Va Publics with 5-10K Students (other than W&M)

[Anonymous]

W&M is obviously at the top of the list, but thoughts on other VA "PUBLIC" colleges with 5-10K Students? Degree of interest is Elementary Education.

Christopher Newport University
University of Mary Washington
Radford University
Longwood University

Requesting only constructive feedback based on actual knowledge - please no college bullying and no silly remarks.

[Anonymous]

You missed Salem State

[Anonymous]

There was an earlier thread fairly recently with many people posting nice things about Radford.
We are in the college search process now. We visited many VA colleges last year, but weren't able to squeeze in Mary Washington. Planning on doing that this fall.
We did visit Christopher Newport and were very, VERY impressed. Gorgeous campus, impressive presentations, and (if you care about these things) it keeps going up in the rankings.
My DC will definitely be applying to UMW and CNU. Both schools offer the 5 year programs where you come out with the M.Ed.

[Anonymous]

My friend's DD who is planning to be a teacher is at CNU and loves it.

[Anonymous]

Try really hard to get into William and Mary.

[Anonymous]

Try really hard to get into William and Mary.

OP here. W&M is a far reach, especially from a NOVA HS. Even so, my daughter wasn't that impressed after spending week there this past summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Try really hard to get into William and Mary.

OP here. W&M is a far reach, especially from a NOVA HS. Even so, my daughter wasn't that impressed after spending week there this past summer.

You missed the mean-spirited intention if that poster.

[Anonymous]

You missed the mean-spirited intention if that poster.

No, didn't miss it. Just let it roll off. Besides, as I responded, not impressed after week at W&M for Leadership program -- what really took the cake was receiving a certificate from W&M with a clear typo on it!

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you didn't like W&M for some reason, but most similar anyway would probably be CNU and MWU.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you didn't like W&M for some reason, but most similar anyway would probably be CNU and MWU.

Actually I love W&M, but my DD had bad dorm experience while there for a week. We get it being old, but shower stalls were filthy and there were lots of bugs. DD is spoiled with clean shower I guess - first thing she texted me was how dirty the showers were.

[Anonymous]

CNU is really up and coming at our high school.

UMW I was looking at for DC but the Niche reviews scared me a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You missed the mean-spirited intention if that poster.

No, didn't miss it. Just let it roll off. Besides, as I responded, not impressed after week at W&M for Leadership program -- what really took the cake was receiving a certificate from W&M with a clear typo on it!

Not mean spirited st all. Just trying to be encouraging. But sounds like she’s rationalized things anyway, so there ya go.

[Anonymous]

We looked at all of these schools last year with my daughter. Here were our impressions:

1. UMW--this was her ultimate choice. It felt like William and Mary (beautiful architecture, historic town, small size)--without the intense academics. So far, she's happy with her decision. They do a lot to try to help freshmen adjust. Some of the facilities are a bit old and worn. About 10 kids from my daughter's class are going. It has a good reputation among counselors and teachers in this area--several independently recommended it. Since you mentioned your daughter was interested in education, they do have a freshman seminar class called "So You Want to Be a Teacher" which helps students explore this career path. (Every student has to take a freshman seminar class of their choosing)

2. Christopher Newport--definitely an up-and-coming school. Very impressive facilities. It felt more like a tiny UVA to us as far as student body was concerned. They strongly weigh the interview and demonstrated interest in their admissions decision. My daughter had a hard time choosing between CNU and UMW, but ultimately felt that CNU was a little too business-oriented rather than the true liberal arts focus she was looking for. If sparkling shower facilities are a must, this is probably the place to go. It is the most difficult of the four schools to get into. About 6-7 kids from my daughter's school are going.

3. Radford--the school itself is very pretty and since they are on the larger side, they offer a great variety of programs. But I think the party school reputation unfortunately has some truth--a friend's granddaughter has already been busted for underage drinking. When we visited, the tour was literally 2 hours long and they never showed us the library. My daughter applied, but never seriously considered it. 1-2 students from my daughter's class are going.

4. Longwood. Oh Longwood, we wanted so much to like you. But the Open House was such an amateur hour (tour guide told us that the school had lots of religious diversity--"Baptists, Catholics and Jesuits!", giving away a $1000 scholarship in a drawing, having the financial aid officer tell us that a great way to save money for college is to buy several tubes of toothpaste when it's on sale and stockpile them for your student, etc.) that my daughter was totally turned off. I think a kid from NOVA would find the school too provincial. 1 student from my daughter's graduating class is going there.

For the record, my daughter couldn't have gotten in to W&M, so we--like many other people--simply moved on to the schools that were good fits for our budget, her interests, and her stats. No shame in that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We looked at all of these schools last year with my daughter. Here were our impressions:

1. UMW--this was her ultimate choice. It felt like William and Mary (beautiful architecture, historic town, small size)--without the intense academics. So far, she's happy with her decision. They do a lot to try to help freshmen adjust. Some of the facilities are a bit old and worn. About 10 kids from my daughter's class are going. It has a good reputation among counselors and teachers in this area--several independently recommended it. Since you mentioned your daughter was interested in education, they do have a freshman seminar class called "So You Want to Be a Teacher" which helps students explore this career path. (Every student has to take a freshman seminar class of their choosing)

2. Christopher Newport--definitely an up-and-coming school. Very impressive facilities. It felt more like a tiny UVA to us as far as student body was concerned. They strongly weigh the interview and demonstrated interest in their admissions decision. My daughter had a hard time choosing between CNU and UMW, but ultimately felt that CNU was a little too business-oriented rather than the true liberal arts focus she was looking for. If sparkling shower facilities are a must, this is probably the place to go. It is the most difficult of the four schools to get into. About 6-7 kids from my daughter's school are going.

3. Radford--the school itself is very pretty and since they are on the larger side, they offer a great variety of programs. But I think the party school reputation unfortunately has some truth--a friend's granddaughter has already been busted for underage drinking. When we visited, the tour was literally 2 hours long and they never showed us the library. My daughter applied, but never seriously considered it. 1-2 students from my daughter's class are going.

4. Longwood. Oh Longwood, we wanted so much to like you. But the Open House was such an amateur hour (tour guide told us that the school had lots of religious diversity--"Baptists, Catholics and Jesuits!", giving away a $1000 scholarship in a drawing, having the financial aid officer tell us that a great way to save money for college is to buy several tubes of toothpaste when it's on sale and stockpile them for your student, etc.) that my daughter was totally turned off. I think a kid from NOVA would find the school too provincial. 1 student from my daughter's graduating class is going there.

For the record, my daughter couldn't have gotten in to W&M, so we--like many other people--simply moved on to the schools that were good fits for our budget, her interests, and her stats. No shame in that.

Just a voyeur....great summaries.

[Anonymous]

We looked at all of these schools last year with my daughter. Here were our impressions:

1. UMW--this was her ultimate choice. It felt like William and Mary (beautiful architecture, historic town, small size)--without the intense academics. So far, she's happy with her decision. They do a lot to try to help freshmen adjust. Some of the facilities are a bit old and worn. About 10 kids from my daughter's class are going. It has a good reputation among counselors and teachers in this area--several independently recommended it. Since you mentioned your daughter was interested in education, they do have a freshman seminar class called "So You Want to Be a Teacher" which helps students explore this career path. (Every student has to take a freshman seminar class of their choosing)

2. Christopher Newport--definitely an up-and-coming school. Very impressive facilities. It felt more like a tiny UVA to us as far as student body was concerned. They strongly weigh the interview and demonstrated interest in their admissions decision. My daughter had a hard time choosing between CNU and UMW, but ultimately felt that CNU was a little too business-oriented rather than the true liberal arts focus she was looking for. If sparkling shower facilities are a must, this is probably the place to go. It is the most difficult of the four schools to get into. About 6-7 kids from my daughter's school are going.

3. Radford--the school itself is very pretty and since they are on the larger side, they offer a great variety of programs. But I think the party school reputation unfortunately has some truth--a friend's granddaughter has already been busted for underage drinking. When we visited, the tour was literally 2 hours long and they never showed us the library. My daughter applied, but never seriously considered it. 1-2 students from my daughter's class are going.

4. Longwood. Oh Longwood, we wanted so much to like you. But the Open House was such an amateur hour (tour guide told us that the school had lots of religious diversity--"Baptists, Catholics and Jesuits!", giving away a $1000 scholarship in a drawing, having the financial aid officer tell us that a great way to save money for college is to buy several tubes of toothpaste when it's on sale and stockpile them for your student, etc.) that my daughter was totally turned off. I think a kid from NOVA would find the school too provincial. 1 student from my daughter's graduating class is going there.

For the record, my daughter couldn't have gotten in to W&M, so we--like many other people--simply moved on to the schools that were good fits for our budget, her interests, and her stats. No shame in that.

OP here. Wow, thank you! This was the most constructive feedback I have ever received on DCUM!! Love the freshman seminar offering at UMW called "So You Want to Be a Teacher" - I hope it's offered if my DD ends up there next year. I am totally with you regarding your last statement, W&M is Hail Mary reach for my DD too, so we are also realistically looking at in-state schools that are good fits for our budget, her interests, and her stats. Agree, no shame in that at all.