| Location: | Mid-Atlantic |
| Setting: | Large Town Setting |
| Type: | Public |
| Size: | Very Large (+10,000 Undergrad) |
| Mascot: | Patriots |
| Nicknames: | GMU, Mason |
The University's Mission
The mission statement of the Board of Visitors reads as follows:
George Mason University will be an institution of international academic reputation providing superior education for students to develop critical, analytical, and imaginative thinking and to make well-founded ethical decisions. It will respond to the call for interdisciplinary research and teaching, not simply by adding programs but by rethinking the traditional structure of the academy.
The university will prepare students to address the complex issues facing them in society and to discover meaning in their own lives. It will encourage diversity in its student body and will meet the needs of students by providing them with interdisciplinary and innovative undergraduate, graduate, and professional courses. The university will energetically seek ways to interact with and serve the needs of the student body.
The university will nurture and support a faculty that is diverse, innovative, excellent in teaching, active in pure and applied research, and responsive to the needs of students and the community. The faculty will embody the university's interactive approach to change both in the academy and in the world.
The university will be a resource of the Commonwealth of Virginia serving private and public sectors. It will be an intellectual and cultural nexus between Northern Virginia, the nation, and the world. (Adopted January 1991)
George Mason University (also reffered to as GMU or Mason) is a large public university in the United States. GMU's main campus is in Fairfax, Virginia. Additional campuses are in Arlington County, Prince William County, Loudoun County and another in Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.
Named after American revolutionary, patriot and founding father George Mason, the University was founded as a branch of the University of Virginia in 1957 and became an independent institution in 1972. Recognized for its strong law, economics, nursing and public policy programs, the University enrolls over 30,000 students, making it the second largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
George Mason University is named after American revolutionary, patriot, and founding father George Mason. The University traces its roots back to the 1950s when the legislature of the Virginia passed a resolution, in January of 1956, to establish a branch college of the University of Virginia in Northern Virginia. In September of 1957 the new college opened its doors to seventeen students, all of whom enrolled as freshmen in a renovated elementary school building at Bailey's Crossroads. John Norville Gibson Finley served as Director of the new branch, which was known as University College.
The City of Fairfax, Virginia, then the Town of Fairfax, purchased and donated of land to the University of Virginia for the college's new location, which was referred to as the Fairfax Campus. In 1959, the Board of Visitors of UVA selected a permanent name for the college: George Mason College of the University of Virginia. The Fairfax campus construction planning that began in early 1960 showed visible results when the development of the first forty acres of Fairfax Campus began in 1962. In the Fall of 1964 the new campus welcomed 356 students.
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Top States for Incoming Freshman
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| Percent of Students International: | 5% |
| On-Campus Housing Available: | Yes |
| Percent of Students Living On-Campus: | 19% |
| Freshman Students Required to Live on Campus: | Yes |
| Member of: | NAA, NCAA |
| Sports Include: |
Basketball (Colonial Athletic Association) Baseball (Colonial Athletic Association) Track (Colonial Athletic Association) |
| Tuition & Fees (undergraduate) | In-State | Out-of-State | |
Published Tuition and Fees: |
$ 5,880 | $ 17,160 | |
Average Tuition for Full-Time Undergrads: |
$ 4,260 | $ 15,354 | |
Required Fees for Full-Time Undergrads: |
$ 1,566 | $ 1,566 | |
| Financial Aid | Avg. Amount Received | % of Students Receiving Aid | |
Federal Grants: |
$ 3,016 | 19% | |
State and Local Grants: |
$ 3,489 | 25% | |
Institutional Grants: |
$ 5,954 | 11% | |
Student Loans: |
$ 2,650 | 37% | |
Any Aid: |
51% |
| Acceptance Rate: | 69% (Selective) |
| Test Scores | |
| SAT Scores: | |
| % of Students Submitting SAT Scores: | 97% |
| Bottom 25th Percentile: | Verbal: 490, Math: 510 |
| Top 75th Percentile: | Verbal: 600, Math: 610 |
| Application Fee: | $ 40.00 |
| Formal Demonstration of Competencies: | Not Required |
| High School Diploma or Equivalent: | Recommended |
| High School GPA: | Required |
| High School Rank: | Recommended |
| High School Record: | Required |
| Recommendations: | Recommended |
| TOEFL: | Required |
| Test Scores: | Required |
College Advice
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I've a friend who's going to George Mason University (the unknown mid-Major in the NCAA Mens Basketball championship last year) but her parents are trying to convince her to go to Virginia Tech...
She's a Computer Information Technology major, if it helps.
IT major with concentration in Network Administration and Security.
15 months ago
Best Answer
Depends on what she wants to do after graduation. If she stays at Mason she should look into the Information Assurance area within IT.... They are relatively well known for that given their proximity and 'buy in' from local government agencies/contractors. VT is certainly going to expose her to a wider variety of top companies AND agencies upon graduation but, as I said, if she is into security GMU might not be bad....
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I'm considering going to George Mason if accepted. I'm ttnrested in their drama department. Are they any good? Is there anything about this school that makes it really great? If you know of any other affordable universityies with great acting programs, let me know. I'm looking for a small but good theater department.
22 months ago
Best Answer
It all depends on what you want out of a program. GMU has some great stuff going for it. The corridor between Baltimore on the north extreme to Richmond on the southern extreme has a great deal of theatre, an active region is good. Also GMU is paired with the Theatre for the First Amendment. This is a great plus, you will be working wiht union professionals, getting training and guidance from those who have gone through what you are going through and made it to a professional level.
That all being said, I do not know much about the quality of the work done there, or the facutly, but that is always subjective anyway. Best thing to do is visit the campus and talk to the other students, see what they are getting out of the program and what they would suggest.
As a response to the first poster, IU has a wonderful program for grad students, watch out for teh great MFA program schools while looking for undergrad, it usually means alot of opportunities to do very little, the school has to give the MFA candidates first crack at most roles and opprotunities, thus making the undergrads second class.
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Question:
Thoughts on george mason university?
i'm looking for infor on location, reputation, student happiness...
I've already read all the rankings
24 months ago
Best Answer
My cousin went to GMU and ended up transferring for a number of reasons, but he was pretty happy there with the academics. It's a pretty good school - well-respected and their football team is pretty decent these days, so that's a perk.
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How would you rate each of them?
26 months ago
Best Answer
Except for their location, these are three very different schools.
George Washington is a top tier private university. US News ranks it number 53 in their list of top national universities and rates their admissions as "More Selective."
Howard is the best of the HBSs (historically black schools). US News rates it as selective and ranks it in the lower end of the top 100 national universities.
George Mason is a decent state university ranked in the third tier of national universities. You have to be pretty good to get there -- but there are lots of better alternatives. The third tier is made up of lots of state universities that aren't the best state schools in their state (e.g., UNC Greensboro isn't as good as UNC-Chapel Hill, Illinois State isn't as good as U of Illinois). Virginia has two state schools that are better than George Mason -- U of Va and William and Mary. GM has the advantage of being in suburban DC.
If you are looking at these schools, you ought to consider the University of Maryland as well.
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Best Answer
George Mason University is somewhat of a liberal institution. The teachers vary with the subject. Some are more biased than others. Most know better than to bring up political arguments in class unless it is a political class.
We have had some free speech issues on campus but they have been worked out for now.
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