<p>My daughter is considering applying. We live in New England. I read a recent profile that indicates only 23% stay on campus on weekends, and that is very low. However it also said they are making efforts/strides to improve on that.</p>
<p>Anyone have any real expereince? I don't want to see her stuck on a campus that has no life of it's own.
Thanks.</p>
<p>I know very little about George Mason. But I can say that "commuter school" and "suitcase school" are the first two labels that come to mind. </p>
<p>Commuter school because a lot of locals attend and live at home.<br>
Suitcase school because the small amount of students who do live on campus usually go home for the weekends. </p>
<p>I could be wrong, though. Those are just impressions I've formed over the years, growing up in the area.</p>
<p>Yes, in NOVA if you go to GMU, you do so because it's close and easy to go home frequently, so it's definitely a commuter school.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight mephist0 and dougbetsy. Sounds like we should not plan a trip there....</p>
<p>According to spark notes, 76.8% of students are commuters. So your profile that says only 23% of students stay on campus during the weekend is spot on.</p>
<p>Thank you for the input.</p>
<p>I appreciate the problems with commuter schools. But if George Mason is otherwise a good fit, keep in mind that there are 18,000 undergraduates. 25% of 18,000 is 4,500 - still a fair number of students on campus.</p>
<p>The 25% number is false too. Alot of upperclassmen get off campus apts. nearby. So that raw 25 number only applies to the available on-campus rooms.</p>
<p>I'm from NoVA and I doubt that even the residents would be on campus during weekends anyways. There's a metro stop right at GMU if memory serves right, so people can just go right to the Smithsonian, watch a baseball game, go to the Verizon Center, or w/e. So what I'm saying is this, it probably won't matter that it's a commuter school because your D will probably be off campus a lot herself. If you want to know anymore about GMU, just send me a message and I can get some answers from my mom (she's a research professor for them).</p>
<p>I understand housing is only guaranteed for freshman and that upperclass students are faced with finding housing in the very expensive Fairfax area. What has been your experience?</p>
<p>GiggitusMaximus - I’m a native as well. You may be confusing GMU (George Mason University) with GW (George Washington)? GW is in DC and has easier access to things in Washington. GMU is in the suburbs of Virginia, Fairfax, and while there are metroBUS stops that can take you to the metrorail line in Vienna (the last stop on the orange line) and get into DC, it’s quite a hike.</p>
<p>George Mason offers some great academic programs but unfortunately it still suffers from the commuter school syndrome. There are a decent number of kids that head there out of our kids hs. They are going in spite of the campus, not because of it.</p>
<p>As far as housing off campus, it’s not inside the beltway, but still prime commuting distance to the District so any available rentals off campus are going to be subject to what young professionals are willing to pay. Certainly not as bad as the Washington DC, Boston, or NYC markets, but higher then you’re going to find in most college towns.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>dowzerw,</p>
<p>You already posted your question about GMU (focusing on its so-called “commuter” reputation) in another thread. </p>
<p>As you no doubt saw, I brought up that this question has been discussed several times in the past and I also offered to you George Mason’s press release on their officially changed status.</p>
<p>The mods here do not care for posters tagging onto old threads (especially, I imagine, if hijacked).
But I will respond:</p>
<p>Your “understanding” is incorrect -</p>
<p>[George</a> Mason University - Office of Housing & Residence Life](<a href=“http://housing.gmu.edu/general/faq/read.asp?fID=45]George”>http://housing.gmu.edu/general/faq/read.asp?fID=45)</p>
<p>May I also respectfully suggest that you forget about listening to your “source” for GMU information since they are obviously very misinformed.</p>
<p>GolfFather’s link is now 404. Here’s one from 2011:
[It?s</a> Official: Mason Is a Residential University ? University News - George Mason University](<a href=“The George | George Mason University”>The George | George Mason University)</p>
<p>GMU is NOT a commuter school any more. Mason has changed very rapidly and now has 8,000 students living on campus, 2,000 of them freshmen. Of course there are many commuter students as well, but with that many students on campus there are always activities going on just like any other college campus. GMU has students from all 50 states and 130+ countries. The % of commuter students is inflated by the fact that there are lots of grad students, some older students, and three campuses of which only one is the main residential campus (in Fairfax). the other two campuses are mainly used by commuters. My son attends Mason, lives on campus, and has a seemingly endless supply of friends and activities; including sports, co-hosting one of Mason’s cable tv shows, tech clubs, and activism groups. I hope people will look at Mason as it is now, not how it was 10 years ago.</p>
<p><a href=“George Mason University Housing & Campus Life | CollegeData”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg05_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1038</a> says that 72% of frosh live in the dorms, which is often a decent proxy for residential students (versus commuters). Only 28% of students overall live in the dorms, but that combines resident off-campus students and commuters in the other 72%, so that is a less useful figure (it is common for residential students to live off-campus after frosh year).</p>