Anonymous wrote:VCU has 30 programs ranked in the top 100 in the country, including:

#1 nurse anesthetist, #1 public arts school (tied with UCLA)
5th in graphic design and health services administration
11th in social work
21st school of pharmacy
15th in occupational and 19th in physical therapy

Despite their engineering school being less than 10 years old, there are top 100 programs there as well.

At this point, they are improving in a lot of ways faster than their reputation, as many people still think of it as nothing more than a safety. However, we live in a very white collar area just outside of Richmond and many of the kids at my DC's school chose VCU Honors College for particular highly ranked programs at VCU over other "top" schools in Virginia because of significant merit. Each year the number of kids from DC's school choosing VCU has risen and some of those lower ranked students were actually rejected at VCU. It is still not at the level of even JMU or GMU, at least in some areas, but I think in some areas it surpasses these schools and certainly deserves a rank on the top 10 list of schools in Virginia.

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Anonymous wrote:You are uninformed about JMU, PP. Even in the 80's, the business school was developing a great name for itself, and recruiters from the large consulting firms and from major corporations were eagerly hiring Madison graduates. In the 2012 Businessweek rankings for undergraduate business schools, JMU's College of Business is ranked 32nd in the nation (compare to University of Maryland at 38 and VT at 52), and 12th among public universities in the nation. They also have an excellent job placement rate for business graduates. This is one reason the school has become such a popular option for VA students who aren't UVA material.

Yes. I am a JMU business school grad and had 7 offers coming out of college - almost everyone I know had multiple offers. Job market is much tougher now, but the business school there is very solid. I didn't even apply to UVA b/c my brother was there - I got into William and Mary but chose to avoid the pressure cooker vibe there. FYI - JMU also has an excellent music program, and I was very interested in taking some music courses on the side. Also it has a very low percentage of students who choose to join frats/sororities, and I was highly interested in avoiding that whole scene. There are lots of people that go there who ARE UVA material and perhaps just looking for something different.

Exactly; very well said. It's a fallacy that students who attend JMU must have been rejected from UVA or W&M. Many kids simply prefer the vibe and offerings at JMU.

drinking and sex

Thanks for calling her out. Yeah, Harrisonburg - famous for it’s vibe!!
But let’s be fair. I understand the music dept. is very good. Oh, and the undergrad business school.
I’m sure many people turn down UVa and W&M for JMU’s “vibe"

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Anonymous wrote:You are uninformed about JMU, PP. Even in the 80's, the business school was developing a great name for itself, and recruiters from the large consulting firms and from major corporations were eagerly hiring Madison graduates. In the 2012 Businessweek rankings for undergraduate business schools, JMU's College of Business is ranked 32nd in the nation (compare to University of Maryland at 38 and VT at 52), and 12th among public universities in the nation. They also have an excellent job placement rate for business graduates. This is one reason the school has become such a popular option for VA students who aren't UVA material.

Yes. I am a JMU business school grad and had 7 offers coming out of college - almost everyone I know had multiple offers. Job market is much tougher now, but the business school there is very solid. I didn't even apply to UVA b/c my brother was there - I got into William and Mary but chose to avoid the pressure cooker vibe there. FYI - JMU also has an excellent music program, and I was very interested in taking some music courses on the side. Also it has a very low percentage of students who choose to join frats/sororities, and I was highly interested in avoiding that whole scene. There are lots of people that go there who ARE UVA material and perhaps just looking for something different.

Exactly; very well said. It's a fallacy that students who attend JMU must have been rejected from UVA or W&M. Many kids simply prefer the vibe and offerings at JMU.

drinking and sex

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Anonymous wrote:If you want to do stem is jmu better than gmu?

Yes, but that is one VT beats them all incl. UVA

According to USA Today, these are the top schools in Va. No VCU...


http://college.usatoday.com/2014/12/09/what-are-the-top-10-colleges-in-virginia/

No VCU
No CNU

1. W&L
2. UVA
3. W&M
4. UR
5. VT
6. JMU
7. GMU
8. VMI
9. HSC
10. UMW

Sounds exactly right to me. CNU and VCU are not comparable.

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Anonymous wrote:If you want to do stem is jmu better than gmu?

Yes, but that is one VT beats them all incl. UVA

According to USA Today, these are the top schools in Va. No VCU...


http://college.usatoday.com/2014/12/09/what-are-the-top-10-colleges-in-virginia/

No VCU
No CNU

1. W&L
2. UVA
3. W&M
4. UR
5. VT
6. JMU
7. GMU
8. VMI
9. HSC
10. UMW

Sounds exactly right to me. CNU and VCU are not comparable.

After UVA and W&M, there is a huge gap. JMU, VT and GMU are frankly interchangeable in terms of student GPAs and SATs. JMU for business; VT for Engineering and GMU for on the job exp. VMI is a homegrown Citadel. UMW is a fine college.

I do not think putting any of these schools makes sense. They all have very distinguished reputations.

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Anonymous wrote:If you want to do stem is jmu better than gmu?

Yes, but that is one VT beats them all incl. UVA

According to USA Today, these are the top schools in Va. No VCU...


http://college.usatoday.com/2014/12/09/what-are-the-top-10-colleges-in-virginia/

No VCU
No CNU

1. W&L
2. UVA
3. W&M
4. UR
5. VT
6. JMU
7. GMU
8. VMI
9. HSC
10. UMW

Sounds exactly right to me. CNU and VCU are not comparable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to do stem is jmu better than gmu?

Yes, but that is one VT beats them all incl. UVA

According to USA Today, these are the top schools in Va. No VCU...


http://college.usatoday.com/2014/12/09/what-are-the-top-10-colleges-in-virginia/

No VCU
No CNU

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to do stem is jmu better than gmu?

Yes, but that is one VT beats them all incl. UVA

According to USA Today, these are the top schools in Va. No VCU...


http://college.usatoday.com/2014/12/09/what-are-the-top-10-colleges-in-virginia/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to do stem is jmu better than gmu?

Yes, but that is one VT beats them all incl. UVA

Anonymous wrote:If you want to do stem is jmu better than gmu?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, 2:09, you need to spend more time reading, and less time writing.

JMU, GMU and CNU all have become rather selective for NoVa students. VCU is more of a safety school for hipsters.

These schools have become more selective because the NoVa population has grown and boasts some the best public high schools in the state (test scores), most likely due to the highly educated workforce in the area. I bet this has strongly influenced acceptance rates for the area's college and universities and less so for central or southeastern schools due to a larger pool of qualified applicants and the fact that NoVa kids like to stay in NoVa (with good reason). Haven't you noticed how UVA's and W&M's selectivity has sky rocketed over the past 10 years? They cater more to the top private high school students now then the public schools. Many B+ VA high school students have no in-state choices other than GMU and JMU.

Hipsters go to VCU because many of them are artistically inclined and drawn to VCU's excellent art school-which is actually more selective with applicants. And yes, VCU is easier to get into then GMU or JMU (and now CNU apparently), but those less motivated students don't last long. Also, its amazing how much the campus and student body have changed and how much is planned for the future, it really is a dynamic environment. Ten years down the road I see it being as selective as GMU, but a vibe different than a giant NoVa high school, which may appeal to some people. The only thing I worry about is this buzz with VCU's basketball, I was hoping this transformation would occur because of improved academics and not because of sports (sound familiar GMU/VT?).