
Plus, W&M is only an hour from the beach and has a strong sailing team. |
NP. True. But they also go to JMU. (And W&M is nowhere near any mountains, nor does it have excellent sports teams.) |
Because someone will raise this point, I’ll go for it. JMU is probably a 2nd tier VA school, not 3rd. And I say that as a parent with no connection to JMU. UVa and WM now have almost identical stats for their incoming classes. WM was like .02 below UVA on GPA last year and did better in some standardized testing metrics. Those 2, plus some VT direct entry schools (ahem, Engineering) are Tier 1 in VA (state schools, not bringing W&L into this discussion). 2nd tier would be the rest of VT, JMU, and possibly GMU in STEM/CS and several other areas, right? The DMV tends to undervalue GMU because kids don’t want to go to college 5 miles from home. But the CS plus some other areas are very strong I’d put 3rd tier VA state schools as CNU, UMW, VCU… And we can go down to ODU, the HBCUs, Longwood, Radford, from there. But, from my kids’ FCPS HS classes, kids who went to JMU were solidly second tier students. Not the academic rock stars. Or the anything rock stars. But, one tier down from that. JMU seemed to be a natural fit for kids who: were solid but not exceptional academically (3.9W GPA, not 4.4W; 6 APs, not 12; 1300 SATs, not 1500+); had a nice, outgoing personality; and were busy and involved in ECs, such as music, drama, or a sport, but are not all state and mostly not all district. I personally only know one athlete (male, football, so no help to OP) It’s a high average school for kids with high average academic performance, but not the top 10-15% of the class. JMU is a safety for the top 25%-35% of FCPS HS classes (depends on HS, obviously). I know a lot of current JMU students after my 2 kids applied for college 2 years apart. And college admissions has really distorted some parents and students perceptions of what it takes to go to a tier 1 school from the DMV— especially eldest children. Well over half the kids I know who went to JMU had UVA, VT Engineering or WM as a first choice. Or if they were serious about engineering/ CS, schools like NC State, Purdue, GT, Clemson, IU-CU, etc. And they were confident enough in their ability to get in that they did EA or RD, not ED (which UVA, VT and WM all offered at the time). JMU and GMU (maybe also VCU or CNU) were their safeties. But they didn’t get into UVA, WM or VT engineering or another state flagship engineering. And in March, there were a lot of shocked “what do you mean UVA, WM and/or VT (Purdue, GT, NC State, an UC) outright rejected me” kids and their families. So, plan B became JMU or GMU. Some of the Asian kids who were serious about CS chose GMU. Most other kids chose JMU because at last it isn’t a stones throw from their high school. Not because it was their first choice, but because it’s was the best choice available 5/1. I’m from NC. Even one state over, parents of HS/college aged kids have not heard of JMU. Which is fine. Most people in VA don’t know much about UNC-Charlotte, Greensboro or Asheville, which are all good at various things, in different ways. 90%+ of America hasn’t heard of Colby either— or Amherst, Hamilton, Bowdoin, Bates…. But, that’s also fine. IYKYK. And the people who need to know (grad school admissions, hiring departments for major companies, government sponsored programs like Fulbright, CLE, Peace Corp)— they know. Repeat after me: your job is to support your kid while they decide which school is a better fit and where they will be happy and productive. That may mean listening. Or, it may mean 2 plane tickets to Maine. The car sticker, the perceptions of the other moms at yoga and/or your ability to humble brag at cocktail parties should play no role here. To me, Colby seems like the no brainer, if you can afford it. It’s hard to argue with a straight face that JMU is stronger academically, has a smarter peer group or has better outcomes. They just don’t. But— your kid needs to compare the schools. Do they like the feel of the potential new teams, the coaching staff and the other athletes? Do they like the feel of each campus? Is Colby too small, too isolated, too cold? Is JMU too large, fratty and 13th grade? Does your kid want Greek life and big spectator sports on weekends (tailgates and football), or is that not their speed? See if they can sit in on typical freshman classes, so they can start to understand how different the educational models are for SLACs and midrange regional Us. These two schools are very different. If your kid visits both, they should have a preference. And you should listen to them and ask questions to understand their thinking. Colby may be the better school, but if you kid is miserable, stops enjoying their sport, hates Maine winters, gets meh grades and isn’t happy and productive, it isn’t the school for them. TL; DR: of course Colby is the better school academically. The question is, is it better for your kid and their wants and needs? |
:lol: Seriously? It matters because lots of people like being in a mountainous environment that is absolutely gorgeous in the fall and spring. "Big hills off in the distance"? Colby is not in the mountains at all. You should stick to urban schools, which have no "campus" to speak of. DP |
My DD chose JMU over VT. Her friends dorm room was full of mold upon move in at VT. |
It really is. And surrounded by actual mountains, unlike Waterville, ME. |
DP. You really have no idea what you're talking about, do you? Do you even know where Harrisonburg, VA is? Smack dab in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley, surrounded by mountains. The ski resort of Massanutten is 20 minutes away! Students ski there all the time. Certainly no need to drive an hour, as one would have to do at Colby. You sound very, very silly and uninformed. |
Colby!! |
+1 But Massanutten is even closer. Just down the road. ![]() |
Seriously. This is a pretty amusing thread. Sure, there are kids who would choose Colby. But not many. |
Are you seriously. Pushing JMU based on… skiing opportunity near the school? And saying that JMU has the same skiing opportunities as Colby? Loyalty to your kids school is admirable. Until you cross the line into absurd. I would hope we could at least agree that Maine has better skiing than VA/WV. Especially recently. DH tres to ski in WV a couple times a winter. The last 2-3 years, he’s been once. Total, not per year. VA and WV are down to a 4 week ski season in the past few years— if they are lucky. No matter how much snow they make. It’s almost January and ski season. Weather still isn’t here. By mid Feb, they are closed. Maine wins when it comes to this aspect of global warming. |
You sound fun! Of course recreational opportunities are important to MOST people choosing colleges. Good grief. DP |
:lol: |
Colby is a totally different tier of school. I’d do that |
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So basically, the 30%, +/- 5%, of most public HSs in VA attend JMU. |