Good alternatives to UVA and William and Mary?
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Anonymous
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I posted this in response to a different inquiry on this board, but it belongs here too --
Very surprised not to see any substantive mention of VCU. I didn't go to VCU, but I know a number of grads, ranging over the last 20 years, and I've been there any number of times. Thirty-plus years ago, not too many people had heard of VCU; it's a merger of two previously-unrelated state schools and a public medical school. They've really stuck to the institution-building down there. It's quite astoundingly cosmopolitan; the city-feel permeates everything. They've really expanded undergrad housing, both quality and quantity; in just about 12-15 years, it's become very predominantly residential among the F/T undergrads. The academic rankings in several key areas have soared, you can do an actual liberal arts major with a business or ed minor (which is apparently the key undergrad goal now) and the graduate programs are highly recognized by the specialists. At one point in the last few years, VCU's city campus was viewed as a bit dicey in terms of safety, but I understand that VCU has very aggressively addressed this. I post this not because I have any VCU affiliation (like I said, I don't, at all), but because I'm so surprised to hear VCU mentioned more by colleagues, friends, friends with HS soph-through-senior kids -- almost everybody -- than I hear VCU mentioned by people around here. I appreciate the snob factor, and I've been accused of perpetuating it myself. But I think VCU seems to be beginning to pass the snob test. I think VCU is the largest consolidated, single undergrad school in the state. Any other comments out there? It would be a useful reality check for me, as well as responsive to the OP. |
Anonymous
| VCU sucks. Might as well talk about Radford. |
Anonymous
Thanks for the thoughtful input. I'm happy to hear about VCU or Radford. Anyone have any relevant, recent experience? |
Anonymous
You must have awesome self-esteem to post comments like this on multiple threads. Perhaps we could save time if you just post your CV here and let posters confirm how impressed they are with how you look on paper. You might feel slightly better about yourself and, even better, none of us will have to meet you in person. |
Anonymous
| How about Elon? |
Anonymous
Ummm, Elon is in North Carolina. |
Anonymous
Ummm, half the posts on this thread are about schools outside Virginia. |
Anonymous
| most hiring folks are from tier 3 and 2 they may have prob hiring a tier 1 |
Anonymous
| James Madison University, wonderful school. My nephew graduated from there and got into several top tier schools, for his degree JMU was the best choice. So many great schools out there, are you limited only to VA? |
Anonymous
Schools that have a strong Greek scene have less non drinking options for socialization and too much follow the heard mentality. It will stunt their growth. Better to go to a college with more diverse options for the social aspect. |
Anonymous
| If he's from a Northern Virginia HS, as you know, it is very hard to get in to W&M and UVA. Can you consider the cost of out-of-state or private? If you can -even if he can't get into WM,UVA from our area, he might get into Cornell, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Northwestern, UofMichigan -any large state university, any small LAC with the exception of Amherst, Williams (the very tippy-top) This is assuming that he generally has the stats for WM, and UVA but will be shut-out due to the numbers of applicants from northern virginia. |
Anonymous
| If you feel he can get in to JMU/VT no problem, then I would say any school out-of-state or private outside of say the top20, he has a shot. You just don't know. Have him apply widely and early (not necessary EA or ED, but early in the application season) If you have to do Virginia schools, some like CNU as an option, but I don't know anyone who has turned-down JMU or VT for CNU. |
Anonymous
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VCU is easy to get in, but hard to get out.
Art majors can get out. Virtually all other majors have much too strenuous foreign language requirement for the type (academic-level) student who ends up going there. I appreciate foreign language - I am in international business myself. Health-related majors attract student who are focused on their grad/professional school options and already know what they want to do. They will be able to graduate in something. VCU needs to offer majors outside of the College of Arts and Sciences (heavy foreign language) which might allow enrolled students to graduate. |
Anonymous
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So far on this thread, we've heard about mass murders; high suicide rates; drunkards; rapists, cowards; the list is endless.....at what point do the PARENTS take some responsiblity for how their kids turned out? What are we supposed to do, avoid UVA because there are a bunch of kis spending money like durnken sailors on their alcohol leading ultimately to a murder (where's the parental responsiblity in that?).
The point I'm making is that there is no "perfect place" in this world. EVERY school in EVERY area of the country will have issues. Seems to me that we have to hope that we have raised our kids in a manner that will allow them to think rationally about they'll respond when presented an adult problem. Is that too much to ask? |
Anonymous
you sound like a loon |