University of Mary Washington

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

That is really dumb.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I don't think it's a concern . . . but it's interesting that yes over the years MW has slipped considerably in the VA state school hierarchy.

It hasn’t really. Any adjustment in hierarchy is because other schools improved, not because UMW declined. After the top tier of UVA/VT/W&M, JMU and GMU have been in ascendance. UMW and VCU are next tier after that — UMW is the best of the small public LACs in VA.

I never said it declined in quality. I said it slipped in the hierarchy. BUT it definitely has declined in terms of admissions standards. It absolutely has gotten less competitive in admissions. Not that long ago it was turning away nearly half its applicants. It was the third most selective state school in VA for many years. Those days are over.

I never knew it was third! When did that change?

In the 1980’s, Mary Washington was very highly respected and selective. I think the decline began when it became a university and tried to grow too quickly and lowered admission standards. It should have stayed a college, with its niche for quality undergraduate education. When I attended, all of my classes were taught by full professors with no TA’s.

All the classes are still taught by full professors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

That is really dumb.

UMW used to be women's college for the University of Virginia (UVA) from 1944 to 1972.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:PP here. AI says the admit rates was 55 percent in 2000, 70 percent in 2008 and 80 percent in 2026, and says at the turn of the century it only trailed UVA and W&M. That's consistent with my understanding.

Why would it start to become less selective?

Other schools like VT and JMU became a lot more selective. More kids want the bigger college experience. UMW is very small, doesn't have big sports programs, not a lot going on. Its perfectly fine, just not what a lot of kids want in a college experience.

JMU is also less selective now than back then, so nope.

That's actually not true. JMU is getting harder and harder to get into.

the acceptance rate was 60 percent in 2000, 54 percent in 2010, 80 percent in 2020, and in the high 60s today. so while it's gotten more selective since 2020, it was still more selective in 2000 and 2010 than it is today.

JMU has also gotten larger in the past 20-30 years, so that's part of the reason it appears "less selective" in the 2015-2020 range.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:PP here. AI says the admit rates was 55 percent in 2000, 70 percent in 2008 and 80 percent in 2026, and says at the turn of the century it only trailed UVA and W&M. That's consistent with my understanding.

Why would it start to become less selective?

Other schools like VT and JMU became a lot more selective. More kids want the bigger college experience. UMW is very small, doesn't have big sports programs, not a lot going on. Its perfectly fine, just not what a lot of kids want in a college experience.

JMU is also less selective now than back then, so nope.

That's actually not true. JMU is getting harder and harder to get into.

the acceptance rate was 60 percent in 2000, 54 percent in 2010, 80 percent in 2020, and in the high 60s today. so while it's gotten more selective since 2020, it was still more selective in 2000 and 2010 than it is today.

JMU has also gotten larger in the past 20-30 years, so that's part of the reason it appears "less selective" in the 2015-2020 range.

It also just joined the Common App a couple years ago and doing that generates more applications which will naturally make the admit rate go down.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:PP here. AI says the admit rates was 55 percent in 2000, 70 percent in 2008 and 80 percent in 2026, and says at the turn of the century it only trailed UVA and W&M. That's consistent with my understanding.

Why would it start to become less selective?

Other schools like VT and JMU became a lot more selective. More kids want the bigger college experience. UMW is very small, doesn't have big sports programs, not a lot going on. Its perfectly fine, just not what a lot of kids want in a college experience.

JMU is also less selective now than back then, so nope.

That's actually not true. JMU is getting harder and harder to get into.

the acceptance rate was 60 percent in 2000, 54 percent in 2010, 80 percent in 2020, and in the high 60s today. so while it's gotten more selective since 2020, it was still more selective in 2000 and 2010 than it is today.

JMU has also gotten larger in the past 20-30 years, so that's part of the reason it appears "less selective" in the 2015-2020 range.

It also just joined the Common App a couple years ago and doing that generates more applications which will naturally make the admit rate go down.

Right. That's in line with the 54% -> 80% -> high 60's %

[Anonymous]

Do they have an honors program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they have an honors program?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it's a concern . . . but it's interesting that yes over the years MW has slipped considerably in the VA state school hierarchy.

It hasn’t really. Any adjustment in hierarchy is because other schools improved, not because UMW declined. After the top tier of UVA/VT/W&M, JMU and GMU have been in ascendance. UMW and VCU are next tier after that — UMW is the best of the small public LACs in VA.

Eh, everything is relative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

No, it isn't. If it were a problem, the board would have changed it a long time ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it's a concern . . . but it's interesting that yes over the years MW has slipped considerably in the VA state school hierarchy.

It hasn’t really. Any adjustment in hierarchy is because other schools improved, not because UMW declined. After the top tier of UVA/VT/W&M, JMU and GMU have been in ascendance. UMW and VCU are next tier after that — UMW is the best of the small public LACs in VA.

Eh, everything is relative.

Eh, unhelpful comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

No, it isn't. If it were a problem, the board would have changed it a long time ago.

DP. That's the issue. The board DID change it - to the current University of Mary Washington. It used to be Mary Washington College. The name change seems to have been a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the name. UMW suffers because it doesn’t sound like a school many men would go to. Also it’s small, and we have more selective options in VA.

No, it isn't. If it were a problem, the board would have changed it a long time ago.

DP. That's the issue. The board DID change it - to the current University of Mary Washington. It used to be Mary Washington College. The name change seems to have been a problem.

Pretty sure the PP’s point was that guys don’t want to go to a school with a woman’s name, not that they object to going to a university instead of a college.

[Anonymous]

If you just walked around May Washington without knowing anything about it, you could get the impression it is a SLAC. I think the name has hurt it. It is easier to transition to coed from an all male school than from an all female school.

[Anonymous]

They should advertise/push the narrative that it’s an alternative to W&M for kids who want a LAC/small school feel.