I went to high school in Falls Church and did not go to UVA or W&M because 1) I hated the suburbs and wanted to go to an exciting city rather than regress back to the country, and 2) I didn't want to be surrounded by high school classmates and other NOVA types. My parents forced me to apply to at least one of UVA or W&M -- I chose UVA and got in, but turned it down.

I truly do not understand why people go to college in the middle of nowhere, though I know many disagree with me. To me, you grow up, you move to the city like an adult. Going to schools out in the country is like going to 4 year summer camp, complete with sharing rooms and showers and eating at mess halls. At my city college, we all got single rooms and bought our own groceries, and matured very quickly. We were finally free!

I think every kid should be required to go to college at least 500 miles from home. The main benefit of those four years is the opportunity to live independently and explore who you are and broaden your horizons. That doesn't happen when you come home (or know you can) any time you want.

I was a Virginia native (Langley HS grad) who went to a private out-of-state school for two reasons:

1) to get geographical diversity. I went to a national school which attracted kids from every region of the country, and international students as well. I did not want to go to UVA or W&M with 150 of my closest hs friends, just to meet other kids who had gone to Mclean, Madison, Marshall, Oakton, and all other NoVA high schools.

2) to attend a religious college. I wanted a Catholic college and, obviously, you don't get that in a state school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This discussion about NOVA students and difficulty with getting into in state schools reminds me of what's going on in California now (I have family out there). With the budget shortfalls, universities are having to cut enrollment drastically. Middling schools are now only accepting 25%-50% of applicants, so California students are flocking to colleges in Arizona and Oregon.

Does that mean that the CA colleges are more likely to accept out of state applicants who will pay OOS tuition? This would be welcome news in our house b/c DD is dying to go to USC.

My understanding is that California Publics are taking more OOS to make up up for budget cuts, but it's still challenging to get in. USC is actually a private school, though.

Anonymous wrote:This discussion about NOVA students and difficulty with getting into in state schools reminds me of what's going on in California now (I have family out there). With the budget shortfalls, universities are having to cut enrollment drastically. Middling schools are now only accepting 25%-50% of applicants, so California students are flocking to colleges in Arizona and Oregon.

Does that mean that the CA colleges are more likely to accept out of state applicants who will pay OOS tuition? This would be welcome news in our house b/c DD is dying to go to USC.

This discussion about NOVA students and difficulty with getting into in state schools reminds me of what's going on in California now (I have family out there). With the budget shortfalls, universities are having to cut enrollment drastically. Middling schools are now only accepting 25%-50% of applicants, so California students are flocking to colleges in Arizona and Oregon.

^^^^ by never... I mean NEVER... Works downtown in summer goes to Annapolis goes to Baltimore goes to Easton goes to the beach I see her thanksgiving and Christmas Day . When she graduates next year she has contacts and friends all over the place and will always be near DC and totally connected.

My DD goes to Umd. She never comes home. I miss her but home is boring I guess.

At my DC school you are kind of considered a failure if you are from MD and go to UMD. It's from the old days when anyone could get into their own state school (except UVA,UNC,MI). I know it's not like that any more but my DC wants to get away from home, try something new, be independent, learn a new city, be exposed to lots of different people. Isn't that a big reason to go away to college? If you can't afford out of state, you can't afford it, but otherwise you should let your DC go where they want.

VA tech has DC campuses and great recruitments for the DC area out of college. Just wanted to dispel the myth that because Blacksburg is far away from DC, it doesn't connect well with DC area jobs upon graduation.

Umd dude is right, and I'm shocked. I just checked neighborhood scout and charlottesville has a crime rating of 12/100. thats horrible it means 94% of U S towns are safer. College Park had a rating 19 which, while not great is almost twice as safe as Charlottesville!!!!!

its funny when it's further away, you don't realize how crappy charlottesville is but since you know College Park you make believe Charlottesville is safer. Count me amazed.

Best not to engage umd dude.

^^^^ the location has a lower violent crime rate than charlottesville...check the horrible charlottesville crime rating its an eye opener. the location is also good enough for NASA, Homeland security, FDA, NOAA, The National Weather Prediction institute, the international foreign language institute, the american center for physics institute, The National Archives, the Dept of Agriculture, NSA to have installations ON CAMPUS.

what does UVA have on campus besides dead coed lax players?

Umd also has more nobel and pulitzer faculty than UVA due to its superior location.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Umd is ranked ahead of UVA in all world university rankings but u s news. It is ahead of vt in every world rank . If you want the best science, technology, math, physics. You have to leave va.

this doesn't even pass the laugh test. And as parent contemplating where to send DC, what matters most is the quality of the undergraduate education - not the university overall.

I'm a UVA grad in CS. UMD is a fantastic school for CS, and in the hard sciences in general. My issue with UMD isn't the academics, its the crap hole location.

Anonymous wrote:^^^ they are not highly rated in the hard sciences.

Ok. Buh bye bye umd dude.