Moving to VA/MD from CA- Looking for good Universities (Arlington: apartment, lease)

[loftvalley82]

Hello Everyone!
My husband and I will be moving from Northern California to the VA/MD area towards the end of this year.
We don't know anything about this area, so we don't know where to start.
After we move, I want to apply to a university and go to school full-time.
Would someone please tell me what are the good schools in VA/MD and where they are located? I'm going to be majoring in Sociology.
Also, if you live in VA and go to school in MD, do you still have to pay the non-resident fees?

We will be looking to get an apartment close to where I would be going to school.

If someone can please offer some advice, I would really appreciated it.

Thank you!

[allivant]

George Mason in Fairfax is a pretty good school. There's Loyola Marymount in Arlington but that's pretty expensive. GW and Gtown are pretty close by.

[The Dissenter]

Bowie State, UMD, GMU are good schools to consider. Most universities in DC are very expensive and and some have crime problems. Also consider NVCC in Virginia, it's a comm. college with a high reputation and your credits will transfer to almost any school in VA and you'll save a lot of $.

[seanpecor]

I would also consider Hollins College in Roanoke, VA http://www.hollins.edu/undergrad/sociology/soc.htm, or Roanoke College in Salem, VA http://web.roanoke.edu/x2356.xml. Virginia Tech is huge, but it's known more for IT., engineering and design.
Alanboy395 has a good point about community college. Roanoke, VA has a large C.C. with a substantial campus. It's called Virginia Western, and has 9,000 students. It's gotten so large they're dropping the C.C. from it's name If you want to be near the mountains then Roanoke is worth a look.

Sean

[jballa]

It sounds like you are going to be in the NoVA area, so if you are looking for a tradional style of education I would recommend George Mason Univ. or Georgetown as the best schools in Northern VA.

If you live in Maryland, you will pay out-of-state tuition to a VA school and vice versa. You will probably pay out of state either way for the first semester if you start classes as soon as you move. In Maryland I believe Univ. of Maryland is going to be you best (and only) choice.

If you are willing to try distance learning, schools in VA such as Old Dominion Univ., VA Tech, and UVA and fantastic choices that you may want to research. I personally feel that they are the best 3 schools in the state but there are at least 30 colleges/universities in the state to choose from.

Good Luck

http://dl.odu.edu/
http://www.iddl.vt.edu/
http://www.virginia.edu/OfStud.html

[loftvalley82]

Thank you everyone for taking time to respond to my questions. I really appreciate it.

I will take all your information into consideration.

Have a great day!

[celtboy]

You might also look into Mary Washington in Fredericksburg.

You could also consider:

Sweet Briar College in Amherst, VA
William & Mary - Williamsburg, VA
Virginia Tech - Blacksburg
University of VA - Charlottesville
James Madison University - Harrisonburg.

[delmarva]

I believe Virginia has one of the best public college/university systems in the nation in terms of quality and cost. Once you are a resident (1 year) you can choose from William and Mary, UVA, VA Tech, James Madison and University of Mary Washington (to name but a few). If you need additional infromation--let me know since I am quite knowledgeable of all the schools in this region.

[dullnboring]

Everyone's given good advice, but just to answer one quick question from the original post that I don't think anyone answered, yes, if you live in Virginia but go to school in Maryland, you still have to pay the out-of-state tuition. That's not really a very reasonable option though just due to the fact that a commute from anywhere in Virginia to the nearest school in Maryland would be brutal. You could attend just as good schools in Virginia for cheaper and with less of a commute.

[arudd427]

& (in VA, at least) you must be a reisident for 12 months before you qualify for in-state tuition, meaning you have changed your driver's license, voter registration, have a copy of your lease/deed, all sorts of stuff.