<p>I was accepted to both schools. Honestly, before revisiting uva and wm I thought I would be going to uva next year. I had given the percent chance of going to uva a 90 and wm 10. However, after revisiting I actually came to like wm. Unfortunately or fortunately, I think I like both schools the same amount now. I like uva for its lively atmosphere and great academics and wm for its great research and academic focus. I plan on majoring in chemistry and would like to either be a veterinarian or a chemist in a laboratory. How should I choose? I'm almost panicking, as there is only about a week left for me to decide.
Thanks!</p>
<p>I had to make the same choice as you and ended up going with W&M. The academics are great at both schools, so I wouldn’t base your decision on “prestige” or rankings - both schools will give you a quality education. I chose W&M because of it’s smaller size and the fact that I felt much more at ease on campus and with the people at the school. That and the fact that I’ve lived right near UVA my whole life, so I wanted to get away for college. W&M’s size is going to give you more access to professors, smaller class sizes, and more ease in starting your own undergraduate research projects (not that you can’t do research at UVA, you certainly can). I guess W&M has a reputation for having a nerdier, more academically focused student body, but I think you can find all types of people at either school. I wouldn’t call W&M a party school, though, and Williamsburg is going to be a bit slower paced than Charlottesville.</p>
<p>This coming Monday (the 25th) is going to be the last myWM monday ([William</a> & Mary -*myWM Mondays](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/visit/mywmmondays/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/admission/undergraduateadmission/visit/mywmmondays/index.php)). If it’s possible for you to go, you probably should. You’ll be able to shadow a student for a day and get a much better idea of what life is like at W&M, hopefully making you decision a little easier.</p>
<p>Also feel free to PM me if you have any question about Charlottesville/UVA - I just might be able to answer them having lived here for so long!</p>
<p>bob - why did W&M jump up so high when you were so set on UVA? Ask yourself that… when you visited W&M, did it give you the “this feels right / I can definitely picture myself spending 4 years here” vibe? Did you not get the same vibe at UVA?</p>
<p>Usually people identify more with UVA or W&M, because while their academics are very close, they “feel” like significantly different schools. Which school feels like home to you?</p>
<p>soccerguy makes a great point. While both schools are incredibly strong public universities, they are different institutions with different atmospheres. Generally one will be a better fit whether that’s based on size, location, residential campus feel, etc. The good news is you can’t make a bad choice. Certainly the smaller size of W&M lends itself to faculty-student interaction and great undergraduate research opportunities. If those are important to you W&M may very well be the best fit.</p>