Non Virginia native asking...Is JMU a good school?

Anonymous
I'm really curious. Is it reputable? "Good"? Or a fall back? Or a safety school? Party school? It seems that EVERYONE has gone there or has kids attending.

I also can't get over the I81 location. It's certainly no "Happy Valley".


It'a a respectable "regional university" that draws a lot of kids from the Mid-Atlantic region (about 25% OOS). I wouldn't pay OOS tuition for it, but I didn't want to pay OOS tuition for UMD either, so my kid is going to JMU this week. His interest is very, very specific and his decision was driven by faculty in the field. It was his second choice, but the only VA school he applied to.

I'm a Penn State alum and I always thought State College and the campus were nothing special - I was never a football fan or a drinker. I'm not crazy about I-81 going through the JMU campus, but my DC will be residing and taking all the classes on the quad and that part of campus is quite pretty, imo.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I went to Notre Dame and never heard of Penn State referred to as Happy Valley before. I am a DC native.


+1
I have never heard of Penn State referred to as Happy Valley. Also a DC area native.


That's bc nobody in DC cares about Penn State.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't pay out-of-state tuition for it.


A lot of people do.


Agree about not paying OOS. But I wouldn’t pay OOS for pretty much any school, nor would I pay full freight for most privates.

We considered JMU for DS. Stats-wise, it’s a match for him. But he just didn’t care for it. But it’s a good school for kids who aren’t getting into UVA or WM.


This. JMU is where kids who can’t get into WM and UVA go. Probably on par with GMU but further from home. A notch above VCU, except arts and medical. And a lot of smart hard working kids in NOVA can’t get into UVA and WM these days.


+1
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There’s been a lot of hate for the bigger state universities in the last few days. I think someone is just stirring the pot yet again with this thread.


Yep. So transparent.


And everyone takes the bait.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:How strange that there’s a girl/guy ratio difference for a large public. Dies it offer a lot of traditionally female professions - nursing, teaching, etc.


Undergraduate education in the U.S. is getting close to 60% female, 40% male. There is going to be a significant ratio difference at most schools.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How strange that there’s a girl/guy ratio difference for a large public. Dies it offer a lot of traditionally female professions - nursing, teaching, etc.


Undergraduate education in the U.S. is getting close to 60% female, 40% male. There is going to be a significant ratio difference at most schools.


+1. I’m looking at WM numbers with DS and telling him to enjoy the one time in his life affirmative action is going to work in his favor as a white male. Much easier for boys to get in.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How strange that there’s a girl/guy ratio difference for a large public. Dies it offer a lot of traditionally female professions - nursing, teaching, etc.


Undergraduate education in the U.S. is getting close to 60% female, 40% male. There is going to be a significant ratio difference at most schools.


Why is this? Any theories? What are the other males doing?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How strange that there’s a girl/guy ratio difference for a large public. Dies it offer a lot of traditionally female professions - nursing, teaching, etc.


Undergraduate education in the U.S. is getting close to 60% female, 40% male. There is going to be a significant ratio difference at most schools.


Why is this? Any theories? What are the other males doing?


I think it’s more than theories. Girls have better executive functioning skills and their pre-frontal cortex develops earlier. ADHD presents very differently too. They are outperforming boys in objective measurements from K through college. And anyone who has raised both boys and girls or worked with them in schools will tell you that girls are better at managing their workload and sitting down and having the self discipline to plow through the schoolwork. Men do have higher numbers in engineering and hard sciences, largely because their is a female brain drain in these areas around MS.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes.

I didn’t even know what Happy Valley was.


What is Happy Valley? I think it's clear OP has an axe to grind is simply trolling.


Not at all. I am genuinely curious. I don't understand how the campus can be beautiful with a highway in the middle.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How strange that there’s a girl/guy ratio difference for a large public. Dies it offer a lot of traditionally female professions - nursing, teaching, etc.


Undergraduate education in the U.S. is getting close to 60% female, 40% male. There is going to be a significant ratio difference at most schools.


Why is this? Any theories? What are the other males doing?


Boys play more video games and are more prone to having ADHD.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I went to Notre Dame and never heard of Penn State referred to as Happy Valley before. I am a DC native.


+1
I have never heard of Penn State referred to as Happy Valley. Also a DC area native.


That's bc nobody in DC cares about Penn State.


It’s a popular school in DC area and remains so, even after the horrid shit that was exposed in 2012. In fact, DC has the largest alumni chapter outside of the state of PA.
Anonymous
JMU is a respectable college. For some it is a safety, for others it is a target, and others still a reach.

Looking at students from DD's school, the best way to see it is in the context of other Virginia Schools.

JMU seems to cater to students that wanted to go to UVA but could not get in. Think if it this way: if you take 10 AP's and get mostly A's, UVA is your target. With the same load, but mostly B's (in the AP's), or mostly A's in honors classes, you will not get in to UVA, but you will get in to JMU.

As of the other VA schools, VA Tech is for the more STEM focused kids. For non-stem, it is probably comparable to JMU for admissions, maybe a bit higher. But, the culture is different. VA Tech is more of a Meritocracy whereas JMU is more of a collaborative environment with more student support.

William and Mary is for students that could get into UVA but do not like the party atmosphere.

For DD, JMU is a bad fit. She is very introverted and mostly interested in Sciences. JMU puts them on the other side of the freeway. She wants to go to Va Tech.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There’s been a lot of hate for the bigger state universities in the last few days. I think someone is just stirring the pot yet again with this thread.


Yep. So transparent.


And everyone takes the bait.


OP here and this is my first time posting here, and really ever going on this thread!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How strange that there’s a girl/guy ratio difference for a large public. Dies it offer a lot of traditionally female professions - nursing, teaching, etc.


Undergraduate education in the U.S. is getting close to 60% female, 40% male. There is going to be a significant ratio difference at most schools.


Why is this? Any theories? What are the other males doing?


Not sure, but the impact probably isn't going to be good.
Anonymous
Everything is relative OP. The question is "good" compared to what? Good compared to Harvard? No, it's not. Good for a normal middle class kid ... yes, most people are middle class or poor. They are lucky to go to college anywhere. JMU is pretty cheap compared to a lot of colleges.
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