My son got accepted to JMU EA Business/Accounting program. He has several other schools to chose from but JMU is in his top 3. Does anyone have any experience in/with the school? What is the availability of internships, how strong is the name outside of the general VA area, how well are the students prepared to find great careers? Thanks!
Well, I graduated from the College of Business with the President of Northrop Grumman, the President of Red Bull North America, and my very good friend is a Vice President at Booz Allen. That’s just one graduating class from the COB, and it’s come a long way since then.
They’ll complete construction of the new College of Business Learning Complex this summer, just in time for the start of the fall 2020 semester. Here’s a link to some info about it:
https://www.jmu.edu/cob2020/vision.shtml
The school obviously has name recognition in the mid-Atlantic area, not so much in the Northeast, but that’s changing slowly. I run into people all the time in the New England area that have connections to JMU. The recruiting events on campus are quite large with very diverse employers represented. I have no recent experience with the COB’s specific recruiting functions. I know my friend at Booz Allen actively recruits JMU students. The school turns out well rounded, socially competent graduates.
If you need more specific info I can try to reach out to friends that might be better equipped to answer.
@GKUnion thanks so much. Yes we are very interested in the new Business building - that is great as it shows a real commitment to moving their program forward and investing in it. As the decision making process moves on I may reach out further, thank you for the offer. We are also waiting to see what if any merit money we would get as that would have an impact on the decision when weighted against $ from other schools.
@Momtofourkids I’ll be honest, JMU isn’t generous with merit money for out of state students. Now, I have no clue what your son’s stats are, so he may very well get something. The President and the Admissions Department have identified increased scholarship funding as a necessity going forward but it remains to be seen if that translates early enough to benefit this incoming class.
@GKUnion we were interested in the school last year so I started following threads about it on this site. I did see that they were “stingy” with the OOS students especially when compared to other state schools (like UMass Amherst). However I also saw discussion late in April and early May that the Admissions office at JMU sent out further scholarships to kids who already were offered $ by the school and the chatter was/is that perhaps they were too cheap compared to most other schools so they lost out on accepted students becoming enrolled students. If they do the same this year we will not be accepting - it is a lot of money and if that is the general attitude toward the OOS students versus in state we won’t go where we aren’t as “welcome”.
JMU is one of the most friendly and welcoming campuses. The merit $ issue is due primarily to lack of available funds. Despite record setting graduate satisfaction with the school, the schools endowment is one of the lowest in the state. JMU is working hard to change that with significant emphasis on alumni outreach. Regarding the caliber of the business program, it is easily one of the best in the state with many seniors coming back from summer break with offers in hand from internships with significant firms (PwC; Booz; etc) Best of luck with your decision. It sounds like you have some very good options!
@Momtofourkids UMass Amherst is an interesting comparison when it comes to IS/OOS financial support. UMass is notoriously stingy with aid to in-state students, and Massachusetts based parents complain about their tax dollars going to OOS students rather than their own children. It’s usually an easy business decision for a university with a large enough endowment. Even with offered aid, most OOS students pay more that IS students so there is a net financial gain.
Out of state tuition/fees, room and board at UMass(2019-20) is $50,769. At JMU those same costs total to $39,842 for out of state students. That’s an $11,000 difference. The challenge you will face when every school’s cards are on the table is determining the potential value of “fit.” Which school does your son feel most excited about? Which school will best set him up to finish all four years? After that it’s math. If the best “fit” is $4,000 cheaper then it’s a no-brainer. Should the best fit be $3,000 more expensive…you’ll need to put pencil to paper on that decision.
Good luck with the decisions ahead.
@GKUnion Yes totally agree. “Fit” is a great option when the $ difference is minimal. Not so when its thousands x4 years! We went through this with our oldest as well, 10 schools with an Excel spreadsheet showing merit, room and board and tuition!
Sorry to hear the lack of alumni support toward their endowment. It seems as many have said that this should be changing for the better.
We appreciate the information re the business program and school in general. We have seen a lot of schools over the past few years and it really stood out which is why he took the time to apply. Thanks.
@Momtofourkids You’ve probably seen this already, but coupled with the fact that JMU is opening their new business school building, the buzz here in VA is the new Amazon HQ2 located in Arlington, VA. This should bode well for graduates from VA schools in the next 4 years. Along with other VA schools, JMU seems to be well positioned for internships and future hires.
@Momtofourkids one other important factor to note is that students aren’t accepted into the College of Business when admitted as freshmen at JMU. Students apply to the COB during their sophomore year, after successful completion of 8 core lower level B.B.A. business classes. They must have a GPA of at least 2.7 in those core classes.
GKUnion is not quite correct. Perhaps things have changed since he/she was familiar with the program.
My daughter is a current sophomore in the College of Business and she and her classmates WERE in fact accepted into the College of Business.
They were broken out during admitted students day and orientation as COB students and they were told that as long as they keep their GPAs up, they can stay in it.
So, it’s less of having to gain admission later, and more of keeping your grades up to STAY in it.
The school rep at orientation stressed how the students are wonderful and don’t have to stress and compete with each other about trying to apply into the school later. They are already IN, unlike some other schools, like UVA.
Yes, the new building will be ready soon. My daughter is very happy with her COB classes and professors, as well as the program in general. The school itself she LOVES. For some reason, JMU students tend to be very kind, personable and with good social skills. All the alums I know are the same way, not sure why. 