<p>I just got the acceptance letter and other documents from UVa. But, I am not as excited about UVa as I used to be. I really like W&M a lot now, but UVa has more prestige and is very close to my family and friends. I have a week to think about it. How hard is the grading system at UVa? What is the average freshman GPA? How do professors/TA teach? Why should I pick UVa instead of W&M with full scholarship? I want to be challenged, but I don't want to keep studying 24/7. I like parties, but I am not really big at them. Any advice?</p>
<p>1) UVA does not have more prestige than W&M to the people who matter. Both are very good.</p>
<p>2) The grading system at UVA is about as hard as the one at W&M. The average GPA at both schools is around 3.1.</p>
<p>3) The average first year GPA is in the 2.9-3.0 range.</p>
<p>4) Professors tend to teach classes, and TA's lead discussions.</p>
<p>5) There's no reason to go to UVA if W&M is giving you a full ride. If W&M weren't giving you a full ride, I'd tell you to come here because it's a more balanced college experience and you'd enjoy your time more.</p>
<p>6) I'd go to W&M if I were you. I didn't even apply to W&M because I didn't think I'd like it, but if I had, and they'd given me a full ride, I would have gone. If money is truly not a factor for you, then maybe you should consider UVA a bit more. Otherwise, go Tribe!</p>
<p>On a side note, I would never make a decision like this based on the grading system of the schools in questions...</p>
<p>Full scholarship at W&M is nice, but money is not a concern for my family at all. I'm quite concerned about W&M because it is new to disability service for deaf students and may not provide skilled interpreters, while UVa has 2 deaf students and has experience with disability service.</p>
<p>I talked to my parents over the phone (they are out of town), and we think I should visit both schools before I make the decision.</p>
<p>I'd make sure to visit both. The moeny might not mean anything to you, but think of what you could do with it - - you could donate it to charity, but a new car, go on some cool vacations, etc. Good luck on your decision, though, and feel free to ask any questions here. It's a shame that you're going to have to visit each school and make your decision after all the students have gone home!</p>
<p>Come visit, potty. Trust your gut. At one point, it will hit you. Ranks and stats are great, but you'll learn best where you feel most comfortable. I could put the best professor in the world in front of you, but it you aren't happy, you won't learn.</p>
<p>My advice: Make a list of your "must haves". Include the academic stuff, but also the fun stuff. Go on the tours with your list in mind and see how you feel at the end.</p>
<p>Good luck! You have two great schools...it's going to be hard to make a "bad" decision on this one!</p>
<p>hairypotty, were you accepted as a freshman or transfer student? I got waitlisted as a transfer and im wondering when we hear back..</p>
<p>Freshman. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Hairypotty: Go to W&M since they deemed you a 'better fit' by offering you admission and a full scholarship the first round. I am not saying one school is better than the other.</p>
<p>worldshopper, I don't quite agree that a school deems someone a "better fit" by offering him/her admission and a scholarship.</p>
<p>Cavalier: I only meant that both schools are fairly equal when it comes down to qualifications. Getting accepted to one but not the other probably boils down to "fit". Scholarship money aside, I would still go with the one that deemed Hairy qualified, a better fit or what have you the first round. </p>
<p>As you know, I was waitlisted by W&M and wanted to go there more than UVA. At this point, I would NOT accept a spot off the waitlist at W&M since I am sticking with the school who wanted me and perhaps saw me as a 'better fit', UVA.</p>
<p>wow!! congratulations man!</p>
<p>I think "fit" is best determined by the applicants. Schools don't know you. They know your test scores, your rank, your essays, your recommendations, etc. But they don't know if you like restaurants, or if you like to party, or if you like frisbee, or if you like hot blondes, or if you like world of warcraft.</p>
<p>^^ I am going to disagree with you on this. "Fit" can include what can the applicant do for the school and what can the applicant obtain from the opportunities available at the school. Just from reading an applicant's essays and looking over their ECs can determine if a school is a good fit or not.</p>
<p>I think W&M accepted me because I'm deaf. I'm just saying what I think. W&M never had a deaf student before and is not experienced with working with them. I contacted the disability service at W&M, and I was told that it doesn't have an interpreter on staff. I'm just concerned that it would provide me an unskilled interpreter. UVa has 2 deaf students; therefore, it knows how to work with services for the deaf.</p>
<p>I agree with cavalier. Stats and essays are not enough to know your personality or what kind of atmosphere is 'fit' for you.</p>
<p>I can't speak for all admission officers, but waitlist does not equal "bad fit" to me. </p>
<p>If I don't think there's a good match, I'll recommend that we deny a student. We don't want to string along someone who clearly won't be admitted. To me, the waitlist means we liked what we saw and if we had the space, we'd have the student in our class.</p>
<p>I would say that fit is determined by the student. Just because I admit someone, doesn't mean UVA is the best place for them. If admission officers determined the fit, transfer admission wouldn't exist.</p>
<p>So, if someone is waitlisted with a better package all around (grades, ranking, SAT scores, ECs, teacher recs) than others who were admitted, why?</p>
<p>Maybe to protect the yield rate?</p>
<p>worldshopper, if someone is waitlisted, that person really may not be a better applicant. Maybe the essays reflected carelessness or a lack of time spent writing them, or maybe the recommendations told the story of an arrogant or dishonest applicant. Or maybe the applicant is out of state. In the vast majority of cases, the "best" applicants do get in.</p>
<p>dazedandconfused, I don't think UVA practices yield protection to a large extent, particularly with instaters. Maybe with out of state applicants, because I have heard of OOS'ers getting waitlisted here who got into places like MIT and Stanford, which is just stupid.</p>
<p>We don't practice "yield protection". I first heard of this practice a few years ago, when F&W was on the cover of the WSJ for saying they did it. I've never worked for a school that did this. You accept the best and hope they accept you back.</p>
<p>You never know if that superstar has their heart set on UVA and thinks it's the bee's knees compared to the rest of the field.</p>
<p>Any case where an applicant (instate or out of state) gets into a school like Harvard or MIT but does not get into UVA (and submits good essays and all) is either a result of some sort of clerical error or yield protection. I've heard of this happening (only like once or twice though...) and I don't believe that UVA would have any legitimate reason for not admitting such a person.</p>