Anyone deciding between W&M and UVA?

<p>How early was it on Sunday? It could be that students were sleeping in after a “busy” Saturday night, lol.</p>

<p>@guillaume, it was 2:00 in the afternoon:).</p>

<p>guillaume, I don’t know as much about UVA, but W&M’s Environmental Science department is very, very strong. If he has an interest in the coastal and estuarine side of environmental, W&M’s connection with VIMS (Virginia Institute of Marine Science) in Gloucester (15 mi. from Williamsburg) offers a tremendous opportunity for research. Really, really good program at W&M that has a great reputation here in Virginia.</p>

<p>hi everyone,</p>

<p>I attended both schools: W&M undergrad and UVa grad school; we lived in Charlottesville for nearly 8 years.
I think the dead-Sunday phenomenon is an artifact of Williamsburg being a small town and W&M being a smaller school…there simply are fewer people, less densely configured, in the Williamsburg area, so there is less activity and pedestrian life. Touristy seasons bring more crowds, walking around, but generally I remember Sundays to be slow. </p>

<p>I liked it though: no distractions, unless you were looking for them. I would have had trouble, as a student with a demanding schedule, to have attended a large U with the D1 sports line-up…I wouldn’t have been able to do as well, academically, for sure…and for what that’s worth.</p>

<p>Thanks Kandskmom for great help as always. I’ll pass him the info.</p>

<p>Sent from my MB200 using CC App</p>

<p>We too are deciding between UVA, W&M, and Smith – instate tuition a great perk for Virginians for thest two excellent schools, and Smith gave D a decent scholarship (still more than UVA and W&M though). We’ll be visiting all 3 to get the “feeling”. Can’t go wrong with any of the choices. On the note about the “dead” campus at W&M: last Saturday we rode up to UVA just to walk around on campus (no official visit) – seemed very dead to us. It was a little chilly that day but I wondered where everyone was on a Saturday afternoon! In the library? Anyway, good luck to all, and it’ll all be over by May 1!!!</p>

<p>My son is an oos freshman at W&M, he does study often on Sunday, but that is after a Saturday playing rugby and a usually a party (or two) Saturday night. He loves it there and likes the challenging classes. He and his dormmates also watch plenty of sports on Sunday. He had attended a boarding school with classes 6 days a week so he says W&M actually feels less stressful.</p>

<p>oldUVAgrad - for me (and a lot of my friends), Sunday was always “watch NFL day” in the fall…</p>

<p>Sundays are traditionally slower. People go to Church. People hang out in their rooms. People are recovering from the previous night. People are studying.</p>

<p>What do you expect that students will be doing on Sundays that you aren’t seeing?</p>

<p>Soccerguy315, thanks for your information. We do realize it was just one Sunday. We understand the morning being quiet, but were surprised that at 2:00 and after there weren’t students milling about. I guess I would have thought they might head out for a walk (we did see a few runners), go shopping, etc. When I go anywhere near UVA on a Sunday afternoon, there are students out, particularly on the Corner or near Central Grounds. We also realize that W&M is smaller, and there are fewer students in general.</p>

<p>I am glad to hear thea W&M students watch sports and hang out. My son studies and works hard, but he also likes to “hang out” and watch sports sometimes. I know the student body at UVA would be large enough to find people with similar interests. My main concern was that maybe there wouldn’t be enough people with similar interests at W&M. I am glad to know that probably isn’t the case.</p>

<p>Do you play soccer for W&M? My son was an avid soccer player on a travel club team and his school team until last year.</p>

<p>it is unfortunate that W&M does not have an equivalent of the corner at UVA. However, Tribe Square is almost finished and might turn out to be similar. I’m sure there were students out at some of the Delis for late lunches, and probably also at Aromas, the Cheese Shop, and the Bookstore.</p>

<p>W&M students are very active. You will often see frisbee games around campus, and IM sports most days of the week as well.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I was not good enough to play D1 soccer, haha.</p>

<p>Thanks to all the posters who have been responding to these questions. Clearly leaving College Confidential unattended for the weekend meant lots of posts to respond to.</p>

<p>Certainly students do use Sundays – especially Sunday evenings – to study. That’s just kind of the rhythm of this place and each campus has its own but students absolutely also chill in the Sunken Garden on nice days, hang out, grab coffee at the Daily Grind, watch sports, grab a meal, etc. Also Sunday night there are often lots of students at the Green Leafe for one of their themed evenings so some students might choose to hit the books during the day in anticipation of heading out that evening.</p>

<p>Environmental Science is a wonderful department at W&M. They have a new lab facility in the Keck lab built just a few years ago and there’s a new marine science minor that works a lot with Environmental Studies and VIMS (our graduate school of marine science). You can get a BS or BA in Environmental Science (the BA is more policy-oriented) which makes the department more interdisciplinary. All departments will be open during our Day for Admitted Students so we encourage you to stop by and chat with those departments that interest you</p>

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<p>In addition to the D1 team, there are club teams for Men’s soccer: [William</a> and Mary Men’s Club Soccer](<a href=“http://wmpeople.wm.edu/site/page/soccerm]William”>Services | William & Mary)</p>

<p>And there are intramurals twice a year - indoor soccer in the Fall, and outdoor in the Spring - with Men’s teams in multiple divisions as well as co-rec:</p>

<p>[William</a> & Mary -*Intramural Sports](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/offices/recsports/imsports/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/offices/recsports/imsports/index.php)</p>

<p>Thanks Soccerguy, W&M and Squiddy for all your great information:). We are very grateful to have him choosing between UVA and W&M and believe both would be a good fit for him. I am suspecting the aid packages will be similar (though we haven’t received them yet). In the end, it may come down to the sport he plays…he has met and likes the team/coach/program at W&M and has been offered a spot. He is hoping to connect with UVA this week, so maybe we’ll have a better idea then:).</p>

<p>We’d also encourage any admitted student to visit any campus they’re considering. Generally UVA’s and W&M’s admitted student programs don’t conflict with each other so you’ll likely have the opportunity to attend a Day on the Lawn and Day for Admitted Students. These programs can certainly help students decide which institution is the best fit.</p>