<p>I will major in physics. I heard College of W&M is more focusing on arts rather than sciences. Is that true? Or for an undergrad is that important? Another factor I need to consider is the ranking: UCLA ranks 24 but College of W&M 33. Is ranking important? BTW, do not need to consider financial issues. Thanks.</p>
<p>@Vincent2013, congrats on your admission! No truth to any rumors that W&M focuses more on the arts than the sciences. In fact, two of our five most popular majors are in the sciences. And the Physics Department does some awesome things from cold fusion to work on the Higgs-boson. Are you able to visit campus for an admitted student event? If so, meet with the Physics Department and we think you’ll be blown away!</p>
<p>As for rankings, there’s not really a lot of difference between numbers 24 and 33 right? We’re talking 9 schools out of 4,000+. Both are exceptional public universities…that’s what’s important.</p>
<p>Thank you veru much. Your comments are very helpful.</p>
<p>I think the Physics Department at W&M might require undergrads to do research, which is a plus.</p>
<p>Obviously, UCLA and W&M are completely different schools. They are on opposite coasts, have a huge difference in size, etc.</p>
<p>You should also check out the course catalogs and see what classes each school offers.</p>
<p>Vincent 2013, go with the higher ranking. AND consider what I found out in either this site or college ******* posted by parents. I was so unnerved that I had my son withdraw his apps from all Virginia schools including U VA, William and Mary, Washington and Lee. The VA State police have a new revenue source: bust college kids for MIP (minor in possession), which is frequent since they all are Greek living off campus and drive to parties. one mom says it’s playing roulette if your kid will get busted and it costs about $10k to stay out of jail and off the record. you say moneys no problem, so what the heck but they arent’ rated well and I heard U VA 's econ is impacted. hope this helps.</p>
<p>@corneliasusie, we’re not familiar with the sources or policy you mentioned but to our knowledge, this isn’t a particular problem on our campus, especially because W&M has its own police department. That’s not to say that there aren’t W&M who are sighted for inappropriate behavior when warranted. That happens on every campus. But, it’s also good to know that only about 1/3 of our students are Greek and their housing is part of the campus housing system. Certainly you and your son have made a decision that makes sense for your family and we appreciate that, we just want to help inform prospective students.</p>
<p>UCLA v W&M would depend, in part, if your OOS for either school. If you’re OOS for both, your gross COA will be higher for UCLA by a few thousand. However, you would need to do the research on it, you would also want to look into the process of becoming a “resident” after starting at one of the schools. It may be where you want to end up after college. A solid education will be received at both schools. It’s kind of like having to choose between a Mercedes and a BMW - no matter what, you will pick a good car. Good luck.</p>
<p>Cops will always go after minors doing drugs/alcohol-it’s the law. W&M is not a hardcore party school, and not everyone is about the Greek lifestyle. Besides, if the cops want a real revenue maker, they can go down to Radford :P</p>
<p>Vincent- as cliche as this might sound, visit both schools. Sit in on a class if you can. My dad works in a physics-related field and his company hires many W&M graduates with physics degrees. UCLA also has a top-notch physics program. A 9 point difference is entirely trivial and amounts to nothing in the real world.</p>
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<p>please tell me this is a ■■■■■ post… it has to be, right?</p>
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<p>Yeah, I tried to figure this one out, but to no avail - perhaps there really <em>are</em> people that believe the Virginia State Police is in cahoots with the Trial Lawyers Association to squeeze attorney’s fees out of college students in possession of alcohol …</p>
<p>… 'cause you know how much the VSP wants to enrich attorneys …</p>
<p>William and Mary is a great place to major in physics. I know several people who went on to PhD programs at top schools like Berkeley and MIT. It is not a very popular major, but that is a good thing. Class sizes are very small for upper level courses. Jefferson Lab is nearby, and there are almost as many professors as majors, so research opportunities are abundant.</p>
<p>There is a graduate program, so you can take grad classes if you exhaust the undergrad curriculum. It’s not very big or prominent, so the grad students don’t crowd out undergrads.</p>