<p>Why couldn't he study abroad for an academic semester?</p>
<p>Doesn't it cost extra?</p>
<p>I was under the impression what you would pay semester fees to W&M, you'd just pay the semester abroad. no huge difference in money.</p>
<p>Congrats, though. Daughter decided on W&M too.....her main drawback, 45 minutes from home! (smiles)</p>
<p>momray</p>
<p>Drawback, that's a good one! Just be thankful they can't have a car or they'd be home every weekend. lol</p>
<p>Are you from Richmond or Tidewater?</p>
<p>The cost depends on the program you choose. If you pick a program that operates a tuition exchange with W&M, you would pay your usual tuition but I'm not sure about room and board.</p>
<p>momray, where else was your daughter looking before she chose W&M? Everyone we talked to on ASD seemed to be deciding between UVA and W&M.</p>
<p>as was mentioned, there are programs where you can go abroad during the semester and do tuition exchange. Basically you pay W&M and some student from another school comes to W&M in your kids place. Your kid goes to a school abroad in that kid's place, so you each pay your home schools.</p>
<p>UVA was her other real choice, but was named a Provost Scholar at VCU and had a couple of good private school scholarships. She's on the waitlist at Emory, Columbia, and Yale. After Saturday, I don't think she even cares of other school waitlists any more. W&M was the perfect fit, even in the rain.</p>
<p>Tidewater area.</p>
<p>We visited on Saturday and my daughter really likes W & M. However, we are from NJ and most of the time all we heard about was students trying to decide between UVA and W&M. No doubt they were all from Va. I'm concerned about how she is going to fit in coming from a very northeastern perspective and not being a Virginian. She loves the area, especially Colonial Williamsburg as we visited several times when she was growing up. But, I worry if she will fit in or feel like an outsider. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I don't think a student from NJ will have any problem fitting in.</p>
<p>Please don't be too worried about your D fitting in at WM. I grew up in North Jersey and have lived in Northern Va for many years; my D grew up here. My relatives in New Jersey are beginning to appreciate that Northern Virginia, a major feeder for all our state universities, is a lot like where they are from!Your daughter should find all types of students at WM--you could probably tell some of that from Accepted Students Day. We were there, and while most others we talked to were choosing between UVA and WM, we did find some OOS folks with other choices, such as Emory.<br>
My own daughter is choosing between WM and the honors program at Virginia Tech. Tech was the only really large school she applied to (she considered UVA too large, too preppy), which was because Tech has the Vet school that serves Maryland and Virginia, and being in the honors program might enable her to get involved as an undergraduate.<br>
If you've seen the incredible diversity of backgrounds of the students at Virginia Tech this past week, you have a flavor of what might await at William and Mary.</p>
<p>Your daughter will have no trouble fitting into William and Mary just because she's an out of state student. There are students from all over the world and I've found the kids at W&M are very accepting. W&M is a public state institution and the law mandates that the largest majority of the student body comes from Virginia, but I think that once everyone arrives on campus, they become W&M students, period.</p>
<p>outofstate, im a fellow new jerseyan who has just decided to attend W&M next year. From what I've read, and the impression I got during the Accepted Student's day, I think myself, along with possibly your daughter, would have little trouble fitting in. In fact, I was talking to a student on campus who told me he thought the largest group of students from out of state were from New Jersey, and that there were "more then you'd think."</p>
<p>outofstate, there are lots of NJ kids at W&M, and there's not really a divide between the in state and out of state students, at least I don't notice one. Your daughter will fit in fine. (You also mention that you are worried about her fitting in, did she have the same thoughts, or does she think she will be really happy?)</p>
<p>Thanks for all your replies. Soccer, you asked if she felt that way. It is actually something she mentioned to me - although I admit I had the concern as well, on my own. She had attended the student panel on Admitted Student day and the panalists asked for a show of hands from those who were from Virginia and she said most of the room raised their hand. They also talked a bit about choosing between UVA and W & M. Now this could be because more admitted students from Virginia are able to make the trip than the out-of-staters, but it did affect her perception of things.</p>
<p>Facebook turns up 377 people in the W&M network as from NJ. That's a pretty good group of people. My freshmen roommate was from NJ. Currently I live with someone from VA Beach and someone from Ohio.</p>
<p>The UVA/WM is a big question for a lot of kids. Kids who get admitted to both, which is a lot of good students from Virginia, hit both schools in the same trip. And, as you mentioned, it is easier for VA kids to make the trip to spend a day at WM, because they don't have to fly and such. And, as you know, the school is 2/3 kids from Virginia, so there are definitely going to be a lot of kids from VA. At least from my experience, I do not feel at all there is a division between the in state and out of state kids.</p>
<p>For namtrag, the OP: Our family is in the same position as yours: S was offered a free ride at the Honors College of CUNY--free tuition, free dorm room, free computer, and a yearly stipend for internships or study abroad. S has chosen instead to go to W&M and we're happy for him, although there will be some serious belt-tightening to make it possible. Great school!</p>
<p>Yes, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced my S made the right choice. Money should not always be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>For the NJ people: when I attended W&M 20 some odd years ago, I was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity. It was founded at Washington and Lee, and is considered a very "southern" fraternity. Half of my fraternity brothers were from NJ, and it seemed like all W&M students were either from Northern Va, Richmond, or NJ.</p>
<p>It was not a big deal, we all got along real well.</p>
<p>I was at W&M 30 years ago and I was from a small town in southern Virginia and I was the one who felt out of place - not for long, but it seemed like I was swimming in a sea of Yankees. Don't forget that people from other parts of Virginia consider Northern Virginia a different state! Many of my friends - who are still my friends were from NJ and NY. I go back to Williamsburg all the time and I still love it there.</p>