In every in-state school tour we went on, the admissions people said that they do not have limits on how many they accept from a certain school or part of Virginia. At every visit, someone asked about that, and each time the staff assured the visitors that they don’t factor how many others from your school or area they are taking.
My daughter’s high school is very competitive (in top 10 for the state) and something like 96% go to college. For this round with JMU, some got in, some didn’t, it the number seems to reflect the overall acceptance rate. JMU seems to be looking for well rounded people, not just high scores.
@vamom4 I totally agree. I can see reflected in the results on this post that they want people with really well rounded applications and not necessarily high gpa or SAT! I got in with a 3.78 gpa, 1200 SAT but fantastic leadership and clubs as well as a solid essay
I was deferred in state (NoVa). JMU is honestly my top choice and I’m super worried that I won’t get accepted when regular decisions start getting sent out. 1180 SAT and 3.95 GPA (weighted)
4H Counselor
Peer Mentor
Volunteer at Cat Shelter
Litter Cleanup Volunteer
Band kid for all of HS (accepted into districts)
4 (I think) AP
4 Dual Enrollment
Remember that JMU considers the classes you take and the grades obtained. As many know, weighted GPA’s are very skewed across all schools given grading scales vary from 7pt scales to 10pt scales, whether a school uses +/- systems and which classes are actually weighted and how much. So, it is very important not to view a GPA alone. Almost everyone applying is more than qualified to attend, which make the process all the more frustrating and difficult for admissions. Hang in there to all deferred. Things will work out as you are all very intelligent and driven to succeed.
@vamom4 I understand what you are saying, but I just don’t think it’s true. Many times there seems to be a clear line drawn on acceptances from each high school. I don’t think it’s a coincidence when a high school sends roughly the same amount of kids to the same school each year. I understand there are different “boxes” to check in terms of creating a balanced class, but there are a number of high caliber, well rounded kids that are well within or exceed the middle 50th that are deferred or rejected from competitive high schools, while kids from less competitive schools are accepted. I’m not saying that it wrong - I like that they balance the class. I am just saying that the line they feed you on the tours isn’t the full story. Additionally, I think JMU is more focused on GPA (hence, they are test optional now). The rep that came to our school was pretty clear that grades would trump higher test score. The rep also indicated that JMU, like many other schools, has to close the funding gap by accepting more full pay OOS kids.
I think for schools that rank, it helps the issue of very different grading scales. Someone may have a 4.2 GPA and be 100th in their class while another student at a different school may have a 4.2 and be 10th in their class depending on the school. Colleges will also look at the classes that were taken. A student in our area could take all regular classes and get an A+ in every class and have a 4.5 GPA but another student could take 15 AP classes with A and A-'s in each class and when added to their non-weighted classes have a 4.5 GPA. The one with the AP’s has had to learn more about each subject and probably study more so a college would value that in a student. This is why schools also say they look at the rigor of classes. I would not want to be the admissions officer that has to figure all of this out. .
My high school is super small. My graduating class is only 81 kids, and I’m ranked 18. The only few kids that got in early here were our gov school kids with super high GPAs and many extra classes. I was told that once deferred, the admissions officers would compare you to students from YOUR school that applied regular decision. And @Virginia1129 , I’d also say you should definitely get in. Do you know any stats of the kids that got in from your HS?
Cousin accepted OOS, 3.48 UW GPA, 1170 SAT, strong leadership experience and activities. Based on the stats of some of the in-state kids who got deferred, I’d say they’re accepting more OOS well-rounded kids for EA. Probably for the higher tuition paid and so they have kids from all over attending. The acceptance letter does not state a major she was accepted into - do they not accept into specific majors?
@TeeTree No, they do not accept nor deny a specific major. I do believe some majors such as business have a more formal acceptance after general business classes are complete but the process is not difficult. See the JMU website for specifics.
@TeeTree and @bboop42 for the most part incoming students are accepted to the university, but not to the specific major. Students admitted academically who matriculate declare their major when they make there Summer Springboard Orientation reservation. Some majors (English, for example), I believe, have no additional gateway for formal admission to the major. You declare the major, you are in the major as long as you maintain good academic standing to remain in the major.
Others (College of Business majors, School of Media Arts and Design, for example) allow you to declare the major, take pre-requisite course work, and then require an additional application after completing pre-requisite with the required grades/ gpa in order to be formally admitted to the major.
Majors in the College of Visual and Performing Arts require an audition, interview, portfolio review, and this may be done as a High School senior (or college student transferring) during the admissions process. It is, in fact, recommended to do this before coming to JMU if you know you want to major in the arts. In this case a student will find out prior to coming to JMU if they have been admitted to the arts major in addition to their academic admissions. If not admitted to the arts major, but admitted academically they may come to JMU in a different major, or undecided.
The arts majors also have auditions, interviews, portfolio reviews for already matriculate students who decide later that they would like to try to declare an arts major.
@katmt How many people are you auditioning this season? I know can’t possibly say an exact number, but do have an estimate? I remember hearing last year that you auditioned around 275 for a class of 12-14.
@dontaskme1 – last year for the Musical Theatre major we auditioned approximately 180 for a class of 12 - 14. This year it look we will audition between 200 and 220 for a class of 12 - 14. We generally admit 20 - 25 to yield that number.
He got the email today, and we had no idea the results were ready on the 10th!