People love to bash schools. It makes no sense to me.

JMU is a great school. UVA is a great school. Penn state is a great school. There’s no need to tear them down. I know awesome graduates from all 3 and I’m a graduate of one of them.

I hate the bashing. It really hurts the kids because they overlook schools that otherwise might have been fits for them.

Do better, people, with some of your comments.

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Anonymous wrote:I will be over the moon if any of my three kids go to JMU!!! I went there in the 90’s as did my sister. Both of us have great careers and absolutely loved our time there.

One of the reasons I love hiring JMU grads is they don’t think their sh*t doesn’t smell.

Wow. That reflects highly on JMU. Eloquently stated.

Perfect reflection of the poster's point. JMU isn't full of elitist judgy snobs.

I don't get these comments. It isn't full of elitist judgey snobs because elitist judgey snobs can get into much higher-ranked schools.

Not a reflection on JMU but merely how the world works. Iowa State and University of Oregon and Colorado State (all generally the same rank) also aren't filled with elitist judgey snobs. GMU and VCU I gather are also not filled with elitist judgey snobs.

Is this all a veiled snipe at UVA or something?

Even among higher ranked schools, some are more known for their elitist judgy snob vibe—like Duke and, yes, UVA. High stats kids need not automatically be elitist snobs.

Many people on this site who are obsessed with rankings like to sneer at a school like JMU. What these comments are saying is that, yes, we know that our kids’ stats are not high enough for some schools, but we’re fine with that because we prefer the culture of the lower ranked school anyway.

Does that help?

I think you will find that the vast majority of top-ranked schools have a ton of elitist judgy snobbishness...they will look and feel to you very much like Duke or UVA than JMU.

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Anonymous wrote:I will be over the moon if any of my three kids go to JMU!!! I went there in the 90’s as did my sister. Both of us have great careers and absolutely loved our time there.

One of the reasons I love hiring JMU grads is they don’t think their sh*t doesn’t smell.

Wow. That reflects highly on JMU. Eloquently stated.

Perfect reflection of the poster's point. JMU isn't full of elitist judgy snobs.

I don't get these comments. It isn't full of elitist judgey snobs because elitist judgey snobs can get into much higher-ranked schools.

Not a reflection on JMU but merely how the world works. Iowa State and University of Oregon and Colorado State (all generally the same rank) also aren't filled with elitist judgey snobs. GMU and VCU I gather are also not filled with elitist judgey snobs.

Is this all a veiled snipe at UVA or something?

Even among higher ranked schools, some are more known for their elitist judgy snob vibe—like Duke and, yes, UVA. High stats kids need not automatically be elitist snobs.

Many people on this site who are obsessed with rankings like to sneer at a school like JMU. What these comments are saying is that, yes, we know that our kids’ stats are not high enough for some schools, but we’re fine with that because we prefer the culture of the lower ranked school anyway.

Does that help?

Marylander here and I agree state public schools should prioritize in-state applicants and require higher stats of out-of-state applicants. I think some VA publics do, including UVA and WM. It’s disappointing when publics prioritize higher OOS tuition over raising the academic caliber of the student body. But I’m not convinced that’s always the case when students with lower grades or SATs get accepted over others that are more competitive on those two metrics. We’re not privy to other equally important parts of the application.

Might be old information but for PSU, main campus chances decreased significantly as every month passed. They filled the class on a rolling basis (even if that was not officially stated, or described as EA.) Apply in September.

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Anonymous wrote:I will be over the moon if any of my three kids go to JMU!!! I went there in the 90’s as did my sister. Both of us have great careers and absolutely loved our time there.

One of the reasons I love hiring JMU grads is they don’t think their sh*t doesn’t smell.

Wow. That reflects highly on JMU. Eloquently stated.

Perfect reflection of the poster's point. JMU isn't full of elitist judgy snobs.

I don't get these comments. It isn't full of elitist judgey snobs because elitist judgey snobs can get into much higher-ranked schools.

Not a reflection on JMU but merely how the world works. Iowa State and University of Oregon and Colorado State (all generally the same rank) also aren't filled with elitist judgey snobs. GMU and VCU I gather are also not filled with elitist judgey snobs.

Is this all a veiled snipe at UVA or something?

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Anonymous wrote:I graduated from JMU in the mid 90s and had a wonderful experience. Full disclosure - UVA was my top choice but I was waitlisted coming from a large NOVA public and it all worked out!!

My senior from a W MCPS high school was just admitted with stats that are way under what someone coming from a NOVA public would need. He’s my third one to go through the process; with my other two at other OOS publics. It really is a random process and I believe it really works out for the majority of students.

While you mean well, no one reading this is happy their in state kid didn’t get into their state school (with instate tuition) to make room for your lower stats OOS kid…

+1
It is a Virginia public school. State universities should, imo, prioritize its best state resident students over OOS students with significantly lower stats and resumes. It should be more competitive for OOS applicants.

They get much more $$$ from the OOS

Sure; but $$$ from equally high-achieving students is just as good as $$$ from the average student. They just need to match or beat the other state's in-state tuition.

Anonymous wrote:Nothing against Penn State. I grew up in PA and graduated from there. I absolutely love it, but, please use another forum to discuss Penn State details. We are hear to discuss JMU.

Yes. And to discuss JMU in a positive way - not bashing it. If you're bashing it, your kid either didn't even apply and has no interest in JMU; and therefore you have no real reason to even bother with this thread. OR, your kid didn't get in.

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Anonymous wrote:I will be over the moon if any of my three kids go to JMU!!! I went there in the 90’s as did my sister. Both of us have great careers and absolutely loved our time there.

One of the reasons I love hiring JMU grads is they don’t think their sh*t doesn’t smell.

Wow. That reflects highly on JMU. Eloquently stated.

Perfect reflection of the poster's point. JMU isn't full of elitist judgy snobs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I graduated from JMU in the mid 90s and had a wonderful experience. Full disclosure - UVA was my top choice but I was waitlisted coming from a large NOVA public and it all worked out!!

My senior from a W MCPS high school was just admitted with stats that are way under what someone coming from a NOVA public would need. He’s my third one to go through the process; with my other two at other OOS publics. It really is a random process and I believe it really works out for the majority of students.

While you mean well, no one reading this is happy their in state kid didn’t get into their state school (with instate tuition) to make room for your lower stats OOS kid…

+1
It is a Virginia public school. State universities should, imo, prioritize its best state resident students over OOS students with significantly lower stats and resumes. It should be more competitive for OOS applicants.

They get much more $$$ from the OOS

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I graduated from JMU in the mid 90s and had a wonderful experience. Full disclosure - UVA was my top choice but I was waitlisted coming from a large NOVA public and it all worked out!!

My senior from a W MCPS high school was just admitted with stats that are way under what someone coming from a NOVA public would need. He’s my third one to go through the process; with my other two at other OOS publics. It really is a random process and I believe it really works out for the majority of students.

While you mean well, no one reading this is happy their in state kid didn’t get into their state school (with instate tuition) to make room for your lower stats OOS kid…

+1
It is a Virginia public school. State universities should, imo, prioritize its best state resident students over OOS students with significantly lower stats and resumes. It should be more competitive for OOS applicants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will be over the moon if any of my three kids go to JMU!!! I went there in the 90’s as did my sister. Both of us have great careers and absolutely loved our time there.

One of the reasons I love hiring JMU grads is they don’t think their sh*t doesn’t smell.

I’m a UVA alum from the 90s with several friends who went to JMU, loved it and still love it. While I don’t love that expression, the bolded really encapsulates the difference in culture. The lack of hot air is refreshing. My current junior is considering it and I’m pretty sure she’d have a great experience.

+1

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Anonymous wrote:JMU is going to continue to get harder to get in to…

Pretty campus
Rising sports programs
“Traditional College Experience”
Affordable In-State
Big enough but small than VT

It was much harder back in the 90s…only a 30% acceptance rate back then.

I remember this as a mid 90s grad. Our valedictorian went to JMU. What changed in the 2000s?

I went in the early 90s. It was truly Just Missed UVA (JMU) and much better than Tech. It went from 12,000 students in the 90s to 22,000 now. Selectivity went down a lot to grow it to almost double the size.

This is what I heard from a friend who is native to NOVA and went to VT back then, too. JMU lowered selectivity purposely to grow its size. Hopefully they're happy with their current size and can implement ED to better identify high performing students who really do want to attend, and then also be a little less selective during RD because VA needs schools like JMU (affordability, quality, size, athletics, good band, etc) for strong students who aren't tops in stats.

ED mainly benefits the school; not the student. I see no reason at the moment anyway,JMU would need to institute ED. It fills its freshmen class.
We have a student at JMU who came in who was “tops in stats” in a really competitive NOVA high school, good rigor, and an athlete. Her friends, not all from VA, are the same.

The "benefit" would be to the high-stats student who really does want to go to JMU but can be passed over because there are so many other high-stat students from their school/district who apply EA and JMU isn't going to accept them all. ED locks you in, and says to the school "If you accept me, I'm coming." Whereas EA says any of a number of things such as: I'm interested. You may or may not be a top pick for me. You may be a 'safety' application. It's 50/50 that I'll come if you accept me. I'm getting my applications - and safety acceptance - out of the way early so I/my parents can relax.

Maybe from the school's perspective there is no immediate need. But maybe they wouldn't have to guess as much in the EA process if they fill-up a small percentage from an ED process, and ultimately they can be even more selective. From just a compassionate perspective, they can be sure they are reaching more of the most passionate JMU applicants who will then be passionate JMU students and passionate JMU alumni.

Anonymous wrote:I will be over the moon if any of my three kids go to JMU!!! I went there in the 90’s as did my sister. Both of us have great careers and absolutely loved our time there.

One of the reasons I love hiring JMU grads is they don’t think their sh*t doesn’t smell.

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Anonymous wrote:Why, exactly do we all think Penn State is so amazing? I’ve yet to meet an impressive Penn State grad.

No one said it is amazing, just that it is harder to get into than JMU.

This!

Although I'm sure many alumni think it is amazing...

Last year the acceptance rate for Penn State UP was 56% and the acceptance rate for JMU was 76%.

USNWR ranks PSU at #63; JMU is at #148.

For Engineering, PSU is at #31 for engineering schools that offer a Ph.D.; JMU is at #23, for engineering schools that do not offer a Ph.D.

I don't know anyone who would say that JMU is a better engineering school than Penn State.

So it is surprising that an applicant got accepted to Penn State Engineering at University Park while being deferred at JMU.

Penn State is actually ranked #20 for undergraduate engineering. Penn state is one of largest engineering schools in the country with something like 10,000 students and they offer literally every possible engineering major. JMU offers a general engineering major with no specialities. So I agree that for engineering Penn State and JMU are not even in the same universe. I’m actually surprised that a student would apply to both programs. I also think that Penn State’s engineering acceptance rate for UP is well below 53%. That said, I think for many programs the schools are comparable. The students at both seem very happy.

I think that is because many 17 year olds aren't 100% sure on what they want to do, or where they want to go, and they just want options?