There are countless threads on this forum completely shitting on Mason for, among other critiques; being a "commuter school", being infested with J-1 visa students from Korea/africa, and for being NVCC 2.0. etc.

I'm new to the area, and went to Virginia for undergrad, but coming from Yorktown, Va I have heard nothing but great things about it. It also has a respectable reputation nationally in various fields. Why do people on this site drag it through the mud??

Largely because the folks who went to tech and uva want to feel superior.

wmep6 Wrote:
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> Largely because the folks who went to VCU, JMU, NOVA, and Strayer
> want to feel superior.

Correction Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wmep6 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Largely because the folks who went to VCU, JMU,
> NOVA, Strayer, and Penn State.
> > want to feel superior.

GMU has a Steak and Shake. No other nearby college comes even close to that.

.
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This is funny

Most comments trashing Mason are made in response to overly enthusiastic praise heaped on the school by GMU students and alums.

Mason has a number of very good programs. They have some talented and enthusiastic faculty. Its presence in the DC area allows it to offer a number of attractive internship and coop programs. The NOVA-GMU programs offer a real value for students of limited means. All in all it is an acceptable school, and that is how it is usually rated.

The problem is some at Mason like to pretend it is an up and coming school that is on the verge of being the next University of Virginia. Mason has had that up and coming label for twenty years, and it isn't close to becoming the next UVA, or even the next Virginia Tech. For years Virginia poured a lot of money into the school, but those days are over. It is no longer truly a commuter school, but the large number of commuter students and the lack of an adjacent college oriented commercial area mean you don't get the same college life experience that you get at many universities. Many employers will recruit students from GMU, but going to GMU seldom gives you a leg up in the job hunt competition.

bogus. many mason grads are smarter than uva and vt grads. many were accepted but chose mason for financial reasons. employers also hire mason over the other 2. the world is changing.

It's no University of Maryland, that's for sure!

The school lost a lot of state funding and as a result, it’s had to sell its soul to neo-conservative donors to innovate. Taking money from Schar and the Koch brothers resulted in a cash injection to its MPP and law schools.

Because it's a commuter school that's infested with J-1 visa students from Korea/Africa and basically NVCC 2.0.

It's no University of Maryland, that's for sure!

Your Right about that

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/17/us/university-of-maryland-student-hate-crime-charge/index.html

To answer your question, yes. GMU is for pussies who never wanted to experience the real college life.

Mostly... Wrote:
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> Because it's a commuter school that's infested
> with J-1 visa students from Korea/Africa and
> basically NVCC 2.0

I will buy this assessment.

Mason sucks. I really don't know why it has the reputation it does. The programs there are average at best, but everything else about the school blows, espically if you lived around the area. I can't imagine a more boring school to live on-campus at.

Mason sucks. I really don't know why it has the reputation it does. The programs there are average at best, but everything else about the school blows, espically if you lived around the area. I can't imagine a more boring school to live on-campus at.

Prove it motor mouth.

It's no University of Maryland, that's for sure!

You right Pal
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Some of the programs are actually quite good, while others are just average. Mason's business school is pretty good. The school of conflict analysis and resolution is the best in its field, the Schar school is nationally recognized as an "up and coming" school policy analysis and government, and the law school is starting to attract attention.

Wrote:
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> bogus. many mason grads are smarter than uva and
> vt grads. many were accepted but chose mason for
> financial reasons. employers also hire mason over
> the other 2. the world is changing.


Classic example of what I am talking about. Stats clearly show that students who go to UVA and W&M have higher GPAs and higher SATs than students who go to Mason. Go to almost any HS next March or April and ask the kids there who are going to Mason whether they got into UVA, W&M or Tech, and most will say no. The ones who are choosing Mason over UVA, W&M or Tech are either going to Mason for some very specific program, or they are going because they cannot afford to go away to college. The employers hiring Mason grads over the others are hiring Mason kids with good grades in good degree programs with good internships and/or job experience over kids from the other school who couldn't find jobs through their schools' job placement office. Apples to oranges. It is comments like nt's that generate the "Mason sucks" response.

VA schools by reputation:

W&L (rich, very smart guys and girls, nice campus)
UVa (upper middle class, social, pretty smart guys and girls, famous campus)
W&M (upper class, pretty smart, bookish, awkward guys and girls, nice campus)
Richmond (rich, pretty smart guys and girls, nice campus)
VT (asian guys, land grant factory, nice campus)
VMI (military guys)
JMU (white guys and girls, nicest campus in VA?, some strong departments--nursing, music, business)
Hampden-Sydney (white guys, old-school...the real VA)
GMU (most international, rising reputation, ugly campus, high salary/employment rates)
Mary Washington (didn't get into W&M, good academics, nice campus, nothing to do)
CNU (increasingly difficult to get into, country club, preppy, nice campus, nothing to do, zero name recognition/reputation)
Liberty (better like jesus)
VCU (urban, drugs, best art/design school in VA, low grad rate)
Hollins/Sweet Briar (white girls)
Randolph-Macon, Randolph, Roanoke, Lynchburg (small schools for B- students)
Hampton (black guys and girls)
ODU (urban, ugly campus, some good departments-marine biology, marine engineering, low grad rate)
Longwood/Radford (rural, nice campuses, nothing to do, good for teachers...ironic b/c not great students themselves if at Longwood/Radford)

Left a few out, but for the most part the rest are various shitty small private schools or historically black colleges

VACollegeRater Wrote:
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> VA schools by reputation:
>
> W&L (rich, very smart guys and girls, nice
> campus)
> UVa (upper middle class, social, pretty smart guys
> and girls, famous campus)
> W&M (upper class, pretty smart, bookish, awkward
> guys and girls, nice campus)
> Richmond (rich, pretty smart guys and girls, nice
> campus)
> VT (asian guys, land grant factory, nice campus)
> VMI (military guys)
> JMU (white guys and girls, nicest campus in VA?,
> some strong departments--nursing, music,
> business)
> Hampden-Sydney (white guys, old-school...the real
> VA)
> GMU (most international, rising reputation, ugly
> campus, high salary/employment rates)
> Mary Washington (didn't get into W&M, good
> academics, nice campus, nothing to do)
> CNU (increasingly difficult to get into, country
> club, preppy, nice campus, nothing to do, zero
> name recognition/reputation)
> Liberty (better like jesus)
> VCU (urban, drugs, best art/design school in VA,
> low grad rate)
> Hollins/Sweet Briar (white girls)
> Randolph-Macon, Randolph, Roanoke, Lynchburg
> (small schools for B- students)
> Hampton (black guys and girls)
> ODU (urban, ugly campus, some good
> departments-marine biology, marine engineering,
> low grad rate)
> Longwood/Radford (rural, nice campuses, nothing to
> do, good for teachers...ironic b/c not great
> students themselves if at Longwood/Radford)
>
> Left a few out, but for the most part the rest are
> various shitty small private schools or
> historically black colleges

You're not the best at rating.

VT-'Asian Guys'? They aren't even ranked in the Top 50 for Asian Students. UVA has more Asian representation at 12.8%

Why list 'White guys and girls'? Every school you listed is majority 'white guys and girls' but Hampton that is an HBCU.

VCU - 'drugs' Newsflash: That's every college. Go by the Mason dorms and ask about their dive team.

Sweet Briar closed last year but is trying again with Alumni financial support to keep it running.

Hampden-Sydney 'old-school...the real VA'??? W&M was founded in 1683 only Harvard is more old-school. And 'real VA' is cool with co-ed colleges. I guess you didn't give it a 'nothing to do' since all the guys can circle jerk all night in the cow fields.

Mary Washington has the highest upward mobility rating of any VA university. So I'm sure the students that matter don't give a shit about W&M.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/college-mobility/university-of-mary-washington

Bronx Science alumni have been awarded 11 Nobel prizes, the same as the country of Spain. That's a high school! All of the angst over which is the better school is unnecessary if the goal is to get an education, because the quality of the education is directly proportional to the effort of the student.

You're wack Wrote:
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> Hampden-Sydney 'old-school...the real VA'??? W&M
> was founded in 1683 only Harvard is more
> old-school. And 'real VA' is cool with co-ed
> colleges. I guess you didn't give it a 'nothing to
> do' since all the guys can circle jerk all night
> in the cow fields.

Little known fact. The College of William & Mary closed down for the Civil War. It reopened for a time afterwards, but its finances were so messed up that it was forced to close down again. It reopened with state money in the 1880s and has only been in continuous operation since that time.

If you use continuous operation as the standard, Hampden-Sydney is the oldest college in the state. Other colleges that are older than the current version of William & Mary include the University of Virginia, Randolph-Macon, Emory & Henry, Washington & Lee and Virginia Military Institute and even Hampton University. Virginia Commonwealth University, through its Medical School can trace a continuous history going back before the Civil War. Even Virginia Tech through its predecessors has been in continuous operation longer than William & Mary.

Dr. Memory Wrote:
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> Bronx Science alumni have been awarded 11 Nobel
> prizes, the same as the country of Spain. That's
> a high school! All of the angst over which is the
> better school is unnecessary if the goal is to get
> an education, because the quality of the education
> is directly proportional to the effort of the
> student.


What good is the effort/drive of the student if those teaching him cannot teach for shit?

wmep6 Wrote:
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> Largely because the folks who went to tech and uva
> want to feel superior.

There's some merit to that statement. As a practical matter, after the first few years nobody gives a shit where you went to school, unless it was a top rated well known institution. GMU is a great value if you live at home and don't mind missing out on the more typical college experience.

Ummm...Sweet Briar rescinded its closing announcement shortly after making it in 2015 so it seems your news is 2 years old. It's a beautiful campus and has a well regarded equestrian program.

Also re Mary Washington, I work with a number of folks who are alums and all are very bright. But they all say the same thing: there are a lot of students there who really wanted to go to a different school, and that UMW lacks a certain pride and spirit. That may not be important to everyone, and folks I know from there are about 10 years out, so maybe things have changed. It's maybe the most underrated campus of the Virginia schools. FWIW, I find a surprising number of W&M alums who do not look back fondly at their time in Williamsburg.

Dr. Pepperz wrote:

What good is the effort/drive of the student if those teaching him cannot teach for shit?

It is unlikely there are large numbers of instructors at ANY of the colleges on the list above who cannot teach for shit. A lower division student working from the syllabus ought to be able to compensate for those who are below average.

wmep6 Wrote:
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> Largely because the folks who went to tech and uva
> want to feel superior.

I went there. It is WAAAY overrated! I felt sorry for the people who lived on campus and laughed my ass off at the greek school events. All of those nice new buildings over the year, and they have not really done squat to improve parking there.

That's all I remember, driving around parking lots following people to their cars to get a space.

SweetBriarLives Wrote:
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> Ummm...Sweet Briar rescinded its closing
> announcement shortly after making it in 2015 so it
> seems your news is 2 years old. It's a beautiful
> campus and has a well regarded equestrian
> program.
>

Ummm...You might need to go back and try reading until you see a "."
I literally said it they are still open in the same sentence.
"Sweet Briar closed last year but is trying again with Alumni financial support to keep it running."

Dr. Pepperz Wrote:
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>
>
> What good is the effort/drive of the student if
> those teaching him cannot teach for shit?


What good is an excellent teacher with no effort/drive of the student?

History is boring or not Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Little known fact. The College of William & Mary
> closed down for the Civil War. It reopened for a
> time afterwards, but its finances were so messed
> up that it was forced to close down again. It
> reopened with state money in the 1880s and has
> only been in continuous operation since that time.
>
>
> If you use continuous operation as the standard,
> Hampden-Sydney is the oldest college in the state.
> Other colleges that are older than the current
> version of William & Mary include the University
> of Virginia, Randolph-Macon, Emory & Henry,
> Washington & Lee and Virginia Military Institute
> and even Hampton University. Virginia
> Commonwealth University, through its Medical
> School can trace a continuous history going back
> before the Civil War. Even Virginia Tech through
> its predecessors has been in continuous operation
> longer than William & Mary.


And Hampden-Sydney would've closed too during the Civl War if Union General McClellan had no soul.
The 'Hampden-Sydney Boys' formed a Confederate regiment but were captured by the Union after a few battles.
They were paroled under the stipulation not take up arms again and return to their studies.

Meant to mention this before. If anyone doesn't like Mason, they don't have to go to Mason. That should set a few minds at rest.

Fenwick library is pretty nice.
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Dr. Memory Wrote:
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> Meant to mention this before. If anyone doesn't
> like Mason, they don't have to go to Mason. That
> should set a few minds at rest.

Not true. I did go to Mason to get one of my grad degrees. Being exposed to more than one school allows me to see them all more objectively.

Mason, sadly is one of the many victims of the commonwealth's decision to incrementally decrease funding for public universities. When I went to UVa's Batten school for my MPP, this was a hot button issue amongst administrators of the various schools. UVa's law school for example is funded almost exclusively through tuition and private donors, along with research grants. State schools who do a lot of consequential research such as VTech, UVa, and W&M don't feel the pinch, because grant money is always flowing in. Smaller schools like Mason, Longwood, etc. are not so fortunate. Mason's growth was stunted as a result.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2017 03:26PM by _Tarlton_.

See the world today Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. Memory Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Meant to mention this before. If anyone
> doesn't
> > like Mason, they don't have to go to Mason.
> That
> > should set a few minds at rest.
>

> Not true. I did go to Mason to get one of my grad
> degrees. Being exposed to more than one school
> allows me to see them all more objectively.]


Actually, it is true. If you don't like Mason, you don't have to go to Mason.

_Tarlton_ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mason, sadly is one of the many victims of the
> commonwealth's decision to incrementally decrease
> funding for public universities. When I went to
> UVa's Batten school for my MPP, this was a hot
> button issue amongst administrators of the various
> schools. UVa's law school for example is funded
> almost exclusively through tuition and private
> donors, along with research grants. State schools
> who do a lot of consequential research such as
> VTech, UVa, and W&M don't feel the pinch, because
> grant money is always flowing in. Smaller schools
> like Mason, Longwood, etc. are not so fortunate.
> Mason's growth was stunted as a result.

too bad your uva degree didn't make you smart. mason got a ten million dollar donation for a new health bldg and will partner with inova health system. mason isn't small like Longwood. It is bigger than uva!

_Tarlton_ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mason, sadly is one of the many victims of the
> commonwealth's decision to incrementally decrease
> funding for public universities. When I went to
> UVa's Batten school for my MPP, this was a hot
> button issue amongst administrators of the various
> schools. UVa's law school for example is funded
> almost exclusively through tuition and private
> donors, along with research grants. State schools
> who do a lot of consequential research such as
> VTech, UVa, and W&M don't feel the pinch, because
> grant money is always flowing in. Smaller schools
> like Mason, Longwood, etc. are not so fortunate.
> Mason's growth was stunted as a result.


Batten? Never heard of it. Is it even a top 25 school?

chump degree from a crap school Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> _Tarlton_ Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Mason, sadly is one of the many victims of the
> > commonwealth's decision to incrementally
> decrease
> > funding for public universities. When I went to
> > UVa's Batten school for my MPP, this was a hot
> > button issue amongst administrators of the
> various
> > schools. UVa's law school for example is funded
> > almost exclusively through tuition and private
> > donors, along with research grants. State
> schools
> > who do a lot of consequential research such as
> > VTech, UVa, and W&M don't feel the pinch,
> because
> > grant money is always flowing in. Smaller
> schools
> > like Mason, Longwood, etc. are not so
> fortunate.
> > Mason's growth was stunted as a result.
>
>
> Batten? Never heard of it. Is it even a top 25
> school?


Batten is the University of Virginia's Public Policy/government school. It's only about 10 years old, but it is ranked 40th in the nation. Not bad for a fairly new school.

masonn received a $10m donation for the school of public policy. mason has received several multi-million dollar donations.

Well one thing everyone seems to be forgetting is that mason does not have a football team or a great basketball team (don't bring up the final four fluke year folks)...
There are a handful of things that make a school popular or desirable to go to:
The Ivy League schools sell themselves

Art schools sell themselves to a specific type of student

And then there are the schools that everybody knows about because they are either a football or basketball Powerhouse (Florida state, duke, LSU, USC, you get the idea...)

The reality is Virginia Tech was not that difficult of a school to get into prior to them being good at football... you had to be such a stellar student in the late 90s and early 2000s if you applied there; in the eighties early nineties not so much.

So the fact that Mason doesn't really have a surrounding area that has the "college environment", or Powerhouse Sports programs, it is not going to have that Allure that some of the other Virginia schools have



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2017 09:41AM by metalhead.

If the Koch brothers keep writing checks, that could change.

metalhead Wrote:
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> Well one thing everyone seems to be forgetting is
> that mason does not have a football team or a
> great basketball team (don't bring up the final
> four fluke year folks)...
> There are a handful of things that make a school
> popular or desirable to go to:
> The Ivy League schools sell themselves
>
> Art schools sell themselves to a specific type of
> student
>
> And then there are the schools that everybody
> knows about because they are either a football or
> basketball Powerhouse (Florida state, duke, LSU,
> USC, you get the idea...)
>
> The reality is Virginia Tech was not that
> difficult of a school to get into prior to them
> being good at football... you had to be such a
> stellar student in the late 90s and early 2000s if
> you applied there; in the eighties early nineties
> not so much.
>
> So the fact that Mason doesn't really have a
> surrounding area that has the "college
> environment", or Powerhouse Sports programs, it is
> not going to have that Allure that some of the
> other Virginia schools have


Tech is a glorified trade school for wannabe civil engineers and chemists who will end up being plumbers and HVAC servicers.