I'll be graduating high school soon and I'm thinking of going to George Mason.. would you recommend it? Are there plenty of things to do in/around Fairfax?

nova sucks unless you are 21. the GMU party scene is GAYYYYYYYYY

christie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'll be graduating high school soon and I'm
> thinking of going to George Mason.. would you
> recommend it? Are there plenty of things to do
> in/around Fairfax?

Great, inexpensive school. I'm traveling the world for a while with the money I saved, and whenever I'm done I'll have a cushy job with my degree from GMU.

Yeah, the party scene sucks. But then, the whole party scene in Washington, DC is pretty crap.

If you are amiable towards people there is plenty to do. People can get a little stuck on what they are doing and not who they are doing it with.

what are you planning to major in?


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

If you are decent looking Christie, I say screw college, take a trip out to the San Fernando Valley in California and get your porn career started. You'll make a hell of a lot more money and if you keep in touch with this board, you'll already have a fan base in place to buy your videos or anatomically correct genetalia at the fan gatherings. Consider all your options before making such important decisions!

christie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'll be graduating high school soon and I'm
> thinking of going to George Mason.. would you
> recommend it? Are there plenty of things to do
> in/around Fairfax?


If you are a resident in Virginia, GMU may make sense. If you are thinking of coming in from out of State, I would suggest trying Virginia Tech or UVA. With the exception of the basketball team and the law school, GMU doesn't have much name cache in the real world outside of the DC area. It may one day, but not yet.

Do you live in Virgina now? If you are coming from someplace like southwest Virgina, then you should find GMU and Fairfax to be a nice change with enough to keep you busy. You can get into DC via Metro without too much trouble and you don't have the hassle of living in the city.

GMU is still a second tier school, reputation wise, when compared to VA Tech, UVA and William & Mary. However, the overall academic programs are pretty good and Virginia schools are generally regarded as a good value for the money.

To Christie,

I live near GMU and I think it is a great school. The on campus life is pretty nonexistent, but the classes seem excellent. Plus you can always find a job and attend school too. Don't worry about GMU being a second tier school. I went to a second tier school in Ohio and I did just fine. Living in norhtern Va, there is also a lot to do here. Good luck.

Trickie

Lester Burnham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> GMU is still a second tier school, reputation
> wise, when compared to VA Tech, UVA and William &
> Mary. However, the overall academic programs are
> pretty good and Virginia schools are generally
> regarded as a good value for the money.

isnt it William & Mary that has soem absurdly high suicide rate?


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

In my 4 years at W&M, we only had one guy commit suicide, and it wasn't on campus or even in Williamsburg. Those rumors are greatly exaggerated. A suprisingly large number of people died in accidents though. Also, to whoever said that GMU law has cache outside of DC, you are also sorely mistaken.

gmu law barely has cache at the GMU law department. gmu does put out some decent english teachers, though.

GMU Law is only well known for their IP practice concentration given their proximity to the PTO. -§

Bah. Go to GW if you want to be a patent attorney. Or maybe I'm just biased as a GW grad.

Go to GW if you want to be any kind of lawyer, but avoid their hospital at all costs. They did a terrible job on that one episode of the West Wing, it was all chaotic and shit.

Thank you all for your advice! I didn't expect so many replies so soon. I'm from southwest VA so anything out of this countryside will be a good change for me. I will major in education, psychology, or graphics design. And I've thought about the porn career thing, but unfortunately I'm just a porn star for one. Haha.

Sounds like with the areas you are looking at you may want to consider JMU.

JMU is also a great party school if you can keep your head above water and not overdo it. So on the "things to do" front, I've never heard anyone complain who actually went there.

According to US News, GMU's law school is ranked 37th, right behind UC-Davis and ahead of places like Tulane, American and Wake Forest. Not too bad for a "commuter school..."

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php

All those outside of the top 14 on that list are regional schools. Something I wish I knew before heading down this very expensive road.

yeah bitch and cry about how expensive it is.

Then pick up a box of tissues made of gold and encrusted in diamonds withe the serious $$$ every lawyer makes in this area. You're going to be rich so I don't see why you don't look at it like an investment, as it is. ALWAYS look at it like that and quit worrying

just railing ya max, I know you aren't bitching but I sure do hear this from a lot of law students, who I always then predict will be passing me at the bus stop in a mercedes within seven years of hearing the whining.

pgens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sounds like with the areas you are looking at you
> may want to consider JMU.


i just want to point out that the only thing in Harrisonburg is JMU and the rest is cow country.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

mad max, JD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Also, to whoever said
> that GMU law has cache outside of DC, you are also
> sorely mistaken.


Hey, you obviously don't know much about GMU. It's known nationwide (and worldwide) for the business, law, and economics schools. And after this past March, for the basketball team too!

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> pgens Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sounds like with the areas you are looking at
> you
> > may want to consider JMU.
>
>
> i just want to point out that the only thing in
> Harrisonburg is JMU and the rest is cow country.

You are thinking of Va Tech.

ben Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> mad max, JD Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Also, to whoever said
> > that GMU law has cache outside of DC, you are
> also
> > sorely mistaken.
>
>
> Hey, you obviously don't know much about GMU.
> It's known nationwide (and worldwide) for the
> business, law, and economics schools. And after
> this past March, for the basketball team too!

Look at their placement numbers outside the area. Hiring partners in Los Angeles may have heard of the school, but that doesn't mean they'll take the chance of hiring somebody from it. As I said, on the US News list, any school not in the top 14 is largely regional in their reputation and only send roughly the top 10% of the class to the larger out of region markets. It doesn't become apparent until you're looking for a legal job unfortuately.

Here's their placements for 2005, be warned it's a pdf: http://law.gmu.edu/career/employment_stats_Class_of_2005_as_of_March_2006.pdf

Combining the mid and south atlantic stats adds up to almost 90%, as I said, it takes something spectacular or out of the ordinary to find a job outside of this region.

Edit: I dont want to sound like I'm knocking GMU Law. I got in there and considered going, but chose a higher ranked and much more expensive school instead. I'm kicking myself in the ass for that as now I'm trying to find a job back here after I graduate from a non top 14 midwestern school. I'm not in the top 10% so it's not an easy task.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2006 02:45PM by mad max, JD.

mad max, JD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Combining the mid and south atlantic stats adds up
> to almost 90%, as I said, it takes something
> spectacular or out of the ordinary to find a job
> outside of this region.
>
>

Did you ever think that because most people who go to GMU are Virginians that maybe the people who graduate from its law school want to work in close proximity to where their families live? Maybe in NC, SC or Georgia?

Just because you have fantasies of being Harry Hamlin on LA Law or James Spader on Boston Legal, it doesn't mean everybody else does.

mad max, JD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Look at their placement numbers outside the area.
> Hiring partners in Los Angeles may have heard of
> the school, but that doesn't mean they'll take the
> chance of hiring somebody from it. As I said, on
> the US News list, any school not in the top 14 is
> largely regional in their reputation and only send
> roughly the top 10% of the class to the larger out
> of region markets. It doesn't become apparent
> until you're looking for a legal job
> unfortuately.
>
> Here's their placements for 2005, be warned it's a
> pdf:
> http://law.gmu.edu/career/employment_stats_Class_o
> f_2005_as_of_March_2006.pdf
>
> Combining the mid and south atlantic stats adds up
> to almost 90%, as I said, it takes something
> spectacular or out of the ordinary to find a job
> outside of this region.
>
> Edit: I dont want to sound like I'm knocking GMU
> Law. I got in there and considered going, but
> chose a higher ranked and much more expensive
> school instead. I'm kicking myself in the ass for
> that as now I'm trying to find a job back here
> after I graduate from a non top 14 midwestern
> school. I'm not in the top 10% so it's not an
> easy task.

Dunno about any of this 'placement' stuff. Just know every American I've met overseas is familiar with GMU (and not because of the basketball team). That ranges from college students to executives of coca-cola. Great business, economics, and law schools with a nation-wide reputation. That's all I'm saying..

Your fuckin gay if you go to george mason because your an idiot. Who wants to go here the only people who would go here are the ass wipes that already live in fairfax....your a dumb bitch.

Sanjay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Your fuckin gay if you go to george mason because
> your an idiot. Who wants to go here the only
> people who would go here are the ass wipes that
> already live in fairfax....your a dumb bitch.


i think this is only fittin for you, Sanjay.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sanjay Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Your fuckin gay if you go to george mason
> because
> > your an idiot. Who wants to go here the only
> > people who would go here are the ass wipes that
> > already live in fairfax....your a dumb bitch.
>
>
> i think this is only fittin for you, Sanjay.
>
>

If Sanjay was a GMU graduate, he would know the difference between "your" and "you're." Unfortunately, me must be a graduate of Devry or some shit like that.

Don't insult Devry's fine reputation by lumping it in with this trash

He strikes me as a Columbia School of Broadcasting grad, anyway.

Christie...i live like 5 mins from Mason.....Parties @ GMU suck......

Great school and all but nothing to do.....if your into cars there are a shit load of people with nice cars etc.....


Only thing would keep you happy is if you got yourself a bf to keep you entertained

There is bowl america.....Georgetown.....Tysons 1 Tysons 2....... shannondoah is like a camping ground we all go camping sometimes.....virginia beach.....

etc.....i mean i can name some things to ya but all of this takes money.....and after a while it gets boring....

But if you like you can message me and maybe i can tell you a little bit more about the area.......

www.myspace.com/firatkara

I make more than $40K a year because I am Microsoft Certified! Need a PowerPoint slide? I'm your man. Need something written in Word? Check and check. Need a spreadsheet? No problem, as long as you don't ask me to perform the Sum function.

$40K... that's cute. :)


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Firat, I don't get it... why not just post about the area here?

Firat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Christie...i live like 5 mins from Mason

that is your problem right there... life on campus as far more interesting than else (specifically the dorms).

dont get suckered into Partriot Village (aka PV). it's literally a trailor park.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Still can't hold a candle to G'town. -§

gah... georgetown is a peice of shit area that needs to be torn down, redesigned, and built correctly. oh yeah... the same thing goes for Old Town Fairfax, Falls Church, and a bunch of other elitist areas that are "a peice of history nobody should ever tear down." they are simply traffic bottlenecks where the elite find "quaint" and everyone else wants to bomb to hell. the problem with bombing it to hell is you know the idiots in charge will have it rebuilt exactly as it was before.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> gah... georgetown is a peice of shit area that
> needs to be torn down, redesigned, and built
> correctly. oh yeah... the same thing goes for Old
> Town Fairfax, Falls Church, and a bunch of other
> elitist areas that are "a peice of history nobody
> should ever tear down." they are simply traffic
> bottlenecks where the elite find "quaint" and
> everyone else wants to bomb to hell. the problem
> with bombing it to hell is you know the idiots in
> charge will have it rebuilt exactly as it was
> before.


Somebody sounds mad that they keep getting fake phone numbers from the ladies when they go out to hip spots.

ben Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Somebody sounds mad that they keep getting fake
> phone numbers from the ladies when they go out to
> hip spots.


"hip spots"... that's a good one. however, no, i dont go to "G-town" and ask whores for phone numbers. i was however refering to the logistics of having a POS city in the middle of a busy area. D.C. also sucks and could use a massive overhaul as well.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Yeah why not just tear it ALL down.

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> gah... georgetown is a peice of shit area that
> needs to be torn down, redesigned, and built
> correctly. oh yeah... the same thing goes for Old
> Town Fairfax, Falls Church, and a bunch of other
> elitist areas that are "a peice of history nobody
> should ever tear down." they are simply traffic
> bottlenecks where the elite find "quaint" and
> everyone else wants to bomb to hell. the problem
> with bombing it to hell is you know the idiots in
> charge will have it rebuilt exactly as it was
> before.



You are right. It is much better to destroy quaint and historical places so we can have more places like Seven Corners and Tysons Corner.

yes. yes it is.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

GMU is just as good as any other school since you make what you will of your education, and your career is also more about who you are and what you produce than where you went... unless you want to pay $$$ to ride the name of a big school, who produces just as many no loads as they do true scholars. that will only get you to 30.

emos and cowards go to mason

I went to mason this past year as my freshman year; I grew up/currently live in Springfield, so it wasn't much of a change ven though I did live on campus. It's a solid school, but as some others mentioned it's not a typical party school - and often times the weekends get boring.

My advice, do good first year, and transfer to JMU/VT like I did (VT). I'll be going to VT this upcoming year. Pulled off a 3.41 GPA my freshman year by taking easy ass teachers and classes (live by RateMyProfessor.com).

Funny how my HS GPA was not even 3.1, and my SAT's were a mere 1040, and I'm heading to Tech to study business. :-)

slips Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> emos and cowards go to mason


cowards lurk on forums posting antagonistic threats in attempt to boost their egos

dontbeadick Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> slips Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > emos and cowards go to mason
>
>
> cowards lurk on forums posting antagonistic
> threats in attempt to boost their egos


So what is your real name, e-mail and address, asshole?

Amen, WTL. dontbeadick talks big game but apparently is wheelchair bound.

My time at GMU was spent in the dorms drinking, running around the quad drinking, going to strip clubs off Goergetown, going on road trips to other schools like shepherd college, American U, GW etc etc and g0ing to trax on Thursdays and diva on Saturdays. Much like your education your fun is yours to make of what you will. Oh yeah and I also stole underwear and put it on George Mason's head.

Classic topic.

I really don't understand why someone choosing a school from out of state would choose GMU. While it has evolved from a community college into a major university, it really remains a local commuter campus. It doesn't offer the "university experience" like UVA does.

According to CNN (the comie news network - I prefer Fox for fair and unbalanced reporting) the costs at some of the colleges we talked about:

GWU Annual tuition: $ 36,370
Fees: $ 30
Room and board: $ 10,470

Georgetown Annual tuition: $ 31,656
Fees: $ 368
Room and board: $ 11,159

Mason In-state (out-of-district) tuition: $ 4,356
Out-of-state tuition: $ 15,636
Fees: $ 1,524
Room and board: $ 6,480

VA Polytech... In-state (out-of-district) tuition: $ 4,959
Out-of-state tuition: $ 16,298
Fees: $ 1,419
Room and board: $ 4,400

Wow, Mason and Tech are neck and neck... If you had a quarter of a million dollars burning a hole in your pocket, consider GWU. The second, if not the first, most expensive school in the nation.

Socialy, Christy - keep this in mind. Just above 55% of GMU students are female. Tech numbers are just the opposite, 55% male. Interestingly, nationwide the percentage of females attending and graduating college are way up. The majority of schools are majority female. In many more cases than one would believe, today it is not unusual for a university to be 60-65% female. Watch out guys, they are taking over.

whoever posted as Firat.....i did not write that.....

wth?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2007 12:00AM by Firrat.

Well, I would venture to guess if you walked into a job interview a hell of a lot more people will have heard of Georgetown than they would have George Mason. I think GW's tuition is legalized rape considering what you get for that amount of money.

"whoever posted as Firat.....whoever posted as Firat.......i did not write that..... signed, Firat

40 k? u think ur rich. AHHAHAHA i am not even microsoft certified and im making 65 a year working part time your a loser man AHHAHAHA

werd.

Radiophile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
today it is not unusual for a university to be 60-65% female.


Perhaps it's time to quit working and go to school.......

mad max, JD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In my 4 years at W&M, we only had one guy commit
> suicide, and it wasn't on campus or even in
> Williamsburg. Those rumors are greatly
> exaggerated. A suprisingly large number of people
> died in accidents though. Also, to whoever said
> that GMU law has cache outside of DC, you are also
> sorely mistaken.


did you say "gay" or "guy" W&M is gay - GMU is okay, there are making improvements so it's less of a commuter school - if you've toured the school and like it - go for it - you should compare to other choices in VA though

George Mason University ruined my life.

Enough said.

mad max, JD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > I dont want to sound like I'm knocking GMU Law. I got in there and considered going, but chose a higher ranked and much more expensive school instead. I'm kicking myself in the ass for that as now I'm trying to find a job back here after I graduate from a non top 14 midwestern school. I'm not in the top 10% so it's not an easy task.< <

So transfer to GMU now.

I hire GMU, AU & Catholic students ahead of UVA, Richmond and W&M students all the time. The training is great if you can get past the economic determinism of the faculty which dogma is often a counterproductive analysis is representing a client.

Christie

Check out the 4 year grad rates: CNU 12%; ODU 17%; VCU 19% GMU 26%

Getting through in 4 years at GMU can be a challenge because there are not enough sections of required courses.

GMU is a commuter/suitcase school. Suitcase means the dorm residents go home on the weekend leaving the campus empty for those residents whose home is far away. But at GMU, you can get to downtown DC on weekends, so much more cosmopolitan than VTech, JMU, Radford and Longwood.

Check out Mary Washington. Its smaller but has a high 4 year grad rate. Downtown Fredericksburg is nice. Less suitcase. There is a train into DC.

VCU is the arts school for Va but the campus is in a really tough part of Richmond.

W&M is smaller but in Willaimsburg so less boring than JMU etc.

UVA is most effective in teaching kids how to be a snob. If that's what you after.

Check out UDel and West Chester which are near Philly but in the suburbs and public schools.

I have attended GWU and GMU. Mason is by far the better value in every way. Nice campus, real value, good instructors, parking, basketball and with the Prince William Campus the GMU is much better for Science and Technology. GMU Law is well respected as well.

Socially, GMU is conservative and mostly commuters so not much of a student body cohesion. The only such cohesion at GW is pretentious little twits with aspirations for great wealth and political success. ewww.

Overall GMU is a very good school. Easy access to the campus and to DC if you wanna party....but study wise it is a pretty good school....

Christie -

Pick a good/marketable major and keep a GPA above 3.3. You'll be golden. Don't major in something worthless like communications/marketing/english.

Really? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Christie -
>
> Pick a good/marketable major and keep a GPA above
> 3.3. You'll be golden. Don't major in something
> worthless like communications/marketing/english.


Really? You're an idiot. All those majors you just listed are fine majors. Marketing is a very fun career field, there are all sorts of communication jobs out there, from communication in the media to writing communication, then there is nothing wrong with a english major; people can become english teachers or writers.

When you say pick a good major, do you expect everyone to be engineers or scientists? I just take that moronic comment personal, as I was a marketing major, my daughter was a marketing major and my other daughter is a english major. I'd bet we are all more successful and happy than you as well.

"Communication in the media" is not a job and "writing communication" is something you just made up. The rest of your post is riddled with grammatical errors that lead me to believe I misspoke when I mentioned English as a worthless. Apparently we need more qualified English teachers in our schools.

I don't expect everyone to be engineers or scientists but I also don't expect the majority of a graduating class to amount to much when they pick and easy major with no relevance to the job market. I'm certainly biased but I don't see many marketing majors working in the marketing field.

Really? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Communication in the media" is not a job and
> "writing communication" is something you just made
> up. The rest of your post is riddled with
> grammatical errors that lead me to believe I
> misspoke when I mentioned English as a worthless.
> Apparently we need more qualified English teachers
> in our schools.
>
> I don't expect everyone to be engineers or
> scientists but I also don't expect the majority of
> a graduating class to amount to much when they
> pick and easy major with no relevance to the job
> market. I'm certainly biased but I don't see many
> marketing majors working in the marketing field.


You don't see any marketing majors in the marketing field? You're a damn dumbass. You have no idea what you are talking about. When I say writing communication, I am referring to journalism which is a communication. Commercials are communication in the media, web design is a form of communication; get a clue.

So communications majors are roughly equivalent to journalism majors and computer applications majors? This is my point - pick a major that is relevant and marketable. Journalism and computer design majors are marketable - nondescript communications majors are not. Also, marketing majors are rarely marketable in that field. An MBA from a respected grad school can get you into the marketing biz but it's a much better choice to study something more relevant as an undergrad. Pairing a marketing-focused MBA with a finance or computer programming undergrad is very powerful.