Admissions

<p>Hi I am a high school sophomore from pennsylvania. I come from a medium sized mediocre high school. I want to know why I should choose JMU over my other options and if I could get into the U.
3.917 GPA
Interim Literary Arts Magazine
FBLA (State conference two years in a row) and Historian
French Club
Football Club
Jr Leadership
SPCA Club
Co-Founder of Anti bullying program at our MS
Co-Founder of CLICS program which helps special needs kids at our MS
Honors Society
My letters of reccomendation will be very good not to brag but many teachers love me, I don't get into trouble, and have been quotes by the head principal as the hardest working student in the building.
I believe I can get above a 1600 on my sat, I got. 150 on my PSAT.
I am honest involved intellegent and hard working.
Tell me how JMU is I love school and hard work in that respect but at the same time I like to work hard on weekends if you catch my drift. Also Does jmu have suite style dorms for freshman, this is a must and a factor in my college decision.
My reach schools, realistic schools and top choices are in no specific order but here as follows.
JMU
PSU
Pitt
IUP
UMICH
SYRACUSE
MICHSTATEU
PENN
CORNELL.
Tell me why I should love jmu from the dorms to the parties to the academics and to the atmosphere. Thank you!! Ask any q's! And be honest.</p>

<p>Also my class rank is 20/335, so 5th percentile.</p>

<p>Sorry for forgetting but I am also on my schools varsity track football and history bowl teams.</p>

<p>Also I have all honors except Math and science this year, next year all honors except for math, and 2 AP classes.</p>

<p>I lived in a “suite” style dorm my first year at JMU - Weaver Hall in The Village. There was a suite - about the size of a dorm room - connected by three rooms of two students per room. Many of my friends lived in a “hall” style dorm. Having a suite was okay, perhaps slightly better, but I can’t imagine it would be a deciding factor in your college search.</p>

<p>As for academics, my reference point at the time, and still is today, the instructors were better, much better than my high school teachers. I attended one of the better schools inside of Fairfax County Public Schools, which supposedly is one of the best county school systems in the country.</p>

<p>It is interesting that you put Syracuse on your list. After JMU, I got a Teaching Assistant position at Syracuse. It provided a stipend and nine credit hours of tuition per semester. This you may not believe, but at 22, I was given a three credit introductory course in Computer Science to teach. I was given the textbook, but more or less was given total control of the course. I never had a 22 year old instructor at JMU. I can only remember only a couple of instances where my professor didn’t have a PhD. The focus is on undergraduates at JMU.</p>

<p>As for partying, there was never, ever a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night where there wasn’t a party - somewhere. And, I was never Greek.</p>

<p>@jmu1989 so what are my chances of getting a suite style? I can’t imagine having to share a bathroom with everyone on the same floor. Also, what is it like at jmu, the atmosphere and people in general, your post highly intrigued me. I have only visited the Indiana university of Pennsylvania because my brother attends. Every single freshman has a suite style dorm, campus size is about 15000 students, similar to jmu but jmu has more academic prestige from what I read. I consider myself a competitive applicant for schools such as Michigan and Syracuse, but I have a vibe from everything I read about jmu that it is family and academics and the whole package in a school not just a few things that make me like the school.</p>

<p>Also, jmu is way more affordable than other schools, because No matter what anyone tells me money is money and college costs alot of money, jmu seems to be affordable.
JMU-27000
UMich-50,000
PSU-30000
Iup-19000
Syracuse-56000
MSU-37000
How are JMU scholarships?</p>

<p>Pacer - I am also a JMU alum and a PA resident. JMU out-of-state with the whole package (room & board, etc.) is closer to $31k. Penn State in state is about $27k. My D was accepted to PSU and offered one of their new Presidential Scholarships for $6k. She was also offered a Madison Achievement Scholarship for $5k. I don’t believe either university is very giving with their scholarships, although PSU has a much, much larger endowment. We were just down in H-burg for the CHOICES program, and attended the Honors discussion. The program sponsor admitted that JMU could do more in the scholarship dept., so hopefully, this will change. When I was at JMU I lived in a hall style dorm freshman year and loved it. To me, there were more people to hang out with. In a suite you are with six people only, and you run the risk of not getting along with several of them. I did not get aong with my roommate freshman year, but had plenty of friends in my hall. My D will be in Shenandoah next year, and I think she will enjoy the hall-style dorm. And as JMU1989 says, there is always something to do, whether you are Greek or not (I was Greek). Good luck in your search!</p>

<p>My letter said that in state tuition books and room and board was 30k for PSU. And 27k for jmu. Both are alot of money but honestly the idea of 40k other students turns me away from PSU slightly, but 15k is more like iup which is extremely reasonable. My brothers dorm at iup isn’t a suite, it’s a single room with its own personal bath. That’s what I mean by suite sorry if I was confusing you guy, I just want a personal bathroom. My brothers room has the door open all the time and people stop in say hello etc at iup. I don’t think PSU can offer that perfect balance of the balance of campus size and student body that jmu offers. I’m far away from choosing but jmu sounds better each day.</p>

<p>My suggestion: take what they give you freshman year as far a dorms go, then move off campus. You can get your own bedroom with your own bathroom for only slightly more than on-campus housing. Housing-wise, my favorite year was my Senior year. I shared an older home just off the upper campus (Bluestone area) with eight other guys. Also, see if you can pick your roommate from your local high school even if they are a bit quirky.</p>

<p>Nearly everybody loves JMU, including me. Ask around.</p>

<p>Consider adding Virginia Tech to your list. People may flame me for suggesting it, but they are very similar in many ways - 30% from NOVA, 15% from Richmond, 15% from Tidewater and 30% from OOS. Admission criteria are similar except for Tech engineering. Cost is nearly identical. Location/setting is nearly identical.</p>

<p>Hi. I was wondering if there was ANY speculation about when JMU will notify students about acceptances. It is getting late, and so many other people are committing to their schools already. thank you for any advice/information.</p>

<p>From what I’ve researched and read on CC, JMU will be one of the last to notify you/me. It’ll be very close to April 1st.</p>

<p>JMU is not a rolling admissions school, and it follows the “by April 1” guideline that many schools follow. I believe that over the past couple of years JMU has notified regular decision between around March 23 - 26. </p>

<p>All schools should give EA and RD admits until May 1 to make a tuition deposit. <a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/research/PublicationsResources/Marketplace/student/Documents/StudentsRtsNEW.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nacacnet.org/research/PublicationsResources/Marketplace/student/Documents/StudentsRtsNEW.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I have family in VA, and am wondering how difficult will it be for me to establish Virginian residency, it’s a huge difference in cost. The only reason is PA is so black and white for colleges. Either you go to an elite school like Upenn Pitt or temple in a large city or you go to a state school like bloom IUP or ship, and then there is also many kids who go to Rinky dink schools with 1000 students. Va has jmu odu gmu UVA for example, PSU has so many kids on campus it’s overwhelming to me. So tell me how difficult is it?</p>

<p>^It is difficult to impossible to establish residency in VA for tuition purposes… [LIS</a> > Code of Virginia > 23-7.4](<a href=“Legislative Information System”>Legislative Information System)</p>

<p>Go to: [James</a> Madison University - University Business Office](<a href=“http://www.jmu.edu/ubo/]James”>University Business Office - JMU) and scroll down to residency requirements for more information.</p>

<p>PacerNation24…clearly you are a smart person from what you posted for grades and, therefore, I can’t believe you are so naive to think you will get into a private room with a private bath as a freshman in the schools you listed. I realize IUP is almost as large of an institution as JMU but not only is IUP an exception (if in fact your brother has a private room and a private bath unless he is under a special program with privileges not available to typical students), to base your decision on where to apply based on getting a private room with a private bath is unrealistic and won’t make your college life very fulfilling. I went to a school about the size of PSU and the only private rooms they had were strictly for upperclassman. Plus, you will really do yourself a disservice by not having a roommate. Having spoken with students at JMU who were in suite style and hall style rooming situations, those in the suite style had more issues with roommates than those in the hall style (probably because they were in closer quarters…shared a smaller bathroom, etc). </p>

<p>I think JMU1989 is giving you great advice and you need to rethink your priorities. Twenty years after you graduate, you won’t remember or care about what happened in your dorm room when you are earning a living. Fortunately, most schools, and JMU is one of them, offer extended library hours for those who just want to get away from the weekend life of relaxing and winding down from a tough week of classes.</p>

<p>If you are looking for a school where partying is at a minimum and studying is at a maximum, I would suggest a small school (under 7,000) where the distractions are minimal due to the intimate campus. You should also ask your question regarding private rooms to people in residence life no matter where you apply. They are best equipped to give the answer you desire.</p>

<p>Just another opinion to add to the thread.</p>