I suggest looking at merit scholarship requirements and deadlines . Many have passed and others are fast approaching.
@carolinamom2boys Thank u! Yes, we are heavy into that now! So many different deadlines for different things at different schools, including honors colleges at some, that it’s a lot to keep up with. She made a spreadsheet but has to keep adding columns, lol. She just got into Roanoke with $19,500 per yr merit & we’re waiting to hear from them re FASFA so that was a big help. Not the greatest school academically as compared to others on her list but it seems that they are getting better. Not close to D.C. but it’s give & take.
@cloudysmom I applied for RD. I don’t know if I’ll get in, but it’s my dream school as well!
@brainscistudent Good luck! Very hopeful for you! You’re in state, right? It was my D’s dream, shattered she didn’t get in. Do u think the feel of MW is similar or what would u say the big differences are? Thanks!
@cloudysmom I think W&M is much harder to get into than GW - its ranked higher on USNWR college list and the common data set shows that their LOWEST admission rate is for out of state girls. Whether to submit the test scores is tricky, GW is test optional and one would think I high GPA would make them less relevant, I would look at the ED 2021 accepted students thread for GW (and AU) to see what test scores kids seem to have, maybe get an idea whether she should send them, and if there is any way she could do an interview, even with local alumni, I think that helps to show interest since it is about the yield. That is a big jump in acceptance b/w RD and ED at AU but if she seems more passionate about UR then she may regret not using her ED2 for it, especially if she could have gotten into AU RD. As for the GW campus, its not a “closed campus” but it encompasses several square blocks and you know when you’re “on campus.” Kids frequently go into Georgetown, Adams Morgan, to the national mall, pretty much anywhere in the DC area is their campus. On campus there are places where kids congregate like outside the library and the Marvin Center which I guess would be the GW version of Student Union.
@cloudysmom Thank you, and yes I am in-state. I am sorry your daughter was not accepted, but I know she will find a perfect school for her. Mary Washington, first of all, is much smaller and compact (in size and in terms of the student body). It is also less historic (although the campuses are both beautiful). I would also say that Mary Washington emphasizes research less than William & Mary. I have heard the students there are very fun. Still, though, you’d be missing out on the D1 athletics and football.
@brainscistudent She doesn’t like any sports so doesn’t care at all! I know MW is a few rungs below W&M but searching for a school with a similar feel and one she could try and transfer from after her 1st yr. Applying to more rigorous schools as well but need a sure thing back up that she would like.
@Spring16 Thank you, all good information! W& M was a longer shot, esp as she was an OOS girl, you are right. I am looking at threads about that but not much info out there yet. Local alumni groups are a fantastic idea, thank you! Glad there is a bit of a campus to feel like she is a part of something. I am curious about security as far as dorms go, as its not very closed off.
@cloudysmom I think with safety/security the kids have to be mindful since they are in a city, but that being said I remember being told during a tour that 3 different agencies police the area: campus security, DC police and the federal police because the white house is just blocks away - so that’s something. Also, students need access cards to enter dorms and some dorms have security desks in the lobby.
I haven’t been on CC much but am a W&M alum with a niece in her junior year there and daughter accepted to UMW (with no desire to go to W&M). UMW is definitely a few rungs below W&M, a bit below JMU in terms of VA state schools. One thing to consider is size – UMW is 4200 students, JMU is 20,000. My daughter attends a small private school and didn’t want anything over 5,000, so UMW was perfect for her. The campus is more compact than W&M but very pretty and not touristy, something one always contends with in Williamsburg. JMU also has a beautiful campus, with a town (Harrisonburg) that’s much larger.
We live in Northern Virginia, so another consideration for us was geographic desirability. UMW is 50 miles from DC, accessible by commuter rail or Amtrak, with shuttles from campus to the train station and a historic downtown area that’s charming and within walking distance of campus. JMU, VA Tech, Radford, Roanoke and other schools in the I-81 corridor may be difficult for your daughter in terms of transportation home to CA – depending on what school she attends, it could be an ordeal involving long car/bus rides, regional airports or both to get to a major airport. I think UVa, Mason, VCU, UR, W&M and CNU would all offer easier transportation options.
Mostly, I would urge your daughter not to despair over W&M. It’s a real pressure cooker and if she had barely gotten in, she might not be happy there because of the competitive environment. As far as other schools being less historic, W&M was founded in 1693, so every place in the US is less historic ; )
@LSWMom Thank you so much, this is very helpful! We did think it was a few rungs below W&M, but had hoped it was a bit higher than we thought, sigh. I was concerned about W&M being very hard once she got in. My D’s GPA is high but she tests so poorly on math it brought her test scores down & W&M told me that was why she didn’t get in. They said she was a strong contender for a transfer and to just get her scores up so that is sort of her plan. To go elsewhere and try & transfer but also hoping she likes wherever she goes enough to stay.
She can’t get into UVA, too hard & most public VA schools will be as they are required to take 65% in state. She got into Roanoke w/ a $20k per yr merit scholarship & we’re waiting on their FASFA offer as we qualify for need based $. I hear they are better at that than MW but MW seems to be a perfect choice, just wish it had a bit better rep. I heard you had to take an u er to the train station there to get into D.C. or to get a train to the airport. It sounds like you think there is a shuttle from campus? Can you tell me a bit about that as she’d want to go into D.C. on occasion.
Also, do the schools have a similar feel? She is a history major and went to a summer NIAHD program at W& M for 2 wks last summer & fell in love. She is still so devastated but trying to get excited about other schools. She’s also applying to George Washington but iffy as to her getting accepted. Lol, I had the same exact thought, compared to W&M every place is less historic! Thank you so much, this is exactly the info I am looking for!
Anyone else find it unusual that Roanoke doesn’t have its own CC forum? I always thought it was a pretty good school, certainly as good as Mary Washington, or is that not so?
There are a lot of schools that don’t have their own forum on CC. It has nothing to do with the character of the school.
Mary Washington is a regional university , Roanoke is an LAC. They’re different types of schools, so you can’t really compare them against one another. Here’s how it is ranked compared to another LACs you maybe familiar with, Wofford College is ranked 77, Roanoke is ranked 140. That said, IMO it is more important to look at fit for your student rather than rankings and prestige.
Know a few students from my son’s HS who have gone there. It’s viewed as another VA private school. Better than some but there are several schools in this category. It’s draw is pretty regional, esp in VA. People know it’s there and around here it’s pretty clear who they take and whether you will get in, very similar to UMW in admissions. If you have questions about the school, you’ll likely know someone who’s there or your guidance counselor will know. So no real need for a CC forum, doubt if it would get any traffic.
@carolinamom2boys Yes but it does speak to popularity and I thought it was a fairly popular school so thought it would have a forum for people to discuss, that’s all I meant. It’s the only school I’ve searched for that wasn’t on CC, kids seem to like it so it’s odd to me that it’s not listed. What do u mean UMW is regional? They have kids there from out west, CA, etc, is it not a LAC? What’s the difference, is it just that mainly local kids go there but that doesn’t make it a LAC? Is that bad? One is a college & 1 a university, I thought they both were liberal arts?
@JustGraduate Our guidance counselor has no idea about either school or did you mean your counselors in VA?
Basically I would love someone to explain to me the differences in the schools, as well as how they are viewed, reputation wise. I know neither are prestigious but reputation matters to me, so even if it doesn’t matter to whoever answers, I hope someone can still tell me which is seen as the “better” school. I can’t seem to understand this from their websites & Roanoke has no CC pg so even harder for me to understand.
UMW: 4000 undergrad, 1200 grad, ranked 16 in US News for Regional Universities in South (by the way, JMU is 8)
Roanoke: 2000 undergrad, ranked 140 in national LACs
Both have about a 21 or 22 to 27 for mid 50 percent ACT range.
There’s not really a significant difference in reputation, and UMW is basically a pretty large LAC, with some grad students. The “Regional” title has more to do with lack of many PhD programs. I would bet neither school has much reputation outside Virginia, though they get some students from elsewhere.
For your daughter, I would think Fredericksburg would have a significant edge over Salem/Roanoke. Other than that, it’s really down to money and to what schools has programs, or a general vibe, that is preferable. Sounds like she could be happy with either size of school.
I mean guidance counselors in VA know about the various schools and between them and friends/acquaintances who go there I don’t see much of a demand for a Roanoke forum on CC. Obviously I could be wrong. A brief glance didn’t show one for UMW either but I could have missed it - ETA I did miss it - sorry! But there are few recent comments so not sure that forum is particularly helpful.
Fwiw as a VA resident and someone who has gone through the college search here in the last couple years I’ll give you my take. VA has strong public universities (compared to most other states), as well as a variety of private schools. So there are a fair number of public schools at the top - UVA, WM,VT, JMU, GMU, CNU. As for privates, Richmond is the only one that comes immediately to mind at the top of that category. But there’s a big middle ground of schools of which UMW and Roanoke fall… and differentiating between them is often in the eye of the beholder. A few have a standout program, some are good for students who want to participate in a particular sport in college, some are in the middle of nowhere (that can be good or bad), etc. So I’m not sure there’s a really a defensible/reliable way to rank this group of schools on their reputation. One is better than the other because they get a better financial deal from one, they feel more at home at one, or they have an academic program that they’re interested in - that type of thing.
My question to you is - what’s the definition of reputation from your perspective? Is it how employers view a school, percent that go on to further their education, graduation rate, what? Please understand I’m not trying to be argumentative but I honestly don’t know how to rate them when they are in a decent sized group of schools and “better” is very much in the eye of the beholder. Others may give you more concrete data but I don’t honestly see a clear winner here. Personally, I think visiting both schools and looking for FIT will give you a better outcome for your daughter rather than trying to split hairs on the relative reputations of either school.
^ good points. OP, Roanoke is in the reddest part of VA not far from WV and KY. As your daughter wants to get out of SC, Fredricksburg would be a better fit for your daughter?
@londondad Fredricksburg is not particularly like Northern VA politically either.
No, but it is not culturally like Roanoke either. Plus, Fredricksburg has easy train access to DC.