<p>Just so you know, that data for UVa's acceptence rate is outdated...this year the admit rate was just below 34%. Plus, the admit rate is around 20-25% for out of state applicants, around 40% for in-state ones. Also, 87% of the freshman were in the top 10% of their class, not 84%. And with Tech, UVa, and W&M being public, and with UVa and Tech being larger, it is naturally more difficult to get those very high SAT scorers and to have a very low acceptence rate.</p>
<p>Either way, I think W&L is better than Tech. But then again, I think everything is better than Tech. :)</p>
<p>And as for competition between W&M and UVa, it's very true that they often compete for similar caliber students. W&M tends to take the more studious, less social ones, and UVa tends to take the well-rounded social butterflies, at least from what I've seen. W&M students tend to be a bit more bookish, a little nerdier, a little quieter, not that there's anything wrong with that. UVa students generally have a rowdy side, love having fun, and know how to balance their schoolwork with their social lives.</p>
<p>farbdogg, you are right that name recognition of W&L is nowhere near that of UVA (to the average man that is-not top employers and grad programs). However, the name recognition of W&M in no way beats that of W&L. I have yet to meet anyone who has heard of W&M but not W&L or vise versa.</p>
<p>As much as it pains me to say this, I disagree with Pirt. It may be different in the Deep South, but in the NE William and Mary has more clout than W&L and in certain circles, than UVa.</p>
<p>Semiserious -- good points. Still, whether public or private, these are the students are who attending these universities. </p>
<p>Each university has its own distinct mission and culture, providing great options for prospective students who inform themselves of the facts. If being better known is of great value, no doubt the bigger and public schools have an advantage. Given the disparate academic profiles, it seems those who would rank VT above W&L are giving the "everyone has heard of it" factor decisive weight. To each his own. </p>
<p>NB: The listed data is from the current USNWR premium online edition, which will prob be updated soon.</p>
<p>its interesting, because i grew up in a very competitive, college-obsessed, prestige-whore community in the northeast, and i never ever heard of william and mary, and even after i recognized the name, i never knew that it was actually considered prestigious until i started reading these boards.
W&L i knew (there were very bright students that would go there from time to time). but even today, after my parents went through the college process three times over the course of a decade (and looking at schools ranging from 3rd tier to ivies depending on the child), they have no idea what william and mary is.</p>
<p>to add to huskem's point, i am from new orleans and from day one in the college search, i had a lot of interest in UVA, W&L, and W&M. my parents were very supportive of UVA and W&L, but always remained somewhat iffy about W&M, b/c they did not know anyone who had gone there, and had hardly heard of it. after we visited all three, i liked W&L the most; my parents did as well. they (and i) were never too keen on W&M; however, i can see how in the northeast W&M may carry more name recognition than W&L; william and mary is larger, public and (i find) tends to cater more toward students from virginia 'up' (the middle atlantic, new england), while W&L tends to cater more toward students from the south/ texas.</p>
<p>I was the opposite in hs (PA). I had heard of W&M and knew it was considered one of the best public schools in the country, but had never heard of W&L until I was in college. I would say, on average, W&L has a higher academic quality student body, but that doesn't necessarily mean a higher % of people are going to have heard of it compared to W&M.</p>
<p>New Hampshire (on a pure undergraduate basis)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Dartmouth (Easy ranking here, the only Ivy in the state (really, north of Mass) and easily the elite school in the state. No arguments can be made here)</p></li>
<li><p>University of New Hampshire - Durham (main campus) (hurts to say this since I didn't apply yet it's in my own state. But considering the amount of facilities it has and how it attracts similar competition to #3 (my school), it has to be at #2).</p></li>
<li><p>St. Anselm College (Once again, a pretty easy ranking. Based purely on stats, the #3 undergraduate college in the state, and their N.H. Institute of Politics is really nice for a school their size, along with a good humanities program. My bias for the school also plays but there's no way it's lower than #3 for undergrads, I don't think there's anyway it's higher. From what I've seen, their merit/need aid is also quite generous)</p></li>
<li><p>Southern New Hampshire University (A pretty big fall, not as big as Dartmouth to UNH, but very large. In this area, various schools (SNHU, Plymouth State, Franklin Pierce, etc.) fall to this are. I live close to there and some of the facilities are pretty nice, so I have a bias here too. It was a safety on my list and the only other school in N.H. I applied to.)</p></li>
<li><p>Keene State College (The size is pretty much the only thing that gets it here. The facilities are decent, but my tour sucked so there's a negative bias on my part)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>However, I don't think much on the list is arguable. #1 is obvious, #2 and #3 are pretty close but the comparative prestige (although considering my private high school had about 10 grads from #3, maybe not that huge locally) and size and facilities put #2 in the clear lead. When you got to #4, any group of schools could go in that group and much of it came to my biases.</p>
<p>Wow the VA school feud seems pretty intense. From a NJ prespective W&M is better know than W&L among students at my high school. Although this year one of our best students went to W&L, so I wouldn't be suprised if more people start to look into (like myself)</p>