JMU or College Park ??

<p>Hi, I have just been accepted into both James Madison and UMD College Park and I really can't decide where to go. I feel both are good schools and are close to home. I want to go to the school where I feel I would have the most fun... I like to do a lot of partying. Could someone please put some input in that has been to either of these schools? Thank You!</p>

<p>I have a daughter at JMU and I live in Maryland. There is no lack of partying at either school. Because that is one of your main goals, however, I think you should choose UMDCP.</p>

<p>I highly recommend James Madison University.</p>

<p>Thanks to both of you, I have one vote for each now though haha.
Jahaba - Why do you recommend JMU? Better parties and social life? Or just more of them around?</p>

<p>JMU is in the middle of nowhere. Partying in house parties where you don’t know ppl. gets rather redundant. Leaving you with just the school.</p>

<p>UMDCP is located close enough to DC and it has a fairly nice bar scene.</p>

<p>Both are good party schools but definitely College Park all the way since it is a far more prestigious school than JMU.</p>

<p>"JMU is in the middle of nowhere. Partying in house parties where you don’t know ppl. gets rather redundant. Leaving you with just the school.</p>

<p>UMDCP is located close enough to DC and it has a fairly nice bar scene.</p>

<p>Both are good party schools but definitely College Park all the way since it is a far more prestigious school than JMU."</p>

<p>Sorry Hulkster, but your comments deserve a retort. Yes, the party scene at JMU is heavily situated off campus, mainly in the apartment complexes and fraternity houses. However, in almost every case, you’ll know someone who’s having a party, and if not, you’ll be with friends who know someone who’s having a party. If you “don’t know ppl” there, then you most likely aren’t a student at the school and somehow just ambled your way into Harrisonburg for some reason.</p>

<p>Which brings me to my next point: Harrisonburg isn’t in the middle of nowhere. It’s town of about 40,000 situated in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley, one of the most picturesque parts of the state, if not the country. It’s 2 hours from DC and Richmond. There are a few good bars in town but (and this is true in any city-- even DC and College Park) if you’re under 21, it doesn’t matter how good the bar scene is. Bouncers in college towns can sniff out a fake ID like a drug dog nosing a kilo of cocaine in a diaper bag. So, it pays to be in an environment where private parties are widely available. Oh, and let’s not forget that in bars, you’re paying $3-5 per beer. Out of a keg in someone’s kitchen, it’s usually free.</p>

<p>And the notion that College Park is “far more prestigious” than JMU is laughable. Take a look at the Princeton Review site for College Park. In addition to their academic rating hovering in the mid 70s (89 for JMU- not ivy league, but you can’t just walk in), one of the highest national rankings they hold is on the “Students Study the Least” list. But then again, maybe that’s what you’re looking for. It’s a good school, to be sure, and I commend you on getting into both, but “prestigious” is hardly the term I’d choose to describe it. </p>

<p>I know kids who went to College Park and loved it. If you want to go to a massive school with a huge sports program (particularly basketball and soccer), I’d say go there. JMU has decent teams, but there’s not a big ra-ra contingent behind it. For parties and an overall great social environment, JMU can certainly hold its own against anyone. Just ask Playboy Magazine (who rated it among the 25 best party schools in the country) and all the kids from Virginia Tech, UVA, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, William and Mary and yes, even College Park, who made trips to JMU just for the parties.</p>

<p>InsaneIrish81, you must attend JMU with such a thorough commentary. It’s an opinion, deal with it and move on. I’ll take the time to defend my statements with your weak retort. Keep in mind, unlike you probably, I do not attend JMU nor UMD. I’ll analyze your futile logic off the basis of how it was written:</p>

<p>“Sorry Hulkster, but your comments deserve a retort. Yes, the party scene at JMU is heavily situated off campus, mainly in the apartment complexes and fraternity houses. However, in almost every case, you’ll know someone who’s having a party, and if not, you’ll be with friends who know someone who’s having a party. If you “don’t know ppl” there, then you most likely aren’t a student at the school and somehow just ambled your way into Harrisonburg for some reason.”</p>

<p>MOST parties at JMU are “OPEN”! What does open mean? It means they are open to all individuals. Doesn’t matter if you know 1,000 people or none. You walk around the various apt. complexes whether they be Ashby Crossings, Fox hills, etc. and just find random houses to enter.</p>

<p>“Which brings me to my next point: Harrisonburg isn’t in the middle of nowhere. It’s town of about 40,000 situated in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley, one of the most picturesque parts of the state, if not the country. It’s 2 hours from DC and Richmond. There are a few good bars in town but (and this is true in any city-- even DC and College Park) if you’re under 21, it doesn’t matter how good the bar scene is. Bouncers in college towns can sniff out a fake ID like a drug dog nosing a kilo of cocaine in a diaper bag. So, it pays to be in an environment where private parties are widely available. Oh, and let’s not forget that in bars, you’re paying $3-5 per beer. Out of a keg in someone’s kitchen, it’s usually free.”</p>

<p>The word nowhere is defined by freedictionary.com as such:</p>

<p>A remote or unknown place</p>

<p>Is Harrisonburg known throughout the country? No. Is Harrisonburg even known within the corridors of of Virginia by individuals? Some, not all. So by definition, it is infact located nowhere. It’s in the stacks; this statement is irrefutable.</p>

<p>“And the notion that College Park is “far more prestigious” than JMU is laughable. Take a look at the Princeton Review site for College Park. In addition to their academic rating hovering in the mid 70s (89 for JMU- not ivy league, but you can’t just walk in), one of the highest national rankings they hold is on the “Students Study the Least” list. But then again, maybe that’s what you’re looking for. It’s a good school, to be sure, and I commend you on getting into both, but “prestigious” is hardly the term I’d choose to describe it.”</p>

<p>First off, people don’t even take the princeton review seriously. The staple measurement for whatever reason is US NEWS which JMU isn’t even listed on. You know why? Because JMU isn’t considered a complete university! Why is this? They lack higher education Master and Ph.D. programs which relegated them to be not ranked. Take the time to check where UMD is ranked and get back to me. UMD is far harder to get into and their student body is smarter. The school possess a plethora of top major programs. JMU is only remotely known regionally for their music program. It ends there. I use the term “prestigious” because INFACT the degree worth obtained from UMD far exceeds that of JMU.</p>

<p>I know kids who went to College Park and loved it. If you want to go to a massive school with a huge sports program (particularly basketball and soccer), I’d say go there. JMU has decent teams, but there’s not a big ra-ra contingent behind it. For parties and an overall great social environment, JMU can certainly hold its own against anyone. Just ask Playboy Magazine (who rated it among the 25 best party schools in the country) and all the kids from Virginia Tech, UVA, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, William and Mary and yes, even College Park, who made trips to JMU just for the parties. </p>

<p>Your less comment is subjective and opinionated. i know people that have attended all of the schools you mentioned with the exception of CMU and all of them have visited each others schools. It’s called “having friends”. People that have friends tend to visit them if they attend another school.</p>

<p>Good try in signing up and unleashing your biased information, but in this case, it has little merit. Both are decent schools but lets be honest here, UMD is far superior by a long shot.</p>

<p>Parent here…as far as academic prestige, Collegeboard has JMU acceptance rate at 61%and SAT’s low median at 1050. UMCP acceptance is 42% and SAT 1200. UMCP by far, more difficult. Also look at enrollment…17K+ JMU and UMCP 26K+. However, if your main goal is social atmosphere and partying, well the parent in me figures none of the prestige really matters. JMU sounds like your best fit.</p>

<p>Are you seriously comparing UMD to JMU?! The best times of my life happened up at UMD. Partying there is great! Especially at turtle! I applied to both UMD and JMU but unfortunetly I didnt get into UMD. Im still waiting to hear back from JMU. If I end up at JMU, Ill be definietly going up to UMD to party!</p>

<p>Well I would honestly say just to go where you feel more comfortable at.
Honestly, I don’t see why someone would base their decision on going to a college on “partying” because that’s not really what main priorities should be about, college is about a higher education, but if that’s your thing than so be it (yeah, I know it’s also about making lasting relationships as well, but that’s not the only thing).
I’ve never visited the other college you mentioned, but I visited JMU and knew it was for me because of the environment and professors I met while walking around. I just felt like the place was where I was supposed to be, and the level of partying or Princeton Review stats had no say in my decision.
Who cares about the level of prestige of the schools? Businesses just want you to HAVE a higher education and a degree; not EVERYONE in the world goes to a place that is known by the entire population. Some people get the best education at the lesser known schools. </p>

<p>So…yeah, that’s just about all I have to say.
You can always visit the two choices and see which one fits.
Good luck with your decision (:</p>

<p>Drama has happened here…
I’ll be short with my opinion. The question is both subjective and relative to each persons situation. OP please remember these are mostly opinions. </p>

<p>I live near DC. I would pick JMU over UMD any day. I want to get away from dc so I wouldn’t want to go to UMD. I perfer a small town over the city, so I would pick JMU. </p>

<p>The social scene at JMU is about more than partying. JMU has one of the friendliest student bodies and staff of any school I’ve been to. That was a big reason for choosing it over schools like UVA where I FEEL that people are a lil stuck up. </p>

<p>Well I said I was gonna be short so I’m gonna stop now. And typing on my iPhone for a long time is annoying. That’s my bit on jmu though. </p>

<p>Good luck with your choice! Let’s think outside the box.
Evm2556</p>

<p>Our DS attends UMDCP, our DD has JMU as her back up (VATech). DS loves UMD, DD would rather amputate her fingers than go there. They are worlds apart. </p>

<p>College is more than just academics, so let’s leave that out for a second. UMDCP is a city like atmosphere, it is more urban. JMU is located in a small college town. If JMU closed tomorrow, the town would die, this is not true for UMDCP.</p>

<p>Our DD loves the small town feel, she loves the mtns. She loves the look and feel of the campus. That would also explain her desire for VA Tech. She is not a huge ACC fan and going to football or bball games seems fun, but she really doesn’t care about them. DS wanted the entire college experience and that meant football on fall saturdays, and bball in the winter.</p>

<p>You need to ask yourself what you want when it comes to your free time. Honestly UMD will have more to offer, but to some it is too much.</p>

<p>Next, let’s talk academics </p>

<p>I am sorry, but UMD overall is a higher ranking school, and depending on your major it could be far superior. For example, our DS is in Govt and Politics Scholar program. UMDCP requires scholars to intern, and he is currently interning for a Senator on Capitol Hill. That ability would not exist for a JMU student, since it is very hard to commute 3 days a week into DC and still take classes.</p>

<p>UMDCP is reknown in criminal justice. They are the tops of the tops within this area, and the FBI, CIA recruit from them in large numbers.</p>

<p>UMDCP has a great engineering program and business school. Smith Business is ranked 18 in the WORLD for GRAD. Many of the engineers intern at NASA Goddard, while at school, again something that can’t happen if you are at JMU.</p>

<p>Now flip side, JMU is about as close as you can get to a state LAC. Their programs lean towards that side of the academic field, and if you are going that route, the playing field equals out.</p>

<p>Look at your major, which has more opportunities UMDCP or JMU</p>

<p>Finally, regarding academics and social life, you need to look at the size of the school. Some kids want to be a number, some don’t. Are you okay taking ECON 101 with 250 other students or do you prefer it to be 40-50. If you want the smaller number you will hate UMD if you are not in Honors/Gemstone/Scholars, because your freshman, and soph yr will be big classes. </p>

<p>The same is true for living life, for some house parties are horrible because it is the same people over and over again. For others they love it because IT IS the same people.</p>

<p>Only you know which school is a better fit for you. I won’t slam either because if Tech doesn’t come through (3/26) I will have one at each, but I will say for each child they are a good fit for them personally.</p>

<p>Go to whichever one is cheaper b/c partying and prestige are the same.</p>

<p>UMD!!! all the way</p>