Whats the deal with this school

<p>OK so I like JMU, it seems like a nice fit. But I have no idea where the admissions staff is going with their decisions. My GC said this is a relative safety with a 25 ACT and 3.5 W GPA, but my brother got rejcted with a similar GPA and a 29 ACT. we are both OOS. Are they just random? Or does the personal statement actually mean a lot cause idt my brother did that.</p>

<p>Agree that seems odd. Our hs Naviance (in suburban Maryland) shows every applicant to JMU with a 27 or higher ACT and at least a 3.5 WGPA was accepted. Perhaps your brother can call and ask why he was denied?</p>

<p>It is confusing. My daughter has slightly higher stats and was wait-listed.</p>

<p>I’ve heard a lot about JMU’s seemingly random admissions process. The only thing I can think is that they focus more on extracurriculars, essays, and teacher recs. The hard stats seem to be all over the place for both admitted students and rejected/waitlisted.</p>

<p>They actually don’t require teacher recs. My guess is that it has more to do with the rigor of the schedule and the quality of the hs. I have to say that at our hs - the results are very predictable and I see few surprises when looking at Naviance. Not sure why others seem to be having more random results.</p>

<p>I think there must be more to it than even that, rockvillemom. Daughter attends a prep school in Washington, DC and has quite a rigorous schedule of all AP and honors classes as well as a lot of ECs. This waitlist was quite surprising, though not the end of the world as she did prefer to attend college in another state. It’s more of a “hmmm…” type thing.</p>

<p>its weird cause my naviance says the average ACT is a 24 and GPA weighted 3.65. Keep in mind there are some that applied with 4.0+ GPAs and 30+ test scores that skew the stats. Is there any way to get a gauge on this crazy admissions or is it really that random</p>

<p>JMU is notorious for its seemingly “random” admissions process. A simple good search will show you many stories of people who seem to be over qualified getting rejected, and many where kids with lesser stats are somehow accepted. It truly is a weird admissions process. I myself was rejected out of high school while some of my friends with WAY lesser stats and ECs were admitted.</p>

<p>so is there any way to get an edge, or just hope and pray</p>

<p>Perhaps JMU wants to show a higher yield, so rejects applicants who are over-qualified, believing applicant will enroll elsewhere. If admissions isn’t sure about where your sentiments lie, then maybe they will just put you on a wait list.</p>

<p>I was about to suggest the same thing. People refer to this as “Tufts syndrome” - where high stat kids are waitlisted because the college wants to protect their yield and believes the student is only using their school as a safety school and has no real interest in attending. </p>

<p>I don’t, however, see that on our hs naviance. The high stat kids are all accepted. We do send a few to JMU each year. Is it possible that your hs does not send many/any kids to JMU and that might be why they are more likely to WL the high stat kids? Did you visit? Sometimes visiting helps - the college is less likely to believe you are just using them as a safety if you visit.</p>

<p>i will visit next fall, would a 3.5 W 3.3 Uw and 24 ACT be good enough, and I will take ACT again. It says the range is 22-26 ACT so the average is 24, and also I feel like my brother may have been one of those overqualified rejections. He only sent 2 years of grades from his private school, (he did awful in public but great in private) and his ACT, no essay so maybe there is a combo of things that got him rejected</p>

<p>Our HS naviance shows 26 applicants, 16 admitted and 4 enrolled (don’t know if that is completely up to date). We are in a high performing school district in NJ. It also shows that ACT scores of the kids accepted are in the 26 - 32 range and SATs as high as 2200, AVG GPA 98. My S had a 30 ACT and 93 GPA. For our HS it seems that for several kids it was between JMU and Penn State UP. My s was also accepted to PSU UP but loved JMU- which I am thrilled about because of the difference in tuition!</p>

<p>I’m just looking at the notes that I took from the admissions information session that I attended back in March. JMU says its admissions criteria, in order of importance, are:</p>

<ol>
<li>Challenging Curriculum </li>
<li> Grades- Mix of As and Bs</li>
<li> SAT Scores- mid50% 1100-1280 writing score is not used</li>
<li>Other things considered: guidance counselor report; letter of recommendation (only one will be accepted, and it must be submitted with the transcript); ECs; personal statement.</li>
</ol>

<p>Hope this info helps!</p>

<p>it helps but I hate how they are so random. Is there any special things they look for that anyone knows of</p>

<p>collegeready99 – I wasn’t sure if you had found the most recent (2010/ 2011) common data set info… <a href=“Institutional Research - JMU”>Institutional Research - JMU;

<p>I do not know if Naviance looks are a range of years, or just the prior admissions cycle. Over the past few years the average admitted student GPA at JMU has gone from around a 3.6 - a 3.8, so if Naviance is looking at a few years of data it could skew the information. Not sure.</p>

<p>What is your intended major?</p>

<p>collegeready- don’t stress so much–I get the impression that JMU admissions are not very holistic they are mostly going off the rigor of your curriculum, your grades and standard test scores.</p>

<p>They did say they are looking for kids with a mix of A’s and B’s; that said I don’t think that GPA alone tells the whole story- they are looking for consistently solid achievers; if you have any grades less than B that could be a problem. I’d focus on doing the best you can in high school this year and that should put you in a good position for JMU.</p>

<p>I got in with a 2.9 and a 2100 SAT.</p>

<p>I think a lot of it is also how unique of an applicant you are. I feel what got me in was that I’ve spent my entire life living in Europe, getting to live in 9 different countries (foreign service). I think thats what set me apart from others. These days its much more of what else you bring to the table besides grades.</p>

<p>Or it could have been that I’m taking the IB.</p>

<p>an ACT of 24 is about equal to a 1090-1120 on the SAT which would put you on the lower end of the mid-50%. It could not hurt to take it a second time if you think you might improve your score. Or, if you think you maxed out on the ACT, then maybe one try at the SAT would be worthwhile to see how it compares.</p>

<p>I do not believe that applying EA gives a boost. EA applicants who are not at the top of the applicant pool are generally deferred to the RD round.</p>