Knowledgable VA & NC parents

<p>There's a thread geared for "schools for B students- SAT's 1000-1200" along eastern seaboard. Most schools listed seem to be in mid-atlantic states such as Towson-West Chester-etc. I'd love to get some info from VA & NC parents about your state schools. We're planning to visit George Mason and Old Dominion during the February break. We may also look at CNU and VCU too. (See I am trying to familiarize myself with Va schools. All of these schools were at the Long Island College Fair so I have to assume they are trying to recruit from NY State. We are going to rule out all schools that are too rural as we are from LI. I keyed into the above schools because of their locations. I ruled out JMU as I thought it was too rural. My daughter has no clue what she wants to major in so the "bigger the choices" the better off she'll be. She's always been interested in sports- so I'm trying to find schools that have Exercise Science-Sports Management-Phys. Ed/Coaching in addition to your basic Liberal Arts Majors. All the above schools except CNU have "Recreation majors". Cost is also a major consideration. I'm keying into state schools, as we're trying to keep costs around $25,000. I'd send her to a SUNY school (and she may wind up going to a NY state school) but she really hates cold weather and she physically doesn't do well in the cold. If all else fails I know I can get her heavy gloves and longjohns but I'm trying to have as many options for her as posible. My gut feeling is that Towson (in Maryland) would be a good choice for her so I'm trying to find similar type schools in Va and NC to look at. She's in 11th grade so we have time to explore. Thanks for any insight you can give me.</p>

<p>In North Carolina, a great school for "B" students is Elon. They have both an exercise-sports science major and an athletic training major. Very pretty campus, relatively inexpensive tuition ($23,000 including room/board), nice program that focuses on hands-on experience in all majors. You might also take a look at Catawba College in NC - they also have an exercise science/PE/athletic training major. Same price range as Elon. It's slightly less competitive in admissions than Elon so she might even get some merit money there depending on her stats. In Virigina, check out Lynchburg College. Also, I believe that McDaniel College in Maryland has an exercise science program.</p>

<p>A few more in North Carolina with exercise science - High Point College Cost is about $23,000 inclusive as well. Their exercise science program is supposedly very well regarded (it almost always shows up on the lists I've seen for top programs in this area) Guilford College in NC, a great little liberal arts school has an exercise science and athletic management major as well.
UNC-Pembroke and UNC-Greensboro also have exercise science programs.</p>

<p>If she's willing to go a little farther south, the University of South Carolina has a good sports management/recreation management program as well.</p>

<p>Just saw your note as I was also looking at the thread about B students. I have one that is carrying about a 3.4 but is topping out just under 1500 on his SAT's so is driving me nuts (another story). As for Virginia schools, if you want to be near activities, George Mason may be a good choice. It's been known for years as a commuter campus, and the majority of students still commute, BUT there is definitely a residential side of it now too. In the last two years they have opened two new upper grad residence halls that are basically apartments and are very nice (older S lives in one now). The campus is very nice and there are plenty of activities to do there plus it's easy to use public transportation to get to metro to go into D.C. Most students have cars, or access to them. Christopher Newport has gotten a lot of recognition within the state in recent years as the up and coming school. They are growing and have many new buildings. I haven't visited it but many people I know have liked it a lot. My personal impression is it's where George Mason was about 15-20 years ago in growing into its own identity. I have seen VCU but have not toured it. The one aspect is it's very much an urban campus, set right down in Richmond, and didn't appear to have a "college" look to it. James Madison is rural, although it does have a fairly good size town there, but it is definitely much different than the more urban areas of the other schools. You might also want to check out Mary Washington in Fredricksburg if you're down here. It's a smaller public that is situated half way between D.C. and Richmond, however I don't know if they have the programs you're looking for. Good luck!</p>

<p>Thanks Carolyn and Choff for the info. The "VA. insider info" helps give me a flavor of the state schools in your area. We're definitely going to tour GMU & ODU and see the other 2 campuses. During the same vacation in Feb. we're going to tour Towson & York, so I don't want my daughter to "OD" on campus tours. If we're still searching for colleges after the Feb. break, we'll start thinking NC. My d doesn't want to be too far away so if Va. and mid-Atlantic meet her needs, we may not look any further south.I am going to add Elon and Highpoint to my radar as well as UNC Wilmington (near the beach-yeah!). Wilmington does have a Parks-Rec- Tourism major so that too may meet our needs. As we are from NY and Jewish some of the smaller NC schools may be too much of a culture shock. I checked the Hillel website (Hillel.org if anyone is interested) and found that Elon did seem to have an active chapter. Again Thanks for the info. And Choff if you want any info on NY or Northeastern schools just ask. My older d is a freshmen at Cornell so I went through this process last year. Good luck.</p>

<p>Whoa, whoa. As a VA high school senior, I feel that you might be way off in your judgement of these schools. Almost everyone I know is unhappy at Christopher Newport, including many who like their friends but are "incredibly bored" with the light course load. Others I know have the opposite problem with Mary Washington- they enjoy their classes but have a really hard time adjusting to the "suitcase school" atmosphere in Fredericksburg. One friend is very unhappy because the only thing there is drink, and she always ends up designated. She also says that the food is unbearably bad--things she read about in high school but didn't realize how big a deal they are in practice. VCU is typically for underacheivers and slackers, unless you're going into the nursing program. And personally, I think Richmond is a disgusting town. George Mason is the closest to where I live but I know very little about it. No one I am personally friends with goes there, but I hear that it is a better school than it is made out to be. I'm very surprised with your assessment of JMU because it is very, very popular at my school. Compared to colleges like MW and CNU, JMU is a great mix of moderate academics, genuinely nice and fun people, and a great social scene. It also has a big and very college-oriented campus. It might have slightly harder admissions than the other schools, but I would seriously recommend giving JMU a second look. It's not "too rural" at all, and has a really athletic student body- the new rec center is, by all accounts, incredible. I agree about Elon- it seems like a great school and I would say very comparable to JMU with an overall nice and accommadating student body. Good luck in your search!</p>

<p>Sorry, I just realized this was in the Parents Forum, but I think it's OK :)</p>

<p>Have you checked College of Charleston? I'm not sure it has the major you are looking for, but it is a very nice southern campus with a liberal arts focus.</p>

<p>Marebare5,
The Parents Forum welcomes thoughtful posts by students. :)</p>

<p>I would have thought Guilford perfect:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.guilford.edu/catalog/index.cfm?ID=120000610%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.guilford.edu/catalog/index.cfm?ID=120000610&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It has a degree program in Sports Studies, Medicine, and Exercise Science. SATs are spot on, B student, and costs should work too (and they are very liberal with financial aid - 90% of the student body receives aid. Location wise, it is on the outskirts of Greensboro. Lots of New Yorkers, too.</p>

<p>I agree with Mini - my daughter has been looking at Guilford this week and has added it to her list. She likes the "feel" of the school - kind of down to earth, liberal, friendly, and also the large out of state percentage of students.She did a live journal interest search and was impressed with how happy the students seemed with the school (not always the case on live journal). Admissions are not excessively competitive - it would probably be a safe safety for my daughter.</p>

<p>Actually I hope marebare5 is still following this thread. It is very useful to get a student's views on these schools. I would be very interested to hear any feedback on 3 schools we visitied in Virginia. Our impressions were filtered by our wonderful hand-picked tourguides. We visited Roanoke, Lynchburg and Randolph Macon. :)</p>

<p>Make sure to check out Guilford in person. My daughter considered it, and we went for a tour. While the area is beautiful, we thought they needed to invest a bit more in the school's infrastructure. Some of the buildings were pretty run-down. However, I have a cousin who attended Guilford about a decade ago and he loved the liberal, non-competitive atmosphere the school provided.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice Sillystring - it is so hard to tell from pictures on a web site what schools are really like. We will try to visit in person if it stays on my daughter's list. My daughter is a very "touch" oriented - she is pretty adament that she won't know if a school is right for her unless she visits. Sigh. Would be easier if all of her schools were in one geographic area.</p>

<p>NJres - you never did tell us which schools your son has been accepted to. Would love to hear your thoughts about the three you mention.</p>

<p>marny1,
We visited JMU as an afterthought on the way home from our vacation in Myrtle Beach last August. School had just started. My son fell in love with it. We're from LI also and the area around campus seemed to have a suburban feel to it, not rural, although we did not spend a lot of time researching the area. The info session adcom made it seem like a good bet for a B student: they use weighted averages provided by your HS, and average SAT around 1150 (don't quote me) and the info on the website backed this up. After we got home I had a question about the gen ed requirements, and I e-mailed this adcom, as she really reached out to parents. A few days later I received a call from the LI adcom who was in the area and offered to meet with my son. Didn't happen because S was at work, but he offered to go over son's stats. I got a whole different feeling on admission competitiveness--he said my son would be on the fence. (85uw 97 w and 1200SAT, mostly honors, 4 AP's.) Son loved it but I told him of the conversation with adcom and he now considers it a reach. He just applied, but is not holding his breath! If he is accepted, he will seriously consider it. PS, It's warmer than Oswego!</p>

<p>When we New Englanders were looking for a school to meet the requirements of our DD - we tripped over East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. It is between Rt 95 and the Outer Banks. It is definitely a school that you should check into - and they have a great College of Health and Human Performance which includes - Sports Management, PE/education, Exercise and Sports Science, Exercise Physiology, Athletic Training, Environmental Health, etc....and a Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies and Recreational Therapy - lots of choices!!!! - which sounds like what you may be looking for. Actually my own DD just declared her major in Recreation Management there - she has had so many great experiences there and loves it - she is involved in the Adventure Program and is a member of their snoboard team also - yes there is snow in NC on occassion.....</p>

<p>The school is large enough to offer many programs - yet it doesn't feel like a huge university. There is much going on there also in regards to school improvements and growth. They have rolling admissions - so application should be the earlier - the better. They have an honors program which is interesting and has some nice percs also. Cost wise - an out-of-state student budget is about $22,000 ($18,500 for tuition/room/board/fees, etc....)</p>

<p>You will hear that ECU has the rep of being a party school - I will defend that by saying that EVERY school is a party school - no matter how you cut it. ECU can give your ''B'' student a solid education and lots of choices - in case the student changes their mind and goes in another direction - which happens. Worth the time to check it out. We were treated very well when we called last minute during Hurricane Kyle - to ask for a tour - the welcomed us with hot coffee, umbrellas and 2 student tour guides!!! They were awesome to us. It immediately went to the top of DD's list!!!!!</p>

<p>UNC-Wilmington - we also looked at this school - originally DD's 3rd choice - she even applied and was accepted - but we were pretty disappointed in alot of things there - and they were not as nice - even tho we had an appointment for our tour during Hurricane Kyle!!!!! They did not have the choices of majors tho originally my DD was looking at Biology as a Pre-physical therapy major.</p>

<p>**College of Charleston - yes - is a beautiful LA school - my dd's second choice!!! Applied and was accepted there also - but she decided ECU had soooo much more to offer - the Snowboard team is what did it!!!!! LOL.</p>

<p>Good luck in your search for your ''B'' student - there are many wonderful schools out there to explore - just my 2cents.</p>

<p>Just an FYI - if you are an out-of-state applicant to any of the NC UNC schools (there are like 16 of them - and ECU is one of them) - it is a very good idea to get the apps in by Oct 31st!!! the UNC college system restricts acceptances to 18% or less for out-of-staters - and if rolling admissions - you will get a response in a short time - ??4-6 weeks - maybe even faster.</p>

<p>My older daughter went to Randolph Macon (I assume you mean the co-ed College) this semester. As with a lot of places, the reality is less than the promise of the tours.</p>

<p>On the plus side, the professors are by and large into teaching and supportive. Her fellow students are friendly. </p>

<p>There are some significant negatives. There are real problems getting classes. Classes are lined up for 1st semester students, but after that, they have to compete for spots, and seniors, etc. have priority to a ridiculous extent. My D can't take the second semester of her history class because no spots are available for example. Science classes are VERY tough to get into.</p>

<p>RMC loses about 25% of their freshmen. Only 75% move into their sophomore year. I don't know whether they take students who aren't prepared, they don't support the students as well as they might, or the students leave in disgust, but the D is teetering on the latter.</p>

<p>The Administration refuses to take responsibility for its mistakes. They screwed up the D's language assignment, resulting in her not being able to take a language her first year. They made the mistake, but refused to bend and get her into another class, all full, they said. She ended up taking "Women in Film" just to fill something in. It was one of the few classes available.</p>

<p>They have a nurse on campus who is marginally competent. She misdiagnosed the D's illness, gave her something that made it worse. We only got the mess cleaned up when she came home for Thanksgiving and we got her in to see the old family Doctor.</p>

<p>She doesn't like the food either, but I haven't met too many college sudents who do. Good luck in your search.</p>

<p>Oh, Oldhoo, I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter's experiences at Randolph-Macon. I appreciate you sharing the story with us.</p>

<p>Wow! Thanks everyone. I haven't checked the boards recently as d # 1 just came home for winter break. The info you shared is great. Thanks Marebare5 for adding a students view to the discussion. A students take on the situation often gives us the best type of insight. It's funny what you said about George Mason being close to your home and therefore you don't know many kids who go there. We have a similar situation on Long Island. SUNY Stony Brook is a really fine school, known for its sciences Pre-med etc. and yet the LI kids don't want to go there. It's just too close to home. And thanks JeepMom for info on ECU. Their school of Human Performance does seem to include alot of the areas my d might be intersted in. As of now we're still planning to do some campus visits in Feb. but probably won't make it further south than VA. Of course if her hs basketball team is in the playoffs, we may not be doing any travelling that week and our visits will have to wait until Spring break in April. I will add her name to the mailing lists of several of the schools mentioned. Let her get a feel for them and then she can plan our future visits. Thanks to all for the wonderful info.</p>