<p>Marshall is a 4-year program in business or accounting, while W&M is 2+2, that is, 2 years LAC, then you apply for the B-School for the last two years. Overall, the B-schools themselves are similarly “ranked” by Business Week, Financial Times, etc.</p>
<p>One big difference is in “size” - ~450 at W&M, (2 year), and ~3,700 at Marshall - I’d think you’d have a more personalized experience at W&M than Marshall. But the differences in the B-schools themselves, I can’t say, not having attended either of them.</p>
<p>As for the cities, I can’t really think of any two places more different than LA and Williamsburg.</p>
<p>USC is in downtown LA; while the campus itself is very nice, the surrounding neighborhoods are, well, not-so-nice, (the term “gang-infested” is often used.) The weather year-round is more moderate than Williamsburg’s, though smoggy days in the LA basin are no fun. LA has beaches and mountains within reach (come to think of it, so does Williamsburg - but LA has better beaches and California has bigger mountains.) To put it simply, LA is a huge, sprawling city, with all the good and bad that implies. The weather’s nice, but if you go there, you’ll need a car to get anywhere. LA is not your typical big-city, though - while it has a beach / outdoors / sports culture, that’s about the extent of it - it doesn’t have nearly the cultural attractions of a NY or London, say. </p>
<p>To me, it’s too crowded, too much concrete, too few trees, and has an overrated night life (outside of Hollywood, not so much.) They do have good fast food there, though, (where else can you buy carne asada <em>and</em> bulgogi from a truck?) and there are the tourist attraction standards like Disneyland and so on. The mix of cultures there (most Asian-Pacific countries have large populations and influence, as does Mexico) is interesting, though sometimes it can be a grind as well. </p>
<p>Williamsburg isn’t even in the same category as LA - far smaller, with Colonial Williamsburg as the backdrop, it’s a much quieter, more suburban place, but as a tourist destination, there are some additional things to do (and tourists to contend with) than you’d otherwise expect from a city this size. Oddly enough, people will say “LA as this or that as an activity”, but what they may not tell you is that activity is a 1- or 2-hour drive away (though still within the LA region.) For example, Santa Monica is like 15 miles away, but can take up to an hour to get to when traffic’s bad. </p>
<p>In large measure, what’s better will depend on what kind of person are you? Where would you rather spend 4 years? Being honest, if I were talking 4 days, I’d rather spend it in LA, the beaches and such are nice. But I find the congestion to be irritating, and the sprawl is endless - it’s become increasingly difficult to get away from the city. 4 years of that? Not so much. </p>
<p>The fact that you find appeal at W&M by virtue of small classes and academic atmosphere makes it <em>sound</em> as though you’d be more comfortable at W&M, at least during school hours. </p>
<p>Anyway, best of luck, whatever you decide.</p>