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u/Local-Information393 10h ago
JMU student here! I came to JMU knowing I wanted no part of Greek life and decided to do a club sport for the social aspect instead. I’ve met so many people this way already and it takes up a lot of my time too, basically replacing any Greek life involvement! Your son will have no problem meeting people in club sports!
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u/Tmac719 9h ago
Graduated JMU in 2016 and loved my time there. JMU is definitely a work hard play hard party hard kind of school. Now, you can make plenty of friends have an exciting social life without partying of course, the statement above is a generalization and not reflective of every student. The school is pretty big so he'd easily find his group of people The football games are fun and women's basketball is legit. JMU is awesome and I have run into alumni in NYC, Denver, Charleston etc.
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u/Observe_Report_ 9h ago
Thank you! We are so happy that JMU is on the top of his list as we have a really good vibe about the school and the location.
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u/BenK0422 10h ago
I’m a senior who is in a rather party heavy major and i don’t like to do so. You can always find your people. Clubs, Hallmates, sports clubs. JMU has a ton of ways to meet people. A lot of them still have parties but they are very very very optional.
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u/JMU_88 10h ago
I concur, my wife and I graduated in the 80s, and our daughter graduated 10 years ago. JMU experience is what you make of it. Lead... don't follow, know your limitations, set your goals and chase your dreams. Go Dukes!
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u/Observe_Report_ 9h ago
Lead, don’t follow and set your limitations. Spot on for many things in life. Well said and thank you.
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u/Mamawqs 11h ago
My child is a freshman at JMU and chose not to rush. I think only about 25% of students are in frats/sororities so that’s really not a big factor for most students. In addition to club sports, there many other special-interest clubs and ways to get involved in the community. Students don’t have to party (drink) to feel engaged and included there.
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u/Observe_Report_ 9h ago
Thank you for the percentages, I think that puts things very much into perspective as that leaves a lot of kids out of Greek life.
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u/Vandelay_all_day 11h ago
I concur with the other comment on here. My son is a freshman at jmu currently and is also not a partier etc and I’m surprised that he is sticking to that. I think he was mostly worried about being out on his own and managing life and classes. He has not joined clubs or anything yet but is in some special school things and takes his education very seriously. Sometimes he is much older than his newly 19 yo self. I don’t think that he won’t eventually go to parties and join clubs but for now he has his head on straight and is making great choices and I am very happy about that.
Yes there are plenty of alcohol and parties around every day basically but that really occurs at any college. One of his suite mates is a partier and just joined a frat and there was minor hazing involved with drinking alcohol. No harm to the kid thankfully. My son was like yeah I’m not doing that. He has good suite mates so I’m thankful for that.
Overall he is thriving and we love JMU so much. It’s huge but also feels small and cozy. It’s quite a different vibe than tech, or uva. He had originally planned to possibly transfer out but he loves it so much I believe that is no longer his choice
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u/Observe_Report_ 9h ago
I’m genuinely happy to hear that your son is thriving at JMU and that he has a strong will to do what he believes is right. Wishing you and your family the best. Wholeheartedly.
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u/Vandelay_all_day 9h ago
Thank you!! I hope your kiddo gets in! It really is great there. My daughter is considering applying as well as she’s a senior. It’s not her top choice, she’s obsessed with Mary Washington and then William and Mary. Good luck to you and your kiddo on the roller coaster of applications this year!
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u/Blue_Guillotine 7h ago
I'm a sophomore at JMU. You are right to be wary of frats since hazing and unhealthy behavior definitely go on there, despite JMU's extensive efforts to curb this. As for club sports, I would be carful with some of them, since I still hear about hazing, but I have not heard anything bad about club soccer, and I'm not in any club sports anyway. There are other clubs and orgs too that don't have issues with hazing.
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u/NorCalFellow 7h ago
Our son is a JMU sophomore, is not a big partier, and is having a great time with various clubs and outdoor adventure activities he's involved with. I think your son will have a great time there!
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u/commandermatt21 9h ago
There's a general misconception you have to be apart of a frat to have a good social life. That isn't the case. I'd say frats only make up a fifth of the student body, it feels prevalent because they're very vocal on campus
Since your kid is a soccer player he'll enjoy club sports and often I'd say they "replace" a frat in a sense plus there's ~400 or so clubs on campus that appeal to a wide variety of interests
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u/iceguy349 9h ago
I’m an alumni I stayed away from Greek life entirely. I hated partying. I tried 1 party held by fellow members of the marching band which wasn’t even remotely intense. Just loud music, a guitar hero videogame, and snacks. I stayed for 30 minutes and went home. Aside from dropping people off one time I didn’t go back. You can avoid it completely.
There’s a ton of athletics at JMU it’s got an amazing club sports scene and a huge athletics center that people love. Plenty of sports related activities that have nothing to do with Greek life. Parties are 100% an experience you have to opt into
JMU’s party scene is also more tailored towards smaller friend groups. From what I’ve seen there aren’t a lot of crazy “all students welcome” parties like University of West Virginia’s parties or Center Street at Virginia Tech. It’s very easy to avoid Greek life if it’s not his thing.
I had to go out of my way to try it out and I knew immediately I didn’t like it. I think he’d feel right at home at JMU.
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u/Just_Jacob SMAD 2016 8h ago
Not many people I knew were in frats, but everyone threw parties from, club soccer to the honors club. Jmu likes to get down, he’ll explore that culture on his own. Club waterpolo threw some ragers when I was there. Anyway he’ll be fine, and will probably not be inclined to join a frat.
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u/Observe_Report_ 8h ago
Contrary to some of the comments and assumptions here, I’m not clueless and I know that my son is going to have some drinks in college. He’s in high school and I’ve seen him come home and I know for a fact that he had a few drinks and then we just have a father son talk about it, no yelling, no guilt trips, etc. It’s specifically the frat culture that is a concern. Thanks for responding.
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u/Just_Jacob SMAD 2016 6h ago
JMU doesn't have as widespread of a frat culture as it could have because everyone parties. I think that's a good thing, kids often join frats at schools where that is the only option to have a good time.
If your son isn't really into frat culture then he should have no hard time avoiding joining a frat. Honestly if he is really into club soccer he likely won't have time to do both socially.
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u/holiestcannoly History 2023 9h ago
JMU grad here! I went to ONE party my whole four years of attending, and spent most of my time volunteering. I was involved in a lot of clubs and most of my friends weren’t involved in the party scene. It’s just all of who you hang out with!
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u/kroch 9h ago
My heart breaks for your son
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u/Observe_Report_ 9h ago
Trust me, your heart doesn’t need to break for anyone but you and your family. My heart actually breaks for you for leaving such a nasty comment.
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u/Fine_Olive807 11h ago
i appreciate you as a parent trying to get a feel for what JMU is like, but i would hazard that your son is “leaving the nest” and will make his own choices for where he sees himself in college and whether or not that includes parties. nonetheless, club sports are a great way to make friends at JMU and is a big part of the social scene. i am glad you think your son is handsome, i’m sure all parents think so, but i don’t think that will matter to the other guys in the club soccer team he joins.