCU actually is in art fields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to USNews National Ranking, the ranking of the national universities are following:

UVA
WM
VT
GMU
JMU
VCU

It’s difficult to compare these schools with LACs and regional schools, but I would say:

1. WL
2. UVA
3. WM

4. Richmond
5. VT

6. GMU
7. JMU
8. CNU
9. VCU
10. UMW

1-3 are a top tier, 4-5 are very strong, 6-10 are solid.

I'd flip #1 and #2 on your list, but pretty much spot on.

UVA is the best large university (although not huge), W&M is the best midsize (more residential and undergraduate focused), and W&L the best small (LAC). They are all top tier in my opinion. In addition, VT is up there in engineering and VCU actually is in art fields.

+1

Agreed on the top tier and the respective classifications.

Yes, VCU does have a nationally recognized Art program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to USNews National Ranking, the ranking of the national universities are following:

UVA
WM
VT
GMU
JMU
VCU

It’s difficult to compare these schools with LACs and regional schools, but I would say:

1. WL
2. UVA
3. WM

4. Richmond
5. VT

6. GMU
7. JMU
8. CNU
9. VCU
10. UMW

1-3 are a top tier, 4-5 are very strong, 6-10 are solid.

I'd flip #1 and #2 on your list, but pretty much spot on.

UVA is the best large university (although not huge), W&M is the best midsize (more residential and undergraduate focused), and W&L the best small (LAC). They are all top tier in my opinion. In addition, VT is up there in engineering and VCU actually is in art fields.

+1

Agreed on the top tier and the respective classifications.

Yes, VCU does have a nationally recognized Art program

Agreed and add VCU for health sciences. Their direct-admit med school program especially is super selective.

[Anonymous]

How many of you heard of College Magazine before?
*crickets*

[Anonymous]

US news confirms that GMU is better than JMU

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/va?schoolType=national-universities&_sort=rank&_sortDirection=asc

[Anonymous]

We have been thinking about UMBC as an alternative to GMU for instate VA students. Not knowing much about UMBC, it seemed to have a decent computer science program, with a smaller campus than GMU (which is a plus). So, we put UMBC on our list to consider.

Lo and behold....

GMU and UMBC are TIED! I guess they are suitable alternatives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d move JMU way up the list. [/quote]


No, USNWR today has GMU at 137 and JMU at 151. That's a big difference.

[Anonymous]

USNWR has GMU among 8 schools tied for #64 among public universities and JMU among 11 schools tied for #72 among public universities. Not sure this is a huge difference.

My DC only applied to these 2 VA schools and JMU was the much better choice for his major (he is there to learn from a specific music professor). I think it's impressive that VA has so many solid public options.