Curious if anyone has heard back on Merit from JMU? They said by the end of the month, but nothing yet.
Iām on a JMU Facebook group and some people received merit last week via email and then a follow up letter. Some were specific scholarships they had applied for others were general app merit. Iām starting to lose hope that my daughter will receive anything.
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My son is hopeful for merit too but has not received any awards yet. Without merit, especially for out of state tuition, JMU is not happening when other top schools offered a lot of merit. Maybe JMU does not give much. This is what I have from their web site - * Madison Award for Academic Excellence = up to 75% of in state tuition ($7,000 to $8,000) and other scholarships. Business school scholarship $10,000 - CoB Fifty to Infinity, only 5 scholarships awarded.
I remember reading somewhere that only 3% receive merit at JMU. We are in the same OOS boat, unfortunately her top two are notoriously stingy with merit, while all her others gave her a good amount. She was accepted into the Honors College at JMU so I was hopeful but it looks like it probably wonāt happen. Ugh.
I canāt figure out why a school would admit OOS students without giving enough merit aid to at least get close to that respective state flagship public. We are in PA so that would be Penn State. My D24 got accepted at JMU but we just had a dinner table conversation around is JMU worth $10k/year more than PSU? Hard to justify the $40k total extra (especially with 2 more kids to come). The schools have all the data/algos, you would think if they canāt get close $ wise, they would reject the kids so it would help selectivity. What do I know anyway. Good luck to all!
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Ironically we are in NJ and her top two are JMU and PSUā¦40k different but PSU is the more expensive. We know merit is not coming from PSU so we were hoping JMU came through. Iāll never understand the cost of these schools. She has a few others that gave her a lot of merit so it is an ongoing discussion here as wellā¦especially for a pre-pa student who is staring down three years of post undergrad schooling.
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My son got a merit offer last week. He received the Madison Award for Academic Excellence. He heard via email.
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Iām impressed by the level of OOS interest in JMU. Can some of you share what about JMU you find attractive that youād consider attending over your state flagship? I saw one parent considering JMU over PSU for exampleā¦
JMU was somewhat of an afterthought that I recommended when my son initially comprised his list (UTK, USC, LSU, NC State, SMU, Baylor). What I appreciated was the beautiful campus and IMO, a great attention to detail with respect to its treatment of undergraduates (relatively few grad students at JMU). My son ended up ranking JMU in his top 4 in part because of the campus.
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My daughter got the Madison Excellence Award last week and it said it was 75% of in-state tuition which is a value of $10.200 right now and said it would be adjusted if tuition goes up in the future. JMU is not a school that weād pay full price for (we are oos) but now it is definitely appealing for my daughter. As far as why potentially JMU over our instate flagship Rutgers, the location definitely is more appealing at JMU than New Brunswick and the contained campus vs the bus system of Rutgers. Also Rutgers is huge and mostly in-state so she likes the idea of meeting people from other places and being a bit further from home. The COA is about the same now that we have the $ from JMU. She also got into Honors at JMU and most likely wonāt get into Rutgers honors.
When we toured JMU last year we thought the kids seemed very happy and there is a lot of school spirit.
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Combination of my thoughts and what Iāve heard from D24: JMU is a solid school that checks a lot of boxes - good size, good reputation, balance between academics and fun, weather, sports, and itās attainable for a solid/above average 4.2 weighted gpa kid. The schools in the northeast seem to be fading in interest - too much $, weather, and the student mix. Schools within 4-7 hours from PA going south seem to be much more popular now. Thatās my 2 cents.
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Has anyone already contacted financial aid and asked if there is a date when, if not notified, an applicant can assume they are not being offered any merit scholarship?
I can tell you about 150 students per year head to JMU from New England. I think they choose JMU for the campus, the weather, the sports and the friendly atmosphere. I attended from out of state back in the dark ages. My older son graduated from JMU in 2022 and my younger son is there now. It really has been a hidden gem, but itās not so hidden anymore.
Are we paying more money for JMU than our instate flagship? Without question. For my older son, that extra money was the best money weāve ever invested. For the younger one I expect the same, but the final outcome remains to be seen.
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My S24 talked at length with his cousin, also a PA resident, who went to JMU, and he was convinced by her passion for the school and the opportunities in political science. He got into the honors college and will visit at an April Choices. Heās in at Penn State main campus, and if he doesnāt get into Schreyer Honors, JMU will likely rise a lot more. Solid academics, national ranking, school spirit, great community. All appealing.
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For us, OOS (NJ) our flagship (Rutgers) was of no interest to my daughter. We live in the mountains of north Jersey and the urban setting did not appeal to her at all. Every school she loved had pretty rural sorroundings. I went to PSU so I bleed blue and white and JMUās campus even impressed me. Getting into the honors college at JMU was also another big win. It still remains to be seen whether she heads there but it is in the top two. Academically, I think PSU might have the edge for her degree path (pre-pa), but a 40k edge? No.
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you consider rutgers campus as urban? its a bit hectic with the buses running everywhere but not sure itās urban. Regardless, understand your point around it. JMU campus is very prettyāand nice surrounding. Only thing I dont like is the highway that separates two sides of the campus. All 3 are great schools and im sure she will pick the best one!
Weāre in NC and NCSU and UNC are insanely competitive, especially if you attend a large high school in one of the densely populated counties. My son applied to JMU because itās an excellent school with a full engineering department and in the hope that his OOS status might give him a slight advantage. Heās got decent stats and is an effective writer, so his essays were really good. He didnāt bother to apply to UNC, was flat out rejected by NCSU, and got accepted at JMU (and waitlisted at VT). We will visit in April. Iām really looking forward to seeing the campus!
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Our older kiddo is an OOS sophomore and absolutely loves it! They also got into our state flagship, but had no interest in staying local. They love the program they are in, the Greek life, and the location. The dining halls are top notch, foot ball is a big event, and Tim Miller is amazing! My husband works for a FANG company, and he consistently hears how well prepared JMU grads are when they come into jobs. Work ethic is a big part of the JMU experience for our eldest. Wish our 24 wanted to go, but they will likely stay closer to home.
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Reading through the earlier posts, but Iām still lost here. DS is only interested in business majors, but was admitted to Exploratory. Does he then have to maintain a certain GPA and apply into the Business School? Is that a difficult process? TIA
Yes, he would need to take all the business prerequisite classes and then apply to Business school. There are GPA requirements both overall and within the business prerequisite classes, but my understanding is that if you meet those you will definitely be admitted, itās not a competitive process.
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