Why Pick JMU if GMU is Ranked Higher and Easier to Get Into?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Football and a hard drinking culture.

My son goes to JMU and does neither of these activities.

+1
Clearly, some ignorant posters here who know nothing about the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two totally differnt vibes plus most kids do not want to go to a commuter school.

you must be very old. it was reclassified by the Carnegie Foundation as a primarily residential university at least 15 years ago.

[Anonymous]

OP - you are comparing apples and oranges. Here are sone reasons why you can't compare as you do. First of all ... most Virginia students self-select into one school or the other based on programs offered and with the help of the VA public high school counselor whose job it is to direct students to the best-suited public college or university in the Commonwealth. Most students don't apply to both or, if they do, they have a strong preference of one over the other. Size: GMU almost double the size of JMU at 41,000 students and has a much larger grad student population. GMU is now the largest R1 university in the state. Is your kid interested in research or grad school? Hence, its not surprising that GMU received 10,000 more applications than JMU did last year. It's huge now with six campuses. The acceptance rates are close: GMU at 89% to 90% and JMU at 81% (both are dubbed "slightly selective"). The best programs at the schools differ.

The legislature pumps money into certain prograns at certain state schools to bolster certain programs: hence computer science, computer game design. engineering, econ and cyber security are particularly strong at GMU (hence a lot of kids will apply to GMU and not to JMU (like my kids)) and vice versa. What does your child want to study? Look at the school's strengths. Read the wikis on both to get a feeling and read up on the programs that your kid is interested in in College Confidential and Reddit. Does your kid want an internship in a large company on Dulles Access toad or I-270? (that's exactly what mine wanted and did and was hired before graduation). Do they want football? then JMU. Political internship in DC? Then GMU (GMU has five campuses now; one in Arlington -jitney busses run between them). Are they interested in JMU's pre-med program? Do they want to study cyber-security in Seoul, Korea? Then GMU, etc. Same with Virginia Tech, although you didn't mention it. VT has some programs no other Va University has.

[Anonymous]

Because JMU is a better school than GMU for certain majors including liberal arts, education, and possibly business.

GMU is ranked higher because its STEM departments are stronger than JMU’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two totally differnt vibes plus most kids do not want to go to a commuter school.

you must be very old. it was reclassified by the Carnegie Foundation as a primarily residential university at least 15 years ago.

I have a child a JMU. He never even thought of GMU. He went to Robinson Secondary. He is very happy and successful in school.

[Anonymous]

🙄🙄🙄

OP it’s because rankings of a university as a whole are meaningless. GMU may be stronger in some areas, and JMU may be stronger in some areas. They offer different things to different students. They aren’t really in direct competition with each other. Some of us pick colleges based on what our kid wants to do/study, student experience (most live on campus all 4 years), geography relative to home (not too close but within a day’s drive), how heavy the Greek influence is (if any), a balanced gender ratio, a cohort that is academically comparable to what DC wants (likely a pre professional vibe, not life of the mind types, even tho that would be my own preference). Notice how at no point did rankings enter the picture. Going to the most prestigious (based on rankings) solely or primarily for that reason is pretty dumb. It’s like buying a 2 seater Porsche for a family of 5. Sure, it might be “better”, but it’s not what you need and won’t help you get where you want to go.

[Anonymous]

My kids never considered GMU. They wanted a real college experience.

[Anonymous]

Amazingly, some people prioritize their kid’s needs and wants over what rankings say. Give me a happy kid getting good grades at JMU over a miserable one at GMU (if JMU was the place my kid wanted to be).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GMU does have a lot going for it, but the "college experience" is honestly not one of them. For a kid who would like the traditional college experience of moving away from home, more social activities, more rah-rah school spirit, football games, frats and sororities, an older or more historic campus, a college town, etc., JMU has all that. GMU was founded in 1957 and for a very long time was considered to be a "commuter school." They've come a long way since then but the commuter school vibe is still there. A lot of students are NoVA locals and go home on the weekends, or commute daily.

For you UVA-haters/boosters

In 1957, Mason was started as a branch campus of the University of Virginia. The school consisted of a single building and 17 students. Fifteen years later, on April 7, 1972, then-Governor A. Linwood Holton signed legislation to separate George Mason College from the University of Virginia.

https://www.gmu.edu/about/legacy/history#:~:text=In%201957%2C%20Mason%20was%20started,from%20the%20University%20of%20Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two totally differnt vibes plus most kids do not want to go to a commuter school.

+1 THIS.

[Anonymous]

The schools are very different sizes as well. Plus with the urban environment like any urban school there is less cohesion

[Anonymous]

To get out of the DMV bubble and experience something new. NOVA is dull, and boring, and a rat race. There's something to be said for doing college outside of the place, just for the experience. You'll have the rest of your life to sit in 2-hour traffic jams and be a stressed-out wage slave for some employer. Take the opportunity to see something else before you do. It will make you a more well-rounded person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The schools are very different sizes as well. Plus with the urban environment like any urban school there is less cohesion

GMU is not an “urban school.”

But insofar as you are using euphemistic language to say that families choose JMU over GMU because their first priority is attending a white school, that is the correct answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The schools are very different sizes as well. Plus with the urban environment like any urban school there is less cohesion

LOL okay. /s.

[Anonymous]

Because you do not need stellar grades to get into JMU. Kids can check the box for getting the traditional college experience and the parents are relieved.