George Mason as alternative to UMD for Marylanders

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Biggest university without a football team.

They have a club football team, maybe it will eventually expand to be Div III?

Also, they have a basketball team and the games are fun. I'm actually a fan of a different team within their conference (University of Dayton) so I've been to a few of their games at GMU. GMU has a great band that plays at the games too.

Different poster.

I hope that GMU expands their football team to div 3. It would really improve the status of the school among graduating seniors to add that "normal" part of college culture

Where would they build a stadium? Neighborhoods around GMU would riot.

GMU has 40,000 students who don't give a fig about football. My DD was there four years and never once mentioned it but did enjoy basketball. She was there to get internships and a job in her field which she did begore graduation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Biggest university without a football team.

They have a club football team, maybe it will eventually expand to be Div III?

Also, they have a basketball team and the games are fun. I'm actually a fan of a different team within their conference (University of Dayton) so I've been to a few of their games at GMU. GMU has a great band that plays at the games too.

Different poster.

I hope that GMU expands their football team to div 3. It would really improve the status of the school among graduating seniors to add that "normal" part of college culture

Where would they build a stadium? Neighborhoods around GMU would riot.

GMU has 40,000 students who don't give a fig about football. My DD was there four years and never once mentioned it but did enjoy basketball. She was there to get internships and a job in her field which she did begore graduation

Can you share field of study and how she liked the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Townson is in state and if you live in Maryland a way shorter commute to pick up and drop off kid.

If price a issue and want to stay close look at Loyola my daughters good friend has medical issues where she needs to see a doctor a lot and lives in Bethesda. She wanted a school not that far away she could live on campus and her budget was only the MD in state rate. That was what her parents agreed to pay.

She was suprised when she got accepted to both Towson and Loyola that with merit aid Loyola tuition was lower than Towson. She also applied JMU but even with merit aid it could not beat Loyola offering below in state tuition.

So on the second tier schools Loyola for folks wanting to stay close is a great option. She did not want to apply, but my older daughter got a 100k merit offer from their (25 a year four years) and when we talked to school cause on fence they liked my daughter and threw in an extra 1K a year and said that was it. So 104K off tuition! She still turned it down the stinker.

My DC is looking at Loyola, too, but even with $25k/yr merit, it's much more expensive than Towson, though cheaper than GMU oos without merit. The current COA for Loyola is knocking on $80k/.

Loyola is also so different from the other two. It's a tiny college.

Just want to provide an update to this thread. This week DS received $20k/yr merit from GMU and $40k/yr from Loyola bringing both very close to instate UMD (under $40k). We will visit all after we hear from UMD but excited to have options that are affordable for us albeit very different schools.

[Anonymous]

OOS DD received $20k/year for 4 years + Honors College. UMD is still her first choice, but Mason is a solid option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OOS DD received $20k/year for 4 years + Honors College. UMD is still her first choice, but Mason is a solid option.

PP- have you toured the campus yet? we are waiting for umd to tour and compare but interested to hear from others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OOS DD received $20k/year for 4 years + Honors College. UMD is still her first choice, but Mason is a solid option.

congrats. Can I ask what the stats were? DC from MD interested in GMU but without merit aid, it's a no go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Townson is in state and if you live in Maryland a way shorter commute to pick up and drop off kid.

If price a issue and want to stay close look at Loyola my daughters good friend has medical issues where she needs to see a doctor a lot and lives in Bethesda. She wanted a school not that far away she could live on campus and her budget was only the MD in state rate. That was what her parents agreed to pay.

She was suprised when she got accepted to both Towson and Loyola that with merit aid Loyola tuition was lower than Towson. She also applied JMU but even with merit aid it could not beat Loyola offering below in state tuition.

So on the second tier schools Loyola for folks wanting to stay close is a great option. She did not want to apply, but my older daughter got a 100k merit offer from their (25 a year four years) and when we talked to school cause on fence they liked my daughter and threw in an extra 1K a year and said that was it. So 104K off tuition! She still turned it down the stinker.

My DC is looking at Loyola, too, but even with $25k/yr merit, it's much more expensive than Towson, though cheaper than GMU oos without merit. The current COA for Loyola is knocking on $80k/.

Loyola is also so different from the other two. It's a tiny college.

Just want to provide an update to this thread. This week DS received $20k/yr merit from GMU and $40k/yr from Loyola bringing both very close to instate UMD (under $40k). We will visit all after we hear from UMD but excited to have options that are affordable for us albeit very different schools.

PP here.. that is awesome. Can I ask what the stats were? We would also need merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OOS DD received $20k/year for 4 years + Honors College. UMD is still her first choice, but Mason is a solid option.

PP- have you toured the campus yet? we are waiting for umd to tour and compare but interested to hear from others.

We’ve toured on our own but plan to do an admitted honors college tour in February. By that time we’ll know about UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OOS DD received $20k/year for 4 years + Honors College. UMD is still her first choice, but Mason is a solid option.

congrats. Can I ask what the stats were? DC from MD interested in GMU but without merit aid, it's a no go.

MCPS, 4.67 WGPA, 1350 SAT, strong ECs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OOS DD received $20k/year for 4 years + Honors College. UMD is still her first choice, but Mason is a solid option.

congrats. Can I ask what the stats were? DC from MD interested in GMU but without merit aid, it's a no go.

MCPS, 4.67 WGPA, 1350 SAT, strong ECs

Scores are low for GPA. Submitted to GMU because they were >75th but went TO to UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Townson is in state and if you live in Maryland a way shorter commute to pick up and drop off kid.

If price a issue and want to stay close look at Loyola my daughters good friend has medical issues where she needs to see a doctor a lot and lives in Bethesda. She wanted a school not that far away she could live on campus and her budget was only the MD in state rate. That was what her parents agreed to pay.

She was suprised when she got accepted to both Towson and Loyola that with merit aid Loyola tuition was lower than Towson. She also applied JMU but even with merit aid it could not beat Loyola offering below in state tuition.

So on the second tier schools Loyola for folks wanting to stay close is a great option. She did not want to apply, but my older daughter got a 100k merit offer from their (25 a year four years) and when we talked to school cause on fence they liked my daughter and threw in an extra 1K a year and said that was it. So 104K off tuition! She still turned it down the stinker.

My DC is looking at Loyola, too, but even with $25k/yr merit, it's much more expensive than Towson, though cheaper than GMU oos without merit. The current COA for Loyola is knocking on $80k/.

Loyola is also so different from the other two. It's a tiny college.

Just want to provide an update to this thread. This week DS received $20k/yr merit from GMU and $40k/yr from Loyola bringing both very close to instate UMD (under $40k). We will visit all after we hear from UMD but excited to have options that are affordable for us albeit very different schools.

PP here.. that is awesome. Can I ask what the stats were? We would also need merit.

Sure- Poli Sci/International Relations major
UW 3.85/ W 4.67 MCPS
12 APs
SAT 1330 did not send to UMD but sent everywhere else

also received :
$16k at U of AZ honors (think we missed $20k by a fraction of a point); ruling this one due to recent cuts to program and cost/travel
$20k Mich State- JMC & honors college (considering)
Loyola and GMU both honors college (considering)

waiting on a few others outside of UMD but overall relieved to have some options we can afford other than UMBC/Towson/SMCM. I was fine with those but kid was less enthusiastic..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OOS DD received $20k/year for 4 years + Honors College. UMD is still her first choice, but Mason is a solid option.

congrats. Can I ask what the stats were? DC from MD interested in GMU but without merit aid, it's a no go.

MCPS, 4.67 WGPA, 1350 SAT, strong ECs

Scores are low for GPA. Submitted to GMU because they were >75th but went TO to UMD.

I am pp with another mcps kid with 4.67W- maybe that is the magic mcps number😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OOS DD received $20k/year for 4 years + Honors College. UMD is still her first choice, but Mason is a solid option.

congrats. Can I ask what the stats were? DC from MD interested in GMU but without merit aid, it's a no go.

MCPS, 4.67 WGPA, 1350 SAT, strong ECs

DS got 18k/year last year with 4.1 GPA and TO. Varsity sport/captain/NHS - but nothing crazy. He ended up going to Towson (preferred over UMBC) because even with the merit it was 10k more per year (after merit from Towson.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Biggest university without a football team.

They have a club football team, maybe it will eventually expand to be Div III?

Also, they have a basketball team and the games are fun. I'm actually a fan of a different team within their conference (University of Dayton) so I've been to a few of their games at GMU. GMU has a great band that plays at the games too.

Different poster.

I hope that GMU expands their football team to div 3. It would really improve the status of the school among graduating seniors to add that "normal" part of college culture

Where would they build a stadium? Neighborhoods around GMU would riot.

GMU has 40,000 students who don't give a fig about football. My DD was there four years and never once mentioned it but did enjoy basketball. She was there to get internships and a job in her field which she did begore graduation

Lack of football doesn't seem to be a problem for GMU. Or GW. Or a lot of other schools.
To PPP: Go Flyers!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Townson is in state and if you live in Maryland a way shorter commute to pick up and drop off kid.

If price a issue and want to stay close look at Loyola my daughters good friend has medical issues where she needs to see a doctor a lot and lives in Bethesda. She wanted a school not that far away she could live on campus and her budget was only the MD in state rate. That was what her parents agreed to pay.

She was suprised when she got accepted to both Towson and Loyola that with merit aid Loyola tuition was lower than Towson. She also applied JMU but even with merit aid it could not beat Loyola offering below in state tuition.

So on the second tier schools Loyola for folks wanting to stay close is a great option. She did not want to apply, but my older daughter got a 100k merit offer from their (25 a year four years) and when we talked to school cause on fence they liked my daughter and threw in an extra 1K a year and said that was it. So 104K off tuition! She still turned it down the stinker.

Well, Loyola's sticker price is $76K per year...so with $26k in merit it's in the same range as GMU OOS, but definitely not a price-sensitive option compared to in-state MD options.

GMU OOS tuition is $38k. If high stats kids get $17k to $20k merit it is $18 to $21k. Loyola tuition is $57k so you would need $36k to $40k merit to make the 2 comparable.

I have heard Loyola gives merit in mid $30ks. We applied but won't consider unless the merit is in that range. Also concerned that their Forbes financial health score is now in the Cs. I don't understand how Jesuit schools afford to discount so deeply and wonder if most are in financial danger with the exception of Georgetown. Think the Jesuit schools would be a good fit for one of my kids but the financial futures of these schools gives me pause.

In my opinion, Jesuit schools have tried to minimize their Catholic heritage in an attempt to draw in secular students or students. But instead, they only succeeded in pushing away Catholics, including Catholic donor support.

Notre Dame is one of the few Catholic universities who have managed this well.

The Jesuits, by and large, have done it poorly, making it look like they are rejecting Catholicism and Catholic heritage.

I strongly disagree with every one of your points. Jesuit schools have always focused on critical thinking and challenging assumptions. There is nothing new about their openness to other faiths and their focus on Catholicism as a call to service. A lot of us feel that they are the only Catholic colleges that are doing things the right way. This is all irrelevant to OP's thread but just want to chime in to say that not all Catholics are part of the "truer and fewer" movement like PP.

+1