Re: Mason or UVA
Posted by:
FootballSEC1
()
Date: December 12, 2012 09:49AM
CollegeWatcher Wrote:
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> JMU is very close to Tech in selectivity, and is
> more selective than VMI, GMU, or Hampden-Sydney.
> U of Richmond is really expensive as is H-S (and
> both are private). JMU is close to a 3.9 average
> GPA for entering freshmen and almost as high SAT's
> as Tech (a tad lower in math SAT due to the pull
> of the Engineering programs at Tech), and Tech has
> a 3.9 average GPA. Most of the top students at
> Tech are Engineering majors. In the Arts &
> Sciences area, they are very even with JMU, if not
> a tad weaker. JMU's undergrad business school has
> been out-ranking Tech's in recent business
> rankings. UVA, W&M, JMU, Mary Washington, and
> Tech are consistently and often listed as vest
> values in higher education. They are hard to beat
> in terms of quality of students, quality of
> programs, and campus atmosphere/community for the
> money. Though they are trying to change this, and
> making great strides doing so, GMU and VCU still
> have a heavy commuter population, which takes away
> from the on-campus community feel (although they
> are both great schools academically).
> All of this is beside the point, though. Virginia
> has excellent schools, even the ones that aren't
> tip top (thinking of W&M and UVA as tip top of
> public schools). Which school or schools are "the
> best" are just opinions and can be debated
> endlessly, and US News and similar rankings are
> full of faulty methodology. Visit schools, and
> decide for yourself which ones are the best for
> you. Back in my day, before rankings, it was
> pretty much agreed upon across the board that W&M
> was the most rigorous and intellectual college in
> Virginia. Sure, UVA attracted some top students,
> too; but they were the ones interested in partying
> more so than academic inquiry, so the academic
> atmosphere there was not as competitive as W&M
> back in the day. VA Tech always did attract the
> top math students, and JMU always managed to
> attract a healthy amount of strong students, as
> well. Mary Washington is a lot more intellectual
> and academic than some of the other schools with
> which you have lumped them in your pecking order.
> It has long had a stellar academic reputation. In
> fact, by and large, undergrad students will get a
> better education (smaller classes taught by full
> professors and better housing) at the undergrad
> focused schools than they will at the big football
> schools with large graduate programs, where the
> resources are focused more on the graduate level.
> In the end, these days the "name brand" matters
> more at the graduate school than at the undergrad.
> Most employers don't hire people straight out of
> undergrad anymore, but when they do, they are
> mostly looking for strong GPA's and work
> experience (internships, co-op, projects, research
> experience, etc.), and that can be gleaned through
> almost any college. In fact, you're more likely
> to get those experiences at either a smaller
> school such as Mary Washington or W&M or one that
> has a strong network in the working world to
> arrange internships and co-ops for students (JMU
> and Tech are exceptional with this). Many
> graduates of less famous undergrad schools who
> applied themselves and did well have gone on to
> elite graduate schools such as the Ivy Leagues,
> Duke, Georgetown, etc. It's all really what you
> make of it. Your life isn't over if you don't go
> to a top tier school for undergrad or ever. You
> can make your way and take advantage of the
> opportunities wherever you go -- it's your own
> personal drive, ambition, and ability to get along
> with others that makes or breaks your success.
> Where you go to college is only one very small
> part of the picture.
That's a good post, CollegeWatcher. There's something in it for parents, students and student-athletes. My HS record was good but below the GPAs and test scores at schools in the Ivy League, UVA, Duke, etc. On top of that, I didn't believe I could compete even if admitted. That was my mind-set at 17 and I ended up playing FB at what some ranking services might call a "diploma mill." Yet I learned a lot there and made some good friends, too. A few years later, grad school beckoned and it just so happened that the right program for me was Penn. As it turned out, the things I'd learned to do in elementary school (listen, study, try, never quit, get alone) work everywhere. I could care less if X% of people who go to school Y turn into Fortune 100 CEOs or Supreme Court clerks. If the school is not right for you, then you'll have a lame four years if you even make it that long. Pick the school that you think fits you. Do as well as you can. Never let anybody tell you what you can and can't achieve. You have amazing schools in this state and our company hires grads from every one of them.