Insights on Mason for Potential Incoming Freshman

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My son will be in that same department at CNU. He really loved the small department that is growing with the new school. He met many professors at the open house on admitted students day, and felt really comfortable there. He loved CNUs campus and vibe, and the location. We are already registered with the disability office. We toured GMU and it’s probably better overall but it is larger and close to home and those were negatives for our son.

We attended admitted students day in April and had a chance to speak with the CS department head. Is your son and incoming freshman? What type of HS is he coming from? Anything you can share regarding the disability office and what supports they will provide?

The disability office does as much as they can to help if you have had testing done. There is an intro meeting during orientation and they welcome private meetings to discuss. We will see what is approved and how well things work in practice.

Interesting. At our admitted students day, one thing that the Dean of students (I believe) made clear was that while the school was committed to and provides support for all students to graduate in 4 years, he was not big on “accommodations), even saying that he was barely even familiar with a 504 Plan. It was an interesting, if revealing comment 🙂

You're saying that the Dean of Students, or similar, at a public institution said publicly that he's "not big on accommodations." You sure about that?

100%.

I'm paraphrasing of course, but he essentially said that the school will support all their students and do all they can to make sure they succeed. But in terms of "accommodations", the school wasn't going to set different bars/standards. He did say specifically that growing up and through his early years in education, he didn't even know what a 504 was. He literally struggled to remember what it was called, saying "what's that thing with the numbers??

He didn't say these things callously, but I do believe he was communicating that CNU has a culture where they do everything possible to provide an environment where students can thrive (they said "we didn't admit the entering class of 2024, we admitted the graduating class of 2028"), but that students need to so within the standards that the university sets.

To be clear, while it was a little shocking, especially in this era of bending over backwards to accommodate everyone's needs, it wasn't exactly a turn-ff for us and I appreciated where he was coming from. In fact, for my kid, I thought it might be very helpful in getting him to be self-sufficient while not being thrust into an overwhelming, cutthroat, sink-or-swim environment. That was a big concern about VCU, and something that the supports at GMU's alleviate at least somewhat, despite being a large school

It also seems clear to me that CNU is trying to turn itself into an elite small public university, probably along the lines of W&L or W&M. To be sure, they've come a long way from their days as a two-year W&M extension, and they've (or at least the former President) brought in a lot of private money to grow and enhance the school. The campus itself is like a mini-UVA aesthetically, and they have instituted many traditions, much like UVA as well. When in trying to woo students from NOVA, that's a huge draw. A neighbor's kid graduated from CNU last year and when he entered, I knew nothing about it. Since then, incoming freshman class stats have risen significantly - as has the median income percentages of those students' household. Take that for what its worth. Outside of UVA, VT, W&L and W&M, I believe CNU has the highest SAT range of the Virginia publics

Again don't quote me, but I think it was this guy...https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-hughes-a0b4864/

The SCHEV data doesn't indicate that CNU has the highest SAT scores in Virginia outside of UVA, VT, W&L, and W&M (W&L is of course private). At the 75th percentile SAT for publics it looks like this (https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp):

UVA / W&M
VT
VMI
GMU
JMU / UMW
CNU
ODU
VCU
LU
UVA-Wise
RU
NSU
VSU

VMI through VCU are in a relatively close SAT range and those schools offer a number of options (size, location, environment)

uh, no. Even GMU is way ahead of CNU in terms of SAT scores. SCHEV reports last year's incoming CNU class at 1240 at the 75th percentile, 1190 at median and 1120 at the bottom 25th percentile. GMU's was 1330/1240/1160. https://research.schev.edu//enrollment/B10_FreshmenProfile.asp

Good point. However, when looking at SCHEV's GPA data, GMU and CNU are pretty much neck-and-neck:

75th/median/25th
CNU: 4.12/3.79/3.44
GMU: 4.0/3.75/3.45

I'm not one who believes in stats of the incoming class as the arbiter of school quality, but for arguments sake, if going by just stats, I'm not sure how one makes the argument that CNU is "at least a tier below GMU."

The other thing to compare (which I have not) is the percentage that are submitting SAT/ACT scores. Some schools report higher scores but have a signifcantly lower percentage submitting.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If you live in NOVA, GMU might be nice in the sense that your kid can come one easily whenever he wants (which could be helpful).

This seems like a negative. The kid should be developing independence not running home frequently.

OP here. I agree with that. Good to have him close enough where coming home can be accomplished in a few hours if necessary, but don't want to encourage that as a frequent practice. Its important that he develop independence whether its on campus 30-40 minutes away, or 3 hours (CNU is about 2 1/2)

My DS just finished his freshman year at GMU and he lived on campus, although we are 30 minutes away. He rarely came home to spend the night, but we would occasionally see him for a meal or to pick up something he needed from home (like his winter coat). It was convenient to have him close to home for doctor/dental appointments. He has ADHD/HFA and sees his doctor every month or so for checkups and refills. I’m very proud of him and I think he made the right choice of school. His other options were VCU, UMW, and JMU. He made Dean’s list both semesters at GMU and seems happy.

That's an amazing success story. Congratulations to you and your DS! Our son initially chose CNU over VCU, and also had Hofstra as an option with substantial merit. Hofstra has a well-regarded program for LD/neurodivergent kids, but it was still very expensive even with merit, and was a bit far away at almost 5 hours with New York traffic.

Your scenario would be a dream for us and our DC. With his ADHD/HFA, what kind of supports have been available to him at GMU? Have you found them helpful?

I tried to get DS to register with the Office of Disability Services, but he refused. Alas, he is 18 so I have to accept it. He has always been very prickly about his ADHD/ASD and doesn’t use any accommodations. I was shocked when I found out how well he did this year. He did have some roommate difficulties first semester, but got a new roommate and it was a lot better after that. He signed up for a single room in an upperclass suite next year, so I hope that will be good for him.
I’m crossing my fingers that his remaining time at GMU goes well, but so far so good.

Good to hear, and I commend him for wanting to move forward without accommodations. Did he look into a single room during freshman year?

This sounds like my son. Hoping we can have similar success!

He didn’t request a single room for his freshman year. He wanted to experience having a roommate, but he is going with a single room next year. Dorm rooms are tiny and unless you and your roommate are very compatible, it’s challenging to share such a small space.

Really good to know about the dorm size. That was a strong point for CNU. They have really nice, spacious dorms - even the traditional first-year digs - and all were suite style instead of having a communal bathroom on the floor. Without revealing too much, was your DC in public or private HS? Did he find himself well-prepared for college-level academics, or did he have a significant adjustment curve?

I saw four dorms as my kid worked her way through GMU. They were all nicer than anything I ever had. One (a double) looking like a very nice hotel set-up with kitchen and full bath. Lots of space. Another was a suite. Each woman had her own room. She also had two very nice sized singles.

Not sure when you cam through college but for me, staying in UVA's McCormick Road "Old Dorms" in the early 90's, almost anything would be nicer than what I had.

Do you remember the names of the dorms your kid stayed in?

Well, yeah, my kid was in those dorms. That's UVA post WWII dorms which have been torn down. This thread is about GMU dorms

The McCormick Road dorms have been renovated and they were post-WWII. Most of the newer Observatory hill dorms have been torn down and replaced. 1960s stuff.

[Anonymous]

Reviving this thread to see if PP ever posted about GMU disability office experience? Also curious about any experience with MASI and what is the cost?

[Anonymous]

Did you research the outcomes for CNU jobs at graduation?