(01-26-2021 01:39 AM)TUowl06 Wrote:  

(01-25-2021 07:09 PM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  37% acceptance rate the year I was admitted. It was not uncommon for folks to get into UVA and not JMU then; I knew several. VT was easy to get into then- received acceptance before Christmas, and it wasn’t early admission or anything.

To go from 37% to 77% is alarming. Are there any other examples of an acceptance rate increasing this significantly?

I know Holy Cross's acceptance rate at one point (30+ years ago) was a tick below 20% and now hovers around 40%. Doug Flutie and Boston College basically stole their thunder. Hence the term, "Flutie Effect"...

It’s not alarming. For starters, I question the cited percentage of 37%, and even if close to accurate, we’re talking about a transition of over a period of nearly 40 years, and a change in institutional size and mission from an enrollment of perhaps 8-9k (I’m being generous with the size here) to 23k. It’s not an apples to apples comparison, even if you believe it’s simply a matter of looking at percentages of applicants admitted from the size of the applicant pool.

I repeat, JMU does not offer admission to any student who does not meet our admission criteria, and that criteria is solid (as confirmed by our retention and graduation numbers).

There is a human tendency to fixate a particular time or situation in our memories, and that fixation can (and often does) color the positive and negative of how we view things. In short, we then compare all future new encounters/experiences with that memory baseline.

In the late 50s-early 60s (under President Miller) JMU purchased farmland behind Wilson Hall. Interstate 81 didn’t exist yet, but was in the planning stage. Later, starting in the late 70s and extending 25 years into the mid-to-late 90s, President Carrier began to build on that land, as well as start a FB and other men’s athletic programs. The oldest JMU posters on this site date from that period. The name of the school changed, enrollment grew, and the demographics of the applicant pool was different, the “Boomers” were in their heyday.

Today, JMU is several miles further down the road. JMU has “jumped” the interstate and grown from less than a 200 acre campus to around 750. The enrollment has tripled. Graduate education has expanded dramatically. The institution is on the cusp of a reclassification based on its orientation and support of research. The physical plant and beauty of the campus is impressive and beautiful. The institution’s budget has grown from less than $40 million (the time of the supposed 37% acceptance rate) to nearly $600 million. The boomers are now grandparents, and their grandkids, in some cases even great-grandkids, are now the targeted future Dukes.

It’s not simply a matter of overlaying your particularly vivid memories of the great times you had at JMU and thinking the institution is the same place or operates the same way when you were an undergraduate. There are commonalities to be sure...campus food remains great. The campus is beautiful. The Quad on the Bluestone side of campus serves as a
great place to hang on a sunny day. Women still outnumber men (which is a trend on most American college campuses now). But JMU’s applicant pool is different! The competition to attract the best students and faculty is different. Just different. Not “bad” different, or weak, or disappointingly different. Just different.

A larger number of students enter JMU now via transfer from the VA community college system. That’s not a bad thing. But it’s different. Compacts guarantee those community college students admission if they’ve met certain conditions. There are a whole host of factors involved. The only thing to keep a watch on, and be concerned about if you’re inclined, is the size of the applicant pool. So far, JMU’s applicant pool remains very healthy. Indeed, just last year, a national story shared that JMU was the #1 recommended university in the country. JMU is also providing a great return to students on the cost of their education, and our graduates are valued and hired in numbers that are leading VA. It doesn’t get better than that.

So, I’m not going to tell anyone how to spend their time, but worrying about percentages of admits from the applicant pool is not a particularly productive use of ones time.

I was wrong with the 37%. It was 31% according to this article. That was one reason why I chose JMU. One of the other reasons was the athletics- a good academic school that appeared to have mostly well-rounded students with some personality, and D1 sports.

That said, I am sure LH or someone else will exegete and nuance the numbers and show me it wasn’t really 31%.

https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcont...=i19801989

(01-26-2021 07:36 AM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  I was wrong with the 37%. It was 31% according to this article. That was one reason why I chose JMU. One of the other reasons was the athletics- a good academic school that appeared to have mostly well-rounded students with some personality, and D1 sports.

That said, I am sure LH or someone else will exegete and nuance the numbers and show me it wasn’t really 31%.

https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcont...=i19801989

It was 31%, but like Longhorn said there are so many other factors to consider. That article shows the average SAT score was 1070 - now it's 1205. A quick glance at a few other VA schools shows that ODU has an average SAT of 1080 which is the closest to that score from JMU in the 80's. So while this is admittedly a shallow analysis, it would appear JMU is accepting a higher percentage of students than the 80s, but the students applying are overall of a higher academic caliber.

The idea of picking a school based on acceptance rate is nothing that ever crossed my mind until this thread. When it comes to the quality of person and professional produced by the school, I can say that at my firm when it comes to hiring, UVA alum say that UVA grads are the best, and pretty much everyone else says that VA Tech & JMU grads are the best. That's good enough for me.

To be fair and transparent - JMU stopped requiring the SAT test in 2017, a move championed by Jon Alger:

https://collegeexplorations.blogspot.com...-test.html

(01-26-2021 08:52 AM)Dukeman2 Wrote:  To be fair and transparent - JMU stopped requiring the SAT test in 2017, a move championed by Jon Alger:

https://collegeexplorations.blogspot.com...-test.html

To be fair and transparent - dropping the SAT brought JMU in line with 40% of academia (pre-COVID).

Quote:Nearly 50 accredited colleges and universities that award bachelor’s degrees announced from September 2018 to September 2019 that they were dropping the admissions requirement for an SAT or ACT score, FairTest said. That brings the number of accredited schools to have done so to 1,050 — about 40 percent of the total

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education...zed-tests/

But as Deez mentioned, it's not not really about anything but finding a reason to slander JMU for you.

(01-26-2021 07:36 AM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  I was wrong with the 37%. It was 31% according to this article. That was one reason why I chose JMU. One of the other reasons was the athletics- a good academic school that appeared to have mostly well-rounded students with some personality, and D1 sports.

That said, I am sure LH or someone else will exegete and nuance the numbers and show me it wasn’t really 31%.

https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcont...=i19801989

Heaven forbid I “exegete” anyone’s numbers.

My points stand. The entire issue is not an issue of concern.

This is not a JMU specific issue, period. Most universities are having to accept more students in hopes of admitting more and sustaining enrollment numbers. The pie is shrinking, everyone in higher education knows it. The application pool is growing more diverse and schools are having to adapt. Most are going the way JMU has and accepting more students to try to maintain their current enrollment to avoid significant revenue shortfalls. They basically have no choice unless they want to start slashing programs like others have around the country. So, yes, the acceptance rate has done up as has nearly every school in the country (even some of the Ivy's, Dartmouth recently lost their R1 designation). JMU also has aspirations to continue to grow, that comes at a cost. Having said all of that, JMU still has a great reputation in academia, particularly compared to other Regional Comprehensives. I just served as a consultant on a program review for one of the JMU departments along with other esteemed academics in our field, we all came away with a great respect and admiration for the productivity occurring there. The new provost has some exciting plans for the near future that I am not sure are public yet so I won't comment further except to say, many still look to JMU as a model university.

Metrics on incoming student academic performance are evolving as well. GPAs have become so inflated in high schools, they are hard to interpret. SAT/ACTs are generally poor predictors of collegiate student success and are a significant barrier for minority students and those from the working class.

As a faculty member at VT, I am pretty attune to these issues. This is the first year we have not required SAT/ACT scores, and we experienced our largest surge in applications as a result. There is a lot more weight being put into writing samples and extracurricular activities. We have greatly diversified our application pool, although a lot of work to do still. VT certainly has weathered the storm better than almost any school in the country. I would caution folks not compare the VT and JMU, particularly over the last couple of years. VT is the only school in the world to secure a relationship with Amazon and the new HQ2 in NOVA. It is hard to quantify the impact that the relationship has had thus far, but we all know it has been significant. The endowment has exploded since the announcement along with applications. We've reached our new enrollment target of 35K undergraduates 3 years early. We are actually cap enrollment and acceptance for the next few years, hopefully it will lead to better enrollment for JMU and other state institutions, it was one of the many motivations to institute the cap.

Links to info for consideration.

https://www.jmu.edu/news/2019/10/07-grad...king.shtml

https://isc.jmu.edu/blog/2018/jmu-most-r...-in-the-us

I haven't posted in quite some time because of raising two pre-teens. This thread caught my eye only for some of the pearl clutching going on about JMU. While I am by no means with a large employer, we look very favorably on JMU graduates. In fact, three managers are JMU alums. Frankly, we have found that JMU graduates are better prepared for the faster pace of our work and also the constant interactions needed with the general public. I would say from our perspective JMU, VT, WM, and UVA grads are all on the same level when applying.

There is also something missing from this conversation that I believe Longhorn indicated but maybe not so explicitly -- JMU's job is to educate the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia, not deny admissions to those citizens who are qualified. So, the university increased enrollment. I know for a fact that every applicant admitted is fully capable of doing the work. So stop worrying. Your degree is valued. Support your alma mater academically more than athletically. Relax...

(01-26-2021 11:32 AM)JMUDuke2002 Wrote:  I haven't posted in quite some time because of raising two pre-teens. This thread caught my eye only for some of the pearl clutching going on about JMU. While I am by no means with a large employer, we look very favorably on JMU graduates. In fact, three managers are JMU alums. Frankly, we have found that JMU graduates are better prepared for the faster pace of our work and also the constant interactions needed with the general public. I would say from our perspective JMU, VT, WM, and UVA grads are all on the same level when applying.

There is also something missing from this conversation that I believe Longhorn indicated but maybe not so explicitly -- JMU's job is to educate the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia, not deny admissions to those citizens who are qualified. So, the university increased enrollment. I know for a fact that every applicant admitted is fully capable of doing the work. So stop worrying. Your degree is valued. Support your alma mater academically more than athletically. Relax...

I still look down on VT and UMD grads. VT grads are meatheads and UMD are fawrking commies who want a trophy and a title for showing up to work.

(01-25-2021 07:36 PM)Dukeman2 Wrote:  The value of our diploma has been destroyed.

31% acceptance rate in 1987

https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcont...=i19801989

If 87 is your graduation range, I’m about 20 years younger than you. And I’m already at the age/stage of my career where my diploma having any value is laughable. Anything I’ve earned in my career, switching/elevating my position, etc. is based on what I’ve done in my professional life over the last decade.

I’d imagine you’ve also reached the point where nobody cares about what school you went to, and it doesn’t affect either how people perceive you or your monetary gain.

Without doing too much research, it seems not too hard to figure out where we rank among Virginia schools: UVA/W&M are top tier in degree prestige. Next tier is VT/JMU. (I’m kind of just leaving private schools off to the side in their own category because there’s unique variables, and I’m enough years removed from caring about this to really know how they compare.)

Tech vs JMU to me is a decision to be more based on what you want to get out of the experience, and I’m basing this on anecdotal evidence on my own experience and those of maybe 20ish current students/recent grads that I know.

Regardless of size, JMU just has the feel of a home. Real people, real relationships, real connection seems to be the norm rather than the exception. Not everybody needs this. I did. The real people (faculty, other staff, peers) at JMU who gave an actual crap about me, even when I didn’t want some of them to, shaped my life more than I can easily quantify without getting way too detailed and personal. In short, when I talk to people about it, it’s not in line with what I hear from a lot of other people and their college experiences. However, not everybody needs that. Also, as some of you outlined already, if a student comes in knowing their career path, just pick the school that matches up best with your interests.

Oh, and in cases like outlined earlier with the Georgia Tech example, if a student is already that focused on academics and ready to go, just pick the school with the free ride if they’re both good.

I have a clear recollection of the hierarchy of VA state supported schools ( from an SAT standpoint ) from when I applied for fall of '82 admission. I applied to 3- was going to apply to W&M but their application booklet was brutally long. Of those three, it was 1) UVA, 2)VT and 3) JMU. W&M would have been closer to UVA and VT was closer to Madison. Wound up getting denied at UVA, wait listed and later accepted at VT and accepted at JMU.

I couldn't find numbers from the exact year I was applying, but did find average SAT #s for the Fall of 1985.
UVA: 1287
VT : 1179
JMU: 1070
These numbers generally correspond to what I read in the individual college booklets and what my guidance counselors relayed to me.

*UVA & Tech scores were sourced from https://www.educationnext.org/sat-scores.../#increase
*JMU average SATs came from Dr Carrier's own mouth (though knowing Uncle Ron, they might have been puffed up a point or two ) https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcont...=i19801989

After graduating, I recall that JMU had narrowed the gap considerably w/ Tech. Again this was just SAT scores. This would have been in the late 80s-early 90s. It is since that time period where I feel Tech has leveraged its' financial muscle and done some of the things Longhorn discussed (as did many of the football factories of the 60s and 70s and early 80s). And don't discount conference pedigree either. Instead of being lumped in with ECU, Southern Miss and UNCC, they moved on and were associated with the more prestigious schools of the Big East and ACC.

Our selectivity may not have changed in terms of quality. But has it stayed consistent to where we had been in the pecking order within the Commonwealth? In other words, have other schools upped their game in terms of who they are admitting. I look at VCU and Mason as examples of schools that were not usually considered by JMU students in the 80-90s. Not sure that's still the case.

(01-26-2021 06:15 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(01-26-2021 01:39 AM)TUowl06 Wrote:  

(01-25-2021 07:09 PM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  37% acceptance rate the year I was admitted. It was not uncommon for folks to get into UVA and not JMU then; I knew several. VT was easy to get into then- received acceptance before Christmas, and it wasn’t early admission or anything.

To go from 37% to 77% is alarming. Are there any other examples of an acceptance rate increasing this significantly?

I know Holy Cross's acceptance rate at one point (30+ years ago) was a tick below 20% and now hovers around 40%. Doug Flutie and Boston College basically stole their thunder. Hence the term, "Flutie Effect"...

It’s not alarming. For starters, I question the cited percentage of 37%, and even if close to accurate, we’re talking about a transition of over a period of nearly 40 years, and a change in institutional size and mission from an enrollment of perhaps 8-9k (I’m being generous with the size here) to 23k. It’s not an apples to apples comparison, even if you believe it’s simply a matter of looking at percentages of applicants admitted from the size of the applicant pool.

I repeat, JMU does not offer admission to any student who does not meet our admission criteria, and that criteria is solid (as confirmed by our retention and graduation numbers).

There is a human tendency to fixate a particular time or situation in our memories, and that fixation can (and often does) color the positive and negative of how we view things. In short, we then compare all future new encounters/experiences with that memory baseline.

In the late 50s-early 60s (under President Miller) JMU purchased farmland behind Wilson Hall. Interstate 81 didn’t exist yet, but was in the planning stage. Later, starting in the late 70s and extending 25 years into the mid-to-late 90s, President Carrier began to build on that land, as well as start a FB and other men’s athletic programs. The oldest JMU posters on this site date from that period. The name of the school changed, enrollment grew, and the demographics of the applicant pool was different, the “Boomers” were in their heyday.

Today, JMU is several miles further down the road. JMU has “jumped” the interstate and grown from less than a 200 acre campus to around 750. The enrollment has tripled. Graduate education has expanded dramatically. The institution is on the cusp of a reclassification based on its orientation and support of research. The physical plant and beauty of the campus is impressive and beautiful. The institution’s budget has grown from less than $40 million (the time of the supposed 37% acceptance rate) to nearly $600 million. The boomers are now grandparents, and their grandkids, in some cases even great-grandkids, are now the targeted future Dukes.

It’s not simply a matter of overlaying your particularly vivid memories of the great times you had at JMU and thinking the institution is the same place or operates the same way when you were an undergraduate. There are commonalities to be sure...campus food remains great. The campus is beautiful. The Quad on the Bluestone side of campus serves as a
great place to hang on a sunny day. Women still outnumber men (which is a trend on most American college campuses now). But JMU’s applicant pool is different! The competition to attract the best students and faculty is different. Just different. Not “bad” different, or weak, or disappointingly different. Just different.

A larger number of students enter JMU now via transfer from the VA community college system. That’s not a bad thing. But it’s different. Compacts guarantee those community college students admission if they’ve met certain conditions. There are a whole host of factors involved. The only thing to keep a watch on, and be concerned about if you’re inclined, is the size of the applicant pool. So far, JMU’s applicant pool remains very healthy. Indeed, just last year, a national story shared that JMU was the #1 recommended university in the country. JMU is also providing a great return to students on the cost of their education, and our graduates are valued and hired in numbers that are leading VA. It doesn’t get better than that.

So, I’m not going to tell anyone how to spend their time, but worrying about percentages of admits from the applicant pool is not a particularly productive use of ones time.

I understand, at least from the periphery, JMU's evolution within the framework of Virginia higher education. As more and more high school students matriculated to college in the 90's and 00's colleges and universities had to adapt. Now that enrollments have plateaued/decreased schools have to respond accordingly. Temple was still very much a commuter school when I was there as an undergrad. Fast forward 15 years and its roots are still very much commuteresque yet the residential aspect is far more pronounced than it was in my day. Still, there remains a noticeable disconnect between students/alums relative to PSU and Pitt when it comes to school pride/giving rate.

Generally speaking, I always associated JMU with Ohio U.; two quality public institutions located in beautiful areas that exist in the shadows of one or two big brothers. Ohio has increased their endowment, expanded their online reach as well as their professional offerings in recent years. Meanwhile, JMU's mission (from afar) remains committed to educating Virginia residents in an undergrad focused environment. Over the last 20 years or so, ODU and especially GMU have become popular destinations (makes sense based on location) for JMU, Radford, Virginia Tech, Norfolk State etc. alums looking for an advanced degree.

(01-25-2021 05:55 PM)JMU Fan In Atlanta Wrote:  I started at JMU in 85 and graduated 89. My son is a HS senior in suburban Atlanta. Goes to a small private school, valedictorian, ACT of 35. We toured about a half dozen colleges and loved JMU the best. The tour guide was fantastic and the admissions person who gave the presentation was great. The prior day we visited VT and the admissions person told everyone not to worry about the grammar or spelling on their essay. My wife was appalled. Next day JMU said to be sure to check your grammar and spelling on your essay, that details matter. I was so proud! But as my son realized he would have a lot of options, the 77% acceptance rate at JMU completely turned him off and he decided on Ga Tech business with a full tuition scholarship. I'm bummed bc I think JMU would fit his personality well, but I agree with his decision. Acceptance rate was around 35% in 1985 when I went there.....77% now is surprising to me.

I spoke with a high positioned admissions person from GT last year, and one of the key moments from our conversation that he said was "once you get past the elites, most schools are on about equal footing overall. The important factors are/should be fit for the individual student and specific programs the student is studying". we all know each school specializes in something. Those specializations are whats more important to compare in academic conversations, but that data is a lot harder for the general person to come across. So with that, the idea that JMU as a whole vs any other school as a whole can't really be assessed unbiased. even with higher acceptance rates. those are overall numbers, at least look at acceptance rate within a specific department. The overall reputation the OP asked about is more so about the bias of the individuals involved in the conversation.

Where the hell are these posters coming from?

How are people from other boards finding this thread?

(01-26-2021 03:59 PM)balanced_view Wrote:  

(01-25-2021 05:55 PM)JMU Fan In Atlanta Wrote:  I started at JMU in 85 and graduated 89. My son is a HS senior in suburban Atlanta. Goes to a small private school, valedictorian, ACT of 35. We toured about a half dozen colleges and loved JMU the best. The tour guide was fantastic and the admissions person who gave the presentation was great. The prior day we visited VT and the admissions person told everyone not to worry about the grammar or spelling on their essay. My wife was appalled. Next day JMU said to be sure to check your grammar and spelling on your essay, that details matter. I was so proud! But as my son realized he would have a lot of options, the 77% acceptance rate at JMU completely turned him off and he decided on Ga Tech business with a full tuition scholarship. I'm bummed bc I think JMU would fit his personality well, but I agree with his decision. Acceptance rate was around 35% in 1985 when I went there.....77% now is surprising to me.

I spoke with a high positioned admissions person from GT last year, and one of the key moments from our conversation that he said was "once you get past the elites, most schools are on about equal footing overall. The important factors are/should be fit for the individual student and specific programs the student is studying". we all know each school specializes in something. Those specializations are whats more important to compare in academic conversations, but that data is a lot harder for the general person to come across. So with that, the idea that JMU as a whole vs any other school as a whole can't really be assessed unbiased. even with higher acceptance rates. those are overall numbers, at least look at acceptance rate within a specific department. The overall reputation the OP asked about is more so about the bias of the individuals involved in the conversation.

The value in a degree (beyond the obvious academic/intellectual aspects) is in the networking. I grew up in Eastern PA, a stones throw from NYC/Philly generally speaking, and if you want to crack a certain threshold within your desired professional endeavor there's an academic hierarchy that exists. The amount of Duke, Lehigh (I'm not), NYU, Williams, Penn, Columbia, Cal, Northwestern, Bates, Bucknell, Georgetown, Vassar, the list goes on and on, alums floating around is crazy.

I've worked in the private golf industry for the last 12 years, I see it within our membership/guest base. There's an early 30 something member (entrenched local family) at our club who's a Wake Forest grad, works for Goldman Sachs, lives in Hoboken, rolls with "that" crowd. Every year he brings his NYC friends, co-workers and college buddies up for a weekend of golf, drinking and gambling. Everyone fits the same mold of education, mannerisms, conversation, yadda, yadda. It's basically having 20-30 Bud Fox's running around.

I'm currently reading a book on the history of the University of Chicago. I've been fascinated by UChicago since my high school days. That place is just filled with different humans. Their idea of academia relative to the average higher ed institution is apples and oranges.

Due to Covid and the uncertainty within college athletic departments I opted to take some classes to build some relevant capital. As it is, I opted to do a 3 class certificate program in Leadership and Management at Notre Dame. I swear, as a 38 year old this turned more heads than my undergrad business degree from Temple. It also paved the way to work with a distinguished faculty member within the college of education at DePaul.

I looked at JMU's offerings in education but there were no pertinent hybrid/online programs. If I was younger 1.5-2 years in Harrisonburg would be awesome. As it is, I'll likely spend 6 months in Chicago.

If I'm JMU i'm hesitant to break those W&M, Delaware, Richmond, UNH, SBU connections in favor of Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, MTSU, Kennesaw State, South Alabama, Eastern Kentucky.

JMU is in a real tough spot and I honestly don't envy them one bit given the dumpster fire that is D1 football; all three "levels" (P5, G5, FCS). Once JMU expanded Bridgeforth and fellow southern regional schools moved up public sentiment one way or the other was inevitable.

(01-26-2021 04:30 PM)Dukester Wrote:  Where the hell are these posters coming from?

How are people from other boards finding this thread?

As a huge FCS fan and G5 alum I can safely say "we're all in this together"

I've posted on here before. Not a lot but if something catches my eye I'll chime in.....

(01-26-2021 04:54 PM)TUowl06 Wrote:  

(01-26-2021 04:30 PM)Dukester Wrote:  Where the hell are these posters coming from?

How are people from other boards finding this thread?

As a huge FCS fan and G5 alum I can safely say "we're all in this together"

I've posted on here before. Not a lot but if something catches my eye I'll chime in.....

Absolutely. I obviously don't speak for everyone, but in my opinion, your contributions to this board, as well as those of posters from other schools not named JMU, are valued and welcome.

(01-26-2021 09:56 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(01-26-2021 07:36 AM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  I was wrong with the 37%. It was 31% according to this article. That was one reason why I chose JMU. One of the other reasons was the athletics- a good academic school that appeared to have mostly well-rounded students with some personality, and D1 sports.

That said, I am sure LH or someone else will exegete and nuance the numbers and show me it wasn’t really 31%.

https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcont...=i19801989

Heaven forbid I “exegete” anyone’s numbers.

My points stand. The entire issue is not an issue of concern.

You said, “I question the cited percentage of 37%“..I know you’re never wrong, but you were. . And you say it is not an issue of concern. Just because you say that does not make it so. That said, we all understand there are major differences in the college landscape today compared to decades ago. We all know the growth that has occurred at JMU and its impact on acceptance rates. I don’t believe anyone on here is making a judgment on JMU based solely on acceptance rate. I know I’m not.

(01-26-2021 09:54 PM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  

(01-26-2021 09:56 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(01-26-2021 07:36 AM)jmutoml757 Wrote:  I was wrong with the 37%. It was 31% according to this article. That was one reason why I chose JMU. One of the other reasons was the athletics- a good academic school that appeared to have mostly well-rounded students with some personality, and D1 sports.

That said, I am sure LH or someone else will exegete and nuance the numbers and show me it wasn’t really 31%.

https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcont...=i19801989

Heaven forbid I “exegete” anyone’s numbers.

My points stand. The entire issue is not an issue of concern.

You said, “I question the cited percentage of 37%“..I know you’re never wrong, but you were. . And you say it is not an issue of concern. Just because you say that does not make it so. That said, we all understand there are major differences in the college landscape today compared to decades ago. We all know the growth that has occurred at JMU and its impact on acceptance rates. I don’t believe anyone on here is making a judgment on JMU based solely on acceptance rate. I know I’m not.

Finish the rest of my original sentence...don’t try to paraphrase by cherry picking. It’s intellectually dishonest.

And the issue is not a concern of any importance, and you’ve been provided many factual reasons why it’s not an issue of concern. Of course you’re entitled to waste your time worrying about something of no consequence.