Medium to Large School - easy admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How easy?

In VA, VCU or GMU
In MD, Towson or UMBC

But these aren't 'open admissions' level of easy, just not as competitive as some other state options.

True, but OP needs to know that the 75th percentile at GMU last fall had a 4.0 and a 30 ACT. It's not as easy to get in to as some on DCUM think. And it's the largest research university in the Commonwealth, so actually HUGE. https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

Yes, I didn't know how to interpret their question-- whether it was somewhere between medium and large, or just bigger than 8k. GMU has 27k undergraduates so a lot of its size comes from grad students. But, yes, it's very big.

And while there are a lot of strong students at GMU-hence the high 75th percentile, it has a high acceptance rate--86%. So you might be one of the weaker students in the school, but you can often still get in with a lower academic level.

You must be looking at old stats. GMU’s acceptance rate for 2022 was 77 percent. But what you don’t know is that all VA university acceptance rates are high because students self select to apply to certain schools at the direction of their public high school counselors, whose job it is to show the student and parents the SCHEV scores and Naviance for their particular high schools. Students who aren’t UVA candidates are steered to those schools that are a better match = higher chance of getting in. Even UVA and W&M’s acceptance scores are “ high” when compared to other privates attracting the same caliber of student. Always remember the high school counselor is a publicly available paid employee. Their credibility is on the line if they don’t do a good job of matching students to universities. And with SCHEV that matching is easily achieved

This poster shows up on every thread about VA state colleges and says the same thing without backing any of it up. I do think a 3.2 GPA is low for GMU though. I'd look closely at VCU. It's a great school and admissions standards are lower.

Can you or anyone here say more about VCU? I feel like it’s rarely mentioned in this forum.

Sure. One of my kids graduated from VCU not too long ago. She had a rough time getting through high school and ended up with truly terrible grades (nowhere near a 3.2) but had a very high SAT score. Her sisters had gone to UVA but that was never in the cards for her and it would have been an awful fit anyway.

She loved VCU. It's a large, urban, truly diverse school in a funky part of Richmond that offers pretty much any major or course of study that a kid could be interested in. Its real strength is the fine arts, where it's known as one of the best schools in the country, but none of my kid's friends went that route -- not that I could tell you any of their majors.

One of my daughter's best friends at VCU was a UVA transfer who was too "artsy" for UVA. My UVA daughter also had a good friend transfer from there to VCU for similar reasons. They kept in touch and the kid was much happier at VCU.

They have a good basketball team that the kids like to root for, but it's not a sports-centric school generally. It also has a greek system for those interested, but it's only a minor part of the school's social life.

I'd strongly recommend giving VCU a close look. It has a lot to offer and in my opinion is grossly underrated. I'd place it third in the Commonwealth after UVA and W&M, and admissions are far easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:U of Delaware

About half of out of state students are admitted. When I attended the out of state students had pretty strong credentials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:U of Delaware

About half of out of state students are admitted. When I attended the out of state students had pretty strong credentials.

Very expensive for out of state.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t seen College of Charleston mentioned yet. It hits most of your targets, just a bit further for driving but still doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How easy?

In VA, VCU or GMU
In MD, Towson or UMBC

But these aren't 'open admissions' level of easy, just not as competitive as some other state options.

True, but OP needs to know that the 75th percentile at GMU last fall had a 4.0 and a 30 ACT. It's not as easy to get in to as some on DCUM think. And it's the largest research university in the Commonwealth, so actually HUGE. https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

Yes, I didn't know how to interpret their question-- whether it was somewhere between medium and large, or just bigger than 8k. GMU has 27k undergraduates so a lot of its size comes from grad students. But, yes, it's very big.

And while there are a lot of strong students at GMU-hence the high 75th percentile, it has a high acceptance rate--86%. So you might be one of the weaker students in the school, but you can often still get in with a lower academic level.

You must be looking at old stats. GMU’s acceptance rate for 2022 was 77 percent. But what you don’t know is that all VA university acceptance rates are high because students self select to apply to certain schools at the direction of their public high school counselors, whose job it is to show the student and parents the SCHEV scores and Naviance for their particular high schools. Students who aren’t UVA candidates are steered to those schools that are a better match = higher chance of getting in. Even UVA and W&M’s acceptance scores are “ high” when compared to other privates attracting the same caliber of student. Always remember the high school counselor is a publicly available paid employee. Their credibility is on the line if they don’t do a good job of matching students to universities. And with SCHEV that matching is easily achieved

This poster shows up on every thread about VA state colleges and says the same thing without backing any of it up. I do think a 3.2 GPA is low for GMU though. I'd look closely at VCU. It's a great school and admissions standards are lower.

Can you or anyone here say more about VCU? I feel like it’s rarely mentioned in this forum.

Fun, big school for people who want a more urban campus. Top notch for art and medicine, fine for everything else.

They have engineering too and I'd say are a good alternative after VT and GMU.

[Anonymous]

Dc goes to vcu. Kid is very low key, not a big party person, and has found vcu an easy place to be. Only thing noticed, is that it is extremely diverse, but not a lot of cross over between the groups, which was a little disappointing to my kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How easy?

In VA, VCU or GMU
In MD, Towson or UMBC

But these aren't 'open admissions' level of easy, just not as competitive as some other state options.

True, but OP needs to know that the 75th percentile at GMU last fall had a 4.0 and a 30 ACT. It's not as easy to get in to as some on DCUM think. And it's the largest research university in the Commonwealth, so actually HUGE. https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

Yes, I didn't know how to interpret their question-- whether it was somewhere between medium and large, or just bigger than 8k. GMU has 27k undergraduates so a lot of its size comes from grad students. But, yes, it's very big.

Who is the poster who obsessed over the SCHEV 75th percentile all the time? That means that THREE QUARTERS of entering students have lower numbers.

Because if you are applying from Nova and not a URM or First Generation that’s where you need to aim. The rest is for legacies (yes GMU has them); And band stars (scholarships if willing to play in pep band); athletes, especially basketball; OOS and international for diversity; Korean students to encourage a flow of students to and from Mason Korea; first generation; URM; financially needy students and the brilliant kids going for the lucrative cybersecurity major.

Yes, I've heard this same tired refrain from you as well, the data says it's not true, and you have nothing to back up your opinion. The overwhelming majority of GMU in state undergrads are from NOVA, with almost 10,000 of them from Fairfax County alone. It's mathematically impossible for the typical NOVA student to be in the top 25 percent of enrolled GMU students stat wise given the percentage of the student body that is from the area.

Your argument might -- might -- work if you're talking about UVA, but not GMU.



Read and learn. https://research.schev.edu/iprofile/232186/George-Mason-University

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How easy?

In VA, VCU or GMU
In MD, Towson or UMBC

But these aren't 'open admissions' level of easy, just not as competitive as some other state options.

True, but OP needs to know that the 75th percentile at GMU last fall had a 4.0 and a 30 ACT. It's not as easy to get in to as some on DCUM think. And it's the largest research university in the Commonwealth, so actually HUGE. https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

Yes, I didn't know how to interpret their question-- whether it was somewhere between medium and large, or just bigger than 8k. GMU has 27k undergraduates so a lot of its size comes from grad students. But, yes, it's very big.

And while there are a lot of strong students at GMU-hence the high 75th percentile, it has a high acceptance rate--86%. So you might be one of the weaker students in the school, but you can often still get in with a lower academic level.

You must be looking at old stats. GMU’s acceptance rate for 2022 was 77 percent. But what you don’t know is that all VA university acceptance rates are high because students self select to apply to certain schools at the direction of their public high school counselors, whose job it is to show the student and parents the SCHEV scores and Naviance for their particular high schools. Students who aren’t UVA candidates are steered to those schools that are a better match = higher chance of getting in. Even UVA and W&M’s acceptance scores are “ high” when compared to other privates attracting the same caliber of student. Always remember the high school counselor is a publicly available paid employee. Their credibility is on the line if they don’t do a good job of matching students to universities. And with SCHEV that matching is easily achieved

This poster shows up on every thread about VA state colleges and says the same thing without backing any of it up. I do think a 3.2 GPA is low for GMU though. I'd look closely at VCU. It's a great school and admissions standards are lower.

Read and learn: https://research.schev.edu/iprofile/232186/George-Mason-University

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dc goes to vcu. Kid is very low key, not a big party person, and has found vcu an easy place to be. Only thing noticed, is that it is extremely diverse, but not a lot of cross over between the groups, which was a little disappointing to my kid.

I went to grad school at vcu and lived in Richmond after that and would say the lack of crossover is true of vcu and Richmond overall. I think part of the issue within vcu is separation of schools. Non majors are limited in ability to participate in other schools/depts' classes, productions/ensembles, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dc goes to vcu. Kid is very low key, not a big party person, and has found vcu an easy place to be. Only thing noticed, is that it is extremely diverse, but not a lot of cross over between the groups, which was a little disappointing to my kid.

That was not my kid’s experience at all. She’s white, and her best friends (with whom she is very close to this day) were Central American immigrant who came to the US at 14, an AA woman, and a Muslim woman. Lots and lots of crossover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How easy?

In VA, VCU or GMU
In MD, Towson or UMBC

But these aren't 'open admissions' level of easy, just not as competitive as some other state options.

True, but OP needs to know that the 75th percentile at GMU last fall had a 4.0 and a 30 ACT. It's not as easy to get in to as some on DCUM think. And it's the largest research university in the Commonwealth, so actually HUGE. https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

Yes, I didn't know how to interpret their question-- whether it was somewhere between medium and large, or just bigger than 8k. GMU has 27k undergraduates so a lot of its size comes from grad students. But, yes, it's very big.

Who is the poster who obsessed over the SCHEV 75th percentile all the time? That means that THREE QUARTERS of entering students have lower numbers.

Because if you are applying from Nova and not a URM or First Generation that’s where you need to aim. The rest is for legacies (yes GMU has them); And band stars (scholarships if willing to play in pep band); athletes, especially basketball; OOS and international for diversity; Korean students to encourage a flow of students to and from Mason Korea; first generation; URM; financially needy students and the brilliant kids going for the lucrative cybersecurity major.

Yes, I've heard this same tired refrain from you as well, the data says it's not true, and you have nothing to back up your opinion. The overwhelming majority of GMU in state undergrads are from NOVA, with almost 10,000 of them from Fairfax County alone. It's mathematically impossible for the typical NOVA student to be in the top 25 percent of enrolled GMU students stat wise given the percentage of the student body that is from the area.

Your argument might -- might -- work if you're talking about UVA, but not GMU.



Read and learn. https://research.schev.edu/iprofile/232186/George-Mason-University

I know about SCHEV. That link says nothing about the requirements for admission from NOVA. But it does confirm that that’s where most GMU students come from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dc goes to vcu. Kid is very low key, not a big party person, and has found vcu an easy place to be. Only thing noticed, is that it is extremely diverse, but not a lot of cross over between the groups, which was a little disappointing to my kid.

I went to grad school at vcu and lived in Richmond after that and would say the lack of crossover is true of vcu and Richmond overall. I think part of the issue within vcu is separation of schools. Non majors are limited in ability to participate in other schools/depts' classes, productions/ensembles, etc.

Again, I disagree based on my kid’s experience. In fact, you really have to work pretty hard to “stick with your own kind” in a school with no majority. I’d look inward and not outward if I were you. The school might not be the problem.

[Anonymous]

Can you or anyone here say more about VCU? I feel like it’s rarely mentioned in this forum.


It's truly surprising more top in-state STEM kids don't pursue VCU for undergrad and then stay for MCV. Plus a brand new engineering building. Seems like a hidden gem in a neat part of Richmond.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to all the VCU commentators! Very helpful and you are much appreciated. Thanks in advance to any additional posters!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dc goes to vcu. Kid is very low key, not a big party person, and has found vcu an easy place to be. Only thing noticed, is that it is extremely diverse, but not a lot of cross over between the groups, which was a little disappointing to my kid.

I went to grad school at vcu and lived in Richmond after that and would say the lack of crossover is true of vcu and Richmond overall. I think part of the issue within vcu is separation of schools. Non majors are limited in ability to participate in other schools/depts' classes, productions/ensembles, etc.

Again, I disagree based on my kid’s experience. In fact, you really have to work pretty hard to “stick with your own kind” in a school with no majority. I’d look inward and not outward if I were you. The school might not be the problem.

Excuse me? Why the personal slam? I'm just relaying my observations about the way the university is structured and how that affected crossover between programs (eg. music and theatre shared a building but had little crossover. Both sets of students would have benefitted from more exposure to the other). The lack of crossover in the city, I noticed in my side hustle as a cab driver. This was several years, so things could have changed. I had respect for your perspective until that last comment.