Naviance from a mid-range FCPS hs: (Gives average scores from past 10 years of accepted students)

UVA: 4.37 GPA/1368 SAT
W&M 4.32 GPA/1404 SAT
VT: 4.14 GPA/1304 SAT
JMU 3.94 GPA/1220 SAT
GMU 3.89 GPA/1220 SAT
VCU 3.62 GPA/1202 SAT
CNU 3.72 GPA/1200 SAT
UMW 3.65 GPA/1155 SAT

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I was a kid growing up in the DC area I wouldn't want to go to GMU because it's too close and the campus isn't much to look at. However, they have some excellent programs and successful, enterprising graduates. My biases - and those of other posters are an unfair judgement of the programs and opportunities.
Would say the same for Mary Washington. .As a local kid, I would think: too close, too small, too suburban/ordinary. But with honors, freshmen seminars, medical school placements and even an occasional Fulbright scholar, it's clear there are lots of opportunities for those ready to take them on. Maybe a little sheltered, but a bargain education in a small liberal arts college setting.

OMG you need to go visit. DD is just finishing up there. Campus is so comfortable. I've walked it from end to end. Also there's now Mason Korea. Building has been non-stop at both for the four years DD has been there but I know there was a 12 year building campaign before she even arrived. Her dorm looks like a hotel room.

+1
I’d be thrilled if any of my kids went to GMU. The quality of their programs and internship opportunities is excellent.

DD is finishing up at GMU. She had three paid internships in her field. Economics, engineering and computer science is extremely strong.

Some info from a "prestige" perspective beyond just USNWR:

UVA, VT, GMU and VCU are all R1 (highest level research universities) nationally ranked universities. UVA is considered the strongest except in a few specific engineering programs and UVA and VT are more established in the R1 category and higher ranked than GMU and VCU. GMU has higher GPA/SAT recs than VCU, but they vary in which programs are considered "better." e.g. GMU better in tech/business/and some social sciences and VCU better in arts and some specific other pre-professional programs.

W&M is considered a national (public) liberal arts college and is highly ranked and has equivalent admission reqs as UVA.


JMU is a highly ranked regional university--that means it has a solid but still local reputation. It may be starting to bridge into a national university as highly qualified NOVA students who don't get into UVA/W&M/VT but want a public option away from home go there. It has more of a classic "college campus" feel than GMU, but fewer opportunities for internships and research partnerships. GMU has far more graduate programs/students so the tilt can feel away from the undergraduate population. From most NOVA high school, GPA/SAT acceptance scores are almost identical for GMU/JMU. CNU is a moderately ranked regional university with lower admission stats as are all the rest of the remaining public colleges/universities who are also all considered regional.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I was a kid growing up in the DC area I wouldn't want to go to GMU because it's too close and the campus isn't much to look at. However, they have some excellent programs and successful, enterprising graduates. My biases - and those of other posters are an unfair judgement of the programs and opportunities.
Would say the same for Mary Washington. .As a local kid, I would think: too close, too small, too suburban/ordinary. But with honors, freshmen seminars, medical school placements and even an occasional Fulbright scholar, it's clear there are lots of opportunities for those ready to take them on. Maybe a little sheltered, but a bargain education in a small liberal arts college setting.

OMG you need to go visit. DD is just finishing up there. Campus is so comfortable. I've walked it from end to end. Also there's now Mason Korea. Building has been non-stop at both for the four years DD has been there but I know there was a 12 year building campaign before she even arrived. Her dorm looks like a hotel room.

+1
I’d be thrilled if any of my kids went to GMU. The quality of their programs and internship opportunities is excellent.

Anonymous wrote:It all depends on the major.

VT is tops for engineering
UVA/VCU for medical fields and nursing
UVA and W&M for liberal arts
Radford for criminal justice
UMW for historic preservation and geography
GMU for business

Pick a school based on your child’s interests not the school’s popularity

No one really cares where you went to nursing school. They care that you graduated and passed the NCLEX.

Signed,
an RN

Anonymous wrote:If I was a kid growing up in the DC area I wouldn't want to go to GMU because it's too close and the campus isn't much to look at. However, they have some excellent programs and successful, enterprising graduates. My biases - and those of other posters are an unfair judgement of the programs and opportunities.
Would say the same for Mary Washington. .As a local kid, I would think: too close, too small, too suburban/ordinary. But with honors, freshmen seminars, medical school placements and even an occasional Fulbright scholar, it's clear there are lots of opportunities for those ready to take them on. Maybe a little sheltered, but a bargain education in a small liberal arts college setting.

OMG you need to go visit. DD is just finishing up there. Campus is so comfortable. I've walked it from end to end. Also there's now Mason Korea. Building has been non-stop at both for the four years DD has been there but I know there was a 12 year building campaign before she even arrived. Her dorm looks like a hotel room.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help me rank these schools from most reputable to least. I'm not from VA, so I am still trying to get a feel for this. Here's my guess - tell me if this is about right:

UVA
W&M
CNU
JMU
VTech
GMU
VCU, UMW, ODU, Longwood, Radford (These all seem to me to be around the same level - is that accurate?)

Also, are UVA and VTech schools that you would mostly only consider if you were math/science oriented?

Lib. Arts
UVA
W&M
JMU / ODU / GMU
UMW / CNU

Arts
VCU
JMU

Science / Engineering
Tech
UVA

Animal / Agriculture
Tech

Med.
UVA
VCU

Education (teaching)
Tech / JMU / VCU / ODU

Education (research)
UVA / VCU

Partying
Radford
Longwood

—former prof. at a VA state U

+1

If I was a kid growing up in the DC area I wouldn't want to go to GMU because it's too close and the campus isn't much to look at. However, they have some excellent programs and successful, enterprising graduates. My biases - and those of other posters are an unfair judgement of the programs and opportunities.
Would say the same for Mary Washington. .As a local kid, I would think: too close, too small, too suburban/ordinary. But with honors, freshmen seminars, medical school placements and even an occasional Fulbright scholar, it's clear there are lots of opportunities for those ready to take them on. Maybe a little sheltered, but a bargain education in a small liberal arts college setting.

Anonymous wrote:

Depends on the definition of good. 3.5 seems to be what guarantees admission to JMU, 3.8 for Va Tech, 4.2 for UVA, 4.15 for W & M.

Other schools: VCU 3.25, Radford 2.5, ODU undefined, Mary Washington 3.0, GMU 3.3, CNU, 3.2.

This is for one HS based on the Naviance scattergrams.

This just deals with admissions, not quality of the graduates. I can verify at VT used to have about 50% attrition (early 80's).

But, from an admissions standpoint the tiers are:
UVA & W&M
VA Tech (overall)
JMU
Mary Washington, GMU, CNU, VCU
Radford and ODU.

This is spot on.

Anonymous wrote:This is a stupid post, IMHO. Have you ever heard of the phrase "Past Performance Is No Guarantee of Future Results" and the famous Wayne Gretzky summed it up best "go where the puck will be, not where it is."?

My wife graduated from GMU and she has people that graduated from UVA, VATech and Stanford report to her. I found out early in my career that my golf game, former D1 golfer here, help me go further in my career than graduating from a well known U.

So what? I graduated from Va Tech and have had people from Berkeley, MIT and Harvard report to me. Then I realized management is not for me. I make more now, 100% technical, than I did has a manager. And I have fun.

What about VCU Engineering?

This is a stupid post, IMHO. Have you ever heard of the phrase "Past Performance Is No Guarantee of Future Results" and the famous Wayne Gretzky summed it up best "go where the puck will be, not where it is."?

My wife graduated from GMU and she has people that graduated from UVA, VATech and Stanford report to her. I found out early in my career that my golf game, former D1 golfer here, help me go further in my career than graduating from a well known U.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have good looking, popular, well adjusted, outgoing, happy kids with good grades...

They go to JMU.

The end.

This made me snort, but there’s some truth here.

+1
I don't know about "good looking and popular" necessarily, but definitely the last part.

Depends on the definition of good. 3.5 seems to be what guarantees admission to JMU, 3.8 for Va Tech, 4.2 for UVA, 4.15 for W & M.

Other schools: VCU 3.25, Radford 2.5, ODU undefined, Mary Washington 3.0, GMU 3.3, CNU, 3.2.

This is for one HS based on the Naviance scattergrams.

This just deals with admissions, not quality of the graduates. I can verify at VT used to have about 50% attrition (early 80's).

But, from an admissions standpoint the tiers are:
UVA & W&M
VA Tech (overall)
JMU
Mary Washington, GMU, CNU, VCU
Radford and ODU.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have good looking, popular, well adjusted, outgoing, happy kids with good grades...

They go to JMU.

The end.

This made me snort, but there’s some truth here.

+1
I don't know about "good looking and popular" necessarily, but definitely the last part.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have good looking, popular, well adjusted, outgoing, happy kids with good grades...

They go to JMU.

The end.

This made me snort, but there’s some truth here.

Yep, back in the day it's pretty much where all the vapid cheerleaders went.

We're not "back in the day" any longer.