<p>My son recently visited UVA and William and Mary. He loved the Virginia area and has decided that UVA is his number 1 choice to attend. He also is considering James Madison. My question is what percentage of the students live on campus and what percentage of the students stay on campus over long weekends. Since he is from Massachusetts, he would only coming home for Winter break and Spring break during the school year. Which college is more of a "suitcase" college?</p>
<p>I would not classify any of those schools a ‘suitcase’ schools. My son is at UVa so I’ll speak to what I know. First year students aren’t allowed to have cars on grounds so that keeps the majority of them there on weekends. They are also required to live on grounds their first year. After that there is a mix of students that stay on grounds and live off campus, however most housing is very close and you can either walk or take the bus. Having a car is more of a hassle because there isn’t a lot of student parking. </p>
<p>My son’s roommate is from OOS and it’s too far for him to go home on shorter breaks (fall break, Thanksgiving). He comes to our house and is just like family to us. This is very common for OOS kids.</p>
<p>FWIW, I have friends with kids at both W&M and JMU and they only come home on official university breaks as well.</p>
<p>All three of the schools you listed are highly residential, mostly because none of them are in major cities. A lot of kids move off campus at UVa and JMU, but the apartments are close by and could be considered almost on-campus (not as sure about W&M). If he decides between the three schools, his decision should come down to fit more than housing.</p>
<p>D also went to UVA and I would second everything bluiguana said. In our case D brought home a student from China over holiday breaks, which was great because my youngest is now very fluent in Mandarin as a result of that relationship. But overall, I wouldn’t classify any of those as suitcase schools. We lived within about 60 miles but D rarely came home because there was always something going on around campus she either involved with or wanted to do. Seems it was the same with most of her friends.</p>
<p>UVA has 1/3 OOS students. W&M is about the same (a little higher OOS). [College</a> Navigator - College of William and Mary](<a href=“College Navigator - William & Mary”>College Navigator - William & Mary)</p>