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[quote=Anonymous]I graduated from VCU in 2010, and was lucky to find a decent job right after graduation, which turned into a great career (Financial Analyst with a Fortune 500 company). I graduated with a 3.53 overall and a 3.73 in my majors (doubled in Finance and Real Estate), that being said, I am still stigmatized because of my VCU degree, particularly by graduates of top tier schools (UVA, W&M, UNC, UoR, etc...), and before landing my current position, potential employers.  Maybe 10 years from now my degree might carry more weight (VCU is improving relatively quickly), but if I had to do it over again I would choose a different path.  Community colleges offer guaranteed admissions programs to UVA or W&M, given you take the program's courses and maintain a high GPA, a 3.5 in most cases.  You'll save money and end up with a degree from a top 40 university, which may open doors that VCU, GMU, JMU, or CNU could not.  I know this is an unpopular choice with many high school graduates (I definitely did not want to go to community college), but it is a great alternative.  Although, you do miss out on the freshman/sophomore social experience that were some of the best times of my life.

Bypassing the community college route, I would never select CNU over JMU or GMU.  CNU was a community college not to long ago, but then a new president built a ton of new buildings and arbitrarily raised the admission requirements.  Also, CNU is in Newport News (aka "Bad News"), a filthy suburban "city" where shopping malls are the most popular attractions.  At least VCU and GMU offer urban perks and JMU offers beautiful mountains vistas.

Sorry for the ramble. See my ranking below.

1) JMU- Decent school, but doesn't really excel in a particular field of study except teaching. Safety school for kids applying to top 40 schools. Known for an excellent social scene (parties), because thats all you can do in a small mountain town.  Graduates all seem to say good things about the school.

2) GMU- Founded in 1972 as a day college.   Pretty much a safety school, and the only reason why it has grown so much is because of the basketball final four appearance (#1 up and coming national university). Also a popular social scene school.

3) VCU- Strong arts program, decent science programs due to Med School, top rated social work school, and top rated marketing grad school (Brand Center), but still a safety school for kids applying to VA Tech and JMU.  Overloaded with hipsters that think they are much smarter than they really are.  The school started off as a business day school in 1917 but then merged with a local med school which was founded in 1838.  VCU keeps the 1838 date because it looks better on T-shirts.  Regardless of how cool the t-shirts are, only 27% of the freshman graduate in 4 years.

4) CNU- Apparently they have become more selective and a few of their programs have received self proclaimed accolades, but I call BS on the freshman student body having an average high school GPA of 3.7-that would be a UVA or W&M GPA.... and thats their average. Who the hell would go to CNU over UVA? Unless they are giving out scholarships like crazy, which would explain why their endowment fund is only $16 million and they fired a large portion of the teaching staff.  Also, the university was founded in 1960 as community college, so no one knows about it or where it is.

5) ODU- Kind of in a bad area, and the student body is pulled from that area. However, the school is improving and I have met some good people from ODU.

6)Longwood- Where country pot heads go, but better than Radford

6) Radford- If you kid has no real ambition and plans to drink his/her way through college, go here, but then again it's better than nothing. I have never met a Radford graduate in my professional career.

I don't know much about Mary Washington, other than it was "women only" not too long ago.

Take your kid to different schools, let him/her feel them out. Let him/her walk around campus with a friend so they can take in the students, the surroundings, and the mood.  Im assuming you want to stay public and in-state with schools that are not as selective as UVA,W&M, or VT(rednecks). If so, these are your best choices.

Its somewhat difficult to compare colleges, some are regionally ranked and some are nationally ranked.  Also, programs may be stronger or weaker between competing universities depending on the field.

Jesus Christ, I need to write a book.

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