MD state schools vs. VA state schools

[Anonymous]

State school choices are a big factor for us in determining whether we should buy in MoCo or FFX. Kids are in elementary now so we have no idea what kind of grades, SATs etc. they'll bring to bear come admission time. Finances for us limit choices in state (unless one or more kids gets an amazing scholarship out of state or private). But, we can't plan for that, so those who have either attended, or have kids attending MD or VA state schools, which system would you recommend? I'm leaning toward VA because there seem to be more options for higher-ranked/quality schools (UVA, W&M, V Tech) but also realize it is extremely difficult to gain acceptance from NoVA. I think UMD College Park would also be fine but know nothing about other MD state schools (and UMD wouldn't be a shoo-in either, from what I read). We have four kids so their interests/talents could be just about anything. Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

You have more good options in Va than Md, IMHO.

[Anonymous]

Your kids are in elementary school! You have no idea what will happen in the next several years. I can appreciate your wish to long term plan for academics and could appreciate your dilemma more if you were buying NOW for the better elementary or high school.

[Anonymous]

Virginia Tech, UVA, W&M, JMU vs. UMD. That's about it. Not a hard choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech, UVA, W&M, JMU vs. UMD. That's about it. Not a hard choice.

Don't slam me but GMU is also close by and decent (which is important because you never know if you'll have a kid who wants to stay close to home).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:State school choices are a big factor for us in determining whether we should buy in MoCo or FFX. Kids are in elementary now so we have no idea what kind of grades, SATs etc. they'll bring to bear come admission time. Finances for us limit choices in state (unless one or more kids gets an amazing scholarship out of state or private). But, we can't plan for that, so those who have either attended, or have kids attending MD or VA state schools, which system would you recommend? I'm leaning toward VA because there seem to be more options for higher-ranked/quality schools (UVA, W&M, V Tech) but also realize it is extremely difficult to gain acceptance from NoVA. I think UMD College Park would also be fine but know nothing about other MD state schools (and UMD wouldn't be a shoo-in either, from what I read). We have four kids so their interests/talents could be just about anything. Any thoughts?

That is why we are in Virginia. However, it turns out my DC wants to major inPhysics and UMD-CP beats anything in VA for that. So, You cannot plan for everything.

[Anonymous]

Definitely depends on the kid's interests. We moved here while I was looking to go to grad school, and there was no comparison for my program that it had to be Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech, UVA, W&M, JMU vs. UMD. That's about it. Not a hard choice.

Don't slam me but GMU is also close by and decent (which is important because you never know if you'll have a kid who wants to stay close to home).

+1
GMU is another great VA option.

[Anonymous]

This has been asked before--so many times. No contest between VA and MD. To state the obvious, UVA and William and Mary are "public Ivies". There are tons of kids from nova in those two schools (which are very different from one another). It is very competitive and UVA, in the past 10 years, has become ultra popular. There are some other ok schools in VA. And the community college system is great: relatively easy-to-achieve guaranteed--yes, guaranteed-- admission into schools if certain criteria are met. Caution, and a serious one: UVA, obviously, along with William and Mary are associated with Thomas Jefferson. As our society enters a higher level of sensitivity and questions things, query whether that will be a lightning rod moving forward. The schools are trying to do better, diversity wise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech, UVA, W&M, JMU vs. UMD. That's about it. Not a hard choice.

Don't slam me but GMU is also close by and decent (which is important because you never know if you'll have a kid who wants to stay close to home).

+1
GMU is another great VA option.

And also Mary Washington. VA is fortunate to have a lot of good colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has been asked before--so many times. No contest between VA and MD. To state the obvious, UVA and William and Mary are "public Ivies". There are tons of kids from nova in those two schools (which are very different from one another). It is very competitive and UVA, in the past 10 years, has become ultra popular. There are some other ok schools in VA. And the community college system is great: relatively easy-to-achieve guaranteed--yes, guaranteed-- admission into schools if certain criteria are met. Caution, and a serious one: UVA, obviously, along with William and Mary are associated with Thomas Jefferson. As our society enters a higher level of sensitivity and questions things, query whether that will be a lightning rod moving forward. The schools are trying to do better, diversity wise.

That is not the way I see it. I have a STEM kid. UMD is one of a portfolio of schools he has applied to --- stronger faculty, better academic reputation and national rankings, and close enough to a major research metro area for effective networking and internships. The VA schools just don't compare on these dimensions. And we are out of state for both.

The "public Ivies" aspect is not a big factor when planning to do graduate work in the future in a STEM field. Not trying to imply that the VA schools are not excellent for certain career paths -- just that the paths for which they might be better don't appeal to everybody

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has been asked before--so many times. No contest between VA and MD. To state the obvious, UVA and William and Mary are "public Ivies". There are tons of kids from nova in those two schools (which are very different from one another). It is very competitive and UVA, in the past 10 years, has become ultra popular. There are some other ok schools in VA. And the community college system is great: relatively easy-to-achieve guaranteed--yes, guaranteed-- admission into schools if certain criteria are met. Caution, and a serious one: UVA, obviously, along with William and Mary are associated with Thomas Jefferson. As our society enters a higher level of sensitivity and questions things, query whether that will be a lightning rod moving forward. The schools are trying to do better, diversity wise.

Name me one field that UVA and Willaim and Marry is better than UMD. Except for business I think UMD has stronger program in STEM than VA schools.

JMU/GMU are not in the same league as UMD.

[Anonymous]

OP here. What of the other schools in MD? Are they strong in any specific programs? Are they comparable to JMU, GMU, etc. I don't know anything about Towson, UMBC, etc. It seems VA just has more options that are at least good, if not very, very good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been asked before--so many times. No contest between VA and MD. To state the obvious, UVA and William and Mary are "public Ivies". There are tons of kids from nova in those two schools (which are very different from one another). It is very competitive and UVA, in the past 10 years, has become ultra popular. There are some other ok schools in VA. And the community college system is great: relatively easy-to-achieve guaranteed--yes, guaranteed-- admission into schools if certain criteria are met. Caution, and a serious one: UVA, obviously, along with William and Mary are associated with Thomas Jefferson. As our society enters a higher level of sensitivity and questions things, query whether that will be a lightning rod moving forward. The schools are trying to do better, diversity wise.

Name me one field that UVA and Willaim and Marry is better than UMD. Except for business I think UMD has stronger program in STEM than VA schools.

JMU/GMU are not in the same league as UMD.

Well, I work as an engineer in Maryland and have a lot more engineers from VT than from UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been asked before--so many times. No contest between VA and MD. To state the obvious, UVA and William and Mary are "public Ivies". There are tons of kids from nova in those two schools (which are very different from one another). It is very competitive and UVA, in the past 10 years, has become ultra popular. There are some other ok schools in VA. And the community college system is great: relatively easy-to-achieve guaranteed--yes, guaranteed-- admission into schools if certain criteria are met. Caution, and a serious one: UVA, obviously, along with William and Mary are associated with Thomas Jefferson. As our society enters a higher level of sensitivity and questions things, query whether that will be a lightning rod moving forward. The schools are trying to do better, diversity wise.

Name me one field that UVA and Willaim and Marry is better than UMD. Except for business I think UMD has stronger program in STEM than VA schools.

JMU/GMU are not in the same league as UMD.

Agree JMU/GMU are the same league as Maryland's regional universities.