U.S. News and World Report ranks George Mason the #1 up-and-coming National University. The economics department and the law school are doing very well but so are many other innovative departments. The report notes:
Established in 1972, Mason is a relatively young university. Not bound by tradition and old ways of thinking, the university and its
faculty embrace technology and new approaches to learning. Mason was
the first university in the country to offer doctoral programs in
conflict resolution, bioinformatics, computational social sciences, and
information technology; and the first to offer a graduate degree in
biodefense.
This on top of the fact that Mason had two graduates in the Men’s 110 meter hurdles final at the Olympics last night (Phillips and Wignall)? Wow!
As a longtime MR reader, and a freshman student at GMU who just moved in yesterday, this is awesome news to me
Can’t wait to take your classes, Alex and Tyler!
I’ve encouraged my 12th grade daughter to consider GMU, but she believes it is too close to home (we live in Alexandria). I’ve told her that being in Fairfax is the equivalent for me of her being in Charlottesville.
Daughter has a soccer teammate who is a sophomore at GMU this year, who told my daughter that she expected to hate it – but now loves it. Says the campus is dead on weekends, but that isn’t a problem for kids who grew up around here or those who go into DC. And, with Tyler’s Ethnic Dining Guide, they have a lot of great, inexpensive restaurants to try.
http://www.tylercowensethnicdiningguide.com/
I have always wonder if there really were any students who actually choose GMU instead of just settled on GMU when they did not get into the college that they really wanted to attend.
Of course, GMU was smart to find majors that lead to careers that are normally distributed instead of trying to compete in the logn-normally distributed job market.
Subrosa,
Check out the recruiting class!!!! Coach L is just awesome and the university at least did the right thing there and did not let him leave for Providence; cannot say that about Vernon Smith — ugh!
Anyway, GMU has done great things over the past 30+ years, but the challenges it faces over the next 10 will be real, and in economics they are particularly significant. But if we look back for a minute, whoever wwould have thought that in 1972 that GMU could have counted among its ranks econ faculty such as James Buchanan (Nobel 1986), Vernon Smith (Nobel 2002), Gordon Tullock (AEA Distinguished Fellow), and Kenneth Boulding (AEA Distinguished Fellow). Let alone the great faculty in literature that have walked the campus (Carlos Fuentes) or famous popularizers in philosophy (Thelma Levine) or science (James Trefil).
The school is building continuously and the student population is growing. But we still have a lot of great work to do here, and in particular there is a great amount of work to be done to build on our programs of excellence.
Pete
ABCDE,
I heard a joke once that GW was a university of 10,000 students who really wanted to go to Georgetown and that American University was a university of 5,000 who really wanted to go to GW. I guess GMU is 20,000 who really wanted to go to a private school that may have opened a door could not afford it.
You do realize how many career fields are not off the table because you went to GMU if you could have gotten into Georgetown.
superdestroyer,
GMU was my first choice out of high school in 1998, i grew up in PA, most of my friends went to PSU. I was always interested in econ, visited the Mason campus, and immediately fell in love with it. I now have an MBA from there as well. Mason rules. So you have one data point now, i guess.
U.S. News and World Report ranks George Mason the #1 up-and-coming National University
Sounds like a good time to ask for a raise.
Most people apply to universities that have good reputation. In fact they may not be that good academically, but at the end it is most important to have a strong background information in your CV when applying for a job.
The people that graduated from prestigious universities have high ranking have better opportunities in their careers. The contacts with the alumni and reputation of the alumni, are in many cases crucial in getting a good start in your career.
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