Would u send your daughter to george mason? (Richmond, Lebanon: apartment, rent)

[Cyclesucker]

Come on, just joking geez!!!!

I think VA has many great schools to offer and before deciding you need to research the college of interest for that school.

I know ODU has great Engineering, Oceanography, Nursing, Physics, etc. Never attended GMU so I'm not certain of its strengths, but other VA schools paid to stream ODU's classes at their school so it must be repuatable....

oleo, how is ODU worse than VCU? Been there recently? They bulldozed the ghetto circa 2000 and rebuilt the entire 10x10 block side of campus with huge, beautiful buildings and landscaping (gotta love eminent domain). Now, 2 sides of ODU are high $$$ houses, 1 side is water, and the other is student rental properties. I fail to see your point.

[alice_61]

George Mason has good access to DC, which would be useful if she wants an intership at a federal agency or the other opportunities in the area.

[FL Beaches]

I've just about heard the opposite a couple times (GMU vs. ODU.) And a friend's son (high school in Virginia Beach) is now at GMU. In his junior year and still loves it.

[Richmonder27]

Originally Posted by ATLGAL

Hi everyone,
My daughter was just accepted to GMU, as well as a bunch of schools here in GA. Would you A. send your kid, B. would/did your kid return? Why/why not?

I keep reading that it is a commuter school - but the posts are kind of old - is that still the case?

Is the campus safe? Even the stats for the surrounding area on this site are from 2000! How is the surrounding area? Any malls or places for the kids to go when not in school?

A school here in GA that she is thinking of is way down in Stateboro, which is known as a red-neck town. I've read that the 'townies' as they are known, don't like the college kids, who are seen as rich, Atlanta brats. (They probably are, but still

Is this type of atmosphere found in the GMU area?

Also, she will live on campus as a freshman. Here in GA it's cheaper to put the kids in an apt. after that. (2 years ago, my son and 2 other room-mates rented a place with utilities for $1000/mo. they each had their own bedroom, and one of the bedrooms was the master which was en-suite. The place was gorgeous - 3 pools, work out room, club house etc.) Is it like that up there?

Since I'm originally from NY, I'm thinking no - but it doesn't hurt to ask!

TIA for any help!!

The kids at GMU are kinda bland and vanilla. The school is good for business.

I dont like the term "redneck". i think you would find that in just about any small town in any part of the country. Fairfax is a small city that is really now a suburb of DC and has many people from all over. So it has a nice mix
Its still too bland and vanilla for my tastes...


Also, being from New York, I dont think that should have any bearing, because Fairfax is not like New York, lol

[richmondpics]

Bland and vanilla? As an alum, I'm a bit confused as the student population, one of the most diverse in the country, was hardly as you describe. Depending on her degree aspirations, its proximity to DC can be invaluable. Also, the Law School is ranked very high.

[DWS43]

I graduated from the law school years ago. At the time, the main campus was nice and pretty diverse. If you can, visit and see how you and your daughter like it.

[Richmonder27]

Originally Posted by richmondpics

Bland and vanilla? As an alum, I'm a bit confused as the student population, one of the most diverse in the country, was hardly as you describe. Depending on her degree aspirations, its proximity to DC can be invaluable. Also, the Law School is ranked very high.

Im talking more about attitude than anything else. It matters not who is of what ethnicity.

Please stop throwing "diversity" in the air as if its some commodity. Overall, GMU studends are conventional thinkers. Its not interesting like VCU or even Vanderbilt.

All in all - GMU is a commuters school. Trust me, my sis went there for 3 years and to her it felt like an over gloryfied community college. Everyone commuted. No one said hello or kiss my __ And it was just boring.

The kids were very trendy and a lot of "party" types go there as well. They like to hang out at TJ Reynolds for Keg Parties and such. Now this was in back in the early 2000s . Perhaps it has changed a tad since then.

I could not reccommend GMU to anyone.

[richmondpics]

I disagree. I found it particularly enriching to interact within such a DIVERSE cultural student community. It was something I wasn't exposed to growing up and it gave me a broader perspective on so many things.

While there are 18k undergrad students, more than 5,000 live on campus, which is a population larger than many colleges.

Why/how would a bar (TT Reynolds) have a keg party?

I made tons of great friends, had great professors, and had a great time exploring DC....No football though...Basketball was fun but I do wish there was a football program. In the end, college is what one makes of it and not every school is ideal for everyone. She should definitely visit each school she applies to attend....

[Richmonder27]

Originally Posted by richmondpics

I disagree. I found it particularly enriching to interact within such a DIVERSE cultural student community. It was something I wasn't exposed to growing up and it gave me a broader perspective on so many things.

While there are 18k undergrad students, more than 5,000 live on campus, which is a population larger than many colleges.

Why/how would a bar (TT Reynolds) have a keg party?

I made tons of great friends, had great professors, and had a great time exploring DC....No football though...Basketball was fun but I do wish there was a football program. In the end, college is what one makes of it and not every school is ideal for everyone. She should definitely visit each school she applies to attend....

I'm talking about the attitudes and the general demeanor of the students is very very conventional. Why do people think just because you have some Orientals here and there or Muslims, then all of a sudden you will have an interesting student body? Race has nothing to do with it.

[richmondpics]

Considering I 'walked the walk' I don't get your insistence upon a "conventional" student body... I'm not sure what you're trying to get at there. Oriental? What year are we in again? Perhaps you don't find value interacting with other cultures (which is different from a race BTW) ... but an aspect of a liberal (different from the political liberal vs conservative 'liberal') education is seeing the world through different perspectives than the perspective one grew up with. I'd certainly argue that my Peruvian friend who lived all over the Americas before attending college or my Palestinian friend who had family in Lebanon during the recent conflict provided viewpoints and experiences that were enriching, whether I agreed or disagreed with them. I'd like to think that as someone that grew up in predominately white suburbia in Richmond, I reciprocated the same to them in some way. And that's not to say I didn't learn a great deal from people who weren't international or of different cultures than my own. I just think it was added value to interact with such a DIVERSE collection of people.