JMU or CNU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family had a surprisingly strong negative reaction to our CNU tour. Agree with many of the things posted already—sterile hotel lobby feel, stepford wives vibe, no visible diversity, kids on lawn seemed like extras placed there. Only college tour that we’ve been on that I observed rude behavior from the students towards the tour. Kids mocked out loud how the tour participants were holding the doors and we saw students pointing and laughing at the tour as we walked through the quad area. It’s the only college that we’ve visited that my kid said “I cannot see myself here, I will never go here.”

But, my friend’s daughter goes there and loves it. Clearly many kids are happy there.

Absolutely agree with the aesthetic issues but we had nothing like your experience with the people. Everyone we interacted with was universally friendly. DC just could not see themself actually living in a school that looked like a glossy magazine cover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only on DCUM can a campus be criticized for being nice looking.

For me, the odd feeling at CNU comes from the fact that everything was either built or extensively renovated at the same time, so there’s an almost jarring uniformity that you don’t see on other campuses that were built up over centuries. It’s like someone really got into the college campus aesthetic and added a few too many cupolas and archways so that it feels like a theme park version of a campus.

Plus that it’s plopped down in Newport News, which is not exactly known for its uniform opulence. It’s just feels weird there.

+1 my DD had a negative reaction to the CNU campus too. Overly pristine and manicured with no soul (in her opinion). She much preferred the UMW campus.

We also visited the UMW campus and she liked it, but ultimately did not apply there.

I have heard multiple people use the word creepy about the campus, but I have not been. In the pictures another PP shared, it looks similar to what I have seen in some buildings at UVA. I guess the difference being that that happened organically and not planned to look like an old southern campus.

NP here. I'll get some hate for this but we liked UMW's campus better than UVA. Thought it was prettier.

Totally agree.

[Anonymous]

CNU is beautiful and I know students who love it. JMU is much larger, also lovely, and I know MANY students who love it.
If I were thinking about them I would note the size differences which lead to differences in the alumni networks— JMU network is HUGE compared to CNU. Alums helped my daughter find summer jobs, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CNU is beautiful and I know students who love it. JMU is much larger, also lovely, and I know MANY students who love it.
If I were thinking about them I would note the size differences which lead to differences in the alumni networks— JMU network is HUGE compared to CNU. Alums helped my daughter find summer jobs, etc.

Of course a larger school is going to have a larger alumni network. But that also means there are far more students that may be seeking their help in looking for jobs, etc. (and there's only so much time/help to go around). The ratio of students to alumni and the percent of alumni in influential positions that can provide meaningful help can be just as important as the total number of alumni.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she got into JMU, I personally would go there. It’s a well-respected school with something for everyone and students absolutely love it. CNU seems nice too but I don’t know much about it.

Same reaction as you, PP, but fwiw our HS principal’s DC goes there and he said as a parent he genuinely feels that CNU is one of Virginia’s best kept secrets and that his DC is thriving there. Loves the campus and community.

We have a student at CNU and my husband and I refer to the school as a "hidden gem". The school is just a nice place to spend 4 years. A very fun and supportive community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family had a surprisingly strong negative reaction to our CNU tour. Agree with many of the things posted already—sterile hotel lobby feel, stepford wives vibe, no visible diversity, kids on lawn seemed like extras placed there. Only college tour that we’ve been on that I observed rude behavior from the students towards the tour. Kids mocked out loud how the tour participants were holding the doors and we saw students pointing and laughing at the tour as we walked through the quad area. It’s the only college that we’ve visited that my kid said “I cannot see myself here, I will never go here.”

But, my friend’s daughter goes there and loves it. Clearly many kids are happy there.

It really is so hard to tell on these college tours. We actually had an odd experience on the JMU tour. Were led out of one of the major academic buildings (science related? - I can not recall now) and two students whispered to us "avoid" and "do not come here". I am sure they were joking but then a third student said something I won't even repeat and my kid was pretty much done with being messed with like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNU is beautiful and I know students who love it. JMU is much larger, also lovely, and I know MANY students who love it.
If I were thinking about them I would note the size differences which lead to differences in the alumni networks— JMU network is HUGE compared to CNU. Alums helped my daughter find summer jobs, etc.

Of course a larger school is going to have a larger alumni network. But that also means there are far more students that may be seeking their help in looking for jobs, etc. (and there's only so much time/help to go around). The ratio of students to alumni and the percent of alumni in influential positions that can provide meaningful help can be just as important as the total number of alumni.

Good point

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNU is beautiful and I know students who love it. JMU is much larger, also lovely, and I know MANY students who love it.
If I were thinking about them I would note the size differences which lead to differences in the alumni networks— JMU network is HUGE compared to CNU. Alums helped my daughter find summer jobs, etc.

Of course a larger school is going to have a larger alumni network. But that also means there are far more students that may be seeking their help in looking for jobs, etc. (and there's only so much time/help to go around). The ratio of students to alumni and the percent of alumni in influential positions that can provide meaningful help can be just as important as the total number of alumni.

Good point

PP with a kid that graduated from CNU. I was randomly in a Walmart with my kid last summer. Kid was wearing a CNU tshirt. In the checkout line, the guy behind us (looked like a random suburban dad) struck up a conversation with us bc of the tshirt. Turns out subarban dad was a CNU graduate and had some high powered job on the Hill. He offered to connect my kid should he want to pursue work (my kid has a job, not into politics). Anyhow random incident, but my older VT graduate who pretty much wears nothing but VT swag when out has never had this kind of encounter. I mean Go Hokies and the fan base is rabid but I think the smaller nature of the CNU population may mean they look out for alums more? Who knows and I know this is N1.

[Anonymous]

That's surprising, I didn't think CNU even existed long enough for old dads to have attended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only on DCUM can a campus be criticized for being nice looking.

For me, the odd feeling at CNU comes from the fact that everything was either built or extensively renovated at the same time, so there’s an almost jarring uniformity that you don’t see on other campuses that were built up over centuries. It’s like someone really got into the college campus aesthetic and added a few too many cupolas and archways so that it feels like a theme park version of a campus.

Plus that it’s plopped down in Newport News, which is not exactly known for its uniform opulence. It’s just feels weird there.

+1 my DD had a negative reaction to the CNU campus too. Overly pristine and manicured with no soul (in her opinion). She much preferred the UMW campus.

We also visited the UMW campus and she liked it, but ultimately did not apply there.

I have heard multiple people use the word creepy about the campus, but I have not been. In the pictures another PP shared, it looks similar to what I have seen in some buildings at UVA. I guess the difference being that that happened organically and not planned to look like an old southern campus.

NP here. I'll get some hate for this but we liked UMW's campus better than UVA. Thought it was prettier.

I always felt that way and I went to both schools and loved both, too. But UMW was prettier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's surprising, I didn't think CNU even existed long enough for old dads to have attended.

I read responses like this and I just cringe. Not at the "witty" response but at the poster. I find responses like this so odd and embarrassing for the person who typed them.

[Anonymous]

It’s not a zero sum game - VA has a lot of nice campuses. We don’t need to rank them. I think CNU is really pretty. The great lawn is lovely, the dorms are nice inside, nice sports fields and everything is within walking distance.

[Anonymous]

I have students at both schools. They are both good schools, but different. JMU has ~20K undergrads while CNU has ~5K.

Both schools have been good for my kids and they have thrived at each. They have found clubs and social groups at both.

It really depends on where your child feels like it is "home."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My family had a surprisingly strong negative reaction to our CNU tour. Agree with many of the things posted already—sterile hotel lobby feel, stepford wives vibe, no visible diversity, kids on lawn seemed like extras placed there. Only college tour that we’ve been on that I observed rude behavior from the students towards the tour. Kids mocked out loud how the tour participants were holding the doors and we saw students pointing and laughing at the tour as we walked through the quad area. It’s the only college that we’ve visited that my kid said “I cannot see myself here, I will never go here.”

But, my friend’s daughter goes there and loves it. Clearly many kids are happy there.

It really is so hard to tell on these college tours. We actually had an odd experience on the JMU tour. Were led out of one of the major academic buildings (science related? - I can not recall now) and two students whispered to us "avoid" and "do not come here". I am sure they were joking but then a third student said something I won't even repeat and my kid was pretty much done with being messed with like that.

Interesting... this happened to us at our tour at GMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CNU is beautiful and I know students who love it. JMU is much larger, also lovely, and I know MANY students who love it.
If I were thinking about them I would note the size differences which lead to differences in the alumni networks— JMU network is HUGE compared to CNU. Alums helped my daughter find summer jobs, etc.

Of course a larger school is going to have a larger alumni network. But that also means there are far more students that may be seeking their help in looking for jobs, etc. (and there's only so much time/help to go around). The ratio of students to alumni and the percent of alumni in influential positions that can provide meaningful help can be just as important as the total number of alumni.

Good point

PP with a kid that graduated from CNU. I was randomly in a Walmart with my kid last summer. Kid was wearing a CNU tshirt. In the checkout line, the guy behind us (looked like a random suburban dad) struck up a conversation with us bc of the tshirt. Turns out subarban dad was a CNU graduate and had some high powered job on the Hill. He offered to connect my kid should he want to pursue work (my kid has a job, not into politics). Anyhow random incident, but my older VT graduate who pretty much wears nothing but VT swag when out has never had this kind of encounter. I mean Go Hokies and the fan base is rabid but I think the smaller nature of the CNU population may mean they look out for alums more? Who knows and I know this is N1.

Interesting! I talked to someone yesterday who told me that their daughter really enjoys JMU, but it has been challenging to register for classes needed to graduate on time. This concerns me.