ggfan

I applied to college last year and will be attending JMU this fall. I live in N. VA (Loudoun County) My GPA was a 3.9, had an aver. SAT score, had taken 4 APs and a ton of honors classes. I am also a first generation college student.

I also applied to VT, George Mason, Mary Washington and UVA. I got into every school but UVA.

VT, JMU and Mary Washington have about the same admission requirements (this year they were about a 3.7+ GPA with students involved in and dedicated to their activities/sports and taking AP or IB and honors classes). George Mason's requirements are a bit lower but they have begun to increase.

britbrat1961

If it is that competetive to get into the school, what does it take to get into the Honors program? Would an SAT of 2110 and a GPA of 3.93 be enough with 6 AP's... W. History, Calculus, Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Macroeconomics?

KatMT

Here is the criteria for competitive application to the Honors Program from the JMU Honors Program page:



* a combined Math and Critical Reading score of 1300 or higher on the SAT; OR
* a composite ACT score of 30 or higher; OR
* an unweighted GPA of 3.50 or higher; OR
* graduating in the top 10% of your high school class

These are only guidelines, as the entire application packet is considered as a whole. The essay, letters of recommendation, and extra curricular activities all play a vital role in the decision-making process.

Here is the link to the FAQ page for the Honors program:

JMU - Frequently Asked Questions

Here is a link to a sample completed application:

http://www.jmu.edu/honorsprog/wm_lib...ationMODEL.pdf

britbrat1961

Thanks KatMT. That is very helpful information. I will look into it further.

jmurockstar

I am a student at JMU. I was the valedictorian of my high school with a GPA of 4.8 and I had SATs that were about 2200. I took 2 AP classes my junior year and 4 AP classes my senior year (and got straight A's in all of my classes). You really have to show that you are a well-rounded student. If your child's GPA will suffer from taking more than 2 AP classes, then maybe you should reconsider JMU. AP classes prepare you for college level work, although college classes are require much more. VT is easy to get into (I got in there too). The kid mentioned in the article was not all that impressive, JMU is a competitive school and you can't expect a 3.4 GPA to get you in automatically. I guess what he doesn't realize is that there are people from all over the state with better credentials trying to get the same spot. I must say that if math is not your strong suit, then don't feel pressured to take AP Calc or any other like it. You need to show that you are taking on a challenging work load, but do not bite off more than you can chew.

SoupEater

Just to clear things up, it is not uber difficult to gain admission to JMU. The quote below is a bit misleading:

"JMU spokesman Don Egle said the university's admission process is "very competitive," with 20,000 applications this year for a class of 3,960."

It is well documented that JMU admits about 67% of applicants. Although the above quote makes it sounds more selective, the numbers above refer to the number who applied and the number they wish to have for that year's class. As with many schools, a large percentage of those students admitted opt to attend another school which they feel may be a better fit for them. To compensate for this, the school admits a larger student body than what they expect to actually enroll. In the above case, to fill 3,960 spots, JMU admitted, 13,400 of the 20,000 applicants.

Although this is a good deal more selective than 20 years ago when JMU admitted 100% of applicants, it is still not out of sight of most of today's applicant pool. Another good note: if you have younger kids, the competition for admission to state universities and colleges is expected to ease over the next seven years as the number of high school graduates and so applicants to colleges is expected to decline with the age group which has a smaller population.

Good luck!

PS. I love JMU. My brother went there and it is a great school, so don't look at this as a put down, but rather a clarification.

KatMT

Here is a link to the "admission facts" page at JMU.... the stats are for 2006/ 2007 freshmen...

Admissions Quick Facts