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[quote=Anonymous]Wow.  There is so much more to choosing a college than the brand name, the US News "ranking," and admissions statistics. We just finished looking closely at most of the State schools in Virginia for our senior who is starting in the fall. We didn't look at UVA or CWM because he didn't have the grades for those two and we didn't look at Tech or GMU because he wasn't interested.

So that left CNU, JMU, ODU, VCU, Radford, and Longwood.  Each has its own very unique vibe, and plusses and minuses, but after considering them all (plus a few out-of-state) I'm so glad we live in Virginia and have so many affordable and quality choices.  JMU, ODU and especially VCU are huge.  Radford is medium-sized, and CNU and Longwood are small.  The size of the school makes a huge difference.  Both Radford and CNU have new dynamic leadership and are both making nice improvements.

For NoVa students.  JMU and CNU seem to be the hardest to get into.  ODU and VCU are next.  And Radford and Longwood are the easiest.  Radford seemed to have the fewest NoVa students of all of them.

VCU feels like a Drexel or NYU, urban and trendy.  ODU is a little grittier.  The buildings had a 1960s feel, but nice new dorms for freshmen. CNU has newer buildings and kind of a fresh feel.  JMU seems to be where many who just missed UVA end up. We know a couple kids waitlisted at UVA who are going there.   It has a suburban campus feeling and its only 2 hours from the beltway.  Radford has a very "southern" feeling, very laid back and a beautiful campus.

As for academics, some schools are extra strong in certain programs; I'll leave those for you to research. But in general, we ended up convinced that all of them can provide a quality education to the motivated student. My Ivy spouse went in skeptical and was a tough sell, but emerged from this process reassured.  By the way, we do have our doubts about some of the lesser known Virginia privates, but that's for another board.

The bottom line is, when the time comes, go look at each one you are seriously interested in.  Go, if possible, when the schools are in session.  It's really the best way to evaluate each school.   And for goodness sake, don't rely on rumors, gossip, or worse, the US News "rankings."

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