On a matter of personal preference and overall prestige, would you rather take a full ride from Southern Methodist University or Washington and Lee?
I think it depends on location and major. Personally, I would pick SMU. Because I want to be in the south, and I want the greek life and school spirit that SMU provides. That being said, W&L is a great school, and you cant go wrong being near DC.
Good luck!!
I haven’t been offered the full ride yet, but I’m invited to go to SMU’s President’s Scholarship Weekend. I’m also hoping to hear from W&L for the Johnson Scholarship later. I just wanted to clarify this for other people who read this post. @ntk131998 That’s great! Both schools are really similar in that regard though (Greek Life is prominent at both)
W&L: One of America’s finest LACs, Lexington and the surrounding area are great (although not far from DC and Richmond), an extraordinarily welcoming campus environment with a truly stellar – and effective – honor code, very high stature, prestige and reputation (considerably better than SMU, in my opinion).
Interesting! Two diverse responses. What if we considered them both for undergraduate business administration or finance?
@ntk131998 are you aware that Washington & Lee has one of the highest percentages of students who go Greek in the country? It’s also in the upper portion of the Southeast and has quite a bit of non sports derived school spirit.
@whenhen I am aware, I was just saying that the atmosphere at a southern school is more appealing to me. Greek life can be very different at different schools. That being said, they are both very comparable in the terms I used, but in different ways, if that makes sense. Sorry I did not clarify
@ntk131998 Washington and Lee is also a southern school. Did you forget who “Lee” was?
@kidzncatz yes I am aware who lee was. But W&L is around DC which some people do not consider southern. SMU IMO is much more traditional southern school. But again, these are my opinions.
Having spent a fair amount of time at both, I’d say SMU is more Texan than Southern.
“Approximately 50 percent of SMU students come from outside Texas . . . the leading home states (after Texas) for undergraduate students are, in descending order, California, Florida and Illinois.”
(source: http://www.smu.edu/AboutSMU/Facts/CampusProfile)
W&L is in Lexington, a town of 7,000 in the Shenandoah Valley about 200 miles from DC. About 30% of W&L students are from the South.
With respect to the prominence of Greek life, SMU is about 40% Greek, while W&L is about 75% Greek.
@ntk131998, have you had an opportunity to visit W&L?
I really don’t understand the W&L is near DC comments. It is nowhere near DC and Lexington is nothing like DC. These are two totally different types of schools and locations.
I think I would worry about this when you have offers in hand. Johnson at W&L is very competitive, though a great opportunity if you get one. Is SMU scholarship weekend one where, if invited, you get at least some scholarship? Not everyone who goes to Johnson competition gets money. Until you hear from them, look carefully at offerings in your major of interest and figure out where you would go. Honestly, W&L is in VA but really 3 hours away from Washington but that is where lots of kids get summer/spring term internships. Funny that one of largest OOS groups there is from Texas - they throw one of biggest parties each year at parents weekend.
W&L is a one of smaller schools to actually have a separate business school - Williams school of commerce. You are looking at big difference in size in the two schools though. Good luck, according to website Johnson letters will be mailed on Feb. 6 so you should have some better idea of your options by next week.
I’m also flummoxed. Lexington is NO WHERE near Metro Washington or Richmond, for that matter. Get out your atlas, please.
Thanks everybody, especially @scmom12
I just like having an idea of what I’d like before the actual scholarship weekend, invites, and such.
I find fantasizing about it to be incredibly fun 
SMU’s Cox School of Business is very reputable, and I’m not sure about the Williams School for Business at W&L. Everyone attending the SMU weekend receives at least $5000 per year.
I’ve lived all my life in the northeast and Colorado. In my geographical experience, SMU’s reputation, outside of Cox, does not compare to the excellence expected of W&L. Having said that, W&L has been working hard to improve race relations on the campus under this president but it is very much a southern school.
Hm. In terms of prestige though, Cox Undergrad is ranked as #21 by BusinessWeek while the Williams School of Business was unranked for W&L. @jkeil911
@Galore (re #15): Yes, but how many pople will know that? Whereas, MANY more individuals will know the difference in aggregate reputation between SMU and W&L?
Hm, I see where you’re coming from. But at the same time, what about future MBA schools? Won’t they realize that a BBA from Cox may teach more skills than a Williams degree? On another aspect, I want a combined MD/MBA, but both schools are relatively the same in the premed aspect (which is why I didn’t mention that in this thread).
@Galore (re #17): I am not qualified to discuss MBA/MD preparation or joint-degree acceptance. However – and I’m an alumnus of the current Bloomberg/BusinessWeek #1 rated full-time MBA Program (Fuqua/Duke) and I have worked very closely with Fuqua’s admission for MANY years – your GPA, GMAT, several years of post-Bachelor’s professional experiences, recommendations, and essays will determine into which MBA program(s) you are accepted. There will not be a scintilla of difference between the perceived reputations of the undergraduate business programs at SMU and W&L.
In fact, most MBA students at the top schools received their Bachelor’s degree in fields other than business, commerce, accounting, marketing, finance, etc. In general, I believe many first-rate MBA programs actually – although marginally – prefer non-business (etc.) majors; they will teach the business skills and they may favor students who can complement those abilities with educations/experiences in diverse arenas (including engineering, the sciences, the liberal arts, and so forth). You must understand that the clear majority of MBA students in the premier programs will likely not have taken a single course in accounting, finance, marketing, operations management, organizational theory, etc. before they begin their MBAs. The MBA really is a professional – not a graduate – degree. As such, it is not a direct follow-on to one’s undergraduate work, as an MA/MS and/or PhD would be.
Thank you so much @TopTier
That was really great advice.