<p>D has turned her attention to schools in VA, and came up with these two universities. She wants a bigger public university, and is considering majoring in biology or nursing. She has a 3.4 and SATs are about 1250 for math/verbal. She'd be paying nonresident tuition and hoping for a grant to drop the cost down to low $20s.</p>
<p>Any comparisons or info on these schools would be appreciated. We'll be planning a visit this summer.</p>
<p>Just FYI - you have the names mixed up. It’s James Madison and George Mason. Don’t know much about either school except that JMU is considered to be 2nd or 3rd best public uni in VA (behind UVA and on par with/better than VT). George Mason is located in northern Virginia and is somewhat of a commuter school to my knowledge.</p>
<p>JMU is consistently more popular among its students than GMU. On Princeton Review’s 60-99 rating scale based on student surveys (think 90-99 = A; 80-89 = B, etc.) JMU’s Campus Life rating is a 93 while GMU’s is 73. At both schools a majority of the students live off-campus, but because JMU is in Harrisonburg, virtually the whole student body resides in the same college town in a college-based atmosphere. The vast majority are from elsewhere and are living in Harrisonburg for college. In Fairfax, GMU has a lot of genuine commuters - local residents who live at home and drive in and out for classes only.</p>
<p>I’ve been on both campuses a little. JMU would provide a much, much better “college experience” and is academically more respected. I know a lot of people that just used GMU as a stepping stone and transferred to another in-state school, and nobody seemed to upset to leave there…</p>
<p>Thank you! I obviously need to get their names straight too!!! I keep mixing them up…</p>