Anonymous wrote:It's been a few years, but when our oldest was looking at VA schools (we're in state) CNU was a nothing school much closer to the bottom of the pack than the top and not even in the same league as JMU or Mary Washington. It was ODU level at best. I know it's gotten more selective since then, but no I'm not convinced. I'd be embarrassed to send a kid there still.

To me, in VA, there's UVA, W&M, Tech, JMU, VCU and MW -- and nowhere else worth thinking about or being proud about.

OMG. Honey, you really need to get out more. I don't have kids at CNU, but would be happy if I did. It's a lovely, well-respected school. You seem beyond nasty, and for no reason.

Anonymous wrote:

Aren't GMU, JMU, CNU and MW basically interchangeable??

JMU is way more fun and spirited than the others.

Aren't GMU, JMU, CNU and MW basically interchangeable??

Anonymous wrote:It’s a gorgeous campus and solid school. On-par with JMU. My son has been accepted to a few “bigger name” schools, but eagerly awaiting CNU because we’ve heard merit $$ is good.

I don’t get the “gorgeous campus” comments. The school was built in the 70’s

How is the grading at CNU? My DC is concerned about grades but loves the school.

Anonymous wrote:It's been a few years, but when our oldest was looking at VA schools (we're in state) CNU was a nothing school much closer to the bottom of the pack than the top and not even in the same league as JMU or Mary Washington. It was ODU level at best. I know it's gotten more selective since then, but no I'm not convinced. I'd be embarrassed to send a kid there still.

To me, in VA, there's UVA, W&M, Tech, JMU, VCU and MW -- and nowhere else worth thinking about or being proud about.

You left out GMU

Anonymous wrote:You’d be crazy to go there over JMU

+100

OP here and based on stats it looks like JMU, CNU, GMU, VCU and MW are all pretty similar. Surprised at all the strong opinions against all of them (ok not really surprised). JMU has a bigger football program and is larger overall. CNU does well in D3 and they want to play club sports. Teen didn't like GMU/MW (too close to home) or VCU (too urban).

I would have loved Richmond for them, but the HS stats were not there for it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's been a few years, but when our oldest was looking at VA schools (we're in state) CNU was a nothing school much closer to the bottom of the pack than the top and not even in the same league as JMU or Mary Washington. It was ODU level at best. I know it's gotten more selective since then, but no I'm not convinced. I'd be embarrassed to send a kid there still.

To me, in VA, there's UVA, W&M, Tech, JMU, VCU and MW -- and nowhere else worth thinking about or being proud about.

UVA, Tech Engineering, W&M.
That's it. Nowhere else.

you're pretty narrow minded for someone who has such aspirations.

Anonymous wrote:It's been a few years, but when our oldest was looking at VA schools (we're in state) CNU was a nothing school much closer to the bottom of the pack than the top and not even in the same league as JMU or Mary Washington. It was ODU level at best. I know it's gotten more selective since then, but no I'm not convinced. I'd be embarrassed to send a kid there still.

To me, in VA, there's UVA, W&M, Tech, JMU, VCU and MW -- and nowhere else worth thinking about or being proud about.

UVA, Tech Engineering, W&M.
That's it. Nowhere else.

PP seems to have very outdated info. GMU has invested in dorms and has top programs in several areas and is increasingly competitive. CNU is every bit in the same category as MW.

It is a small school though. And that should give any kid who thinks they'd prefer a larger school pause. Otherwise it can be a great match for anyone considering JMU, GMU, MW or VCU. We're blessed to have a wide range of top notch universities here - both public and private.

We have a DS there now playing his sport (they're quite competitive in D3 at CNU for both women and men - women's soccer just won the D3 national championship). He has realized it's smaller than he would have preferred but is making the most of it. He came from private and found the first year very easy but has been more challenged this year, especially because his major is a difficult one so it's all new information for the most part.

One nice thing is that if you have a kid interested in business, they can study it there even though the rest of the school has a small LAC vibe. Many smaller universities don't offer business degrees.

It does lean conservative but there is definitely a mix.

Anonymous wrote:It's been a few years, but when our oldest was looking at VA schools (we're in state) CNU was a nothing school much closer to the bottom of the pack than the top and not even in the same league as JMU or Mary Washington. It was ODU level at best. I know it's gotten more selective since then, but no I'm not convinced. I'd be embarrassed to send a kid there still.

To me, in VA, there's UVA, W&M, Tech, JMU, VCU and MW -- and nowhere else worth thinking about or being proud about.

Not even George Mason?

DD was a very good student at a NOVA public with a 4.0+ GPA and lots of APs and pretty good but not great test scores. She applied to UVA, W&M, Tech and JMU in state. After being waitlisted at UVA she made clear that she didn't work as hard as she did in HS and do as well as she did just to end up at a school like JMU. She ended up getting off the UVA waitlist and went there, but had that not happened we would have gone private.

It’s a gorgeous campus and solid school. On-par with JMU. My son has been accepted to a few “bigger name” schools, but eagerly awaiting CNU because we’ve heard merit $$ is good.

Pretty campus. Kids I know there seem bright and nice. Definitely a school that is going places.