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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Are the science programs really that bad at JMU?[/quote]

I hesitate to say “bad”, but [b]JMU definitely is very weak in real science degrees like Physics or Chem. [/b] The same science degree from ODU or GMU or VCU would be much much stronger, and obviously both UVa and VT have very credible science degrees.  Going. to JMU for that degree will adversely impact one’s options at college graduation.  Harder to get into a good grad science program from JMU and also harder to get a job.  JMU would be OK if one’s career goal were o spend one’s life being a high school science teacher.  [/quote]

DP.  Please list your source for the above claims.  Nothing I have experienced - both with my own kids who are JMU grads (one in a science major) and many others we know - come even a little bit close to the fiction you're spinning.  Thanks.[/quote]

I'm the PP who asked the question, not the person who answered it, but I did find this:

https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/chemistry-rankings

USNWR top 212 schools for chemistry:

42. UVA
67. VT
119. VCU
173. GMU
173. ODU
Not making the list: JMU

[/quote]

That is for graduate schools.  Not undergraduate.[/quote]

I don't think JMU has any graduate degree programs in chemistry.  It would never appear on the list you cited.  A school can be very good at undergraduate chemistry (e.g. Swarthmore) and it would never appear on the list you cited.  However, their undergraduate program could be better than the undergraduate programs of many on the graduate list.[/quote]

A better indicator of undergrad quality could be the numbers/% of students who go on to a chemistry PhD. 
https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#chemistry

Top 4 by # = Berkeley, UNC, UCSD, UC Davis
Top 4 adjusted for college size = Cal Tech, Harvey Mudd, Carleton, Grinnell

FWIW Swarthmore is #16 in the "adjusted" list

[b]VT is #29 in total, UVA is #42, UMD is #47, JMU doesn't make the list.[/b][/quote]

Of note, W&M is ranked at #15 in total, well ahead of VT , UVA, and UMD (and JMU) despite being much smaller.  [b]When adjusted for size, W&M is the highest ranked national public university.[/b]   [/quote]

What?  There are 12 public universities ranked ahead of W&M in this ranking.  No one is "adjusting for size."   :roll: [/quote]

If you are doing an eye roll, why don't you roll them over to the right side of the top feeder schools we page, where there is an "adjusted" rank.  In it, W&M is ranked 30.  No other national public university makes the top 50.

If you don't want to do that, and just want to focus on the overall totals, you can see that W&M is tied with the University of Texas at Austin and Penn State.   The undergraduate enrollments of UT and Penn State are both 6.1X that of that of W&M.  [/quote]

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