<p>hello :)</p>
<p>I'm currently a freshman at Boston University and am transferring for next year.</p>
<p>I applied to 9 schools and have heard back from 3 so far - and have gotten into all! the problem is, these 3 schools need me to send in the deposit by May 13, so I'm going to choose one of them now and forfeit my deposit if I end up getting into/wanting to go to another school.</p>
<p>So I need help in weighing the pros and cons of each of the three schools - William & Mary, Rice, and UNC-Chapel Hill.</p>
<p>I was planning on being a journalism major, but am very flexible (ie Rice doesn't have a journalism major, so I'd plan on double majoring in English & film/photo). </p>
<p>Any opinions/suggestions/etc. are appreciated!</p>
<p>well what other things are you looking for? what kind of social life? size? location?</p>
<p>social life is definitely a main factor for me - I’m trying to get away from the whole big city school thing here. and one of my worries with the more southern schools is that some might be skewed more conservative (I don’t need a skewed liberal school - just something that’s at least mixed) and that they’ll be too into greek life (I know rice doesn’t have that, though).</p>
<p>I’d prefer a smaller school, because I’m missing that kind of community. and as for location, all are good. (though houston might be a bit too hot for my taste)</p>
<p>also, as far as academics goes, I want something competitive, but not toooo stressful.
(I had a 3.75 at BU first semester that I didn’t work too hard for and a 4.1 in a small, competitive private high school).</p>
<p>W&M has a reputation for being very challenging academically, but it is very small and liberal and in a beautiful area. The downside is (from what I’ve heard) that there is not much going on socially. I don’t attend though, I just know a few current students, so I only have a limited understanding.</p>
<p>Also, W&M has frats/srats but Greek like isn’t very prominent.</p>
<p>Rice is definitely the most prestigious among the schools you got into. I’d say to take a second look at it because it provides the qualities you are looking for (i.e. small community, rigorous academics, a beautiful campus). Feel free to backchannel me with any more questions.</p>
<p>@queenofstoneage. I’m currently a student at W&M who is desperately trying to transfer out, so maybe I can give you a personal perspective. All three of the schools you listed are really strong academically, so on the bright side, you can’t make a bad choice. W&M is in Williamsburg, and a lot of people have mixed feelings about the city. Some love it, others feel that it is more of tourist town than a college town. Personally, I feel that it is more like a retirement town. Lots of old people. But if that’s you thing (it’s definitely not mine), then by all means go for it.</p>
<p>As someone said above, W&M is challenging academically. While this is true, I think it’s a little over stated. If you work hard and use ratemyprofessor, I think you will be fine. You said that you didn’t work hard for your 3.75, but I can assure you that you will need to work diligently to get the same gpa at W&M. The average GPA is ~3.3, and about 25% of the school is on dean’s list, which is a 3.6 or 3.6+. I hope this helps gauge the difficulty.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would probably go w/ Rice. It’s the best school of the three, and you have Houston to explore. But you really wanted a small town, and UNC has that from what I’ve heard. It’s a tough decision, but I would go visit the three and see where you feel the most comfortable, because that is what’s most important.</p>
<p>Ultimately, all I can do is give my opinion. I want to leave W&M ASAP, but most of my friends really enjoy it. I guess you can say that I’m an anomaly in the student body. If I could go back to high school and chose a different school, I would. But it is important to remember that most W&M students are perfectly happy there.</p>
<p>based on what youre saying, id say rice. hands down.</p>
<p>this is all so helpful - thanks, everyone :)</p>
<p>@HopesToBeAHoya: thanks so much for that - I have a few friends at W&M and they like it, so they’re only telling me about the good things and not really giving me a balanced perspective. the things that you mentioned were things that I was worried about, so now I know I wasn’t being paranoid. also, good luck with transferring. I agree, it’s definitely most important to be where you’re comfortable, so I’m grateful I’m having this dilemma at all :)</p>
<p>I think I’m going to go with rice - it may be a bit more challenging, but I think I’ll like it the most there. </p>
<p>thanks again!</p>
<p>@queenofstoneage. No problem! I’m happy to help. If there’s one piece of advice to give, I would say chose the school that you like and see yourself at. Forget about what your parents, friends, and family say in terms of where they would like to see you. You have three great choices, albeit one is stronger than the other two. But, if you absolutely hate Rice when you visit, then don’t go. If you love W&M and see yourself there, then submit the deposit w/ no regrets. There’s no point in going to a “prestigious” school if you are miserable.</p>
<p>The best advice I can give you is that if you want competitive GPA without really trying, STAY AWAY FROM LARGE PUBLICS. I’m a transfer student who is graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill and I transferred from the University of Miami last year and it was ten fold times harder academically and my GPA has dropped significantly (3.9 at Miami–> 3.1 GPA at UNC). Larger publics do not inflate their grades and they try to keep the average at a “C or C-” here with their bell curve. The average GPA at the university overall is about a 3.0, which is kind of low if you want to go to graduate school and be a competitive applicant. WHY it is so hard? Simple, at large public schools, you are not treated as an individual. You are a statistic, professors do not care about each individual students. They care more about their research, they’re not very passionate about teaching. </p>
<p>At Miami, most of my instructors did not hold Ph. D’s but I felt more fulfilled with my grades and the interest that my instructors pursued in those students who did show they were passionate about the course material. At large public, you need to WORK so much harder to build rapport with your professors. </p>
<p>UNC is a large school. It’s about 17,000 undergrads and the majority of these students are exceptional students; for out of state admission you need to be ranked realistically within the top 1st-5th percentile of your graduating class (usually valedictorian to the top 10 or 15 students in the graduate). Of course there are exceptions, such as legacies and students who come from very respectable private and preparatory schools, but those students are still pretty on par with the competition. It’s going to be a HUGE adjustment for you and if you’re kind of quiet and shy, stay away from large publics because you will get lost and not find your niche. I’m not trying to sway you away, but from what you told us, I do not think UNC is a good fit for you.</p>
<p>I thought it was a good fit for me. I transferred for similar reasons, mainly I wanted more of a college campus experience and UNC did provide me with just that, but I feel neglected and scared for the future because of my grades and many others are in the same boat here. If you want to go to grad school, I’d say go to smaller private school where grades are not deflated (most Ivies inflate their grades as do top schools like Stanford, Duke, Chicago). My friends at UNC who transferred here and wanted to go to law school had a detour because of their low GPA, even with their solid LSAT scores. </p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>I’d say RICE! Suck it up and get some suntan lotion!</p>
<p>yeah, those are basically the fears I had about UNC. I think I’m just a small-school person at heart, and it would be really hard to socially and academically adjust at such a big school, especially since I’m coming in late</p>
<p>Yeah if I had it over again, I got into Emory and Wash U-St. Louis, I’d probably choose Emory because of the location and it’s a warmer climate than St. Louis. I’ve gone through periods of depression because of my academic situation at UNC and I was much happier student, in relation to the academics and my grades, at Miami. However I was not satisfied with my social surroundings and I’m a much happier individual here, as far as campus life and activities go. It’s a no-win situation this college game. But it’s almost over and my parents have dictated that I will not be going to anymore public schools, because it is not worth the tuition. I’m concentrating on going to a top private school for my master’s degree, preferably Emory or Vanderbilt. </p>
<p>So yeah, I’m a small school person when it comes to academics, but I like large environments for socializing. </p>
<p>Where else are you waiting to hear from?</p>
<p>yeah, I totally know what you mean. I know I won’t be able to have as great a GPA at Rice, but I also know that I’ll be a lot happier there, so it’ll be worth it. some people are completely in their element at their schools and it’s the perfect place, but I think I’m coming to realize that that probably won’t happen for me, and that’s okay.</p>
<p>anyway, I’m waiting to hear back from Vassar, NYU, Scripps, Pitzer, and Smith. I think the only one that would challenge Rice would be Vassar, but I probably won’t get in anyway</p>