I live in va and am a cpa. Everyone I know who went there loved it. I grew up in md, but went to private in dc. We called it just missed the u (uva) back in 1993 when I was applying to colleges.

My kid is a freshman and absolutely loves JMU. She was top 15% of her large HS, 4.7 GPA and entered JMU with sophomore standing thanks to AP and DE credits. She likely would have had a good chance of acceptance at UVA/W&M, but they were not her vibe. She didn't like VT. She loves the genuine, down to earth friendly vibe at JMU. She's made wonderful friends, joined a sorority and several clubs and has excellent grades heading into finals. She has found that in her intro classes she's definitely above the average academically speaking, but thats been a good thing. She's still challenged, but finding lots of success. It's not an academic grind, and that type of environment wouldn't have been a good fit. She has just as many close friends from OOS as from VA. The food is great, campus is beautiful, people are super friendly, there is SO much to easily get involved with and the party scene has been a lot of fun for her too. In all, it's been the perfect fit for her so far and I'm very happy with JMU as a parent.

Anonymous wrote:Fourth ranked school in Virginia at best. Not on our hire list.

Sure, PP. You literally have no credibility. Most companies look at individual candidates and don’t keep “lists” of colleges to hire from or not. In particular, state schools wouldn’t be black balled (as potentially a Liberty U grad would be).. I used to work in HR at Deloitte. I’m guessing you are full of it or work for a lame small business.

Anonymous wrote:JMU is a fine school. Our kid got into both JMU and VT, and wnet back and forth for a few weeks on it. It was down to either school. Our kid chose VT because they just liked the campus better overall. Our kid through JMU was very spread out, and didn't like that it was split in two by an interstate. VT also had a valued extracurricular, and the academics were solid.

But another factor was that only a few other graduates from our kid's HS class were going to attend VT, but many were going to attend JMU. Our kid felt like VT would help them to break out and away from their HS peers to make a whole, new set of friends (our kid wanted that, but many kids might not). Our kid wanted a social change, as well.

There were a lot of kids from Pennsylvania touring on our visit. Don't know if that matters, just an insight.

Interesting. More grads from our FCPS high school last year went to VT than to JMU, although the numbers were pretty close. I believe a sizable chunk of those going to JMU were rejected from VT.

JMU had 24,000 early applications this cycle for the fall 2023 first-year class per the recent Board of Visitors meeting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My JMU stem grad makes a lot more money than my UVA grad. Just saying.

There’s no way to verify statements such as these. It’s interesting how the JMU boosters have come out this admissions season. I cannot shake recalling the number of times my neighbor‘s son told me that the EMTs were at his dorm yet again for multiple cases of alcohol poisoning.

All of the teachers and counselors in LCPS and FCPS seemed to be JMU grads. (True)

One of the worst teachers my kid had was, you guessed it, a JMU grad! (True)

See how this works?

How much of a helicopter are you? Or are you just very, very, nosy that you know where all of the counselors and teachers went to college? I have kids in HS and have no idea where their teachers went to school.

A lot of teachers did go to JMU because I think they had a program where you could get your BA and MA in 5 years. My kid did a pre college type program there last summer and we were pretty impressed. Really nice atmosphere and feeling from faculty and staff, lots of new building. Great dorms and rec facilities, good food. I feel like it’s a school on the rise as UVA and Tech get harder to get into and W&M doesn’t appeal to everyone.

JMU All applicants 2021-22:

Applied: 21335

Accepted: 18380

Acceptance rate: 86.2%

Source: SCHEV

Anonymous wrote:80.5% acceptance rate: JMU

Is that outdated? My kid’s NOVA high school had a 48% acceptance rate last year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My JMU stem grad makes a lot more money than my UVA grad. Just saying.

There’s no way to verify statements such as these. It’s interesting how the JMU boosters have come out this admissions season. I cannot shake recalling the number of times my neighbor‘s son told me that the EMTs were at his dorm yet again for multiple cases of alcohol poisoning.

All of the teachers and counselors in LCPS and FCPS seemed to be JMU grads. (True)

One of the worst teachers my kid had was, you guessed it, a JMU grad! (True)

See how this works?

You can draw a line in any direction through a single data point.

It’s a party school popular with VA kids because it’s cheap, fun and more respected than some others in va. Neither of my VA kids had it on their list.

Anonymous wrote:Fourth ranked school in Virginia at best. Not on our hire list.

You might want to hide the attitude until your kid admitted to college. It's a dog fight now, even among the best students. The process is humbling, even for the parents.

Fourth ranked school in Virginia at best. Not on our hire list.

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever volunteered at your child’s school? Many teachers decorate their classrooms with their college’s flags and colors.

I work in a high school and can think of only two teachers who do this. UVA grads. I don’t know where most of the adults I know in my professional or personal life went to college. That was a long time ago.

JMU is a fine school. Our kid got into both JMU and VT, and wnet back and forth for a few weeks on it. It was down to either school. Our kid chose VT because they just liked the campus better overall. Our kid through JMU was very spread out, and didn't like that it was split in two by an interstate. VT also had a valued extracurricular, and the academics were solid.

But another factor was that only a few other graduates from our kid's HS class were going to attend VT, but many were going to attend JMU. Our kid felt like VT would help them to break out and away from their HS peers to make a whole, new set of friends (our kid wanted that, but many kids might not). Our kid wanted a social change, as well.

There were a lot of kids from Pennsylvania touring on our visit. Don't know if that matters, just an insight.

Have you ever volunteered at your child’s school? Many teachers decorate their classrooms with their college’s flags and colors.