<p>Hey guys, first of all, thanks for taking your time to read this.
Here is my story: I am a high school student in Canada, who has got an acceptance letter from College of W&M, major in biochem and is waiting for what UNC would do with my application, whether they would pick me or not.
At this point in time, quite frankly I can not really decide which one to choose.
So my questions are:
-what are my chances of getting accepted to UNC at chapel Hill?
-is the admission process of UNC significantly harder than that of College of W&M?
-what would be a better choice in terms of prestige, cost, and level of academics provided?</p>
<p>I am looking forward to hearing you guys soon. Your comments should be great help.
Thanks</p>
<p>W&M is very different from UNC. W&M is small, 5500 undergrads, teaching focused, intellectual, residential, walking friendly campus. UNorth Carolina is approx 20,000, with a very large research, graduate school program. 80+% of students come from NC, whereas 40% of W&M students are from OOS. Sports and Greeks are much more dominant at UNC than W&M.</p>
<p>UNC is more UCLA/Virginia and W&M is more Brown/Amherst. It really depends on what is important to you. Good luck.</p>
<p>Are you saying that you applied Early Decision to W & M and were accepted? The school currently has no other early application options. If you’ve been accepted ED, are you not bound by that decision unless the school’s finaid offer makes attendance impossible? Here’s what the website says:
</p>
<p>Your post doesn’t sound as if you’re struggling with the financial aspect of attending; it sounds as if you want to weigh the relative benefits of two schools in the same way that students who apply RD do once all decisions are in. ED is not supposed to work that way. Apologies if I’ve misunderstood your situation.</p>
<p>Greek is definitely not dominant at UNC. Coming from a person that actually picked UNC over W&M, I’d say my decision came down to the social aspect. The sense of community/pride and the amazing sports program at UNC put it ahead of the W&M, for me, because the two schools are pretty much even academically.</p>
<p>W&M student body overall is stronger and has better natl reputation. If you want to stay in NC, then UNC is very respected. Chem at W&M is top notch, also will give research opportunities as an undergrad which is very rare. W&M has best med school acceptance rate in VA. W&M is an LAC whereas UNC is a research school, so you will have to take several classes outside your major. Social life at UNC is louder and bigger. Candidly, the only thing these schools have in common are state supported and location in the South.</p>
<p>W&M is a more intense academic experience. UNC is hard to gain admission, but there are a lot of less selective programs out there…lots of kids say its high school part deux. (Directly from the horse’s mouth! We have many friends there.) There are excellent and very competitive programs at UNC, but not all of them. UNC is more liberal and diverse. UNC has much better sports, though W&M is certainly respected in their lower tier conferences. UNC has a reputation of being more of a party school than W&M. </p>
<p>I would say UNC is more laid back and W&M is more hyper-competitive. So it depends on what kind of overall experience you want.</p>
<p>I attended Duke (roughly the same size as W&M) but completed a minor at UNC. It is a larger school, yes, but I wouldn’t say that students get lost in the shuffle at all. Professors knew my name, helped me with my thesis, and one even wrote me a letter for graduate school. I’d imagine they’d do a lot more for an actual UNC student. I honestly can’t think of a single student there who dislikes it, and I know a lot of people there.</p>
<p>I love my own school dearly, but I honestly think UNC is the most well-rounded university (academics, social life, weather, athletics, etc.), bar none.</p>
<p>William and Mary has a reputation of a much more serious student body. Some people may find that boring, while others find it enriching. UNC would probably be much more fun. It all depends what is important to you.</p>
<p>I know you are from Canada and travel could be an issue, but will you have a chance to visit both schools? That could help you in making your decision.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. I appreciate ur concern through your benign comments. One more question I want to ask though is: Which school of those two has more challenging admission process?</p>