My son, a HS Junior, wants to major in Business. We have looked primarily at smaller colleges because he wants small class sizes, but he keeps hearing how good the business program is at JMU. Can anyone tell me how large the classes are at JMU in general? I can’t see him doing well in a large auditorium full of 200 students, but I don’t want to assume that’s what happens at JMU or any other larger university. Any information you can provide is greatly appreciated!
it is a large university but small classes
There are some larger sections (200) of General Education classes, but there are generally also smaller sections (30 - 50) of the same class. Students in the Honors program have the option of signing up for honors section of courses when available, and often those are more like 20 - 25 students.
COB classes are generally between 30 - 50 students. Students declare the major as a freshman in order to be able to take the 10 COB lower level BBA core courses. COB 300 is a four class integrated learning experience that students take upon formally being admitted to the upper level coursework in the major.
From the Catalog:
Progression Standards for the College of Business
Admission to the College of Business and COB 3001
Any student admitted to JMU can declare any major offered by the College of Business. Students are not formally accepted into the College of Business until certain requirements are met. Requirements to continue pursuing a B.B.A. degree are described here.
Students are formally admitted into the College of Business as a B.B.A. major and permitted to register for COB 300 when the following requirements are met:
A completed application for admission into the College of Business is submitted to the COB Academic Services Center according to the following schedule:
October 1 for upcoming spring semester
March 1 for upcoming summer session and fall semesters
All 10 lower-level B.B.A. core courses are successfully completed.
A GPA of 2.7 in the B.B.A. lower-level core courses (excluding MATH 205) is achieved.
Admission is granted within one calendar year of the applicant’s first application. Two applications, in consecutive semesters of enrollment, are permitted.
The B.B.A. core GPA is calculated using grades earned in the B.B.A. lower-level core excluding calculus (MATH 205 or MATH 235). Only grades earned at JMU will be used. The university policy for calculating repeat-credit and repeat-forgive will be followed.
Students with a 2.7 B.B.A. core GPA are assured admission into the College of Business and COB 300. Students who meet all of the requirements above but fail to achieve a 2.7 B.B.A. core GPA will be admitted to the College of Business and COB 300 based on B.B.A. core GPA, pending resource and space availability.
Consult with the major department for further progression requirements in the specific degree programs.
Thank you for that information! It sounds like the COB is very good and not as huge as I thought it might be. We will be making the college tour rounds in the spring and early summer. I’m looking forward to seeing JMU.
If you can try to visit when school is in session. The students are very friendly, and them being here will give a better sense of the school.