<p>Thank you so much for those of you who answered my previos question.
I have another one: minnesota-twin-cities vs Richmond or JMU.
I am from Minnesota. For whatever reason, I kind of like east coast. I've visited those colleges and I liked them a lot. But, I also understand that their academic reputation is not very high. Any thoughts???</p>
<p>It depends on what you mean by "very high." They are very different schools. Richmond is very competitive, ranked no.1 in the south,masters program school. I read somewhere that if it were rated as an LAC, which it closely resembles in size and focus, it would definitly rank in the top 25. JMU is less competitive, larger and less conservative. Richmond is coming to national recognition. Lots of kids from my school who applied to the Ivies with 1400-1500 + SATs also applied to Richmond as a "match" or "safety" school. It is extremely well regarded in the east. No one applied to JMU that also applied to the Ivies. That's just my take, I may be jaded because I'm going to Richmond in the fall!</p>
<p>Agree that Richmond is developing a reputation for solid academics.</p>
<p>For the love of everything sacred, get out of Minnesota. It's so frigidly cold here.</p>
<p>Come to VA, you'll love our weather =P.</p>
<p>One thing to think about with Richmond is it will cost you as much to go there as it would to go to an Ivy, and they are definitely a notch down. U of R is putting in a huge tuition hike next year. Still though, a very good school.</p>
<p>JMU, while not as highly regarded as Richmond, is still a very good school in its own right. JMU sometimes has a seemingly random admission process, admitting "worse" candidates and rejecting "better" ones. JMU is bigger... and you'll get a little more snow there than at Richmond. =)</p>
<p>If money is not an issue I would definetely choose Richmond.</p>
<p>id go to richmond in a heartbeat</p>
<p>Socccerguy is right, tuition is a big concern at UR, the huge hike this year was unexpected. Unfortunately, the 40k price tag is not unusual for most schools here in the east (BC, Villanova, etc..)Not sure what the tuition is at JMU; but of course, if you are an amazing candidate,or you are an URM, then you should shot for William and Mary,(wink, wink, soccerguy) out of state requirements are like those of Ivy Leaugue schools, but being from Minnisota may help. I'm from NJ, and I'm a white female, that doesn't help me anywhere. Good luck</p>
<p>I guess it depends on what you want to study and what your financial situation is. From what I hear, the U. of Minn. is pretty solid in sciences, and seems to have a nice price tag. Richmond is pretty good all around, and, like someone said earlier, is somewhat of a backup for ivy applicants. JMU is JMU. It's a big party school about an hour from DC. I wouldn't even consider it if I were you. Personally, I would choose Richmond based on its total package, but then again, I'm not totally familiar with the
U of Minn.</p>
<p>JMU is much more than an hour from DC. Richmond is a pretty school, but isolated. It is not near downtown Richmond, which some would regard as a plus, and you will need a car to get any place off campus.</p>
<p>epdancer - what are your academic and career interests? What sort of a college experience are you looking for outside the classroom?</p>
<p>JMU is like 2-2.5 hours from DC</p>
<p>... anyway, TribeGirl (I hear your NJ story... such a large percentage of the out of state people seem to come from NJ/NY) is right, you should apply to W&M too =P. It's about 5600 undergrads and would feel more like Richmond than JMU. Less "preppy" at W&M, but they won't allow a car until jr year unless you prove you need one. Richmond will let anyone bring a car, which I think gives Richmond a big plus, lol. I also think it's a benefit that Richmond is not in downtown Richmond. There were bullets fired into my friend's dorm at VCU recently. I'll pass on that.</p>
<p>The big name VA publics (tech/uva/w&m) will probably be getting a tuition raise also very soon, as the new budget that went through the legislature is allowing schools to give up state funding for more individual control.</p>
<p>Soccerguy- does giving up state funding mean accepting a higher % of out of state students, they can get 40k for sure? I have a younger bro that would love to go to UVA.</p>
<p>Sorry, I didn't mean 40k as part of the question, I mean the big name VA schools can ask that for out of staters, I know many students from my school who would pay that for UVA and W&M, as they would pay for UR.</p>