Would u send your daughter to george mason? (transfer, school)

[Richmonder27]

Originally Posted by 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.

I know what you're saying, and Im not saying that GMU doesnt probably have someone from every friggin' nationality. But that doesnt change the fact that the students tend to be very narrow minded and conventional

I much prefer VCU.

[richmondpics]

VCU's a great school, IMO. Growing business and engineering schools, nationally ranked arts programs and a stellar advertising school make it appealing to many people. Let's not forget it's top ranked medical programs.

That said, stereotyping 30,000 people on a college campus as narrow minded and conventional... seems a bit... narrow minded?

[Richmonder27]

Originally Posted by richmondpics

VCU's a great school, IMO. Growing business and engineering schools, nationally ranked arts programs and a stellar advertising school make it appealing to many people. Let's not forget it's top ranked medical programs.

That said, stereotyping 30,000 people on a college campus as narrow minded and conventional... seems a bit... narrow minded?

I guess I didnt think of it that way. I will say this . GMU is great for business students.

Maybe my main gripe is that it is lacking in art and music.

[ATLGAL]

Thanks to everyone who has been posting their opinions - I have enjoyed reading them. Unfortunately, at this time, my darling daughter has decided to stay in GA - because she doesn't 'do' community bathrooms or ugly dorms!!

To say I am mad is a big understatement.

While I agree that 'diversity' seems to be the new buzzword, I work at Emory (after attending grad school there), and I agree, that meeting and getting to know people from other cultures, is more important than to say a school has X number of students from a certain country.

While she has definitely been in an almost exclusively 'white' environment, she is looking forward to meeting new people - but those people need to come with better dorms!! Unfortunately, the school she has chosen comes with nothing new, no 'diversity' - just really nice dorms.

I wonder if in other countries, they view our schools as being 'diverse' because they are full of black, white or Asian American kids? Please, no flaming, just an honest observation. We, as Americans, seem to be so fixated on being so politically correct, and that the greater the difference, the better the opportunity must be.

Of course, this is not seen to be the case with Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In this case, HBCU's are deemed to be o.k. to be 'diverse neutral'; though the students still get good educations.

Sorry, I got off on a rant. What I mean is that studies have shown that in all girl schools, the girls have higher math and science scores than in co-ed schools. No diversity there, but the results speak for themselves. Again, a matter of leaving out one class of students (males), but no major back-lash.

So perhaps 'diversity' is not the panacea that everyone thinks it is? Just some food for thought.

Again, thanks for the replies.

[oleo]

Wasn't MASON rated #4 in most diverse universities in the US?

[StuckBid]

I attend GMU and I would agree that it is a commuter school. A large number of students work during the day and attend classes at night. Much more so than at other schools in VA such as JMU or UVA. I never had to take any of the freshman/sophomore classes so I can't say anything about that group of students. The undergraduate business school provides a pretty good education, but UVA and WM probably produce a better student overall.

Greek life is a big deal on campus for those that do not commute. The above idea that it's more of a community college feel, I would agree with that. If you wanted a typical college experience, I wouldn't recommend GMU. I wouldn't pay out of state fees in addition to the high apartment rent to come to GMU.

[jigglypuff22]

I know this is old, but I feel the need to reply.

I registered just to answer this question, so here we go.

GMU is NOT a commuter school. Yes, there are many commuters. There are also a LOT of kids living on campus, with over 5 new dorms being added in the past 10 years. I currently live in amazing suite housing on campus with single rooms, a kitchen, living room, and two bathrooms. The GMU experience is all about what you make of it. If you live off campus, drive to campus for class, and then leave then of course it's going to feel like a commuter school to you. However, there is a WIDE variety of things to do on campus. You can find a group of people who are interested in pretty much anything you can imagine.

I transferred from VCU (HATED it) to GMU and I am incredibly happy here. It all depends on what YOU like.

[ATLGAL]

Thank you everyone who has responded to my initial question.

What a difference a year makes! Our daughter did in fact go to GMU and is loving it! She joined a sorority, has a 3.6 GPA and goes into DC like she goes to the mall at home!

She originally wanted to go to GA Southern, which is 4 1/2 hrs south of Atl. There is nothing down there. The nearest big city is Savannah at 50 miles away.

Since starting at GMU, she has gone on class trips to various museums, had the author of one book accompany them to a museum. He went back to class on another day so they could discuss their findings and question him!!

She is always going into DC to various museums and to hear concerts.

I didn't have an opportunity to see the school until the week-end we dropped her off - I was very pleasantly surprised at how pretty it was.

I was also very pleased with the surrounding areas. There are so many parks and trees - it's just a beautiful area.

The opportunities that are available for internships are endless up there vs. staying in south GA. She will begin looking for something for sophomore year, as well as looking into possibly spending a semester abroad.

So all in all, at the start of her second semester, she is loving it! And I would definitely 'send my daughter to Mason'!!

This week-end (super bowl w/e) was the big snow-storm. Growing up in ATL, she has seen snow a couple of times, but only 3-5 inches max. Wow, what an eye-opener!! It's still white, clean, and pretty, and they are forecasting another foot+ for tomorrow - I can't wait to see how much she likes it when it's black, slushy, heavy snow that is just depressing to look at!!

Thanks again to everyone who responded!

[South Jersey Styx]

I'm glad your daughter is enjoying herself at George Mason U. Sounds like she's taking advantage of many opportunities, especially in D.C. Thanks for sharing your story.

[Nemesis16]

Originally Posted by Richmonder27

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.

Lol at using the term orientals. Hope you realize the orient encompasses all of east asia. You do know that right? This includes afghanistan, pakistan, sri lanka,etc.

To add to this topic for future reference, I attended GMU via transferring from Georgetown.

George Mason is one of the fastest growing universities in the country. The amount of work the admin. his put into place is astonishing. Other majors that are top notched include:

Govt. and International Politics
Nursing
IT
Computer Science
Economics