University of Mary Washington

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CNU has moved into the niche area that MWC has targeted.

What's the niche?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really solid VA option - doesn't get as much attention as the larger schools. Committed faculty, beautiful campus, small classes, close community, academics can be quite rigorous. Nice choice for the student who doesn't need a huge football/Greek scene.

Agree, it's a nice school.

[Anonymous]

My first kid was applying to college more than 20 years ago and my last kid over a decade ago. It’s very true that things have changed. Mary Washington 2+ decades was absolutely considered the #3 state school in terms of admissions standards, definitely ahead of JMU and Tech even if not by much. CNU was considered a nothing school.

Now UMW is middle of the road and inexplicably CNU is as well. I know CNU gets a lot of love on this board but I consider it to be a third tier school for losers. UMW is much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CNU has no Virginia soul. It’s an aging McMansion. UMW, W&M, Longwood are the Virginia public LAC’s with soul.

What does Virginia soul even mean? Souls of slavery intertwined with their foundings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNU has no Virginia soul. It’s an aging McMansion. UMW, W&M, Longwood are the Virginia public LAC’s with soul.

What does Virginia soul even mean? Souls of slavery intertwined with their foundings?

I think the PP was saying that certain universities have a more traditional/colonial look. CNU apparently does not have that look.

[Anonymous]

Hate Fredericksburg. The traffic getting to University of Mary Washington is a nightmare. I'd rather put my NoVa kid on a plane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNU has no Virginia soul. It’s an aging McMansion. UMW, W&M, Longwood are the Virginia public LAC’s with soul.

What does Virginia soul even mean? Souls of slavery intertwined with their foundings?

I think it just means that the school is too new. It doesn’t have that historic look that the other schools have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMW's place in the Virginia state school pecking order has dropped fairly dramatically over the last 20 years. It used to be a solid number 3 in admissions standards - after UVA and William & Mary. Now it's nowhere close to that.

Which VA schools moved up in admissions standards in the past 20 years to displace it?

JMU, Tech and possibly GMU and CNU

JMU and tech were always high in the pecking order.
It’s GMU and inexplicably CNU’s rise that has bumped Mary Washington down.

GMU is so different (big research university) that I don't think it has much to do with the shift. It's really CNU -- similar size, similar student profile in test scores, similar admission rates. CNU, however, does have a better retention rate/lower transfer-out rate and better graduation rate. It seems to have more of a "fun" reputation while UMW is seen as more "quiet". CNU has Greek life and UMW doesn't so that probably contributes to that image.

Is UMW the only VA state school without Greek life or are there any others?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hate Fredericksburg. The traffic getting to University of Mary Washington is a nightmare. I'd rather put my NoVa kid on a plane.

It’s called “Effing-burg” in our house. My kid got interest from a UMW athletic coach to play her sport. She did not entertain the idea of attending that school. Too small for her liking. My kid is more of the work hard-play hard mentality!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hate Fredericksburg. The traffic getting to University of Mary Washington is a nightmare. I'd rather put my NoVa kid on a plane.

It’s called “Effing-burg” in our house. My kid got interest from a UMW athletic coach to play her sport. She did not entertain the idea of attending that school. Too small for her liking. My kid is more of the work hard-play hard mentality!

Where did your kid end up going?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hate Fredericksburg. The traffic getting to University of Mary Washington is a nightmare. I'd rather put my NoVa kid on a plane.

It’s called “Effing-burg” in our house. My kid got interest from a UMW athletic coach to play her sport. She did not entertain the idea of attending that school. Too small for her liking. My kid is more of the work hard-play hard mentality!

Where did your kid end up going?

My kid played her sport since the age of four. She was not div 1 material, but was not interested in attending a small/smallish university. Despite me telling her to entertain the idea of playing her sport at UMW, she was set against it. She was accepted at UVA, and will attend in the fall.

Many players on her team got emails from the UMW coach. None were interested in playing at the school. Too small, too close, gender imbalance, academic reputation were common reasons to reject the interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hate Fredericksburg. The traffic getting to University of Mary Washington is a nightmare. I'd rather put my NoVa kid on a plane.

It’s called “Effing-burg” in our house. My kid got interest from a UMW athletic coach to play her sport. She did not entertain the idea of attending that school. Too small for her liking. My kid is more of the work hard-play hard mentality!

Where did your kid end up going?

My kid played her sport since the age of four. She was not div 1 material, but was not interested in attending a small/smallish university. Despite me telling her to entertain the idea of playing her sport at UMW, she was set against it. She was accepted at UVA, and will attend in the fall.

Many players on her team got emails from the UMW coach. None were interested in playing at the school. Too small, too close, gender imbalance, academic reputation were common reasons to reject the interest.

Is your kid playing her sport at UVA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hate Fredericksburg. The traffic getting to University of Mary Washington is a nightmare. I'd rather put my NoVa kid on a plane.

It’s called “Effing-burg” in our house. My kid got interest from a UMW athletic coach to play her sport. She did not entertain the idea of attending that school. Too small for her liking. My kid is more of the work hard-play hard mentality!

Where did your kid end up going?

My kid played her sport since the age of four. She was not div 1 material, but was not interested in attending a small/smallish university. Despite me telling her to entertain the idea of playing her sport at UMW, she was set against it. She was accepted at UVA, and will attend in the fall.

Many players on her team got emails from the UMW coach. None were interested in playing at the school. Too small, too close, gender imbalance, academic reputation were common reasons to reject the interest.

Is your kid playing her sport at UVA?

No. She is not a D1 player, and is well aware of that. In the end she chose academics over her sport, and has zero regrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My first kid was applying to college more than 20 years ago and my last kid over a decade ago. It’s very true that things have changed. Mary Washington 2+ decades was absolutely considered the #3 state school in terms of admissions standards, definitely ahead of JMU and Tech even if not by much. CNU was considered a nothing school.

Now UMW is middle of the road and inexplicably CNU is as well. I know CNU gets a lot of love on this board but I consider it to be a third tier school for losers. UMW is much better.

What an odd post. Mary Washington hasn’t been considered the #3 school in VA for over 50 years (before UVA went coed) and it’s now less attractive to students than CNU because it’s considered old and stodgy whereas CNU has been on a building spree and has modern facilities. I know reality checks are tough but you definitely need one.

[Anonymous]

Maybe this is just a me thing, but "University of Mary Washington" sounds like such a strange naming format.

Wouldn't "Mary Washington University" be a much better name?