Good alternatives to UVA and William and Mary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a college admissions professional I can say that grades and SATs aren't everything, but do mean quite a bit and grades are more important that SATs in the scheme of things. That said I think the most important this is where does yous child WANT to go? I see so many applications that and the ones that stand out are where the student essays really focus on why the student wants to attend my institution. I doesn't make up for poor grades, but if I have an opening and two equal borderline students I usually will lean towards a student with a meaningful desire to attend my school. (Not an essay obviously written be a parent/professional - I'm looking at you DCUMs!)

can you really tell which ones are written by the parents/professional? I don't work in admissions at all, but I think I'd be able to tell - or at least have suspicions.
So what gives it away?

Er...have you seen the way most kids write? Ok, maybe more difficult to tell at that age but you wouldn't believe the number of non-age appropriate perfect papers we see at our private K - 8.

I used to serve on the UVa admissions committee. Yes, parental involvement is often pretty obvious.

[Anonymous]

Why is it an amazing school I know lots of kids who don't get into UVA, W&M, or Wash. & Lee do go there, but that just makes it second tier even within Virginia. I don't see how that name on an job application would cut much ice much very far beyond Harrisonburg, VA. Enlighten me please.

There are so many impressive things about JMU. One thing that sets it apart, though, is that the students are extremely warm and friendly - very welcoming and helpful. My daughter is in the Honors program, and the classes are very challenging and thought provoking. The teachers are engaging and accessible. The food is unbelievable - so many choices. The campus is beautiful. The general education requirements are reasonable and really give the students good exposure to many different areas of study. There is a wonderful bus system and reasonably priced off-campus housing. There's a lot of school spirit. We see a lot of smiling faces when we visit.

I don't argue that it's a "second-tier" school to UVA or W&M, etc. But it was our experience that when we were applying to college, many kids who would have gone Ivy League went instead to the public universities - perhaps due to the economy or uncertain times. So many students who would have gone to those schools ended up at the "second-tier" schools such a JMU. We personally know some students that should have easily gotten into JMU or Tech but did not.

I am honestly surprised at how much we have come to love this school - so I'm glad you asked why I think it's amazing. Maybe someone else reading this will put JMU on their list of schools to visit - even if it wasn't there before

[Anonymous]

I did not go to JMU but the one thing that continues to impress me about it is how much the students, parents and alums love their school.
I have yet to hear a negative review. I can't say that about a lot of schools.

[Anonymous]

I agree that many TOP students at our public high school are going to a Virginia state school (including JMU) because private school has become so ridiculously expensive. So you may find the same caliber of students at JMU as you might have found 10 or 20 years ago at Wake Forest, Dickinson, etc.

[Anonymous]

Here's a vote for my alma mater Longwood University.

[Anonymous]

Longwood? That's third tier if I've ever heard it. Seriously?

[Anonymous]

Er...have you seen the way most kids write? Ok, maybe more difficult to tell at that age but you wouldn't believe the number of non-age appropriate perfect papers we see at our private K - 8.


Last I looked students in k-8 don't write college admissions essays.
So the question is still out there: can the college admissions people tell when an essay has been written by a parent or professional?


I'm just saying that the high schools have a huge job to do in the writing department. The K-8's are not turning out little Hemingway's, thats for sure!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Longwood? That's third tier if I've ever heard it. Seriously?

Yes, seriously. Longwood's reputation, acadmeics, facilities, and more have improved significantly over the last decade or so. Good leadership, involved alum, etc. can have that effect. Even before that it had an excellent reputation for those interested in education, but there's a lot more than that now. Might be worth a look for someone who is looking for a good VA school and can't get into UVA or William and Mary.

[Anonymous]

If your child cannot get into W&M or UVA, I think they will have a difficult time with Mary Washington.

In order to get into JMU or Tech is no easy task either. I think "second tier" notation should not be taken seriously with these schools.

You know your son best, and I am not sure what kind of grades or test scores are concluding he is not able to attend W&M or UVA.

But if he is in a B/C category, I would consider Mason, Longwood, VCU as starter schools and then transfer to a more difficult college.

[Anonymous]

PP, we just went through the whole college admissions process and I think you must be basing your opinions on old data. For example, the average GPA for last year's students who were accepted at Va Tech from DD's HS was a 3.97; for JMU it was 3.85; for GMU it was a 3.65. GMU's admissions applications went through the roof when GMU's basketball team made the NCAA final four a few years ago -- watch for VCU apps to follow suit. I think these schools are attracting a far more competitive group than you seem to be suggesting.

[Anonymous]

I agree with pp. It's an entirely new ball game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Umd would be another good choice but almost impossible to get into these days. Clemson, Penn state, wake forest. Have become very popular as well.

I don't think most people view Wake Forest as a lesser tier school than UVA or William and Mary. It's considerably harder to be admitted there than to Clemson.

[Anonymous]

UVA and Wake Forest are actually tied on US News rankings.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/page+3

I think people also need to consider specific programs. For example, someone interested in engineering/hard sciences would be better off going to the University of Maryland than to UVA, even though UVA is a more highly rated university overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA and Wake Forest are actually tied on US News rankings.
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/page+3

I think people also need to consider specific programs. For example, someone interested in engineering/hard sciences would be better off going to the University of Maryland than to UVA, even though UVA is a more highly rated university overall.

You do need to consider programs, but you also need to think about the possibility of switching majors. Engineering typically has a 20-30% attrition rate. Students just don't know until they try a few courses at the college level. So if you kid decides it's not for him or her, will there be alternative without transferring? If you want to switch from engineering to business, many schools can handle that. If you want to switch from engineering to international relations, that might be different.

On another note, GMU's entrance requirements have really jumped. The 75th percentile SAT score is the same as JMU's now (about 1250). They are very different schools demographically and geographically with different strengths.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is a senior in college and has friends who were admitted to UVA and others who "settled" at Tech and JMU specifically. All dreamed of being business majors. The ones at JMU and TECH have accounting/finance/marketing jobs set already with impressive salaries...her three friends who went to UVA gave up on their dream and didn't go through the intense stress of having to apply at the end of their sophomore year to attend McIntyre for a business major.