<p>Both are excellent schools. Both have much to offer. Any one else weighing these choices??</p>
<p>Yes. I hear W&M is harder to obtain the same grades as one would at UVa. Any truth to this?</p>
<p>Certainly a common refrain amongst students this time of year. You certainly can’t go wrong at either institution. UVA and W&M are different however so we’d encourage admitted students to visit both schools in April (our Day for Admitted Students is on April 16) to see if there’s one seems to fit them better.</p>
<p>W&M professors will challenge students but there’s an important semantic difference between challenging and hard. We hope students interested in W&M want an intellectual challenge. Hopefully that’s part of why you applied to W&M. But we wouldn’t have admitted you if we didn’t think you were up for the challenge and we believe you’ll thrive in the W&M classrooms.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s certainly the “conventional wisdom”, but it’s hard to validate. Average GPA’s at both schools run around 3.2-something - depending on the source, the average GPA at W&M might be tick higher. </p>
<p>Then again, W&M students have a reputation as being more studious than those at UVA - maybe those roughly equal GPA’s required more work - but again, how do you actually validate that? </p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about “grading differences” anyway, both schools are very strong academically, and will provide you with an excellent educational experience. And when it comes to graduate schools, (the only place where GPA makes a big difference), admissions people understand the academic rigor of both schools. </p>
<p>If you have a specific field of study you’re interested, it’s possible that there may be enough differences between the respective schools’ specific programs to make that a “tie-breaker”, but that’s not often the case.</p>
<p>When people ask this question, my advice is to visit both schools, and spend a few hours on a typical day, just getting the general feel of the places, of the students. My opinion is that most people will just feel more at ease at one vs. the other. </p>
<p>For DD, she knew within a half-hour that UVA wasn’t the place for her, and 15 minutes to realize W&M was. There’ve been a number of people who’ve attended Admitted Student day events at both schools, and reported here that the difference in experiences made W&M an easy choice for them. And I’m sure others have the reverse experience.</p>
<p>Point being, both schools offer tremendous educational opportunities, and, at least in my opinion, both have very different student cultures. And most people I know have a decided preference for one culture over the other. </p>
<p>I don’t want to spoil it for you, one way or another - but if your username means “Doctor Bro”, well, that’s truly a split decision - W&M has a tremendous med school acceptance rate and there are lots of “pre-meds” (though UVA’s is lso has a very high acceptance rate), but “Bro” would suggest “UVA” - I’ve heard tell it’s a brotastic place to be… :)</p>
<p>It’s great for Virginians to have two academically well-regarded public schools…yet with very distinct characteristics that define them in terms of class size, athletics, and social atmosphere.</p>
<p>Overheard on the W&M campus…
“UVA may have the scoreboard, but W&M has the board scores.” ;-)</p>
<p>Squiddy,
Thank you for such a great response. (Although drbro doesn’t have anything to do with an M.D. or “bro” it is just my initials 
</p>
<p>Being out of state I don’t think I will be able to attend either of the April Admitted students day. But I have visited both campus’ and think I have a good feel for the differences.</p>
<p>I most likely will be joining the Tribe.</p>
<p>We are very very fortunate in Virginia. I am grateful.</p>
<p>yeh, i’m making the same choice; I am leaning towards W&M because UVA does seem a bit more “bro.” Oh well, I’ve never been to WM so i guess i need to visit.</p>
<p>and VT for me. Few people from my school got into both UVA and W&M so I guess I did something right lol! I’m leaning UVA right now but, as I haven’t visited W&M’s campus, I will certainly wait to make any final decisions.</p>
<p>We definitely encourage those students who are trying to make a tough decision to visit campus if at all possible. If that’s not possible, take advantage of the Welcome web site, the Class of 2015 Facebook page and the Admission Ambassador blog so that you can learn as much about W&M as possible.</p>
<p>If you do visit campus, our admitted student programs provide an opportunity to sit in on a class (myWM Mondays) or to attend a faculty lecture (Day for Admitted Students) so you can see if you feel comfortable in a W&M classroom.</p>
<p>And we cannot agree with others more about the wonderful public higher ed options in VA!</p>
<p>I would encourage you to make the decision based on how you feel at each campus. The academics are a toss up and you will find excellence at both schools.</p>
<p>i wish i lived in VA! I got into both, but I’ll probably be forced to go to md(full ride), rather than pay OOS for UVA</p>
<p>finances are certainly a major player in the college search process. We encourage any student to wait to hear from financial aid offices before making any final decisions just so they have all the information in front of them.</p>
<p>S3 is deciding between two OOS school and a few top Va schools. Wm&Mary is a real possibility, but his concern is that he also wants to have some “fun” during his 4 years there. </p>
<p>I’m wondering; is there an opportunity for him to stay overnight with a student?</p>
<p>W&M kids have plenty of fun, if they want to. Just so you know.</p>
<p>If by “fun” you mean “doesn’t want to work hard” though, he should probably go elsewhere.</p>
<p>lastof3, with over 400 student-run clubs and organizations, 23 DI sports, club teams, intramurals and an active Greek system there is no short of fun to be had on campus. Usually the problem for students is not finding something to do but choosing between various social activities knowing they can’t make them all.</p>
<p>We responded to the overnight question you posed on a separate thread but unfortunately there is no formal overnight program. However if your student knows a current student they are welcome to spend the night on campus as his/her guest</p>
<p>Thank you SO much! If you must know, WM is our (both parents’) first choice by far. But as much as we want to persuade him, instead we are stepping back and facilitating his decision-making process. </p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>DS trying to decide between W&M and UVA for Environmental science. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>W&M, thanks, as always for your responses. We feel very fortunate that our son was accepted to both UVA and W&M! He recently visited W&M for two days, visited with a sports team and attended classes. He loved it! His leaning right now is to accept the offer at W&M.</p>
<p>One thing we, as parents, noticed was that the campus seemed empty on Sunday. My husband asked a lone student he saw about whether it was spring break. The student replied that no, Sunday was “study day.” We live in Charlottesville, and on any given day of the week, there are students milling about on grounds or Dowtown. (Not that they don’t study, but the school is large enough that there are plenty of students around at various times of the day/week.) Although our son was not bothered by the comment when we later shared it, we can’t help but wonder if every Sunday he will be studying (or alone). He is someone who currently enjoys watching a sports contest (live or televised) on the weekend (when he isn’t competing himself). He studies a lot (obviously, or he wouldn’t have had the grades/credentials to qualify for admission), but I don’t like to think of an entire campus shutting down for a “study day”. Is this really the norm? Thanks!</p>