<p>If your choice were between being a Monroe Scholar at W&M or regular admission at UVa (no Echols or anything), which would you choose?</p>
<p>I believe W&M would be the obvious choice even without Monroe! =P</p>
<p>Here_to, just from purely academic standpoint is W&M a better choice than UVA?</p>
<p>It depends on what you want to major in, but overall - yes. Admitted students attending W&M have higher SAT scores on average than those at UVA. If you are interested in Law or Med school, W&M has higher acceptance rates than UVA. W&M is also consistently ranked higher for commitment to undergraduate teaching. Researching the majors you are thinking about at both schools should really help you in your decision, but if you are unsure about your major, thinking about what kind of atmosphere you would like to live in is another good way to help you decide between two great school!</p>
<p>Here is a letter that Professor Evans wrote for the W&M website, that one of my friends at UVA agreed with:
<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/blogs/wmblogs/larryevans/a-memo-to-prospective-students--if-you-have-the-choice,-i-think-that-you-should-attend-wm-over-uva..php[/url]”>http://www.wm.edu/blogs/wmblogs/larryevans/a-memo-to-prospective-students--if-you-have-the-choice,-i-think-that-you-should-attend-wm-over-uva..php</a></p>
<p>For me, as a freshman, the opportunities to get to know professors and to be involved on campus have been extraordinary! When I started the year off, I indicated that I was interested in double majoring in International Relations and Environmental Policy - I was assigned the head of the Environmental Science and Policy Department as my faculty adviser! Through working with the Committee on Sustainability that was founded this year, I have gotten to know another one of my professors very well, and even worked with her and other faculty and staff to write a proposal for an environmental program for next year that will bring students and staff together to help make improvements that will contribute to sustainability on campus. I will also be continuing with this as the RA (Residence Assistant) in the Eco-House, our newly reinstated green living dorm located in the basement of Landrum Hall (a really nice place, both in amenities and location on-campus!). Just today I had an interview with the head of the International Relations Department for a paid summer internship as a research assistant with the Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations which is based here at the College (I can actually see the house it is housed in from my dorm!). I think I may actually have a chance at getting the job too! I would be helping to expand and categorize a database - the largest in the world - of project level international aid activities.</p>
<p>Continued…</p>
<p>Of course, everything doesn’t involve working with professors. With the International Relations Club (which does not have a faculty adviser - it is totally student planned and led), one of the largest student organizations (and the one with the most monetary resources after the Student Assembly and their half-million dollar budget), I am on the Secretariat (the organizers, basically) for the William and Mary High School Model United Nations XXIII where we bring over 1300 high school students to campus for a long weekend of debate and discovery. We are hard at work planning everything for it now, even though it doesn’t take place until next November! Through the IRC I have also been able to travel to Boston for the Harvard National Model UN Conference which took place in February. Right now, about 30 students, including many Freshman, are flying to The Hague for the weeklong World MUN conference (and some sight-seeing!) at which we have been the overall winners many times in the past decade.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that I received a letter saying I was waitlisted at the ‘College of William and Mary in Virginia’ about a year ago now. In the end, I was offered admission and made the Dean’s List (top 20% of class) in the fall, and hope to do so again this semester. And I’ve enjoyed late night jogs through Colonial Williamsburg and canoeing on lake Matoaka (more-so in warm weather, like right now!). It snowed about an inch here a few weeks ago, and I had a ton of fun (over 700 pictures of fun) taking pictures of Williamsburg in the snow - its absolutely gorgeous! Tray sledding is definitely a must as well!</p>
<p>I really truly believe that the immensity of all the opportunities at William & Mary, both working with professors and friends, makes it one of the best schools in the nation.</p>
<p>W&M without a doubt.</p>
<p>on a school day. You need to personally see the similarities and differences. I think W&M comes off as more isolated than UVA, but I think it all depends on what sort of person you are. One is much larger, and that is a huge factor.</p>
<p>Congratz!</p>
<p>I would choose WM without anything over UVA with Echols. They’re pretty different schools though, so neither is right for everyone.</p>
<p>( Asking this on the W&M forum, surely you knew what the answer would be? 
)</p>
<p>Anyway, IMO, Monroe > Echols, so you can do the math there…</p>
<p>But when it comes to making your decision, I’d almost ignore Monroe, and choose the school that feels best to you. There’s no honors program in existence that can overcome 4 years at a school you don’t feel comfortable in. </p>
<p>Most every post in this thread contains info that can help you make a decision - but like “LindaCarmichael” says, visiting both campuses on a school day (and weekend day, if you can) may well make your decision an easy one. And take the admissions tours, if you haven’t already - I find you can learn a <em>lot</em> about a school that way, very often, not what the admissions office had planned. For example, I recall a Saturday visit to a <em>very</em> well-respected LAC, (top 2 in any list), and the admissions office was locked tight, the tour leaders showed up a half-hour late, one of them clearly badly hungover; on the walk-thru of the freshman dorm, we were greeted by the sour stench of sweat, beer and vomit. And every question about social activities were answered with a rote answer about the <em>other</em> colleges in the area. The single “Student Center” was in a remote building that was absolutely deserted. I could easily imagine most of the students graduating from there with a minor in “Binge Drinking” … :(</p>
<p>And be sure to walk around, and notice how people interact with one another - for example, are they in the same homogenous clumps you saw in high school? (some people say UVA feels like a 5th year of high school) Do they look happy? Stressed out? What’s the “vibe” you get of the place on a school day? A Saturday? </p>
<p>Anyway, for many people, they’ll visit W&M and UVA and identify strongly with one or the other. That’s probably a good sign.</p>
<p>Here<em>to, thanks a lot my friend. You are really to</em>help.</p>
<p>Daughter was accepted to WM and UVA. She attended both admitted students’ days and really thought UVA was her number one choice. Her brothers are UVA grads and several summer camps at UVA. But as mentioned…so many stereotypes at UVA. And large and the events planned seemed unorganized and truly, not very friendly. Driving on campus at WM, students lined the road with posters and horns and all sorts of welcomes! The opening at WM hall was so pleasant. I think her decision was made before we left the for other events. She LOVES WM. Every aspect of campus and life in general.</p>
<p>As a student at W&M I can tell you that this place is amazing in many aspects but you need to come here with the right mindset. Don’t try to make W&M something it’s not (I think a lot of people come here thinking it will be like UVA). You’ll just be disappointed if you don’t appreciate what this school has to offer and dwell on the things it may not have. </p>
<p>Here to Help is right about everything for the most part. I am also a member of international relations club and as a freshman, I have had the opportunity to attend 4 model UN conferences this year thus far (Yale, Harvard, McGill, Southern Regional MUN in Atlanta) and will be attending two more in the next two weeks (UVA, Mt. Holyoke). This just goes to prove that there are endless opportunities for freshman here and many AWESOME people. Here to Help mentions WorldMUN which is at the Hague this year. This too is a great opportunity (although it’s more like 14 people going including 3 freshman).</p>
<p>In all this school offers a multitude of opportunities for anyone regardless of academic class. In terms of academics, it really is not as tough as everyone makes it out to be. I had a 3.4 in HS but got a 3.93 first semester and am on my way to straight A’s again this semester. This school really motivates you to work hard and good grades are certainly very rewarding here. </p>
<p>In summary, this place is awesome if it fits your preferences. Take it for what it is and you will gain a great deal from it but if you feel like you may enjoy a bigger school, I urge you to really look into what you want out of school. UVA is also a great school academically, it’s just a little more “typical”.</p>
<p>Haha, thanks for the correction on WorldMUN - I guess it just seemed like that many people were going =D
Tuesday’s meeting is going to be dull =(</p>
<p>W&M and UVA are both very good schools… obviously on the W&M board, people will talk up the advantages of W&M (me included). But, they both have top notch academics, and the biggest difference between the two schools is 5800 undergrads in williamsburg vs. 12,000 undergrads in charlottesville. One of them will probably “feel” better to you.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for your thoughtful insights. Now the next step is to await UVa decisions and see if there is any decision to be made. ;-)</p>
<p>Please don’t think I am hijacking this thread, but if you are OOS and have been accepted as both an Echols at UVA and Monroe at W&M, would that make a difference? I personally have always liked the feel at W&M much better than UVA and the students really seemed very happy,content and friendly, but I’m not the one going to college!
Do a lot of instate students leave on the weekends or do they stay? That would be important to D as she could not go home much at all and would not enjoy staying at a nearly empty campus no matter how beautiful it is.</p>
<p>To answer your second question, hope4freeride, I live an hour and 15 minutes away and have only gone home on official breaks. Most people definitely stay on the weekends; I think I know of one friend who goes home with any regularity.</p>
<p>I lived on campus my entire time at WM and rarely ever left on the weekend. Most people stay at campus. Does your D have any friends at WM she could stay with for a weekend? There is always stuff going on during the weekend at WM - club sports, live guitar accompanied by an open mic outside fridays I believe, parties, people just hanging out in the sunken garden playing guitar, throwing frisbees, or just catching sun. There are plenty of activities depending upon your D’s interests. Sororities host formal functions and stuff. You usually see people hanging out Friday and Saturday, then using Sunday as a study/work day. At least that always worked for me unless it was a midterm or final exam week.</p>
<p>Once she makes some friends and finds the areas she likes, she will have many opportunities on weekends. I forgot to mention the workout facility is very nice and it is right beside the freshman dorms.</p>
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<p>W&M students (as a whole) go home for Fall Break, Thanksgiving, and Spring Break.</p>