<p>Okay, since everyone here is a huge W&L fan, I was wondering if people could give me their opinions on my college decision. I am trying to decide between W&L, Wake Forest, and Sewanee(where I got some scholarship money). I am having huge issues trying to make up my mind, and I am getting nowhere, I still do not have a clear first choice, and I have about 2 weeks to make up my mind. I would appreciate anyone's opinions on these schools. Anything might help at this time. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I don't know much about Sewanee, but I did speak to a number of Wake Forest reps and considered it when I was applying. First negative about Wake, it is just about the most white-bred school in the nation. Now, WnL isn't exactly the epitome of diversity itself, but from what I hear and what I've seen, Wake is pretty much homogenous. Second, it also kind of depends on what your intended major is. As a politics major, I was thoroughly unimpressed by what the Wake rep had to say to me. Not much can really match WnL's Washington term for politics students anyway. And if you're a business or finance major, WnL produces more fortune 500's than all but two school's in the nation (Harvard and another Ivy that escapes me right now). That said, Wake has one hell of a basketball team. Also, WnL is consistenly ranked higher in college rankings for LAC's (take the rankings with a grain of salt). I'd say definetly visit them if you have the chance before you get to decide. I'm admittedly biased in my analysis because I pretty much live by the dogma "WnL is the best school ever"</p>
<p>Aaron, that Fortune 500 stat is ADJUSTED FOR CLASS SIZE, so the other schools produce a LOT more, but W&L has a greater percentage for its class size.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I knew that that stat is fortune 500's per capita. With 400 students in each graduating class WnL's proportion would be HUGE compared to those other schools. Even adjusted for class size, its a pretty impressive stat.</p>
<p>Yeah, I<code>m interested in politics so I should probably consider that heavily when I make my final decision. W&L would probably be best for that, and I</code>m interested in history. I think their history dept. is the best as well. Thanks for the advice.</p>
<p>I'm also a prospective politics major (in addition to economics). I think politics at W&L will be awesome!</p>
<p>btw, the two schools are Yale and Princeton, W&L actually has more Fortune 500 CEO's per capita than Harvard.</p>
<p>ya well im going to give the social aspects of w&l compared to the other two. sewanee doesnt have national sororities and fraternities (atleast i am sure about the sororities). the town is also extremely small, and not well-liked, even though drinking is a huge problem there (and kind of w&l too). for wake, there is no greek housing (unless for the sororities, im a girl, i only know that much). also, everyone seems to prefer to hang out in the dorms. when ive been up there, and when my friends did too, they all said the campus looked kind of dead. however, i have 4 good friends that go and love it and are active in teh greek life, etc, etc. w&l has a good greek life with nice houses, town is a little small but it seems to be well-liked and dc is only a few hours away. and if you are not very sociable or want to be a member of the greek system, sorry this was all pointless! good luck in choosing!</p>
<p>Yea I will definitely do a sorority whichever one I pick, and the fact that W&L has houses is a nice thing (and the houses are amazing!), yeah Sewanee is out in the middle of nowhere and I don`t know how I would handle that if I went. Thanks!</p>
<p>W&L is just as much in the middle of nowhere as Sewanee, it is an hour away from the nearest mid-size town (Charlottesville, home of UVA) and the nearest big-city is Washington, three hours away. All of this of course, only if you have a car. If you don't, fuggettaboutit.</p>
<p>That said, it still has more of a social life as Sewanee because of the vibrant Greek system.</p>
<p>What's important, though, is that Washington and Lee is pretty close to a Waffle House and a Wal Mart. That's all that really counts.</p>
<p>But other than that, I can't see why you'd go to Sewanee or Wake Forest over Washington and Lee. Washington and Lee has one of the most kickin' campuses of all time (okay, fine, Sewanee's is pretty nice too), it's only getting more popular (two years ago, acceptance rate was 35%; this year, it's 25%). Plus, the way fraternities work there is kinda neat, where EVERYBODY can join. Basically, I can't see why you'd choose the others. That's just my reply.</p>
<p>First of all, please take these replys with a grain of salt. If you are interested in the school, YOU should call the school and/or visit, NOT take the advice of some uninformed students.</p>
<p>Fact: Wake Forest has one of the top 10 political science programs in the country (this is a published ranking, not my subjective take on the program). Professors are outstanding. </p>
<p>Fact: Wake Forest is certainly not any more homogenous than W & L. The school is certainly making strides to improve the diversity, but it as not as homogenous as everyone makes it seem.</p>
<p>Fact: Wake Forest, while not perfect, has an incredible retention rate. 95% of freshmen come back. I think that percentage speaks for itself.</p>
<p>Fact: Wake Forest is ranked higher than both W & L and Sewanee, although I wouldn't put much emphasis on rankings.</p>
<p>Fact: Wake Forest is only 50 years old. If you consider how well-know/successful the school has become in the past 50 years, it is incredible. </p>
<p>Bottom line---you can't make a bad decision. But give Wake credit. Despite what a former poster has said, I know A LOT of people who would--and did--choose Wake over W & L and Sewanee. There are more important things than being close to a Walmart and Waffle House, although if that's your idea of college life...</p>
<p>wfugirl, you shouldn't compare WFU and W&L rankings because any good ranking system (like USNWR) would know to put them in seperate categories as the former is a top major national university and the latter is a top liberal arts school (LAC).</p>
<p>That said, US News ranks Wake Forest #27 out of National Universities and Washington and Lee #13 out of the LAC's. (Sewanee is #33 on the LAC chart)</p>
<p>That Washington & Lee is over 200 years old is a benefit as it has a lot of history and tradition, which makes all those alumni classes very closely tied together.</p>
<p>Washington and Lee has the SAME 95% retention rate. You're right, that pecentage does speak for itself (Sewanee's is 90%) and you can ask rakem about that, as she had a guaranteed transfer to Cornell and did not take it.</p>
<p>Washington and Lee also has a great politics program and it has the unmatched Washington Term program, which allows you to take the Spring (6-week) term and spend it in DC doing an internship.</p>
<p>Bottom line - Although I'm pretty sure the Wal Mart isn't within walking distance of W&L anyway, your choice comes down to whether you want a major national university (Wake Forest) or a small liberal arts college (W&L). Sewanee lags behind both of them but either of those two are fantastic choices.</p>
<p>Dima343,</p>
<p>You are absolutely right. My comments were not meant to disregard W & L , but rather to point out the positives of another school that LJay1044 is considering. It irks me that posters are relatively uniformed about the merits of one school vs. another yet post as though they are purveyors of the truth. Unless you have attended both schools (or all three, in this case), you really can't comment about the negatives of another as though you are relaying "the gospel truth".</p>
<p>In regards to rankings, I was simply responding to a comment from aaront86. The rankings are completely different, but 10 years ago--when Wake was ranked in the LAC division--it was a top 10 school.</p>
<p>They are both great schools...completely different experiences, but both offer their own positives and negatives. Take my comments for what they are worth...I just hoped to offer a different perspective in a (rightfully so) biased forum.</p>
<p>i feel your pain. i was waitlisted at wake, but had i gotten in, i would have had a terrible time choosing between that and W&L. in fact, before accepted students day, i probably would have gone with Wake. but ever since I went to W&L's accepted students day, I'm glad Wake waitlisted me haha.</p>
<p>Yeah, wfugirl, I agree completely. Too often we see people talking about schools based on things they heard from a friend of a friend's cousin, using stereotypes to tell someone not to go to a school.</p>
<p>While no one can go to all three schools and give them a "test run" before you choose (the closest you can come is an overnight campus visit), the least you can do is do some research before judging schools.</p>
<p>Yeah. What Dima said.</p>