<p>I hate to be another person asking if I should pick UVA or W&M, but I really can’t choose. I think I’m leaning towards W&M, and the only REAL thing holding me back is not wanting to pass up the more “prestigious” school that has the engineering major I may or may not want. I know no one here can make the decision for me, but I was hoping for some advice and to clear up some possible misconceptions.</p>
<li>The student population–I generally tend to be more academic minded and shy. I’m social, but I don’t like partying or care at all about college sports; I’m much more at home just hanging out wherever and talking about random nerdy things. I’ve heard W&M would be a better fit in the social department, then?</li>
<li> Academics–W&M seems humanities centered, and I haven’t heard much about the maths & sciences, specifically psych and bio. How do those depts rank (particularly in regards to grad school acceptances)? I don’t mean in actual numbers, I just want to make sure no one’s going to laugh at me if I try to apply to grad school, for say, neuroscience.</li>
<li>Dorms–I’m seconding the air-conditioning question. And how hard is it to get decent on-campus housing after freshman year?</li>
<li>Monroe–Beyond the money for a research project soph/junior year, are there any real advantages to the Monroe Scholars program?</li>
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<p>Thanks to any of you who take the time to wade through all this.</p>
<p>omg dude you sound just like me. I'm deciding between UVA and W&M as well and the biggest thing holding me back from outright picking W&M is (was) the prestige factor. But after thinking about it for a little while I've realized that I really don't think that UVA is a more prestigious school than W&M. More people on a national scale have probably heard of UVA but that's because they have sports teams in the ACC. Most of the people that have heard of UVA and not W&M do not know that UVA is prestigious, they just know it has ACC sports. I've come to realize that an admissions officer for a grad school is going to consider W&M and UVA to be on an equal level in terms of prestige.</p>
<p>However, that engineering dilemma of yours seems like a much more legitimate reason to strongly consider UVA over W&M. But, ask yourself if you reaaaaaaly want to major in engineering or are you just tricking yourself into thinking that you may want to major in engineering because you want a reason to pick what you consider the more prestigious university over the university that it seems like you really want to go to. I was doing something like that but I'm not sure if you are as well.</p>
<p>I can say that as far as sciences are concerned that I have heard that undergrads at W&M have lots of opportunities to do research. Research is key to getting accepted to top grad programs in the sciences so I am going to guess that they send plenty of kids to top grad programs...</p>
<p>Also, on the social side I sound a lot like you as well. Not into partying really into random nerdy things. I have a feeling that W&M is the better social fit for nerdy/dorky kids (or kids that just happen to be into nerdy/dorky things :P ).</p>
<p>Anyways, on a side note I think it may be really important to you to visit both campuses to make up your mind. I just visited UVA on Thursday and I was really trying to like it but I just didn't like it. The campus was just not as beautiful as I was expecting it to be. Honestly, I didn't like their campus at all. The only nice parts I saw were the Rotunda and the amphitheatre. I also didn't like the surrounding city of Charlottesville. </p>
<p>I have not yet visited W&M but at first I was leaning slightly towards W&M (even though I felt like I should be leaning towards UVA) and after I visited UVA, I am leaning even more towards W&M. I think all it's going to take is a visit to W&M to seal the deal.</p>
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<li><p>If you match your description of yourself, you will love the social atmosphere at William and Mary. That description defines me pretty well, and I absolutely adore William and Mary, and the social atmosphere plays a large role in this adoration.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, it is true that William and Mary has a strong humanities and liberal arts focus. That does not mean, however, that our other programs are lacking in excellence. Our science programs (and opportunities for research) are top notch, and I believe WM is one of very few schools with an actual major in Neuroscience. What WM's strong humanities focus means is that you would get not only an excellent education in science, but in everything else also.</p></li>
<li><p>You can see my reply to the air conditioning question in the other thread. As for getting decent housing as an upperclassmen, it depends. It has been many, many years since the last time that a student has been forced off campus because there was no room. That being said, it is possible to get bumped from the housing lottery. Eventually, everyone will get reinstated (it might not be until after the lottery, even), though the rooms these people will get will likely be very small.</p></li>
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<p>There really aren't any bad dorms anymore now that the Dilliard Complex is no longer in use. Getting decent housing isn't much of a problem. Sometimes it just requires a little manipulation of the system and a little luck, though.</p>
<p>Datkid, you're probably right. I think "But it doesn't have an engineering school," is increasingly becoming code for "But all my friends are going to UVa!"</p>
<p>Thanks to you both, though, I think you've helped me make up my mind. All I wanted was confirmation, I guess.</p>