<p>Hey everyone,
My name is Colin McDonald. I am not looking to see if I can get in these schools because that is not the issue at the moment.. Preferably I would appreciate if someone would be able to provide a 'sort of' pros and cons list between these schools! My father went to Notre Dame and I have been interested in going there for years and went on several tours and would be my first choice so far. I am currently on my spring break and I have visited UVA and William and Mary and am leaning towards a choice between Notre Dame and William and Mary to put my prime interest. At the moment, Notre Dame seems too far away from family and costs a lot for undergrad..and fyi.. one year at Notre Dame would be a sufficient amount to pay for my entire education at William and Mary! I am a Virginia student, ranked top 4-5%, 4.0 GPA unweighted... Ask me any other questions that could help reach an answer! Any help is much appreciated!</p>
<p>All 3 are good schools. Notre Dame, as a private school with much higher tuition, probably also has much more financial aid to distribute, so you need to look into that versus just sticker price.<br>
W&M and Notre Dame are probably a bit closer in size; UVA is nearly 3X W&M’s size. W&M and UVA draw from a similar demographic (2/3rds Virginia, etc.) Notre Dame will be quite different in that regard, obviously.
UVA and Notre Dame will have more national exposure through sports, particularly ND.
Public schools like W&M and UVA are struggling more from a budget standpoint at the moment because state funding is drying up fast. For that reason, and the ability to be more flexible with financial aid, I think private schools have been more likely to move up in the ranking over the past 15 years or so.<br>
UVA has the best graduate schools overall. Sometimes graduate schools favor their undergraduates. That’s a plus.
If you live in Virginia, coming home from Indiana is going to be a pain. It is just a drive from UVA or W&M.</p>