I think a lot of these opinions being stated about Mason are more reflective of how/what GMU was decades ago (back when many of the DCUM posters were college students). GMU has changed significantly over the past 15+ years. It's a massive institution now, delivering a top notch education to undergrad, grad, and upward.

Anonymous wrote:And kids who are smart don't even apply there. So they are getting a lot of B,C students who can't get in elsewhere

I'm not sure what you're smoking. GMU gets a lot of smart students, particularly children of immigrants whose parents would like them to stay in this area.

And kids who are smart don't even apply there. So they are getting a lot of B,C students who can't get in elsewhere

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At a GMU tour today since DS will attend this Fall. 25,000 applications and 3000 offered admission according to admissions presenter.

Somebody be mangling some statistics big time here.

Probably meant 13,000

Maybe so. Mason is selective, but its admissions rate is closer to 50-60% than 12%, and its yield is also low, because so many seniors apply who view it as a safety school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous[b wrote:]Ivy doesn't mean much after 10 years of experience[/b]

Actually, I agree with this. There was a study that was done a few years back that compared the earnings of Ivy graduates with State U. graduates working in the same fields that found very little, if any difference, in the impact of where you went to school on the overall trajectory of your career and your earning over your lifetime. It did make a difference for students who were black or Hispanic or who were first generation college graduates. What matters is what you do in the workforce once you are out there. What matters is can you perform and not what degree do you have. A link to a NYT article on the study, which also contains a link to the study itself, is here: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/revisiting-the-value-of-elite-colleges/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

There are State Us and the. There are schools like Mason which are basically continuing Ed for working adults. Like strayer.

Oh Grandma, you need to wake up and visit the campus. Read and learn. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mason_University. Over 75% of freshman now live on campus and more would if they had space. GMU has been building for 13 years to continue expansion to keep up with demand. The state legislature is pouring money into it. It is the largest university in the state with 33,000 students, 1/3 of which are post grad students. It it were truly "continuing Ed for working adults" where would 33,000 be parking in Reston? Why would the university be converting the Mason Hotel into additional dorm space. Why would there be so many international students? Why would it have been listed as no. 1 in "up and coming universiities"? Since you are so ignorant I am including a wiki on STrayer, which happens to be a for-profit (for its president) money maker for 3,800 distance learning students. There is not campus. And how would you compare its technical workplace offerings with Mason's outstanding Economics, Engineering and Computer Science programs. Or foreign languages. Or traditional core liberal arts courses. Strayer doesn't offer those. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strayer_University