Anonymous
Post 03/03/2026 22:56     Subject: Dilemma
JMU. Very happy, successful students, incredible alumni network, and better football than any of the other schools.
Anonymous
Post 03/03/2026 18:55     Subject: Dilemma
Anonymous wrote:DS did not get into UVA or VT Early Action and will likely not be getting into W&M regular decision. He did get into JMU EA but isn't excited about attending.

If you were in his situation, would you take a year or two off at a CC then transfer, or go to JMU for a few semesters and then transfer? He probably wouldn't be doing guaranteed CC transfer if he went the CC route. Any advice?


If WM does accept, then matriculate there.

If not but UVA eventually waitlists him and offers him the special 1st year at Wise with guaranteed transfer to C'ville, then take that.

Otherwise, he should matriculate at his preferred choice from his other options and then see.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 16:32     Subject: Dilemma
OP, does he have OOS options with merit that he prefers to JMU? If he thought he was a strong candidate for the top VA publics, he must have pretty strong stats.

My DS didnt apply to UVA/VT/WM (those schools did not really offer his major), but he was admitted to UMD with $12,500/yr scholarship. He decided on JMU anyway and it worked out well for him.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 16:14     Subject: Dilemma
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why did he apply there if he definitely doesn’t want to go there?

Applying to schools you hate is a recipe for disaster.



It's called a safety school.


Apparently it was a match, not a safety, and the other schools were reaches.



You don't understand what a safety is.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 14:34     Subject: Dilemma
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Gotta be a tr0ll


Why would you say that? Whether rational or reasonable or not, there are plenty of higher achieving NOVA high school students who are UVA or bust and left tremendously disappointed when their top in state option is JMU. One of my kids was one of them.


You should have managed their expectations better.


My kid didn't go to JMU. Ended up at UVA off the wait-list. Expectations were managed just fine, troll.


It amazes me when people head off to a school that didn’t want them but ended up needing to fill a seat well after the fact.


I am such a special person that when a school defers me, I get really upset so I reject them before they reject me. I am not going there because they showed they did not want me.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 14:25     Subject: Dilemma
Anonymous wrote:At JMU there will be a lot of other people who also didn't get into those other schools. His people.

JMU is a highly regardrd university. Great academics, great campus, great food, great town. He can always transfer if it's not working out.

I wish there were an equivalent in Maryland.


Towson, UMBC, St. Mary's
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 14:15     Subject: Re:Dilemma
The average SAT score of a first year student enrolled at VT is a 1350 and the average weighted GPA is a 4.14. The acceptance rate for Fairfax County applicants is 47 percent, and 38 percent of admitted Fairfax students elected to enroll.

The numbers for JMU, 1260 SAT, 3.8 weighted GPA, 66 percent acceptance rate and 22 percent yield.


Not an answer. What you state does not address what was mentioned. Talking only about applicants from FCPS and you'd have to get rid of the engineering applicants, FCPS student non engineers tats applying to VT and JMU are the same.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 11:20     Subject: Dilemma
Anonymous wrote:He should go to JMU, aim to find his people, be a bigger fish in that pond,


He’s not going to be a big fish at JMU. He got rejected from better schools than JMU. He will be a regular size fish at JMU. That’s why he should go there - he will probably be happy.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 11:18     Subject: Re:Dilemma
What are your son's stats?
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 11:07     Subject: Dilemma
Anonymous wrote:DS did not get into UVA or VT Early Action and will likely not be getting into W&M regular decision. He did get into JMU EA but isn't excited about attending.

If you were in his situation, would you take a year or two off at a CC then transfer, or go to JMU for a few semesters and then transfer? He probably wouldn't be doing guaranteed CC transfer if he went the CC route. Any advice?


If they want to transfer, they can probably do it as easily from JMU as CC assuming they get the grades. I would go with JMU. Many people do this and end up liking the place they go so much they don't end up transferring.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 11:01     Subject: Dilemma
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Gotta be a tr0ll


Why would you say that? Whether rational or reasonable or not, there are plenty of higher achieving NOVA high school students who are UVA or bust and left tremendously disappointed when their top in state option is JMU. One of my kids was one of them.


You should have managed their expectations better.


My kid didn't go to JMU. Ended up at UVA off the wait-list. Expectations were managed just fine, troll.


It amazes me when people head off to a school that didn’t want them but ended up needing to fill a seat well after the fact.


This is such a dumb take. College admissions involve luck, among other things. Moreover, a rejection is not rejection of the person as a human. Waitlist isn’t even rejection. And once the student takes that seat, they can have a great experience.

So (1) sulk because you got waitlisted and petulantly refuse to enroll off the waitlist or (2) grab the spot you coveted and live your best life. Not really a tough choice!
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 10:56     Subject: Dilemma
He should go to JMU, aim to find his people, be a bigger fish in that pond, and kniw he can always try to transfer if he still wants to go elsewhere. He can knock out all the usual prerequisite classes (and make sure any target transfer school will take those credits). But CC might be too depressing for him after he was hoping to go away for college.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 10:52     Subject: Dilemma
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:JMU, with the attitude of putting down roots there and staying. Going with the attitude that he's too good for the school and isn't going to stay is just going to make everyone unhappy.


Although he will be surrounded with peers who have similar attitudes. It’s a great school, especially for undergraduates, but it unfortunately does have a reputation as a consolation prize for kids who couldn’t get into the higher ranked state universities.


My kid didn’t experience this at all. Many of the kids at JMU had it as their first choice and loved being there. It’s a great school filled with happy kids.


Yes, there are plenty of kids at JMU who had it as their first choice. But the higher achieving NOVA students typically don't. Apparently OP's kid is among them.


Plenty of higher achieving NOVA student go to JMU and crash academically the first year. USNWR ranks VA 15th for its education system. NOVA isn’t special compared to the Northeast.


When I said NOVA I wasn't referring to Northern Virginia Community College. I was referring to the Northern Virginia area high school student. If you were from here, you'd know that.

In any event, it's also not true that "plenty" of Northern Virginia Community College students are transferring to JMU and "crashing." You pulled that out of your a$$. Do you have any actual data to back it up, or is it just your "feeling?"


I was talking about Northern Virginia. I’ve seen it every year.


Could you reconcile your claim with this, then?

https://www.jmu.edu/news/2024/11/13-2024-retention-rates.shtml

You're full of shit. Just as I suspected.


JMU enrolled 4,963 first year undergrads in 2023.

A 91.9% retention rate means they lost 402 students.

Secondarily, many students end up on academic notice and academic probation, but remain at JMU to attempt to pull themselves out of the GPA danger zone.

Do you have any other questions?


Sure. Can you provide some real data that "many" of those lost students were "higher achieving NOVA graduates?" And can you show us some real data that "many students end up on academic notice?"

I'll wait.


Check the parent Facebook pages per class. They’re chock full of self admitted NOVA moms crying for help with their academic probation freshmen. They’re firsthand accounts with dozens and dozens of replies. NOVA students aren’t some special breed.