George Mason University OOS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GMU stopped being a commuter campus in 2010/2011 when the Carnegie foundation reclassified it as primarily residential. My DD lived there all four years on campus and loved her time there. she also got superlative internships in her field and had a concrete well-paying job offer in her field before graduation. FWIW she lived with many OOS and international students. Go and visit

I googled it recently and I thought that only 25% live on campus. Is this out-dated info?

It's only 31%at JMU. I think the difference is that almost all of the 69% loves off campus, whereas a decent share of the 75% for GMU live at home with parents.

OP here and I just learned that 85-90% of BFA dancers are OOS (including 10% international). Those kids aren't living with their parents. The dance program is incredible and very selective. It sounds pretty hard to double major, though not impossible depending on the major and how many AP credits a student can use. So far, it's a top choice!

The dance community there is very strong. If the academic interest she has is connected to the Smithsonian is it environmental science/conservation? If so, that's an amazing program too, but they have a location in Front Royal, VA (in a lovely natural area near one of the entry points to the Appalachian Trail) which is about 1 hour west of campus. I'm not sure how much of the course work would be there, but you might want to ask into the logistics. The dance program is time-intensive so if she also had to regularly make it out there it might be challenging. GMU runs shuttles all the time though between their various campus spots so transportation probably would be covered.

If it's the Smithsonian Conservation program, students usually stay there for an entire semester or take "short courses" (one- to two- week intensives) during winter or summer break.

Getting a BFA and a BS or BA is actually getting two degrees, not double majoring. Double majoring only works when both programs are the same degree type (at least at GMU).

Good to know about the terminology, thanks. Yes I guess I’m talking about two majors. A BFA in dance and a BA in conservation/sustainability. The BS would be too hard to coordinate labs and DD’s interest is more policy than research anyway. But hanging out with black footed ferrets is pretty compelling. The BA might work if there’s flexibility. DH is adamant she add a second degree if she wants to dance in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GMU is often overlooked by locals but it's a great school with an impressive campus.

The majority of students at GMU are locals!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just had a conversation last week with someone who was a serious dancer in high school, like I was. Both of us pretty much agreed that majoring in dance in college is a huge disservice to the student. If you aren't picked up by a company by 18/19, it is over.
If you like to dance, then continue taking classes at a local school. To blow 4 years of tuition and young adulthood on that is very sad. I was roommates with someone who did dance in college and she mightily regretted that all she could do for a living wage was temp work. Then there were the dance friends of the woman who runs the dance dept. at U. Of FL who complained that all anybody appreciated of them was baking ability / babysitting / admin work.
Sorry, the idea that a dance major will be good at teaching dance isnt true. The best teachers had years of professional stage life. The college trained teachers would do the same exercise routines over and over again.
Do your kid favor and encourage endeavors that will actually feel productive for them.

Would you say the same to an athlete getting a scholarship to play a sport? As a professional dancer who has always balanced artistic and administrative work, I can say from experience that there are many ways to build an artistic life. I’m sorry you saw no way to do that yourself, but it sounds like OP’s kid has a different vision. The kid is planning to get two degrees. Awesome. But even if she wanted to do nothing but dance, that’s fine too. Mason’s dance program is amazing and she would be exposed to way more opportunities to grow as an artist than she would by joining a single company. And not all dance majors want to teach. I performed for 20 years without teaching. Every serious young dancer I know is great at managing their time and juggling academics and dance. I see no reason why OP’s daughter can’t make this work. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DP -- I'm curious how much "merit" aid GMU tends to give to OOS students?

Are they stingy? Or are they pretty liberal in reducing the price to something like in state tuition costs?

I have a friend from OOS whose son may be interested... but not at full-price for OOS.

DS got 18k/year for OOS. 4.1 weighted/TO - 9 AP/IB/DE courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just had a conversation last week with someone who was a serious dancer in high school, like I was. Both of us pretty much agreed that majoring in dance in college is a huge disservice to the student. If you aren't picked up by a company by 18/19, it is over.
If you like to dance, then continue taking classes at a local school. To blow 4 years of tuition and young adulthood on that is very sad. I was roommates with someone who did dance in college and she mightily regretted that all she could do for a living wage was temp work. Then there were the dance friends of the woman who runs the dance dept. at U. Of FL who complained that all anybody appreciated of them was baking ability / babysitting / admin work.
Sorry, the idea that a dance major will be good at teaching dance isnt true. The best teachers had years of professional stage life. The college trained teachers would do the same exercise routines over and over again.
Do your kid favor and encourage endeavors that will actually feel productive for them.

Would you say the same to an athlete getting a scholarship to play a sport? As a professional dancer who has always balanced artistic and administrative work, I can say from experience that there are many ways to build an artistic life. I’m sorry you saw no way to do that yourself, but it sounds like OP’s kid has a different vision. The kid is planning to get two degrees. Awesome. But even if she wanted to do nothing but dance, that’s fine too. Mason’s dance program is amazing and she would be exposed to way more opportunities to grow as an artist than she would by joining a single company. And not all dance majors want to teach. I performed for 20 years without teaching. Every serious young dancer I know is great at managing their time and juggling academics and dance. I see no reason why OP’s daughter can’t make this work. Good luck!

I agree that the PP has a very limited vision of the opportunities. Sure it's not the same as getting a pre-professional major that sets you up for a clear trajectory, but people make it work and do far more than babysitting and temp work. That said, it's important to have some realism about it. I would look to graduates of GMU program and get insight on the range of things they have done and try to set herself up for paths that look most promising to her. Dancers are often highly disciplined, socially skilled (it takes a lot of social awareness to respond to partners/align yourself in choreography and communicate non verbally to an audience), and have body language that communicates confidence and poise--even if they decide not to pursue dance as their primary profession, these qualities are valued in a wide range of work environments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GMU stopped being a commuter campus in 2010/2011 when the Carnegie foundation reclassified it as primarily residential. My DD lived there all four years on campus and loved her time there. she also got superlative internships in her field and had a concrete well-paying job offer in her field before graduation. FWIW she lived with many OOS and international students. Go and visit

I googled it recently and I thought that only 25% live on campus. Is this out-dated info?

Oh, wow - I had no idea it was that high -you are correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GMU is often overlooked by locals but it's a great school with an impressive campus.

The majority of students at GMU are locals!

This is actually true.

[Anonymous]

My niece graduated from the dance program two years ago. She was OOS. Lives on campus all four years. Had a great experience. But based on what she said it seems like the dance program was almost a school within the school (which isn't necessarily bad thing).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My niece graduated from the dance program two years ago. She was OOS. Lives on campus all four years. Had a great experience. But based on what she said it seems like the dance program was almost a school within the school (which isn't necessarily bad thing).

I think that's true of many majors at a big school like Mason and especially true of a major that has an intensive component outside of classes like dance. If you want connections across the university it's not hard to develop them, but you will have the strongest community within your program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GMU stopped being a commuter campus in 2010/2011 when the Carnegie foundation reclassified it as primarily residential. My DD lived there all four years on campus and loved her time there. she also got superlative internships in her field and had a concrete well-paying job offer in her field before graduation. FWIW she lived with many OOS and international students. Go and visit

I googled it recently and I thought that only 25% live on campus. Is this out-dated info?

It's only 31%at JMU. I think the difference is that almost all of the 69% loves off campus, whereas a decent share of the 75% for GMU live at home with parents.

Not sure all the 75% live at home. There are lots of student buildings and townhomes in the area. They college kids I know all live with roommates not back at home.
My friend's son lives off-campus, does visit home more often since it's less than 15min. away though.

At UVA only 38% live on campus and lots of kids also go home often to visit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My niece graduated from the dance program two years ago. She was OOS. Lives on campus all four years. Had a great experience. But based on what she said it seems like the dance program was almost a school within the school (which isn't necessarily bad thing).

I think its a great thing! You have an instant community of friends from even before you step on campus. To this day I think my kids were successful at their college choices because they had that instant community of friends.

[Anonymous]

OP- one of my kids went to GMU from OOS to play a sport and loved it. We had lived in the area previously and were skeptical that it was still a commuter school. Our child had a tight knit group of friends all four years (from the sports team) and a wonderful academic experience. I always heard about parties near campus, and they loved going into Clarendon and DC to the bars on the metro. Not every weekend but a lot. Lived on campus freshman year and off campus the other three years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- one of my kids went to GMU from OOS to play a sport and loved it. We had lived in the area previously and were skeptical that it was still a commuter school. Our child had a tight knit group of friends all four years (from the sports team) and a wonderful academic experience. I always heard about parties near campus, and they loved going into Clarendon and DC to the bars on the metro. Not every weekend but a lot. Lived on campus freshman year and off campus the other three years.

This sounds terrific!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My niece graduated from the dance program two years ago. She was OOS. Lives on campus all four years. Had a great experience. But based on what she said it seems like the dance program was almost a school within the school (which isn't necessarily bad thing).

I think its a great thing! You have an instant community of friends from even before you step on campus. To this day I think my kids were successful at their college choices because they had that instant community of friends.

That really sounds ideal. Did your niece feel that living with dancers 24/7 was limiting socially? DD would like to date a boy or two. Did your niece pursue other academic interests while at GMU?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My niece graduated from the dance program two years ago. She was OOS. Lives on campus all four years. Had a great experience. But based on what she said it seems like the dance program was almost a school within the school (which isn't necessarily bad thing).

I think its a great thing! You have an instant community of friends from even before you step on campus. To this day I think my kids were successful at their college choices because they had that instant community of friends.

That really sounds ideal. Did your niece feel that living with dancers 24/7 was limiting socially? DD would like to date a boy or two. Did your niece pursue other academic interests while at GMU?

She didn't feel like she was limited socially. She was an RA and joined a sorority and did some other things I don't immediately recall. I know her social circle was not limited to dancers.