From what I have seen in various ratings these schools seem to be neck&neck. I am very curious how career services compare including which firms recruit at the different schools. I am also very interested in the comparison of classroom facilities and quality of professors.
I was able to visit W&M but had to skip Richmond. I was blown away by how beautiful W&M was, how does Richmond compare?
I am an OOS student, so the cost is about 12K less at Richmond.
It also seems a bit easier to get into Robins instead of Mason.
Thanks
Comparison of dorms would also be appreciated.
We visited both this month but not specific for business. I like the Richmond campus better – layout, buildings, facilities, etc. The facilities at Richmond are amazing, including the business building.
Why is Richmond $12K less than W&M OOS? Based on what I see of cost of attendance, that isn’t correct. Is there a potential grant for Richmond?
They are both very, very pretty (I’d say among the most attractive), and are undergraduate-oriented schools. Both have very strong business programs and excellent business facilities for schools of their size. W&M’s new business building is only a few years old and Richmond has a recent addition.
I prefer the W&M campus because it is more integrated with Williamsburg. If you want to be closer to a fairly large city, Richmond would be choice.
Richmond is smaller and private. W&M is larger but not large (about 8.5K students), public, and is going to have about 65% of students from Virginia. Richmond will have relatively few from Virginia as it has a significant cost disadvantage vs. in-state options like W&M and UVA. I’d say W&M has historically been more highly regarded, but Richmond benefits from a large endowment and has been gaining in reputation.
W&M is so focused on social justice, social
correctness, being diverse, RICHMOND ALL DAY EVERYDAY!
Both are listed in Poets and Quants 10 business schools to watch in 2018, and Robins is 21 (and stated as ready to break into the big leagues) and Mason is 32, in their latest ranking. Our S just started at Richmond (he’s an undecided major), and I don’t know much about W&M, but we’ve been incredibly impressed with how available and responsive the Richmond faculty are, and the small class size. S’s biggest class is 17! So, faculty/student relationships are almost unavoidable. Also, the Spider network seems incredible. We experienced it first hand during drop off. We went to eat, asked a woman to take our picture, turns out she’s an alum who just moved back to the area (who took interns from Richmond every year), and she gave me (a mom, and virtual stranger) her card just in we ever needed anything. She also said the spider network is great.
Boy, do I have a lot to say on this! lol My DD went to a summer program for history majors at W&M the summer before her senior year, she earned 4 college credits for it. She lived in the dorms for 3 wks. At the time, she loved it, every moment, fell hatd in love with Colonial Williamsburg, or CW as the college kids call it. Along with being enrolled at W&M comes a free pass to CW. The school is stunning, she obsessed over getting in, applied ED and was denied, despite having stellar gpa, 5’s on 8 AP classes, etc, she was hysterical. We were OOS and apparently, one must have ivy league stats to be accepted OOS as 65% of students must come from VA. I wish I had known that.
So, moving on, she loved VA and we visited & researched other schools. Univ of Richmond fit the bill. She app,ied & was accepted & spent her freshman year (last yr) there. She said in retrospect W& M would have felt confining in time as there is nothing you can walk to except CW, which would get old. The only shops & restaurants are tourist havens & crazy $. Her dorm that summer was an oddly contemporary ‘70’s design, dirty & buggy, not maintained. That’s the negative that came out after the dust settled.
UR is gorgeous, impeccably maintained. Renovated dorms, her room was huge. Fabulous food, tons of variety. Has a 2 billion $ endowment which is incredible for a school of 4k kids. I truly feel this school will rival Duke one day. Generous aid, need blind admission, meet 100% need. Now, the negative to my DD, which may be a plus to others! She’s interested in schools she can walk into a city from & felt trapped at UR as it’s in a neighborhood. It’s the same size as her huge HS so she felt it was too similar. We knew that going in & hoped to o er one that. She felt trapped on campus, they have shuttles but only to certain places. She transferred to a university in England & is starting there in 2 wks. It was bittersweet for me, I loved UR but it just wasn’t her. She did make friends but ultimatit was too small & too remote for her. That being said, Richmond is a wonderful city! So this is all 1 family’s 2 cents! They are both amazing schools, look at course offerings, job placement & which seems better for your major. You can’t go wrong with either!
@cloudysmom: “Remote” is relative.
Interesting that W&M dorms still generate complaints. I have heard this for decades–usually summer students complaining about the lack of air conditioning.
The University of Richmond is known primarily for its business school.
OP: What does your son or daughter envision as a career after majoring in finance ?
@Publisher W&M had perfectly fine A/C. It was the bugs in the rooms & piles of unraked dead leaves & spider webs in every entryway that was off putting due to its excellent reputation. It looked as though it had not been cleaned, moldy showers, etc. Like it or not, thats a fact. Perhaos private schools just have more funds to maintain. Yes. Remote. And as I clearly said in the beginning of my comments, this was my DD’s take on it and what she disliked could be a plus for others. OP asked for opinions, my family has 1st hand experiences with both schools.
W& M is certainly more highly ranked overall. UR has a fabulous business school that is only getting better. The Spder Network is super strong and I have read a lot about job placement and UR graduates being seen very favorably by recruiters. I think UR will continue to soar!
I was aware that W&M had added air conditioning years ago, but am concerned about the dirty, moldy showers that you report.
Agree that UR has a strong business school.
@ Publisher Perhaps they are more lax in the summer?