Your experiences at Va. public universities...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oklahoma has way more prestige. JMU is ranked in the 150s. If you want the prestige factor, go to Oklahoma. Not as much prestige as some schools like Penn State but still

^^demented thinking on display

Wow you are rude. Ever consider being nice? Also, it's trues. Oklahoma prestige is on par with most prestigious southern schools.

way to miss the point. But please do send your kid to Oklahoma because they’re too good for JMU 😆

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oklahoma has way more prestige. JMU is ranked in the 150s. If you want the prestige factor, go to Oklahoma. Not as much prestige as some schools like Penn State but still

^^demented thinking on display

Wow you are rude. Ever consider being nice? Also, it's trues. Oklahoma prestige is on par with most prestigious southern schools.

way to miss the point. But please do send your kid to Oklahoma because they’re too good for JMU 😆

I will, because Oklahoma is a prestigious state flagship like UVA and JMU is not a state flagship.

[Anonymous]

You’re all a bunch of short sighted and misguided weirdos. Two of my kids went to UVA and another went to another VA state school. They may have had 20 classmates from high school go with them. In a class of nearly 4000 they barely saw them, but when they did they’d say hello - they’re not so weird that the possibility of seeing a fleeting familiar face on campus once in a blue moon ruled out a state college. That’s just plain nuts.

We saved lots of money by going the state school route, our kids got prestigious degrees, and they moved back to the DMV and got married and had kids - all of whom we see regularly and are fully ingrained into our lives. It’s odd AF that so many of you are all about shipping your kids off to far away and expensive places only to see them never return. Makes zero sense.

[Anonymous]

My son graduates this year from Virginia Tech. It's the only place he wanted to go. Had a great 4 yrs, excellent program for his major, worked as a TA, involved in rec sports. Has stayed close with a couple HS friends (from Arlington) but also made new friends. Already has accepted a job in DC for after graduation. Had multiple offers. And at the very reasonable in-state price he still has money in his 529 for grad school.

My other kid found her best fit at an OOS private LAC which ended up similar in cost to VA public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’re all a bunch of short sighted and misguided weirdos. Two of my kids went to UVA and another went to another VA state school. They may have had 20 classmates from high school go with them. In a class of nearly 4000 they barely saw them, but when they did they’d say hello - they’re not so weird that the possibility of seeing a fleeting familiar face on campus once in a blue moon ruled out a state college. That’s just plain nuts.

We saved lots of money by going the state school route, our kids got prestigious degrees, and they moved back to the DMV and got married and had kids - all of whom we see regularly and are fully ingrained into our lives. It’s odd AF that so many of you are all about shipping your kids off to far away and expensive places only to see them never return. Makes zero sense.

If you're a VA resident, that makes sense.

Nothing groundbreaking here.

And your grandkids don't hate you. Great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered OOS auto merit awards?

Oklahoma

http://www.ou.edu/admissions/affordability/scholarships.html

Alabama

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Arizona (The Arizona Tuition Award)

https://financialaid.arizona.edu/2025-2026-terms-and-conditions

lol why would you send your kid to college in Oklahoma instead of JMU? you people have truly lost the plot.

.

I'm not the pp you quoted, but my kid (currently a college freshman) applied to Oklahoma and did not apply JMU (though he ultimately chose a different school.)
Oklahoma has many programs that JMU would not--for example, meteorology. Oklahoma also has a larger engineering school than JMU.

but 19 schools in VA offer meteorology, including VA and UVA.

[Anonymous]

^^VT

[Anonymous]

My DC applied in-state to UVA, VT, and JMU.
I wanted DC to apply to VCU & W&M as well, but no interest.

I wish the VA schools did EA release sooner, as the VA schools seem to be some of the latest release of all the 20 schools DC applied to... For example, VT's release date is 2/28.

[Anonymous]

I fully agree with those who are happy to utilize in state options, and benefit from kids getting jobs in the area.

I actually went OOS for my first year of college. I grew up in a Midwest state. I just wanted out. The cheapest OOS option was Oklahoma State. Even though I was coming from the Midwest, and from a rural town/area, even grew up on a farm, it was a culture shock to go to Oklahoma! Don't dismiss the very real difference between East Coast/Virginia and a state like Oklahoma (and others). I remember that ever classroom had a SPITTOON (!) in it! I assume they have since been removed, but they had spitting because it was THAT common for male students to have a wad of chewing tobacco in their mouths! Of course all the girls had multiple pairs of Justin Ropers (I didn't even know what Justin Ropers were!) I had over seen grits in a cafeteria line. It was very common for people to go home (like their parents home) Thurs night and come back Sunday night to the dorms.

Just pointing out that when you go to another region of the US, it really is different from what you think is "standard " in Virginia or East Coast. That can be an interesting adventure. It can also be an additional level of stress for a freshman who already feels like they don't fit in and home is far away.

[Anonymous]

Typo:

I had NEVER seen grits in a cafeteria line....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can’t say enough good things about JMU. Pleasantly surprised. It is the perfect place for my daughter. She loves her professors and has made lifelong friends.

+100
Completely agree. It was my son's top choice and he loves the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered OOS auto merit awards?

Oklahoma

http://www.ou.edu/admissions/affordability/scholarships.html

Alabama

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Arizona (The Arizona Tuition Award)

https://financialaid.arizona.edu/2025-2026-terms-and-conditions

lol why would you send your kid to college in Oklahoma instead of JMU? you people have truly lost the plot.

DP. Thank you. I looked at that list and thought why on earth would I send my kids to ANY of those schools when they could attend in-state schools that are much better? So odd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered OOS auto merit awards?

Oklahoma

http://www.ou.edu/admissions/affordability/scholarships.html

Alabama

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Arizona (The Arizona Tuition Award)

https://financialaid.arizona.edu/2025-2026-terms-and-conditions

lol why would you send your kid to college in Oklahoma instead of JMU? you people have truly lost the plot.

Because Oklahoma’s merit makes COA competitive while also offering more programs, sports, etc. So it’s an option for some who want to go OOS - oh and it’s higher ranked than JMU (132 vs 148).

That’s the point - it’s demented to put so much store in going out of state and on rankings like that.

"Demented" seems a bit extreme.
Some people WANT a change of scenery. Going to a school where 40 other kids from your class, plus dozens of others that you know from church, out of school ECs, etc. isn't what everyone wants.

DP. My kids attend two of the VA in-state schools and in no way are there "40 other kids" from their class. There are maybe 5-10 from their high school - and they never, ever see any of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered OOS auto merit awards?

Oklahoma

http://www.ou.edu/admissions/affordability/scholarships.html

Alabama

https://afford.ua.edu/scholarships/out-of-state-freshman/

Arizona (The Arizona Tuition Award)

https://financialaid.arizona.edu/2025-2026-terms-and-conditions

lol why would you send your kid to college in Oklahoma instead of JMU? you people have truly lost the plot.

Because Oklahoma’s merit makes COA competitive while also offering more programs, sports, etc. So it’s an option for some who want to go OOS - oh and it’s higher ranked than JMU (132 vs 148).

That’s the point - it’s demented to put so much store in going out of state and on rankings like that.

"Demented" seems a bit extreme.
Some people WANT a change of scenery. Going to a school where 40 other kids from your class, plus dozens of others that you know from church, out of school ECs, etc. isn't what everyone wants.

Some VA schools are large enough you hardly if ever run into, never mind see across the way, other kids from hs, church, ECs, etc. This is the case for my kid at UVA.

I wouldn't know because my kids didn't go to in-state schools. But talking with friends with kids at in state schools, they often run into old classmates and such-living in the same dorms, joining the same clubs, going to the same parties... The ones I've heard of are specifically at Virginia tech and JMU.

DP. The bolded is quite obvious. You've written the same posts before, making these idiotic claims. It's clear you have no idea what life at in-state schools is like and I have no doubt your "anecdotes" are made up. My kids attend both VT and JMU and never run into anyone from their high school days. They have friends from all over VA and the U.S. and see high school friends only when they're home on break. It would be great if you'd stick to what you know and stop making sweeping, untrue generalizations about the schools you know nothing about.

[Anonymous]

How’s ODU?