I narrowed my college search down to these two schools and It’s impossible to choose between them so I was looking for some help from people who have gone to either or know some who has. FYI I’m not going for engineering @ Va tech people
Have you visited both schools? Does your high school use Naviance or another guidance dept. tool that keeps stats on acceptances from your school, and if so how do your stats fit into that matrix? Do both schools offer the major you are interested in? Are you in or out of state, and does the difference in cost between the two have any impact?
Word to the wise - it’s a good idea to at least apply to 3 schools (reach, match, safety). Admissions have become a little unpredictable and both VT and JMU are extremely popular choices for in and out of state applicants (rightly so).
I’m a current college student at a completely different University. But, I have many friends at both schools and have seen a good amount of both campuses. I am also transferring to VT in the fall so I’m probably biased in my opinion. However, I will say, academically, VT seems to stand out well above JMU, and not just for engineering. I will admit that the JMU campus is HUGE and very pretty, although they do not have the castle feel that VT gives off. Both schools have a lot of pride, but VT definitely stands out in this department. I have been to several parties at both schools and can honestly say that JMU gets crazy, if that’s your scene. But, VT does have large parties that are also pretty wild and the tailgates before the football games are hard to beat. VT definitely gets the edge on food and is definitely something they’re very proud of. But JMU’s food isn’t bad either. You should also consider the town that both schools are in. VT is VERY secluded. It’s the cut. That means that theres not as many movie theaters or other things of that nature if that’s a necessity to you. It also means that there are a lot of townies especially in neighboring towns like Christansburg, but they are all, from what I’ve seen, VERY friendly. It also means that all of Blacksburg is essentially VT, even if it’s not labeled as such and the hokie stone is LITERALLY everywhere. This can be good and bad depending on the person, but I honestly like it a lot. All in all, in general, I would say VT is definitely the move, not just for their academics but also for the hokie pride. It’s something very few schools can match. But it also depends on your choice of studies and many other variables so it’s hard to know without your full situation. Good luck!
Having recently toured both - and being a JMU Alumni and with son going to VT next year …
I guess my daughter summed it up best when she toured JMU. “It’s not as grand”.
And that can be good or bad depending on what people want. My kids having gone to a rather large high school of around 2500 students felt JMU felt more High Schoolish.
Then you have some kids who like the smaller feel of JMU. Some kids come from smaller schools and find JMU more to their liking.
You are going to get smaller class sizes overall at JMU. Freshman year VT I have always heard has some rather large lecture halls. JMU for me you had a few classes that were high school auditorium size classes but not a ton.
JMU is about even for business I think with VT but only has a regional reputation vs. VT reputation.
JMU has better programs in theatre, speach, nursing etc. So major does matter.
VT sports - Its amazing experience.
JMU even with a football championship in past few years still has a much more minor league feel (which they are in football).
I think look at major first.
I visited both schools after I got accepted into them. It makes it harder to pick a school when i’m going in undecided so I can’t look at whose is better at a particular major. Lastly all in they would be a pretty even price coming from out of state so a lot of the major factors you look at when picking a school there isn’t a clear winner.
Va tech wins by a mile if school spirit is a key factor.
@bryceharper Based on current published COE info, VT is approx. $4k more per year to attend. Are your parents paying your way, and are they ok with the add’l $16k? Another question - are there comparable in-state options for you? Seeing that you are applying university studies/undecided, $100k+ is an awfully high premium to pay for an undergraduate degree.
Back to an original question - are you confident you can get accepted to both? Do you have a plan if you are not? You should really speak to your guidance department re: likelihood of acceptance.
*COA (cost of attendance), not COE
I see the COA between the two as less than $400 in state - nearly identical (posting 2018-2019 as I don’t see JMU having published 2019-2020)
just because the original poster said they are going in as university studies doesn’t mean they are going to stay university studies - most students go in undecided (or change major if they don’t) - so I’m not sure the questioning as to their decision to be undecided going in and the cost of college.
Virginia Tech calls undecided freshman as majoring in Exploratory and a large percentage of students start there in choosing their major after freshman year.
$27,090 in State Virginia Tech https://finaid.vt.edu/content/dam/finaid_vt_edu/Cost_of_Attendance/Final%20COA%20InState%201819_UG.pdf
$26,726 in state James Madison https://www.jmu.edu/financialaid/learn/cost-of-attendance-undergrad.shtml
@ShenVal18
I already got accepted into both schools and got some scholarship money for Va Tech and have credits going into college from AP classes so Tech comes out to be 3-4K less than JMU
- COA comparison was based on current published rates.
- "Undecided" freshman enter under a somewhat recently renamed category "Explore Technology and University Studies" - difference between that and the former "University Studies" catch-all is the expansion to be more focused in the general coursework they take. I know several students enrolled in the explore life sciences path.
- From VT's various webpages, "over 2,000 undecided students" - this isn't a majority; "many change majors" - this isn't most. Their words, not mine.
- Many would argue that engineering is VT's flagship program, and that it could be the most likely college that OOS students would be willing to overspend on. It's already established how difficult it is to transfer into CoE from another major. Hence the question about comparable in state options. Very few undergraduate degrees are worth paying an additional $100k for, regardless of whether a student stays with the major they were admitted under or if they change majors.
@bryceharper Please do yourself a solid favor and try to determine how your stats compare to those who have been admitted from your high school. It’s very difficult to accurately take any university’s comprehensive admissions statistics and apply them to yours.
YMMV
@bryceharper Well that significantly changes the landscape. Congratulations. I would still encourage you to look at in-state comps unless the scholarship money you are receiving has lowered overall costs to that = an instate VA student.
Are you close enough to visit again? Hokie Focus is this weekend. JMU might have “offered students” programming this weekend too.
If everything seems totally equal still, maybe think about job/networking opportunities after you graduate. As others have mentioned, JMU is still seen as more regional while VT is more national in reach.
ShenVal18 I don’t know why you continue to want to go against everything I say - there are multiple ways to list as Exploratory (not just complete undecided) and I mentioned how that the majority are exploratory or change their original major and I stand by that.
I gave the published numbers I don’t know why you keep saying you have some published numbers that are supposedly different.
and since I like to give data not just berate another poster
https://vt.edu/admissions/undergraduate/snapshot.html
Class of 2022 2nd and 3rd most popular incoming majors are undecided.
On average across country students change major as much as 3 times. Therefore adding to the pool of incoming major meaning nothing.
… and it still comes down to why talking down to the poster saying shouldn’t spend $100k in college to go in as undecided. When going to the Tech open house they actually encourage students who still are not sure to go in as Xploratory.
I’m sorry if you feel that posting either a different opinion or clarifying information is berating. That’s certainly not my intention. I would encourage any interested student or parent to do a deep dive into each university’s web content before making a decision on attendance.