pats4life2003

I have been accepted to JMU and I am waiting for my letters from UVA, JMU and Mary Washington..
If accepted to UVA I will definitely attend, but what do you think would be the best choice if denied?
Is UMW a good school? Does anyone like or dislike it??
Thanks!

pats4life2003

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Hunt

Mary Washington is a good school--quite a bit smaller than JMU. I'd say visit both and see which one you like best if you get into both (but not UVA)

pats4life2003

I visited JMU, but it was a little too country for me...I live in Cville and I'm not used to not having a city around me..
So you think Mary Washington is a good school??

NewEngSocSciMan

I think that MW is considered to be better, but you have to visit all of them.

world changer

I personally like Mary Washington a lot better than JMU.

lovebug9099

I love Mary Washington-I'm waiting to hear back honors admission. I have visited like three times, and it is really pretty too.

va_catlover

Wow! I was surprised to read the comments on Mary Washington as I would have put it in last place on this list in terms of reputation for academic excellent, but it is somewhat of a newcomer. I would list UVA, W&M, JMU and MWU in that order. Does anyone have a ranking list from some authoritative source? We have visited as but MWU, and my son loved JMU, liked W&M and hated UVA. Maybe we will visit MWU also.

northeastmom

I am comparing and contrasting JMU and UMW. Both have their pros and cons (as do all schools). If you are looking for a larger school with a lot of school spririt, football games on weekends, and a busy campus on the weekend JMU would be a good choice. If you are looking for a smaller campus, where you will not likely have a class with more than 50 students (1% of classes have more than 50 students at UMW, vs. 13% at JMU) then you might prefer UMW. Also, UMW has a train station nearby that could get you to Richmond or Washington DC in about an hour. It is difficult to get to those locations from JMU. It seems that many more students leave UMW on weekends than they do at JMU (only getting this info from reading opinions about UMW. I have personal experience with JMU and can tell you that the campus is jumping with activity on weekends. People tend to stay weekends at JMU). JMU is about a 2 hour car drive into Washington DC. The immediate areas of both schools are more similar, IMO, than different. You will find some shops, and restaurants that you can easily get to from either school (so you won't be isolated). I have read of some difficulties with the FRED (public tansit in Fredericksburg), but the Harrisonburg buses don't seem to be a problem. As far as academics you would need to look at the catalogs to decide which is a better choice for you. They are both academically good schools, IMO. I don't think ranking them is that important, and I would not put JMU and UMW in the same classifcation when ranking anyway. One is a bigger school that is gowing even larger.

dudedad

UMW is a former women's college and remains at about the 70% female range.
Suggest your son visits both JMU and UMW to compare/contrast. Try to read the school newspaper from each to get a feel for the activites and EC's. UMW seemed pretty quiet by comparison...

va_catlover

Thanks for your responses. One thing I forgot to mention about JMU is that it seems very likely that students will have to live off campus after the freshman year. I wonder how MWU compares in that regard.

northeastmom

VA_catlover, off campus housing is plentiful, and JMU buses pick up in front of many of the off campus complexes. Many, but not all sophomores, do get on campus housing and still live on campus.